WHEN the Colomban trial began, the Pyrotists were not many more than thirty thousand, but they were everywhere and might be found even among the priests and millionaires. What injured them most was the sympathy of the rich Jews. On the other hand they derived1 valuable advantages from their feeble number. In the first place there were among them fewer fools than among their opponents, who were over-burdened with them. Comprising but a feeble minority they co-operated easily, acted with harmony, and had no temptation to divide and thus counteract2 one another’s efforts. Each of them felt the necessity of doing the best possible and was the more careful of his conduct as he found himself more in the public eye. Finally, they had every reason to hope that they would gain fresh adherents3, while their opponents, having had everybody with them at the beginning, could only decrease.
Summoned before the judges at a public sitting, Colomban immediately perceived that his judges were not anxious to discover the truth. As soon as he opened his mouth the President ordered him to be silent in the superior interests of the State. For the same reason, which is the supreme4 reason, the witnesses for the defence were not heard. General Panther, the Chief of the Staff, appeared in the witness-box, in full uniform and decorated with all his orders. He deposed5 as follows:
“The infamous6 Colomban states that we have no proofs against Pyrot. He lies; we have them. I have in my archives seven hundred and thirty-two square yards of them which at five hundred pounds each make three hundred and sixty-six thousand pounds weight.”
That superior officer afterwards gave, with elegance7 and ease, a summary of those proofs.
“They are of all colours and all shades,” said he in substance, “they are of every form — pot, crown, sovereign, grape, dove-cot, grand eagle, etc. The smallest is less than the hundredth part of a square inch, the largest measures seventy yards long by ninety yards broad.”
At this revelation the audience shuddered8 with horror.
Greatauk came to give evidence in his turn. Simpler, and perhaps greater, he wore a grey tunic9 and held his hands joined behind his back.
“I leave,” said he calmly and in a slightly raised voice, “I leave to M. Colomban the responsibility for an act that has brought our country to the brink10 of ruin. The Pyrot affair is secret; it ought to remain secret. If it were divulged11 the cruelest ills, wars, pillages12, depredations13, fires, massacres14, and epidemics15 would immediately burst upon Penguinia. I should consider myself guilty of high treason if I uttered another word.”
Some persons known for their political experience, among others M. Bigourd, considered the evidence of the Minister of War as abler and of greater weight than that of his Chief of Staff.
The evidence of Colonel de Boisjoli made a great impression.
“One evening at the Ministry17 of War,” said that officer, “the attache of a neighbouring Power told me that while visiting his sovereign’s stables he had once admired some soft and fragrant18 hay, of a pretty green colour, the finest hay he had ever seen! ‘Where did it come from?’ I asked him. He did not answer, but there seemed to me no doubt about its origin. It was the hay Pyrot had stolen. Those qualities of verdure, softness, and aroma19, are those of our national hay. The forage20 of the neighbouring Power is grey and brittle21; it sounds under the fork and smells of dust. One can draw one’s own conclusions.”
Lieutenant–Colonel Hastaing said in the witness-box, amid hisses22, that he did not believe Pyrot guilty. He was immediately seized by the police and thrown into the bottom of a dungeon23 where, amid vipers24, toads25, and broken glass, he remained insensible both to promises and threats.
The usher26 called:
“Count Pierre Maubec de la Dentdulynx.”
There was deep silence, and a stately but ill-dressed nobleman, whose moustaches pointed27 to the skies and whose dark eyes shot forth28 flashing glances, was seen advancing toward the witness-box.
He approached Colomban and casting upon him a look of ineffable29 disdain30:
“My evidence,” said he, “here it is: you excrement31!”
At these words the entire hall burst into enthusiastic applause and jumped up, moved by one of those transports that stir men’s hearts and rouse them to extraordinary actions. Without another word Count Maubec de la Dentdulynx withdrew.
All those present left the Court and formed a procession behind him. Prostrate32 at his feet, Princess des Boscenos held his legs in a close embrace, but he went on, stern and impassive, beneath a shower of handkerchiefs and flowers. Viscountess Olive, clinging to his neck, could not be removed, and the calm hero bore her along with him, floating on his breast like a light scarf.
When the court resumed its sitting, which it had been compelled to suspend, the President called the experts.
Vermillard, the famous expert in handwriting, gave the results of his researches.
“Having carefully studied,” said he, “the papers found in Pyrot’s house, in particular his account book and his laundry books, I noticed that, though apparently33 not out of the common, they formed an impenetrable cryptogram34, the key to which, however, I discovered. The traitor’s infamy35 is to be seen in every line. In this system of writing the words ‘Three glasses of beer and twenty francs for Adele,’ mean ‘I have delivered thirty thousand trusses of hay to a neighbouring Power.’ From these documents I have even been able to establish the composition of the hay delivered by this officer. The words waistcoat, drawers, pocket handkerchief, collars, drink, tobacco, cigars, mean clover, meadow-grass, lucern, burnet, oats, rye-grass, vernal-grass, and common cat’s tail grass. And these are precisely36 the constituents37 of the hay furnished by Count Maubec to the Penguin16 cavalry38. In this way Pyrot mentioned his crimes in a language that he believed would always remain indecipherable. One is confounded by so much astuteness39 and so great a want of conscience.”
Colomban, pronounced guilty without any extenuating40 circumstances, was condemned41 to the severest penalty. The judges immediately signed a warrant consigning42 him to solitary43 confinement44.
