It was about midnight when poor Van Baerle was locked up inthe prison of the Buytenhof.
What Rosa foresaw had come to pass. On finding the cell ofCornelius de Witt empty, the wrath1 of the people ran veryhigh, and had Gryphus fallen into the hands of those madmenhe would certainly have had to pay with his life for theprisoner.
But this fury had vented2 itself most fully3 on the twobrothers when they were overtaken by the murderers, thanksto the precaution which William -- the man of precautions --had taken in having the gates of the city closed.
A momentary4 lull5 had therefore set in whilst the prison wasempty, and Rosa availed herself of this favourable6 moment tocome forth7 from her hiding place, which she also induced herfather to leave.
The prison was therefore completely deserted8. Why shouldpeople remain in the jail whilst murder was going on at theTol-Hek?
Gryphus came forth trembling behind the courageous9 Rosa.
They went to close the great gate, at least as well as itwould close, considering that it was half demolished10. It waseasy to see that a hurricane of mighty11 fury had venteditself upon it.
About four o'clock a return of the noise was heard, but ofno threatening character to Gryphus and his daughter. Thepeople were only dragging in the two corpses12, which theycame back to gibbet at the usual place of execution.
Rosa hid herself this time also, but only that she might notsee the ghastly spectacle.
At midnight, people again knocked at the gate of the jail,or rather at the barricade13 which served in its stead: it wasCornelius van Baerle whom they were bringing.
When the jailer received this new inmate14, and saw from thewarrant the name and station of his prisoner, he mutteredwith his turnkey smile, --"Godson of Cornelius de Witt! Well, young man, we have thefamily cell here, and we will give it to you."And quite enchanted15 with his joke, the ferocious16 Orangemantook his cresset and his keys to conduct Cornelius to thecell, which on that very morning Cornelius de Witt had leftto go into exile, or what in revolutionary times is meantinstead by those sublime17 philosophers who lay it down as anaxiom of high policy, "It is the dead only who do notreturn."On the way which the despairing florist18 had to traverse toreach that cell he heard nothing but the barking of a dog,and saw nothing but the face of a young girl.
The dog rushed forth from a niche19 in the wall, shaking hisheavy chain, and sniffing20 all round Cornelius in order somuch the better to recognise him in case he should beordered to pounce21 upon him.
The young girl, whilst the prisoner was mounting thestaircase, appeared at the narrow door of her chamber22, whichopened on that very flight of steps; and, holding the lampin her right hand, she at the same time lit up her prettyblooming face, surrounded by a profusion23 of rich wavy24 goldenlocks, whilst with her left she held her white night-dressclosely over her breast, having been roused from her firstslumber by the unexpected arrival of Van Baerle.
It would have made a fine picture, worthy25 of Rembrandt, thegloomy winding26 stairs illuminated27 by the reddish glare ofthe cresset of Gryphus, with his scowling28 jailer'scountenance at the top, the melancholy29 figure of Corneliusbending over the banister to look down upon the sweet faceof Rosa, standing30, as it were, in the bright frame of thedoor of her chamber, with embarrassed mien31 at being thusseen by a stranger.
And at the bottom, quite in the shade, where the details areabsorbed in the obscurity, the mastiff, with his eyesglistening like carbuncles, and shaking his chain, on whichthe double light from the lamp of Rosa and the lantern ofGryphus threw a brilliant glitter.
The sublime master would, however, have been altogetherunable to render the sorrow expressed in the face of Rosa,when she saw this pale, handsome young man slowly climbingthe stairs, and thought of the full import of the words,which her father had just spoken, "You will have the familycell."This vision lasted but a moment, -- much less time than wehave taken to describe it. Gryphus then proceeded on hisway, Cornelius was forced to follow him, and five minutesafterwards he entered his prison, of which it is unnecessaryto say more, as the reader is already acquainted with it.
Gryphus pointed32 with his finger to the bed on which themartyr had suffered so much, who on that day had renderedhis soul to God. Then, taking up his cresset, he quitted thecell.
