“It must be Pyrot!”
One morning General Panther, the Chief of the Staff, informed Greatauk of a serious matter. Eighty thousand trusses of hay intended for the cavalry4 had disappeared and not a trace of them was to be found.
Greatauk exclaimed at once:
“It must be Pyrot who has stolen them!”
He remained in thought for some time and said:
“The more I think of it the more I am convinced that Pyrot has stolen those eighty thousand trusses of hay. And I know it is by this: he stole them in order that he might sell them to our bitter enemies the Porpoises5. What an infamous6 piece of treachery!”
“There is no doubt about it,” answered Panther; “it only remains7 to prove it.”
The same day, as he passed by a cavalry barracks, Prince des Boscenos heard the troopers as they were sweeping8 out the yard, singing:
Boscenos est un gros cochon;
On en va faire des andouilles,
Des saucisses et du jambon
Pour le reveillon des pauv’ bougres.
It seemed to him contrary to all discipline that soldiers should sing this domestic and revolutionary refrain which on days of riot had been uttered by the lips of jeering9 workmen. On this occasion he deplored10 the moral degeneration of the army and thought with a bitter smile that his old comrade Greatauk, the head of this degenerate11 army, basely exposed him to the malice12 of an unpatriotic government. And he promised himself that he would make an improvement before long.
“That scoundrel Greatauk” said he to himself, “will not remain long a Minister.”
Prince des Boscenos was the most irreconcilable13 of the opponents of modern democracy, free thought, and the government which the Penguins14 had voluntarily given themselves. He had a vigorous and undisguised hatred15 for the Jews, and he worked in public and in private, night and day, for the restoration of the line of the Draconides. His ardent16 royalism was still further excited by the thought of his private affairs, which were in a bad way and were hourly growing worse. He had no hope of seeing an end to his pecuniary17 embarrassments18 until the heir of Draco the Great entered the city of Alca.
When he returned to his house, the prince took out of his safe a bundle of old letters consisting of a private correspondence of the most secret nature, which he had obtained from a treacherous19 secretary. They proved that his old comrade Greatauk, the Duke of Skull, had been guilty of jobbery regarding the military stores and had received a present of no great value from a manufacturer called Maloury. The very smallness of this present deprived the Minister who had accepted it of all excuse.
The prince re-read the letters with a bitter satisfaction, put them carefully back into his safe, and dashed to the Minister of War. He was a man of resolute20 character. On being told that the Minister could see no one he knocked down the ushers21, swept aside the orderlies, trampled22 under foot the civil and military clerks, burst through the doors, and entered the room of the astonished Greatauk.
“I will not say much,” said he to him, “but I will speak to the point. You are a confounded cad. I have asked you to put a flea23 in the ear of General Mouchin, the tool of those Republicans, and you would not do it. I have asked you to give a command to General des Clapiers, who works for the Dracophils, and who has obliged me personally, and you would not do it. I have asked you to dismiss General Tandem24, the commander of Port Alca, who robbed me of fifty louis at cards, and who had me handcuffed when I was brought before the High Court as Emiral Chatillon’s accomplice25. You would not do it. I asked you for the hay and bran stores. You would not give them. I asked you to send me on a secret mission to Porpoisia. You refused. And not satisfied with these repeated refusals you have designated me to your Government colleagues as a dangerous person, who ought to be watched, and it is owing to you that I have been shadowed by the police. You old traitor26! I ask nothing more from you and I have but one word to say to you: Clear out; you have bothered us too long. Besides, we will force the vile27 Republic to replace you by one of our own party. You know that I am a man of my word. If in twenty-four hours you have not handed in your resignation I will publish the Maloury dossier in the newspapers.”
But Greatauk calmly and serenely28 replied:
“Be quiet, you fool. I am just having a Jew transported. I am handing over Pyrot to justice as guilty of having stolen eighty thousand trusses of hay.”
Prince Boscenos, whose anger vanished like a dream, smiled.
“Is that true?”
“You will see.”
“My congratulations, Greatauk. But as one always needs to take precautions with you I shall immediately publish the good news. People will read this evening about Pyrot’s arrest in every newspaper in Alca. . . . ”
And he went away muttering:
“That Pyrot! I suspected he would come to a bad end.”
A moment later General Panther appeared before Greatauk.
“Sir,” said he, “I have just examined the business of the eighty thousand trusses of hay, There is no evidence against Pyrot.”
“Let it be found,” answered Greatauk. “Justice requires it. Have Pyrot arrested at once.”
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1
penguin
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| n.企鹅 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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4
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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7
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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8
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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9
jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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12
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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13
irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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14
penguins
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| n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 ) | |
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15
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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16
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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17
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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embarrassments
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| n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 )；难堪；局促不安；令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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21
ushers
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| n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 ) | |
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22
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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tandem
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| n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的 | |
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25
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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28
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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