Quid mirare meas tot in uno corpore formas?
Propert.
(Why wonder that I have so many forms in a single body?)
Zanoni to Mejnour.
.....
“She is in one of their prisons,— their inexorable prisons. It is Robespierre’s order,— I have tracked the cause to Glyndon. This, then, made that terrible connection between their fates which I could not unravel1, but which (till severed2 as it now is) wrapped Glyndon himself in the same cloud that concealed3 her. In prison,— in prison!— it is the gate of the grave! Her trial, and the inevitable4 execution that follows such trial, is the third day from this. The tyrant5 has fixed6 all his schemes of slaughter7 for the 10th of Thermidor. While the deaths of the unoffending strike awe8 to the city, his satellites are to massacre9 his foes10. There is but one hope left,— that the Power which now dooms11 the doomer, may render me an instrument to expedite his fall. But two days left,— two days! In all my wealth of time I see but two days; all beyond,— darkness, solitude12. I may save her yet. The tyrant shall fall the day before that which he has set apart for slaughter! For the first time I mix among the broils13 and stratagems14 of men, and my mind leaps up from my despair, armed and eager for the contest.”
....
A crowd had gathered round the Rue15 St. Honore; a young man was just arrested by the order of Robespierre. He was known to be in the service of Tallien, that hostile leader in the Convention, whom the tyrant had hitherto trembled to attack. This incident had therefore produced a greater excitement than a circumstance so customary as an arrest in the Reign17 of Terror might be supposed to create. Amongst the crowd were many friends of Tallien, many foes to the tyrant, many weary of beholding18 the tiger dragging victim after victim to its den16. Hoarse19, foreboding murmurs20 were heard; fierce eyes glared upon the officers as they seized their prisoner; and though they did not yet dare openly to resist, those in the rear pressed on those behind, and encumbered21 the path of the captive and his captors. The young man struggled hard for escape, and, by a violent effort, at last wrenched22 himself from the grasp. The crowd made way, and closed round to protect him, as he dived and darted23 through their ranks; but suddenly the trampling24 of horses was heard at hand,— the savage25 Henriot and his troop were bearing down upon the mob. The crowd gave way in alarm, and the prisoner was again seized by one of the partisans26 of the Dictator. At that moment a voice whispered the prisoner, “Thou hast a letter which, if found on thee, ruins thy last hope. Give it to me! I will bear it to Tallien.” The prisoner turned in amaze, read something that encouraged him in the eyes of the stranger who thus accosted27 him. The troop were now on the spot; the Jacobin who had seized the prisoner released hold of him for a moment to escape the hoofs28 of the horses: in that moment the opportunity was found,— the stranger had disappeared.
....
At the house of Tallien the principal foes of the tyrant were assembled. Common danger made common fellowship. All factions29 laid aside their feuds30 for the hour to unite against the formidable man who was marching over all factions to his gory31 throne. There was bold Lecointre, the declared enemy; there, creeping Barrere, who would reconcile all extremes, the hero of the cowards; Barras, calm and collected; Collet d’Herbois, breathing wrath32 and vengeance33, and seeing not that the crimes of Robespierre alone sheltered his own.
The council was agitated34 and irresolute35. The awe which the uniform success and the prodigious36 energy of Robespierre excited still held the greater part under its control. Tallien, whom the tyrant most feared, and who alone could give head and substance and direction to so many contradictory37 passions, was too sullied by the memory of his own cruelties not to feel embarrassed by his position as the champion of mercy. “It is true,” he said, after an animating38 harangue39 from Lecointre, “that the Usurper40 menaces us all. But he is still so beloved by his mobs,— still so supported by his Jacobins: better delay open hostilities41 till the hour is more ripe. To attempt and not succeed is to give us, bound hand and foot, to the guillotine. Every day his power must decline. Procrastination42 is our best ally —” While yet speaking, and while yet producing the effect of water on the fire, it was announced that a stranger demanded to see him instantly on business that brooked43 no delay.
“I am not at leisure,” said the orator44, impatiently. The servant placed a note on the table. Tallien opened it, and found these words in pencil, “From the prison of Teresa de Fontenai.” He turned pale, started up, and hastened to the anteroom, where he beheld45 a face entirely46 strange to him.
“Hope of France!” said the visitor to him, and the very sound of his voice went straight to the heart,—“your servant is arrested in the streets. I have saved your life, and that of your wife who will be. I bring to you this letter from Teresa de Fontenai.”
Tallien, with a trembling hand, opened the letter, and read,—
“Am I forever to implore47 you in vain? Again and again I say, ‘Lose not an hour if you value my life and your own.’ My trial and death are fixed the third day from this,— the 10th Thermidor. Strike while it is yet time,— strike the monster!— you have two days yet. If you fail,— if you procrastinate,— see me for the last time as I pass your windows to the guillotine!”
“Her trial will give proof against you,” said the stranger. “Her death is the herald48 of your own. Fear not the populace,— the populace would have rescued your servant. Fear not Robespierre,— he gives himself to your hands. To-morrow he comes to the Convention,— tomorrow you must cast the last throw for his head or your own.”
“To-morrow he comes to the Convention! And who are you that know so well what is concealed from me?”