In the Place du Palais on the sides of a river whose banks had during the course of twelve centuries seen so great a history, fifty thousand persons were tumultuously awaiting the result of the trial. Here were the heads of the Anti–Pyrotist Association, among whom might be seen Prince des Boscenos, Count Clena, Viscount Olive, and M. de La Trumelle; here crowded the Reverend Father Agaric and the teachers of St. Mael College with their pupils; here the monk46 Douillard and General Caraguel, embracing each other, formed a sublime47 group. The market women and laundry women with spits, shovels48, tongs49, beetles50, and kettles full of water might be seen running across the Pont–Vieux. On the steps in front of the bronze gates were assembled all the defenders51 of Pyrot in Alca, professors, publicists, workmen, some conservatives, others Radicals52 or Revolutionaries, and by their negligent53 dress and fierce aspect could be recognised comrades Phoenix54, Larrivee, Lapersonne, Dagobert, and Varambille. Squeezed in his funereal55 frock-coat and wearing his hat of ceremony, Bidault–Coquille invoked56 the sentimental57 mathematics on behalf of Colomban and Colonel Hastaing. Maniflore shone smiling and resplendent on the topmost step, anxious, like Leaena, to deserve a glorious monument, or to be given, like Epicharis, the praises of history.
The seven hundred Pyrotists disguised as lemonade sellers, gutter-merchants, collectors of odds58 and ends, or as Anti–Pyrotists, wandered round the vast building.
When Colomban appeared, so great an uproar59 burst forth that, struck by the commotion60 of air and water, birds fell from the trees and fishes floated on the surface of the stream.
On all sides there were yells:
“Duck Colomban, duck him, duck him!” There were some cries of “Justice and truth!” and a voice was even heard shouting:
“Down with the Army!” This was the signal for a terrible struggle. The combatants fell in thousands, and their bodies formed howling and moving mounds61 on top of which fresh champions gripped each other by the throats. Women, eager, pale, and dishevelled, with clenched62 teeth and frantic63 nails, rushed on the man, in transports that, in the brilliant light of the public square, gave to their faces expressions unsurpassed even in the shade of curtains and in the hollows of pillows. They were going to seize Colomban, to bite him, to strangle, dismember and rend45 him, when Maniflore, tall and dignified64 in her red tunic, stood forth, serene65 and terrible, confronting these furies who recoiled66 from before her in terror. Colomban seemed to be saved; his partisans67 succeeded in clearing a passage for him through the Place du Palais and in putting him into a cab stationed at the corner of the Pont–Vieux. The horse was already in full trot68 when Prince des Boscenos, Count Clena, and M. de La Trumelle knocked the driver off his seat. Then, making the animal back and pushing the spokes69 of the wheels, they ran the vehicle on to the parapet of the bridge, whence they overturned it into the river amid the cheers of the delirious70 crowd. With a resounding71 splash a jet of water rose upwards72, and then nothing but a slight eddy73 was to be seen on the surface of the stream.
Almost immediately comrades Dagobert and Varambile, with the help of the seven hundred disguised Pyrotists, sent Prince des Boscenos head foremost into a river-laundry in which he was lamentably74 swallowed up.
Serene night descended76 over the Place du Palais and shed silence and peace upon the frightful77 ruins with which it was strewed78. In the mean time, Colomban, three hundred yards down the stream, cowering79 beside a lame75 old horse on a bridge, was meditating80 on the ignorance and injustice81 of crowds.
“The business,” said he to himself, “is even more troublesome than I believed. I foresee fresh difficulties.”
He got up and approached the unhappy animal.
“What have you, poor friend, done to them?” said he. “It is on my account they have used you so cruelly.”
He embraced the unfortunate beast and kissed the white star on his forehead. Then he took him by the bridle82 and led him, both of them limping, through the sleeping city to his house, where sleep soon allowed them to forget mankind.
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1
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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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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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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10
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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divulged
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| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
pillages
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| n.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的名词复数 )；掠夺者v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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14
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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epidemics
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| n．流行病 | |
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penguin
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| n.企鹅 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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18
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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21
brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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22
hisses
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| 嘶嘶声( hiss的名词复数 ) | |
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23
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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24
vipers
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| n.蝰蛇( viper的名词复数 )；毒蛇；阴险恶毒的人；奸诈者 | |
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toads
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 ) | |
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26
usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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27
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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28
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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30
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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31
excrement
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| n.排泄物，粪便 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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33
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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cryptogram
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| n.密码 | |
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35
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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36
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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38
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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39
astuteness
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| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
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40
extenuating
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| adj.使减轻的，情有可原的v.（用偏袒的辩解或借口）减轻( extenuate的现在分词 )；低估，藐视 | |
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41
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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42
consigning
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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43
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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44
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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45
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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46
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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47
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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48
shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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49
tongs
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| n.钳；夹子 | |
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50
beetles
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| n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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51
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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52
radicals
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| n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数 | |
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53
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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54
phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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55
funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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56
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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57
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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58
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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59
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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60
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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61
mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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62
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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64
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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65
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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66
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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67
partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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68
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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69
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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70
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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71
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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72
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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73
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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74
lamentably
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| adv.哀伤地，拙劣地 | |
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75
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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76
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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78
strewed
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| v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
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79
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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80
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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81
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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82
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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