The Procession.
As soon as the collation1 was over, the king had entered his room with Chicot, to put on his penitent2’s robe and had come out an instant after, with bare feet, a cord round his waist, and his hood3 over his face; the courtiers had made the same toilet. The weather was magnificent, and the pavements were strewn with flowers; an immense crowd lined the roads to the four places where the king was to stop. The clergy4 of St. Germain led the procession, and the Archbishop of Paris followed, carrying the holy sacrament; between them walked young boys, shaking censers, and young girls scattering5 roses. Then came the king, followed by his four friends, barefooted and frocked like himself.
The Duc d’Anjou followed in his ordinary dress, accompanied by his Angevins. Next came the principal courtiers, and then the bourgeois6. It was one o’clock when they left the Louvre. Crillon and the French guards were about to follow, but the king signed to them to remain. It was near six in the evening before they arrived before the old abbey, where they saw the prior and the monks7 drawn8 up on the threshold to wait for his majesty9. The Duc d’Anjou, a little before, had pleaded great fatigue10, and had asked leave to retire to his hotel, which had been granted to him. His gentlemen had retired11 with him, as if to proclaim that they followed the duke and not the king, besides which, they did not wish to fatigue themselves before the morrow. At the door of the abbey the king dismissed his four favorites, that they also might take some repose12. The archbishop also, who had eaten nothing since morning, was dropping with fatigue, so the king took pity on him and on the other priests and dismissed them all. Then, turning to the prior, Joseph Foulon, “Here I am, my father,” said he; “I come, sinner as I am, to seek repose in your solitude13.”
The prior bowed, and the royal penitent mounted the steps of the abbey, striking his breast at each step, and the door was immediately closed behind him.
“We will first,” said the prior, “conduct your majesty into the crypt, which we have ornamented14 in our best manner to do honor to the King of heaven and earth.”
No sooner had the king passed through the somber15 arcade16, lined with monks, and turned the corner which led to the chapel17, than twenty hoods18 were thrown into the air, and eyes were seen brilliant with joy and triumph. Certainly, they were not monkish19 or peaceful faces displayed, but bristling20 mustaches and embrowned skins, many scarred by wounds, and by the side of the proudest of all, who displayed the most celebrated21 scar, stood a woman covered with a frock, and looking triumphant22 and happy. This woman, shaking a pair of golden scissors which hung by her side, cried:
“Ah! my brothers, at last we have the Valois!”
“Ma foi, sister, I believe so.”
“Not yet,” murmured the cardinal23.
“How so?”
“Shall we have enough bourgeois guards to make head against Crillon and his guards?”
“We have better than bourgeois guards; and, believe me, there will not be a musket-shot exchanged.”
“How so?” said the duchess. “I should have liked a little disturbance24.”
“Well, sister, you will be deprived of it. When the king is taken he will cry out, but no one will answer; then, by persuasion25 or by violence, but without showing ourselves, we shall make him sign his abdication26. The news will soon spread through the city, and dispose in our favor both the bourgeois and the troops.”
“The plan is good, and cannot fail,” said the duchess. “It is rather brutal,” said the Duc de Guise27; “besides which, the king will refuse to sign the abdication. He is brave, and will rather die.”
“Let him die, then.”
“Not so,” replied the duke, firmly. “I will mount the throne of a prince who abdicates28 and is despised, but not of an assassinated29 man who is pitied. Besides, in your plans you forget M. le Duc d’Anjou, who will claim the crown.”
“Let him claim, mordieu!” said Mayenne; “he shall be comprised in his brother’s act of abdication. He is in connection with the Huguenots, and is unworthy to reign30.”
“Are you sure of that?”
“Pardieu! did he not escape from the Louvre by the aid of the King of Navarre?”
“Well?”
“Then another clause in favor of our house shall follow; this clause shall make you lieutenant-general of the kingdom, from which to the throne is only a step.”
“Yes, yes,” said the cardinal, “all that is settled; but it is probable that the French guards, to make sure that the abdication is a genuine one, and above all, a voluntary one, will insist upon seeing the king, and will force the gates of the abbey if they are not admitted. Crillon does not understand joking, and he is just the man to say to the king, ‘Sire, your life is in danger; but, before everything, let us save our honor.’”
“The general has taken his precautions. If it be necessary to sustain a siege, we have here eighty gentlemen, and I have distributed arms to a hundred monks. We could hold out for a month against the army; besides, in case of danger, we have the cave to fly to with our prey31.”
“What is the Duc d’Anjou doing?”
“In the hour of danger he has failed, as usual. He has gone home, no doubt, waiting for news of us, through Bussy or Monsoreau.”
“Mon Dieu! he should have been here; not at home.”
“You are wrong, brother,” said the cardinal; “the people and the nobles would have seen in it a snare32 to entrap33 the family. As you said just now, we must, above all things, avoid playing the part of usurper34. We must inherit. By leaving the Duc d’Anjou free, and the queen-mother independent, no one will have anything to accuse us of. If we acted otherwise, we should have against us Bussy, and a hundred other dangerous swords.”
“Bah! Bussy is going to fight against the king’s minions35.”
“Pardieu! he will kill them, and then he will join us,” said the Duc de Guise; “he is a superior man, and one whom I much esteem36, and I will make him general of the army in Italy, where war is sure to break out.”
“And I,” said the duchess, “if I become a widow, will marry him.”
“Who is near the king?” asked the duke.
“The prior and Brother Gorenflot.”
“Is he in the cell?”
“Oh no! he will look first at the crypt and the relics37.”
At this moment a bell sounded.
“The king is returning,” said the Duc de Guise; “let us become monks again.” And immediately the hoods covered ardent38 eyes and speaking scars, and twenty or thirty monks, conducted by the three brothers, went towards the crypt.
收听单词发音 |
1
collation
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| n.便餐；整理 | |
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penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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13
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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18
hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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20
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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21
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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23
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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24
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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25
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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26
abdication
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| n.辞职；退位 | |
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27
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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abdicates
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| 放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的第三人称单数 )； 退位，逊位 | |
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assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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30
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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31
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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32
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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33
entrap
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| v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套 | |
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usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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35
minions
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| n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者 | |
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36
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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37
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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