Thus left alone, Cornelius threw himself on his bed, but heslept not, he kept his eye fixed33 on the narrow window,barred with iron, which looked on the Buytenhof; and in thisway saw from behind the trees that first pale beam of lightwhich morning sheds on the earth as a white mantle34.
Now and then during the night horses had galloped35 at a smartpace over the Buytenhof, the heavy tramp of the patrols hadresounded from the pavement, and the slow matches of thearquebuses, flaring36 in the east wind, had thrown up atintervals a sudden glare as far as to the panes37 of hiswindow.
But when the rising sun began to gild38 the coping stones atthe gable ends of the houses, Cornelius, eager to knowwhether there was any living creature about him, approachedthe window, and cast a sad look round the circular yardbefore himAt the end of the yard a dark mass, tinted39 with a dingy40 blueby the morning dawn, rose before him, its dark outlinesstanding out in contrast to the houses already illuminatedby the pale light of early morning.
Cornelius recognised the gibbet.
On it were suspended two shapeless trunks, which indeed wereno more than bleeding skeletons.
The good people of the Hague had chopped off the flesh ofits victims, but faithfully carried the remainder to thegibbet, to have a pretext41 for a double inscription42 writtenon a huge placard, on which Cornelius; with the keen sightof a young man of twenty-eight, was able to read thefollowing lines, daubed by the coarse brush of asign-painter: --"Here are hanging the great rogue43 of the name of John deWitt, and the little rogue Cornelius de Witt, his brother,two enemies of the people, but great friends of the king ofFrance."Cornelius uttered a cry of horror, and in the agony of hisfrantic terror knocked with his hands and feet at the doorso violently and continuously, that Gryphus, with his hugebunch of keys in his hand, ran furiously up.
The jailer opened the door, with terrible imprecationsagainst the prisoner who disturbed him at an hour whichMaster Gryphus was not accustomed to be aroused.
"Well, now, by my soul, he is mad, this new De Witt," hecried, "but all those De Witts have the devil in them.""Master, master," cried Cornelius, seizing the jailer by thearm and dragging him towards the window, -- "master, whathave I read down there?""Where down there?""On that placard."And, trembling, pale, and gasping44 for breath, he pointed tothe gibbet at the other side of the yard, with the cynicalinscription surmounting45 it.
Gryphus broke out into a laugh.
"Eh! eh!" he answered, "so, you have read it. Well, my goodsir, that's what people will get for corresponding with theenemies of his Highness the Prince of Orange.""The brothers De Witt are murdered!" Cornelius muttered,with the cold sweat on his brow, and sank on his bed, hisarms hanging by his side, and his eyes closed.
"The brothers De Witt have been judged by the people," saidGryphus; "you call that murdered, do you? well, I call itexecuted."And seeing that the prisoner was not only quiet, butentirely prostrate46 and senseless, he rushed from the cell,violently slamming the door, and noisily drawing the bolts.
Recovering his consciousness, Cornelius found himself alone,and recognised the room where he was, -- "the family cell,"as Gryphus had called it, -- as the fatal passage leading toignominious death.
And as he was a philosopher, and, more than that, as he wasa Christian47, he began to pray for the soul of his godfather,then for that of the Grand Pensionary, and at last submittedwith resignation to all the sufferings which God mightordain for him.
Then turning again to the concerns of earth, and havingsatisfied himself that he was alone in his dungeon48, he drewfrom his breast the three bulbs of the black tulip, andconcealed them behind a block of stone, on which thetraditional water-jug of the prison was standing, in thedarkest corner of his cell.
Useless labour of so many years! such sweet hopes crushed;his discovery was, after all, to lead to naught49, just as hisown career was to be cut short. Here, in his prison, therewas not a trace of vegetation, not an atom of soil, not aray of sunshine.
At this thought Cornelius fell into a gloomy despair, fromwhich he was only aroused by an extraordinary circumstance.
What was this circumstance?
We shall inform the reader in our next chapter.
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1
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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vented
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| 表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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inmate
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| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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florist
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| n.花商；种花者 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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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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mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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gild
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| vt.给…镀金，把…漆成金色，使呈金色 | |
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tinted
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| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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45
surmounting
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| 战胜( surmount的现在分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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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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47
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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48
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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