In the position of Porthos, D’Artagnan would have been perfectly2 happy; and to make Porthos contented3 there was wanting--what? five letters to put before his three names, a tiny coronet to paint upon the panels of his carriage!
“I shall pass all my life,” thought D’Artagnan, “in seeking for a man who is really contented with his lot.”
Whilst making this reflection, chance seemed, as it were, to give him the lie direct. When Porthos had left him to give some orders he saw Mousqueton approaching. The face of the steward4, despite one slight shade of care, light as a summer cloud, seemed a physiognomy of absolute felicity.
“Here is what I am looking for,” thought D’Artagnan; “but alas5! the poor fellow does not know the purpose for which I am here.”
He then made a sign for Mousqueton to come to him.
“Sir,” said the servant, “I have a favour to ask you.”
“Speak out, my friend.”
“I am afraid to do so. Perhaps you will think, sir, that prosperity has spoiled me?”
“Art thou happy, friend?” asked D’Artagnan.
“As happy as possible; and yet, sir, you may make me even happier than I am.”
“Well, speak, if it depends on me.”
“Oh, sir! it depends on you only.”
“I listen--I am waiting to hear.”
“Sir, the favor I have to ask of you is, not to call me ‘Mousqueton’ but ‘Mouston.’ Since I have had the honor of being my lord’s steward I have taken the last name as more dignified6 and calculated to make my inferiors respect me. You, sir, know how necessary subordination is in any large establishment of servants.”
“Well, my dear Mouston,” he said, “rest satisfied. I will call thee Mouston; and if it makes thee happy I will not ‘tutoyer’ you any longer.”
“Oh!” cried Mousqueton, reddening with joy; “if you do me, sir, such honor, I shall be grateful all my life; it is too much to ask.”
“Alas!” thought D’Artagnan, “it is very little to offset8 the unexpected tribulations9 I am bringing to this poor devil who has so warmly welcomed me.”
“I go to-morrow, my friend,” replied D’Artagnan.
“I fear that is true,” said D’Artagnan, in a low tone.
D’Artagnan was secretly touched with remorse14, not at inducing Porthos to enter into schemes in which his life and fortune would be in jeopardy15, for Porthos, in the title of baron16, had his object and reward; but poor Mousqueton, whose only wish was to be called Mouston--was it not cruel to snatch him from the delightful17 state of peace and plenty in which he was?
He was thinking of these matters when Porthos summoned him to dinner.
“What! to dinner?” said D’Artagnan. “What time is it, then?”
“Eh! why, it is after one o’clock.”
“Your home is a paradise, Porthos; one takes no note of time. I follow you, though I am not hungry.”
“Come, if one can’t always eat, one can always drink--a maxim18 of poor Athos, the truth of which I have discovered since I began to be lonely.”
D’Artagnan, who as a Gascon, was inclined to sobriety, seemed not so sure as his friend of the truth of Athos’s maxim, but he did his best to keep up with his host. Meanwhile his misgivings19 in regard to Mousqueton recurred20 to his mind and with greater force because Mousqueton, though he did not himself wait on the table, which would have been beneath him in his new position, appeared at the door from time to time and evinced his gratitude21 to D’Artagnan by the quality of the wine he directed to be served. Therefore, when, at dessert, upon a sign from D’Artagnan, Porthos had sent away his servants and the two friends were alone:
“Porthos,” said D’Artagnan, “who will attend you in your campaigns?”
“Why,” replied Porthos, “Mouston, of course.”
This was a blow to D’Artagnan. He could already see the intendant’s beaming smile change to a contortion22 of grief. “But,” he said, “Mouston is not so young as he was, my dear fellow; besides, he has grown fat and perhaps has lost his fitness for active service.”
“That may be true,” replied Porthos; “but I am used to him, and besides, he wouldn’t be willing to let me go without him, he loves me so much.”
“Oh, blind self-love!” thought D’Artagnan.
“And you,” asked Porthos, “haven’t you still in your service your old lackey23, that good, that brave, that intelligent---what, then, is his name?”
“Planchet--yes, I have found him again, but he is lackey no longer.”
“What is he, then?”
“With his sixteen hundred francs--you remember, the sixteen hundred francs he earned at the siege of La Rochelle by carrying a letter to Lord de Winter--he has set up a little shop in the Rue13 des Lombards and is now a confectioner.”
“Ah, he is a confectioner in the Rue des Lombards! How does it happen, then, that he is in your service?”
“He has been guilty of certain escapades and fears he may be disturbed.” And the musketeer narrated24 to his friend Planchet’s adventure.
