“Die, scoundrel!” she cried. It was Maniflore. Before those present could understand what was happening, the general seized her by the wrist, and with apparent gentleness, squeezed it so forcibly that the knife fell from her aching hand.
Then he picked it up and handed it to Maniflore.
“Madam,” said he with a bow, “you have dropped a household utensil5.”
He could not prevent the heroine from being taken to the police-station; but he had her immediately released and afterwards he employed all his influence to stop the prosecution6.
The second conviction of Pyrot was Greatauk’s last victory.
Justice Chaussepied, who had formerly7 liked soldiers so much, and esteemed8 their justice so highly, being now enraged10 with the military judges, squashed their judgments11 as a monkey cracks nuts. He rehabilitated13 Pyrot a second time; he would, if necessary, have rehabilitated him five hundred times.
Furious at having been cowards and at having allowed themselves to be deceived and made game of, the Republicans turned against the monks14 and clergy15. The deputies passed laws of expulsion, separation, and spoliation against them. What Father Cornemuse had foreseen took place. That good monk12 was driven from the Wood of Conils. Treasury16 officers confiscated17 his retorts and his stills, and the liquidators divided amongst them his bottles of St. Orberosian liqueur. The pious18 distiller lost the annual income of three million five hundred thousand francs that his products procured20 for him. Father Agaric went into exile, abandoning his school into the hands of laymen21, who soon allowed it to fall into decay. Separated from its foster-mother, the State, the Church of Penguinia withered22 like a plucked flower.
The victorious23 defenders24 of the innocent man now abused each other and overwhelmed each other reciprocally with insults and calumnies26. The vehement27 Kerdanic hurled28 himself upon Phoenix29 as if ready to devour30 him. The wealthy Jews and the seven hundred Pyrotists turned away with disdain31 from the socialist32 comrades whose aid they had humbly33 implored34 in the past.
“We know you no longer,” said they. “To the devil with you and your social justice. Social justice is the defence of property.”
Having been elected a Deputy and chosen to be the leader of the new majority, comrade Larrivee was appointed by the Chamber35 and public opinion to the Premiership. He showed himself an energetic defender25 of the military tribunals that had condemned36 Pyrot. When his former socialist comrades claimed a little more justice and liberty for the employe’s of the State as well as for manual workers, he opposed their proposals in an eloquent37 speech.
“Liberty,” said he, “is not licence. Between order and disorder38 my choice is made: revolution is impotence. Progress has no more formidable enemy than violence. Gentlemen, those who, as I am, are anxious for reform, ought to apply themselves before everything else to cure this agitation39 which enfeebles government just as fever exhausts those who are ill. It is time to reassure40 honest people.”
This speech was received with applause. The government of the Republic remained in subjection to the great financial companies, the army was exclusively devoted41 to the defence of capital, while the fleet was designed solely42 to procure19 fresh orders for the mine-owners. Since the rich refused to pay their just share of the taxes, the poor, as in the past, paid for them.
In the mean time from the height of his old steam-engine, beneath the crowded stars of night, Bidault–Coquille gazed sadly at the sleeping city. Maniflore had left him. Consumed with a desire for fresh devotions and fresh sacrifices, she had gone in company with a young Bulgarian to bear justice and vengeance43 to Sofia. He did not regret her, having perceived, after the Affair, that she was less beautiful in form and in thought than he had at first imagined. His impressions had been modified in the same direction concerning many other forms and many other thoughts. And what was cruelest of all to him, he regarded himself as not so great, not so splendid, as he had believed.
