The journey lasted several hours without other incidents than those brought about by the tremendous jolts4, which threw the two passengers inside one on top of the other. This might have made an opening for conversation; and the “gentleman of the Neva” tried it; but in vain. Rouletabille would not respond. At one moment, indeed, the gentleman, who was growing bored, became so pressing that the reporter finally said in the curt5 tone he always used when he was irritated:
“I pray you, monsieur, let me smoke my pipe in peace.”
Upon which the gentleman prudently6 occupied himself in lowering one of the windows, for it grew stifling7.
Finally, after much jolting8, there was a stop while the horses were changed and the gentleman asked Rouletabille to let himself be blindfolded9. “The moment has come; they are going to hang me without any form of trial,” thought the reporter, and when, blinded with the bandage, he felt himself lifted under the arms, there was revolt of his whole being, that being which, now that it was on the point of dying, did not wish to cease. Rouletabille would have believed himself stronger, more courageous10, more stoical at least. But blind instinct swept all of this away, that instinct of conservation which had no concern with the minor11 bravadoes of the reporter, no concern with the fine heroic manner, of the determined12 pose to die finely, because the instinct of conservation, which is, as its rigid13 name indicates, essentially14 materialistic15, demands only, thinks of nothing but, to live. And it was that instinct which made Rouletabille’s last pipe die out unpuffed.
The young man was furious with himself, and he grew pale with the fear that he might not succeed in mastering this emotion, he took fierce hold of himself and his members, which had stiffened16 at the contact of seizure17 by rough hands, relaxed, and he allowed himself to be led. Truly, he was disgusted with his faintness and weakness. He had seen men die who knew they were going to die. His task as reporter had led him more than once to the foot of the guillotine. And the wretches18 he had seen there had died bravely. Extraordinarily19 enough, the most criminal had ordinarily met death most bravely. Of course, they had had leisure to prepare themselves, thinking a long time in advance of that supreme20 moment. But they affronted21 death, came to it almost negligently22, found strength even to say banal23 or taunting24 things to those around them. He recalled above all a boy of eighteen years old who had cowardly murdered an old woman and two children in a back-country farm, and had walked to his death without a tremor25, talking reassuringly26 to the priest and the police official, who walked almost sick with horror on either side of him. Could he, then, not be as brave as that child?
They made him mount some steps and he felt that he had entered the stuffy27 atmosphere of a closed room. Then someone removed the bandage. He was in a room of sinister28 aspect and in the midst of a rather large company.
Within these naked, neglected walls there were about thirty young men, some of them apparently29 quite as young as Rouletabille, with candid30 blue eyes and pale complexions31. The others, older men, were of the physical type of Christs, not the animated32 Christs of Occidental painters, but those that are seen on the panels of the Byzantine school or fastened on the ikons, sculptures of silver or gold. Their long hair, deeply parted in the middle, fell upon their shoulders in curl-tipped golden masses. Some leant against the wall, erect33, and motionless. Others were seated on the floor, their legs crossed. Most of them were in winter coats, bought in the bazaars34. But there were also men from the country, with their skins of beasts, their sayons, their touloupes. One of them had his legs laced about with cords and was shod with twined willow35 twigs36. The contrast afforded by various ones of these grave and attentive37 figures showed that representatives from the entire revolutionary party were present. At the back of the room, behind a table, three young men were seated, and the oldest of them was not more than twenty-five and had the benign38 beauty of Jesus on feast-days, canopied39 by consecrated40 palms.
In the center of the room a small table stood, quite bare and without any apparent purpose.
On the right was another table with paper, pens and ink-stands. It was there that Rouletabille was conducted and asked to be seated. Then he saw that another man was at his side, who was required to keep standing41. His face was pale and desperate, very drawn42. His eyes burned somberly, in spite of the panic that deformed43 his features Rouletabille recognized one of the unintroduced friends whom Gounsovski had brought with him to the supper at Krestowsky. Evidently since then the always-threatening misfortune had fallen upon him. They were proceeding44 with his trial. The one who seemed to preside over these strange sessions pronounced a name:
“Annouchka!”
A door opened, and Annouchka appeared.
Rouletabille hardly recognized her, she was so strangely dressed, like the Russian poor, with her under-jacket of red-flannel and the handkerchief which, knotted under her chin, covered all her beautiful hair.
She immediately testified in Russian against the man, who protested until they compelled him to be silent. She drew from her pocket papers which were read aloud, and which appeared to crush the accused. He fell back onto his seat. He shivered. He hid his head in his hands, and Rouletabille saw the hands tremble. The man kept that position while the other witnesses were heard, their testimony45 arousing murmurs46 of indignation that were quickly checked. Annouchka had gone to take her place with the others against the wall, in the shadows which more and more invaded the room, at this ending of a lugubrious48 day. Two windows reaching to the floor let a wan49 light creep with difficulty through their dirty panes50, making a vague twilight51 in the room. Soon nothing could be seen of the motionless figures against the wall, much as the faces fade in the frescoes52 from which the centuries have effaced53 the colors in the depths of orthodox convents.
Now someone from the depths of the shadow and the appalling54 silence read something; the verdict, doubtless.
The voice ceased.
Then some of the figures detached themselves from the wall and advanced.
The man who crouched55 near Rouletabille rose in a savage56 bound and cried out rapidly, wild words, supplicating57 words, menacing words.
And then — nothing more but strangling gasps58. The figures that had moved out from the wall had clutched his throat.