“Well,” said Porthos, “if any one had told you in the old times that the day would come when Planchet would rescue Rochefort and that you would protect him in it----”
“I should not have believed him; but men are changed by events.”
“There is nothing truer than that,” said Porthos; “but what does not change, or changes for the better, is wine. Taste of this; it is a Spanish wine which our friend Athos thought much of.”
At that moment the steward came in to consult his master upon the proceedings25 of the next day and also with regard to the shooting party which had been proposed.
“Tell me, Mouston,” said Porthos, “are my arms in good condition?”
“Your arms, my lord--what arms?”
“Zounds! my weapons.”
“What weapons?”
“My military weapons.”
“Yes, my lord; at any rate, I think so.”
“Vulcan.”
“Bayard.”
“What horse dost thou choose for thyself?”
“I like Rustaud, my lord; a good animal, whose paces suit me.”
“Strong, thinkest thou?”
“Half Norman, half Mecklenburger; will go night and day.”
“That will do for us. See to these horses. Polish up or make some one else polish my arms. Then take pistols with thee and a hunting-knife.”
“Are we then going to travel, my lord?” asked Mousqueton, rather uneasy.
“Something better still, Mouston.”
“An expedition, sir?” asked the steward, whose roses began to change into lilies.
“We are going to return to the service, Mouston,” replied Porthos, still trying to restore his mustache to the military curl it had long lost.
“Into the service--the king’s service?” Mousqueton trembled; even his fat, smooth cheeks shook as he spoke29, and he looked at D’Artagnan with an air of reproach; he staggered, and his voice was almost choked.
“Yes and no. We shall serve in a campaign, seek out all sorts of adventures--return, in short, to our former life.”
These last words fell on Mousqueton like a thunderbolt. It was those very terrible old days that made the present so excessively delightful, and the blow was so great he rushed out, overcome, and forgot to shut the door.
The two friends remained alone to speak of the future and to build castles in the air. The good wine which Mousqueton had placed before them traced out in glowing drops to D’Artagnan a fine perspective, shining with quadruples and pistoles, and showed to Porthos a blue ribbon and a ducal mantle30; they were, in fact, asleep on the table when the servants came to light them to their bed.
Mousqueton was, however, somewhat consoled by D’Artagnan, who the next day told him that in all probability war would always be carried on in the heart of Paris and within reach of the Chateau31 du Vallon, which was near Corbeil, or Bracieux, which was near Melun, and of Pierrefonds, which was between Compiegne and Villars-Cotterets.
“Oh!” said D’Artagnan, “we don’t now make war as we did formerly. To-day it’s a sort of diplomatic arrangement; ask Planchet.”
Mousqueton inquired, therefore, the state of the case of his old friend, who confirmed the statement of D’Artagnan. “But,” he added, “in this war prisoners stand a chance of being hung.”
“The deuce they do!” said Mousqueton; “I think I should like the siege of Rochelle better than this war, then!”
Porthos, meantime, asked D’Artagnan to give him his instructions how to proceed on his journey.
“Four days,” replied his friend, “are necessary to reach Blois; one day to rest there; three or four days to return to Paris. Set out, therefore, in a week, with your suite33, and go to the Hotel de la Chevrette, Rue Tiquetonne, and there await me.”
“That’s agreed,” said Porthos.
“As to myself, I shall go around to see Athos; for though I don’t think his aid worth much, one must with one’s friends observe all due politeness,” said D’Artagnan.
The friends then took leave of each other on the very border of the estate of Pierrefonds, to which Porthos escorted his friend.
“At least,” D’Artagnan said to himself, as he took the road to Villars-Cotterets, “at least I shall not be alone in my undertaking34. That devil, Porthos, is a man of prodigious35 strength; still, if Athos joins us, well, we shall be three of us to laugh at Aramis, that little coxcomb36 with his too good luck.”
“My Lord,--I have already one man to offer to your eminence38, and he is well worth twenty men. I am just setting out for Blois. The Comte de la Fere inhabits the Castle of Bragelonne, in the environs of that city.”
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1
miseries
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| 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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2
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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3
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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6
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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7
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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8
offset
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| n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿 | |
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9
tribulations
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| n.苦难( tribulation的名词复数 )；艰难；苦难的缘由；痛苦 | |
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10
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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11
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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12
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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13
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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14
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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15
jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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16
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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17
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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18
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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19
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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20
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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21
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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22
contortion
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| n.扭弯，扭歪，曲解 | |
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23
lackey
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| n.侍从；跟班 | |
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24
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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26
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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27
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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28
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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29
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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30
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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31
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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32
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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33
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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34
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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35
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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36
coxcomb
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| n.花花公子 | |
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37
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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38
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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