“A man like you, who would save the woman he loves.”
Before Tallien could recover his surprise, the visitor was gone.
Back went the Avenger49 to his conclave50 an altered man. “I have heard tidings,— no matter what,” he cried,—“that have changed my purpose. On the 10th we are destined51 to the guillotine. I revoke52 my counsel for delay. Robespierre comes to the Convention tomorrow; THERE we must confront and crush him. From the Mountain shall frown against him the grim shade of Danton,— from the Plain shall rise, in their bloody53 cerements, the spectres of Vergniaud and Condorcet. Frappons!”
“Frappons!” cried even Barrere, startled into energy by the new daring of his colleague,—“frappons! il n’y a que les morts qui ne reviennent pas.”
It was observable (and the fact may be found in one of the memoirs54 of the time) that, during that day and night (the 7th Thermidor), a stranger to all the previous events of that stormy time was seen in various parts of the city,— in the cafes, the clubs, the haunts of the various factions; that, to the astonishment55 and dismay of his hearers, he talked aloud of the crimes of Robespierre, and predicted his coming fall; and, as he spoke56, he stirred up the hearts of men, he loosed the bonds of their fear,— he inflamed57 them with unwonted rage and daring. But what surprised them most was, that no voice replied, no hand was lifted against him, no minion58, even of the tyrant, cried, “Arrest the traitor59.” In that impunity60 men read, as in a book, that the populace had deserted61 the man of blood.
Once only a fierce, brawny62 Jacobin sprang up from the table at which he sat, drinking deep, and, approaching the stranger, said, “I seize thee, in the name of the Republic.”
“Citizen Aristides,” answered the stranger, in a whisper, “go to the lodgings63 of Robespierre,— he is from home; and in the left pocket of the vest which he cast off not an hour since thou wilt64 find a paper; when thou hast read that, return. I will await thee; and if thou wouldst then seize me, I will go without a struggle. Look round on those lowering brows; touch me NOW, and thou wilt be torn to pieces.”
The Jacobin felt as if compelled to obey against his will. He went forth65 muttering; he returned,— the stranger was still there. “Mille tonnerres,” he said to him, “I thank thee; the poltroon66 had my name in his list for the guillotine.”
With that the Jacobin Aristides sprang upon the table and shouted, “Death to the Tyrant!”
1 unravel | |
v.弄清楚(秘密);拆开,解开,松开 | |
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2 severed | |
v.切断,断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 );断,裂 | |
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3 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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4 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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5 tyrant | |
n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人 | |
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6 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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7 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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8 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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9 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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10 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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11 dooms | |
v.注定( doom的第三人称单数 );判定;使…的失败(或灭亡、毁灭、坏结局)成为必然;宣判 | |
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12 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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13 broils | |
v.(用火)烤(焙、炙等)( broil的第三人称单数 );使卷入争吵;使混乱;被烤(或炙) | |
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14 stratagems | |
n.诡计,计谋( stratagem的名词复数 );花招 | |
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15 rue | |
n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔 | |
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16 den | |
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室 | |
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17 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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18 beholding | |
v.看,注视( behold的现在分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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19 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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20 murmurs | |
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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21 encumbered | |
v.妨碍,阻碍,拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 wrenched | |
v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛 | |
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23 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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24 trampling | |
踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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25 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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26 partisans | |
游击队员( partisan的名词复数 ); 党人; 党羽; 帮伙 | |
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27 accosted | |
v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 );跟…搭讪;(乞丐等)上前向…乞讨;(妓女等)勾搭 | |
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28 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29 factions | |
组织中的小派别,派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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30 feuds | |
n.长期不和,世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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31 gory | |
adj.流血的;残酷的 | |
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32 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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33 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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34 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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35 irresolute | |
adj.无决断的,优柔寡断的,踌躇不定的 | |
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36 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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37 contradictory | |
adj.反驳的,反对的,抗辩的;n.正反对,矛盾对立 | |
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38 animating | |
v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 );驱动;使栩栩如生地动作;赋予…以生命 | |
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39 harangue | |
n.慷慨冗长的训话,言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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40 usurper | |
n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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41 hostilities | |
n.战争;敌意(hostility的复数);敌对状态;战事 | |
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42 procrastination | |
n.拖延,耽搁 | |
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43 brooked | |
容忍,忍受(brook的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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44 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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45 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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46 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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47 implore | |
vt.乞求,恳求,哀求 | |
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48 herald | |
vt.预示...的来临,预告,宣布,欢迎 | |
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49 avenger | |
n. 复仇者 | |
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50 conclave | |
n.秘密会议,红衣主教团 | |
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51 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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52 revoke | |
v.废除,取消,撤回 | |
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53 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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54 memoirs | |
n.回忆录;回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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55 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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56 spoke | |
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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57 inflamed | |
adj.发炎的,红肿的v.(使)变红,发怒,过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 minion | |
n.宠仆;宠爱之人 | |
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59 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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60 impunity | |
n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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61 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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62 brawny | |
adj.强壮的 | |
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63 lodgings | |
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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64 wilt | |
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎;(指人)疲倦,衰弱 | |
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65 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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66 poltroon | |
n.胆怯者;懦夫 | |
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