IN their minute gentleness and at the suggestion of the common father of the faithful, the bishops1, canons, vicars, curates, abbots, and friars of Penguinia resolved to hold a solemn service in the cathedral of Alca, and to pray that Divine mercy would deign3 to put an end to the troubles that distracted one of the noblest countries in Christendom, and grant to repentant4 Penguinia pardon for its crimes against God and against ministers of religion.
The ceremony took place on the fifteenth of June. General Caraguel, surrounded by his staff, occupied the churchwarden’s pew. The congregation was numerous and brilliant. According to M. Bigourd’s expression it was both crowded and select. In the front rank was to be seen M. de la Bertheoseille, Chamberlain to his Highness Prince Crucho. Near the pulpit, which was to be ascended6 by the Reverend Father Douillard, of the Order of St. Francis, were gathered, in an attitude of attention with their hands crossed upon their wands of office, the great dignitaries of the Anti–Pyrotist association, Viscount Olive, M. de La Trumelle, Count Clena, the Duke d’Ampoule, and Prince des Boscenos. Father Agaric was in the apse with the teachers and pupils of St. Mael College. The right-hand transept and aisle8 were reserved for officers and soldiers in uniform, this side being thought the more honourable9, since the Lord leaned his head to the right when he died on the Cross. The ladies of the aristocracy, and among them Countess Clena, Viscountess Olive, and Princess des Boscenos, occupied reserved seats. In the immense building and in the square outside were gathered twenty thousand clergy10 of all sorts, as well as thirty thousand of the laity11.
After the expiatory12 and propitiatory13 ceremony the Reverend Father Douillard ascended the pulpit. The sermon had at first been entrusted14 to the Reverend Father Agaric, but, in spite of his merits, he was thought unequal to the occasion in zeal15 and doctrine16, and the eloquent17 Capuchin friar, who for six months had gone through the barracks preaching against the enemies of God and authority, had been chosen in his place.
The Reverend Father Douillard, taking as his text, “He hath put down the mighty18 from their seat,” established that all temporal power has God as its principle and its end, and that it is ruined and destroyed when it turns aside from the path that Providence19 has traced out for it and from the end to which He has directed it.
Applying these sacred rules to the government of Penguinia, he drew a terrible picture of the evils that the country’s rulers had been unable either to prevent or to foresee.
“The first author of all these miseries20 and degradations21, my brethren,” said he, “is only too well known to you. He is a monster whose destiny is providentially proclaimed by his name, for it is derived22 from the Greek word, pyros, which means fire. Eternal wisdom warns us by this etymology23 that a Jew was to set ablaze24 the country that had welcomed him.”
He depicted25 the country, persecuted26 by the persecutors of the Church, and crying in its agony:
“O woe27! O glory! Those who have crucified my God are crucifying me!”
At these words a prolonged shudder28 passed through the assembly.
The powerful orator29 excited still greater indignation when he described the proud and crime-stained Colomban, plunged30 into the stream, all the waters of which could not cleanse31 him. He gathered up all the humiliations and all the perils32 of the Penguins33 in order to reproach the President of the Republic and his Prime Minister with them.
“That Minister,” said he, “having been guilty of degrading cowardice34 in not exterminating35 the seven hundred Pyrotists with their allies and defenders36, as Saul exterminated37 the Philistines38 at Gibeah, has rendered himself unworthy of exercising the power that God delegated to him, and every good citizen ought henceforth to insult his contemptible40 government. Heaven will look favourably41 on those who despise him. ‘He hath put down the mighty from their seat.’ God will depose42 these pusillanimous43 chiefs and will put in their place strong men who will call upon Him. I tell you, gentlemen, I tell you officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers who listen to me, I tell you General of the Penguin2 armies, the hour has come! If you do not obey God’s orders, if in His name you do not depose those now in authority, if you do not establish a religious and strong government in Penguinia, God will none the less destroy what He has condemned44, He will none the less save His people. He will save them, but, if you are wanting, He will do so by means of a humble45 artisan or a simple corporal. Hasten! The hour, will soon be past.”
Excited by this ardent46 exhortation47, the sixty thousand people present rose up trembling and shouting: “To arms! To arms! Death to the Pyrotists! Hurrah48 for Crucho!” and all of them, monks49, women, soldiers, noblemen, citizens, and loafers, who were gathered beneath the superhuman arm uplifted in the pulpit, struck up the hymn50, “Let us save Penguinia!” They rushed impetuously from the basilica and marched along the quays51 to the Chamber5 of Deputies.
Left alone in the deserted52 nave53, the wise Cornemuse, lifting his arms to heaven, murmured in broken accents:
“Agnosco fortunam ecclesiae penguicanae! I see but too well whither this will lead us.”
The attack which the crowd made upon the legislative54 palace was repulsed55. Vigorously charged by the police and Alcan guards, the assailants were already fleeing in disorder56, when the Socialists57, running from the slums and led by comrades Dagobert, Lapersonne, and Varambille, threw themselves upon them and completed their discomfiture58. MM. de La Trumelle and d’Ampoule were taken to the police station. Prince des Boscenos, after a valiant59 struggle, fell upon the bloody60 pavement with a fractured skull61.
In the enthusiasm of victory, the comrades, mingled62 with an innumerable crowd of paper-sellers and gutter-merchants, ran through the boulevards all night, carrying Maniflore in triumph, and breaking the mirrors of the cafes and the glasses of the street lamps amid cries of “Down with Crucho! Hurrah for the Social Revolution!” The Anti–Pyrotists in their turn upset the newspaper kiosks and tore down the hoardings.
