Part 3 Book 8 Chapter 15 Jondrette makes his Purchases

A few moments later, about three o'clock, Courfeyrac chanced to be passing along the Rue¹ Mouffetard in company with Bossuet. The snow had redoubled in violence, and filled the air. Bossuet was just saying to Courfeyrac:--

"One would say, to see all these snow-flakes fall, that there was a plague of white butterflies in heaven." All at once,Bossuet caught sight of Marius coming up the street towards the barrier with a peculiar² air.　

"Hold!" said Bossuet. "There's Marius."

"I saw him," said Courfeyrac. "Don't let's speak to him."

"Why?"

"He is busy."

"With what?"

"Don't you see his air?"

"What air?"

"He has the air of a man who is following some one."

"That's true," said Bossuet.

"Just see the eyes he is making!" said Courfeyrac.

"But who the deuce is he following?"

"Some fine, flowery bonneted³ wench! He's in love."

"But," observed Bossuet, "I don't see any wench nor any flowery bonnet⁴ in the street. There's not a woman round."　

Courfeyrac took a survey, and exclaimed:--

"He's following a man!"

A man, in fact, wearing a gray cap, and whose gray beard could be distinguished⁵, although they only saw his back, was walking along about twenty paces in advance of Marius.

This man was dressed in a great-coat which was perfectly⁶ new and too large for him, and in a frightful⁷ pair of trousers all hanging in rags and black with mud.

Bossuet burst out laughing.

"Who is that man?"

"He?" retorted Courfeyrac, "he's a poet. Poets are very fond of wearing the trousers of dealers⁸ in rabbit skins and the overcoats of peers of France."

"Let's see where Marius will go," said Bossuet; "let's see where the man is going, let's follow them, hey?"　

"Bossuet!" exclaimed Courfeyrac, "eagle of Meaux! You are a prodigious⁹ brute¹⁰. Follow a man who is following another man, indeed!"

They retraced¹¹ their steps.　

Marius had, in fact, seen Jondrette passing along the Rue Mouffetard, and was spying on his proceedings¹². 　

Jondrette walked straight ahead, without a suspicion that he was already held by a glance.

He quitted the Rue Mouffetard, and Marius saw him enter one of the most terrible hovels in the Rue Gracieuse; he remained there about a quarter of an hour, then returned to the Rue Mouffetard. He halted at an ironmonger's shop, which then stood at the corner of the Rue Pierre-Lombard, and a few minutes later Marius saw him emerge from the shop, holding in his hand a huge cold chisel¹³ with a white wood handle, which he concealed¹⁴ beneath his great-coat. Atthe top of the Rue Petit-Gentilly he turned to the left and proceeded rapidly to the Rue du Petit-Banquier. The day was declining; the snow, which had ceased for a moment, had just begun again. Marius posted himself on the watch at the very corner of the Rue du Petit-Banquier, which was deserted¹⁵, as usual, and did not follow Jondrette into it. It was lucky that he did so, for, on arriving in the vicinity of the wall where Marius had heard the long-haired man and the bearded man conversing¹⁶, Jondrette turned round, made sure that no one was following him, did not see him, then sprang across the wall and disappeared.

The waste land bordered by this wall communicated with the back yard of an ex-livery stable-keeper of bad repute, who had failed and who still kept a few old single-seated berlins under his sheds.

Marius thought that it would be wise to profit by Jondrette's absence to return home; moreover, it was growing late; every evening, Ma'am Bougon when she set out for her dish-washing in town,had a habit of locking the door, which was always closed at dusk.  Marius had given his key to the inspector¹⁷ of police; it was important,therefore, that he should make haste.

Evening had arrived, night had almost closed in; on the horizon and in the immensity of space, there remained but one spot illuminated¹⁸ by the sun, and that was the moon.

It was rising in a ruddy glow behind the low dome¹⁹ of Salpetriere.

Marius returned to No. 50-52 with great strides. The door was still open when he arrived. He mounted the stairs on tip-toe and glided²⁰ along the wall of the corridor to his chamber²¹. This corridor, as the reader will remember, was bordered on both sides by attics²²,all of which were, for the moment, empty and to let. Ma'am Bougon was in the habit of leaving all the doors open. As he passed one of these attics, Marius thought he perceived in the uninhabited cell the motionless heads of four men, vaguely²³ lighted up by a remnant of daylight, falling through a dormer window,Marius made no attempt to see, not wishing to be seen himself. He succeeded in reaching his chamber without being seen and without making any noise. It was high time. A moment later he heard Ma'am Bougon take her departure, locking the door of the house behind her.