The reporter said, “It is cowardly.”
Annouchka’s voice, low, from the depths of shadow, replied, “It is just.”
But Rouletabille was satisfied with having said that, for he had proved to himself that he could still speak. His emotion had been such, since they had pushed him into the center of this sinister and expeditious59 revolutionary assembly of justice, that he thought of nothing but the terror of not being able to speak to them, to say something to them, no matter what, which would prove to them that he had no fear. Well, that was over. He had not failed to say, “That is cowardly.”
And he crossed his arms. But he soon bad to turn away his head in order not to see the use the table was put to that stood in the center of the room, where it had seemed to serve no purpose.
They had lifted the man, still struggling, up onto the little table. They placed a rope about his neck. Then one of the “judges,” one of the blond young men, who seemed no older than Rouletabille, climbed on the table and slipped the other end of the rope through a great ring-bolt that projected from a beam of the ceiling. During this time the man struggled futilely60, and his death-rattle rose at last though the continued noise of his resistance and its overcoming. But his last breath came with so violent a shake of the body that the whole death-apparatus, rope and ring-bolt, separated from the ceiling, and rolled to the ground with the dead man.
Rouletabille uttered a cry of horror. “You are assassins!” he cried. But was the man surely dead? It was this that the pale figures with the yellow hair set themselves to make sure of. He was. Then they brought two sacks and the dead man was slipped into one of them.
Rouletabille said to them:
“You are braver when you kill by an explosion, you know.”
He regretted bitterly that he had not died the night before in the explosion. He did not feel very brave. He talked to them bravely enough, but he trembled as his time approached. That death horrified61 him. He tried to keep from looking at the other sack. He took the two ikons, of Saint Luke and of the Virgin62, from his pocket and prayed to them. He thought of the Lady in Black and wept.
A voice in the shadows said:
“He is crying, the poor little fellow.”
It was Annouchka’s voice.
Rouletabille dried his tears and said:
“Messieurs, one of you must have a mother.”
But all the voices cried:
“No, no, we have mothers no more!”
“They have killed them,” cried some. “They have sent them to Siberia,” cried others.
“Well, I have a mother still,” said the poor lad. “I will not have the opportunity to embrace her. It is a mother that I lost the day of my birth and that I have found again, but — I suppose it is to be said — on the day of my death. I shall not see her again. I have a friend; I shall not see him again either. I have two little ikons here for them, and I am going to write a letter to each of them, if you will permit it. Swear to me that you will see these reach them.”
“I swear it,” said, in French, the voice of Annouchka.
“Thanks, madame, you are kind. And now, messieurs, that is all I ask of you. I know I am here to reply to very grave accusations63. Permit me to say to you at once that I admit them all to be well founded. Consequently, there need be no discussion between us. I have deserved death and I accept it. So permit me not to concern myself with what will be going on here. I ask of you simply, as a last favor, not to hasten your preparations too much, so that I may be able to finish my letters.”
Upon which, satisfied with himself this time, he sat down again and commenced to write rapidly. They left him in peace, as he desired. He did not raise his head once, even at the moment when a murmur47 louder than usual showed that the hearers regarded Rouletabille’s crimes with especial detestation. He had the happiness of having entirely64 completed his correspond once when they asked him to rise to hear judgment65 pronounced upon him. The supreme communion that he had just had with his friend Sainclair and with the dear Lady in Black restored all his spirit to him. He listened respectfully to the sentence which condemned66 him to death, though he was busy sliding his tongue along the gummed edge of his envelope.
These were the counts on which he was to be hanged:
Because he had come to Russia and mixed in affairs that did not concern his nationality, and had done this in spite of warning to remain in France.
Because he had not kept the promises of neutrality he freely made to a representative of the Central Revolutionary Committee.
For trying to penetrate67 the mystery of the Trebassof datcha.
For having Comrade Matiew whipped and imprisoned68 by Koupriane.
For having denounced to Koupriane the identity of the two “doctors” who had been assigned to kill General Trebassof.
For having caused the arrest of Natacha Feodorovna.
It was a list longer than was needed for his doom69. Rouletabille kissed his ikons and handed them to Annouchka along with the letters. Then he declared, with his lips trembling slightly, and a cold sweat on his forehead, that he was ready to submit to his fate.
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收听单词发音
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1
disarm
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| v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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concierge
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| n.管理员；门房 | |
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jolts
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的名词复数 ) | |
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curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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6
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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9
blindfolded
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| v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗 | |
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10
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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12
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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13
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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14
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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15
materialistic
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| a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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18
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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19
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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20
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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21
affronted
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| adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇 | |
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22
negligently
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23
banal
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| adj.陈腐的，平庸的 | |
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24
taunting
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| 嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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25
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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27
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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28
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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29
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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30
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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31
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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32
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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33
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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34
bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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35
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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37
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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38
benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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39
canopied
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| adj. 遮有天篷的 | |
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40
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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41
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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42
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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43
deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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44
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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45
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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46
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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47
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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48
lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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49
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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50
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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51
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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52
frescoes
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| n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 )；温壁画技法，湿壁画 | |
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53
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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54
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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55
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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57
supplicating
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| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的现在分词 ) | |
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58
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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59
expeditious
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| adj.迅速的，敏捷的 | |
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60
futilely
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| futile（无用的）的变形； 干 | |
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61
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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62
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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63
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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64
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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65
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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66
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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67
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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68
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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