And he reflected:
“You considered yourself sublime44 when you hid but candour and good-will. Of what were you proud, Bidault–Coquille? Of having been one of the first to know that Pyrot was innocent and Greatauk a scoundrel. But three-fourths of those who defended Greatauk against the attacks of the seven hundred Pyrotists knew that better than you. Of what then did you show yourself so proud? Of having dared to say what you thought? That is civic45 courage, and, like military courage, it is a mere46 result of imprudence. You have been imprudent. So far so good, but that is no reason for praising yourself beyond measure. Your imprudence was trifling47; it exposed you to trifling perils48; you did not risk your head by it. The Penguins49 have lost that cruel and sanguinary pride which formerly gave a tragic50 grandeur51 to their revolutions; it is the fatal result of the weakening of beliefs and characters. Ought one to look upon oneself as a superior spirit for having shown a little more clear-sightedness than the vulgar? I am very much afraid, on the contrary, Bidault–Coquille, that you have given proof of a gross misunderstanding of the conditions of the moral and intellectual development of a people. You imagined that social injustices52 were threaded together like pearls and that it would be enough to pull off one in order to unfasten the whole necklace. That is a very ingenuous53 conception. You flattered yourself that at one stroke you were establishing justice in your own country and in the universe. You were a brave man, an honest idealist, though without much experimental philosophy. But go home to your own heart and you will recognise that you had in you a spice of malice54 and that your ingenuousness55 was not without cunning. You believed you were performing a fine moral action. You said to yourself: ‘Here am I, just and courageous56 once for all. I can henceforth repose57 in the public esteem9 and the praise of historians.’ And now that you have lost your illusions, now that you know how hard it is to redress58 wrongs, and that the task must ever be begun afresh, you are going back to your asteroids59. You are right; but go back to them with modesty60, Bidault–Coquille!”
点击收听单词发音
1 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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2 connoisseurs | |
n.鉴赏家,鉴定家,行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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3 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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4 brandishing | |
v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 );炫耀 | |
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5 utensil | |
n.器皿,用具 | |
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6 prosecution | |
n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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7 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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8 esteemed | |
adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
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9 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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10 enraged | |
使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 ); 歜; 激愤 | |
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11 judgments | |
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判 | |
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12 monk | |
n.和尚,僧侣,修道士 | |
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13 rehabilitated | |
改造(罪犯等)( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 ); 使恢复正常生活; 使恢复原状; 修复 | |
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14 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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15 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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16 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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17 confiscated | |
没收,充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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19 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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20 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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21 laymen | |
门外汉,外行人( layman的名词复数 ); 普通教徒(有别于神职人员) | |
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22 withered | |
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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23 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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24 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
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25 defender | |
n.保卫者,拥护者,辩护人 | |
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26 calumnies | |
n.诬蔑,诽谤,中伤(的话)( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
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27 vehement | |
adj.感情强烈的;热烈的;(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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28 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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29 phoenix | |
n.凤凰,长生(不死)鸟;引申为重生 | |
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30 devour | |
v.吞没;贪婪地注视或谛听,贪读;使着迷 | |
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31 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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32 socialist | |
n.社会主义者;adj.社会主义的 | |
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33 humbly | |
adv. 恭顺地,谦卑地 | |
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34 implored | |
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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36 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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37 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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38 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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39 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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40 reassure | |
v.使放心,使消除疑虑 | |
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41 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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42 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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43 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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44 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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45 civic | |
adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的 | |
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46 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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47 trifling | |
adj.微不足道的;没什么价值的 | |
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48 perils | |
极大危险( peril的名词复数 ); 危险的事(或环境) | |
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49 penguins | |
n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 ) | |
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50 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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51 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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52 injustices | |
不公平( injustice的名词复数 ); 非正义; 待…不公正; 冤枉 | |
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53 ingenuous | |
adj.纯朴的,单纯的;天真的;坦率的 | |
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54 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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55 ingenuousness | |
n.率直;正直;老实 | |
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56 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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57 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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58 redress | |
n.赔偿,救济,矫正;v.纠正,匡正,革除 | |
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59 asteroids | |
n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 );海盘车,海星 | |
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60 modesty | |
n.谦逊,虚心,端庄,稳重,羞怯,朴素 | |
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