过了一会儿，将近三点钟，古费拉克在博须埃陪同下，偶然经过穆夫达街。雪下得更大了，充满了空间。博须埃正在向古费拉克说：

“见了这种成团的雪落下来，就会说天上有成千上万的白蝴蝶。”忽然，博须埃瞧见马吕斯在街心朝着便门向上走去，神气有些古怪。

“嘿！”博须埃大声说，“马吕斯！”

“我早看见了，”古费拉克说，“不用招呼他。”

“为什么？”

“他正忙着。”

“忙什么？”

“你就没看见他那副神气？”

“什么神气？”

“看来他是在跟一个什么人。”

“的确是。”博须埃说。

“你看他那双眼睛。”古费拉克接着说。

“可是他在跟什么鬼呢？”

“一定是个什么美美妹妹花花帽子！他正发情呢。”“可是，”博须埃指出，“这街上我没看见有什么美美，也没有妹妹，也没有花花帽子。一个女人也没有。”

古费拉克仔细望去，喊道：

“他跟一个男人！”

确是一个男人，戴鸭舌帽的，走在马吕斯前面，相隔二十来步，虽然只望见他的背，却能看出他的灰白胡须。

那人穿一件过于宽大的全新大衣和一条破烂不堪、满是黑污泥的长裤。

博须埃放声大笑。

“这是个什么人？”

“这？”古费拉克回答，“是个诗人。诗人们常常爱穿收买兔子皮的小贩的裤子和法兰西世卿的骑马服。”

“我倒要看看马吕斯去什么地方，”博须埃说，“看看那人去什么地方，我们去跟他们，好吗？”

“博须埃！”古费拉克兴奋地说，“莫城的鹰！您真是个空前的捣蛋鬼。去跟一个跟人的人！”

他们返回往前走。

马吕斯确是看见了容德雷特在穆夫达街上走过，便跟在后面侦察他。

容德雷特在前面走，没想到已有只眼睛盯住他了。

他离开了穆夫达街，马吕斯看见他走进格拉西尔斯街上一栋最破烂的房子里，待了一刻钟左右又回到穆夫达街。他走进当年开设在皮埃尔－伦巴第街转角处的一家铁器店，几分钟过后，马吕斯看见他从那铺子里出来，手里拿着一把白木柄的钝口凿，往大衣下面藏。到了珀蒂－让蒂伊街口，他向左拐弯，急匆匆走到小银行家街。天色渐渐黑下来了，停过一会儿的雪又开始下起来。马吕斯隐藏在素来荒凉的小银行家街拐角的地方，没有再跟容德雷特走。他幸亏没有跟，因为容德雷特走近那道矮墙棗刚才马吕斯听见长头发和大胡子说话的地方，忽然回转头来，看看有没有人跟踪，肯定没有人，他才跨过墙头，不见了。

墙背后的那片荒地通向一个最初以出租马车为业的人的后院，那人名声素来很坏，已经破产，不过在他那停车篷里还有几辆破车。

马吕斯想起，趁容德雷特不在家，赶快回去，比较稳妥。况且时间已经不早，每天下午，毕尔贡妈妈照例总在去城里洗碗以前，在将近黄昏时把大门锁上，马吕斯已把他的钥匙给了那侦察员，因此他必须赶快。

夜幕四合，天色几乎完全黑了，在寥廓的天边，只有一点是被太阳照着的，那便是月亮。

月亮的红光从妇女救济院的矮圆顶后面升起来。

马吕斯迈开大步赶回了五○一五二号。他到家时，大门还开着。他踮起脚尖上了楼，再沿着过道的墙溜到自己的房门口。那过道两旁，我们记得，是些破房间，当时全空着待人来租。毕尔贡妈妈经常是让那些房门敞开着的。在走过那些空屋子门口时，马吕斯仿佛看见在其中的一间里有四个人头待着不动，被残余的日光透过天窗照着，隐隐约约有点发白。马吕斯怕引起注意，不便细看。他终于悄悄地回到了自己的屋子里，没有让别人看见。这也正是时候，不大一会儿，他便听见毕尔贡妈妈走了，大门也关上了。

1 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 bonneted   

发动机前置的

参考例句：

4 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

5 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

8 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

9 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

10 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

11 retraced   

v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返，想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

13 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

14 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

15 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

16 conversing   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I find that conversing with her is quite difficult. 和她交谈实在很困难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were conversing in the parlor. 他们正在客厅谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

18 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

19 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

20 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

22 attics   

n. 阁楼

参考例句：

• They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics. 他们把暂时不需要的东西放在抽屉里、壁橱中和搁楼上。
• He rummaged busily in the attics of European literature, bringing to light much of interest. 他在欧洲文学的阁楼里忙着翻箱倒笼，找到了不少有趣的东西。

23 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。