These were spectacles of which cool reason cannot approve and they were fit causes for grief to the municipal authorities, who desired to preserve the good order of the roads and streets. But what was sadder for a man of heart was the sight of the canting humbugs63, who, from fear of blows, kept at an equal distance from the two camps, and who, although they allowed their selfishness and cowardice to be visible, claimed admiration64 for the generosity65 of their sentiments and the nobility of their souls. They rubbed their eyes with onions, gaped66 like whitings, blew violently into their handkerchiefs, and, bringing their voices out of the depth of their stomachs, groaned67 forth39: “O Penguins, cease these fratricidal struggles; cease to rend7 your mother’s bosom68!” As if men could live in society without disputes and without quarrels, and as if civil discords69 were not the necessary conditions of national life and progress. They showed themselves hypocritical cowards by proposing a compromise between the just and the unjust, offending the just in his rectitude and the unjust in his courage. One of these creatures, the rich and powerful Machimel, a champion coward, rose upon the town like a colossus of grief; his tears formed poisonous lakes at his feet and his sighs capsized the boats of the fishermen.
During these stormy nights Bidault–Coquille at the top of his old steam-engine, under the serene70 sky, boasted in his heart, while the shooting stars registered themselves upon his photographic plates. He was fighting for justice. He loved and was loved with a sublime71 passion. Insult and calumny72 raised him to the clouds. A caricature of him in company with those of Colomban, Kerdanic, and Colonel Hastaing was to be seen in the newspaper kiosks. The Anti–Pyrotists proclaimed that he had received fifty thousand francs from the big Jewish financiers. The reporters of the militarist sheets held interviews regarding his scientific knowledge with official scholars, who declared he had no knowledge of the stars, disputed his most solid observations, denied his most certain discoveries, and condemned his most ingenious and most fruitful hypotheses. He exulted73 under these flattering blows of hatred74 and envy.
He contemplated75 the black immensity pierced by a multitude of lights, without giving a thought to all the heavy slumbers76, cruel insomnias, vain dreams, spoilt pleasures, and infinitely77 diverse miseries that a great city contains.
“It is in this enormous city,” said he to himself, “that the just and the unjust are joining battle.”
And substituting a simple and magnificent poetry for the multiple and vulgar reality, he represented to himself the Pyrot affair as a struggle between good and bad angels. He awaited the eternal triumph of the Sons of Light and congratulated himself on being a Child of the Day confounding the Children of Night.
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1 bishops | |
(基督教某些教派管辖大教区的)主教( bishop的名词复数 ); (国际象棋的)象 | |
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2 penguin | |
n.企鹅 | |
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3 deign | |
v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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4 repentant | |
adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
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5 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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6 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7 rend | |
vt.把…撕开,割裂;把…揪下来,强行夺取 | |
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8 aisle | |
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道 | |
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9 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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10 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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11 laity | |
n.俗人;门外汉 | |
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12 expiatory | |
adj.赎罪的,补偿的 | |
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13 propitiatory | |
adj.劝解的;抚慰的;谋求好感的;哄人息怒的 | |
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14 entrusted | |
v.委托,托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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16 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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17 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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18 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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19 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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20 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
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21 degradations | |
堕落( degradation的名词复数 ); 下降; 陵削; 毁坏 | |
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22 derived | |
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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23 etymology | |
n.语源;字源学 | |
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24 ablaze | |
adj.着火的,燃烧的;闪耀的,灯火辉煌的 | |
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25 depicted | |
描绘,描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 ); 描述 | |
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26 persecuted | |
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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27 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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28 shudder | |
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动 | |
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29 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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30 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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31 cleanse | |
vt.使清洁,使纯洁,清洗 | |
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32 perils | |
极大危险( peril的名词复数 ); 危险的事(或环境) | |
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33 penguins | |
n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 ) | |
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34 cowardice | |
n.胆小,怯懦 | |
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35 exterminating | |
v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的现在分词 ) | |
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36 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
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37 exterminated | |
v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38 philistines | |
n.市侩,庸人( philistine的名词复数 );庸夫俗子 | |
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39 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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40 contemptible | |
adj.可鄙的,可轻视的,卑劣的 | |
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41 favourably | |
adv. 善意地,赞成地 =favorably | |
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42 depose | |
vt.免职;宣誓作证 | |
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43 pusillanimous | |
adj.懦弱的,胆怯的 | |
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44 condemned | |
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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45 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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46 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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47 exhortation | |
n.劝告,规劝 | |
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48 hurrah | |
int.好哇,万岁,乌拉 | |
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49 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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50 hymn | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌 | |
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51 quays | |
码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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52 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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53 nave | |
n.教堂的中部;本堂 | |
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54 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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55 repulsed | |
v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 );驳斥;拒绝 | |
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56 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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57 socialists | |
社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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58 discomfiture | |
n.崩溃;大败;挫败;困惑 | |
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59 valiant | |
adj.勇敢的,英勇的;n.勇士,勇敢的人 | |
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60 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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61 skull | |
n.头骨;颅骨 | |
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62 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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63 humbugs | |
欺骗( humbug的名词复数 ); 虚伪; 骗子; 薄荷硬糖 | |
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64 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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65 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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66 gaped | |
v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 );张开,张大 | |
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67 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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68 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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69 discords | |
不和(discord的复数形式) | |
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70 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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71 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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72 calumny | |
n.诽谤,污蔑,中伤 | |
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73 exulted | |
狂喜,欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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75 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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76 slumbers | |
睡眠,安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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77 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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