The daylight was increasing rapidly. Not a window was opened, not a door stood ajar; it was the dawn but not the awaking. The end of the Rue1 de la Chanvrerie, opposite the barricade2, had been evacuated3 by the troops, as we have stated it seemed to be free, and presented itself to passers-by with a sinister4 tranquillity5. The Rue Saint-Denis was as dumb as the avenue of Sphinxes at Thebes. Not a living being in the cross-roads, which gleamed white in the light of the sun. Nothing is so mournful as this light in deserted6 streets. Nothing was to be seen, but there was something to be heard. A mysterious movement was going on at a certain distance. It was evident that the critical moment was approaching. As on the previous evening, the sentinels had come in; but this time all had come.
The barricade was stronger than on the occasion of the first attack. Since the departure of the five, they had increased its height still further.
On the advice of the sentinel who had examined the region of the Halles, Enjolras, for fear of a surprise in the rear, came to a serious decision. He had the small gut7 of the Mondetour lane, which had been left open up to that time, barricaded8. For this purpose, they tore up the pavement for the length of several houses more. In this manner, the barricade, walled on three streets, in front on the Rue de la Chanvrerie, to the left on the Rues9 du Cygne and de la Petite Truanderie, to the right on the Rue Mondetour, was really almost impregnable; it is true that they were fatally hemmed10 in there. It had three fronts, but no exit.--"A fortress11 but a rat hole too," said Courfeyrac with a laugh.
Enjolras had about thirty paving-stones "torn up in excess," said Bossuet, piled up near the door of the wine-shop.
The silence was now so profound in the quarter whence the attack must needs come, that Enjolras had each man resume his post of battle.
An allowance of brandy was doled12 out to each.
Nothing is more curious than a barricade preparing for an assault. Each man selects his place as though at the theatre. They jostle, and elbow and crowd each other. There are some who make stalls of paving-stones. Here is a corner of the wall which is in the way, it is removed; here is a redan which may afford protection, they take shelter behind it. Left-handed men are precious; they take the places that are inconvenient13 to the rest. Many arrange to fight in a sitting posture14. They wish to be at ease to kill, and to die comfortably. In the sad war of June, 1848, an insurgent15 who was a formidable marksman, and who was firing from the top of a terrace upon a roof, had a reclining-chair brought there for his use; a charge of grape-shot found him out there.
As soon as the leader has given the order to clear the decks for action, all disorderly movements cease; there is no more pulling from one another; there are no more coteries16; no more asides, there is no more holding aloof17; everything in their spirits converges18 in, and changes into, a waiting for the assailants. A barricade before the arrival of danger is chaos19; in danger, it is discipline itself. Peril20 produces order.
As soon as Enjolras had seized his double-barrelled rifle, and had placed himself in a sort of embrasure which he had reserved for himself, all the rest held their peace. A series of faint, sharp noises resounded21 confusedly along the wall of paving-stones. It was the men cocking their guns.
Moreover, their attitudes were prouder, more confident than ever; the excess of sacrifice strengthens; they no longer cherished any hope, but they had despair, despair,--the last weapon, which sometimes gives victory; Virgil has said so. Supreme22 resources spring from extreme resolutions. To embark23 in death is sometimes the means of escaping a shipwreck24; and the lid of the coffin25 becomes a plank26 of safety.
As on the preceding evening, the attention of all was directed, we might almost say leaned upon, the end of the street, now lighted up and visible.
They had not long to wait. A stir began distinctly in the Saint-Leu quarter, but it did not resemble the movement of the first attack. A clashing of chains, the uneasy jolting27 of a mass, the click of brass28 skipping along the pavement, a sort of solemn uproar29, announced that some sinister construction of iron was approaching. There arose a tremor30 in the bosoms31 of these peaceful old streets, pierced and built for the fertile circulation of interests and ideas, and which are not made for the horrible rumble32 of the wheels of war.
The fixity of eye in all the combatants upon the extremity33 of the street became ferocious34.
A cannon35 made its appearance.
Artillery-men were pushing the piece; it was in firing trim; the fore-carriage had been detached; two upheld the gun-carriage, four were at the wheels; others followed with the caisson. They could see the smoke of the burning lint-stock.
"Fire!" shouted Enjolras.
The whole barricade fired, the report was terrible; an avalanche36 of smoke covered and effaced37 both cannon and men; after a few seconds, the cloud dispersed38, and the cannon and men re-appeared; the gun-crew had just finished rolling it slowly, correctly, without haste, into position facing the barricade. Not one of them had been struck. Then the captain of the piece, bearing down upon the breech in order to raise the muzzle39, began to point the cannon with the gravity of an astronomer40 levelling a telescope.
"Bravo for the cannoneers!" cried Bossuet.
And the whole barricade clapped their hands.
A moment later, squarely planted in the very middle of the street, astride of the gutter41, the piece was ready for action. A formidable pair of jaws42 yawned on the barricade.
"Come, merrily now!" ejaculated Courfeyrac. "That's the brutal43 part of it. After the fillip on the nose, the blow from the fist. The army is reaching out its big paw to us. The barricade is going to be severely44 shaken up. The fusillade tries, the cannon takes."
"It is a piece of eight, new model, brass," added Combeferre. "Those pieces are liable to burst as soon as the proportion of ten parts of tin to one hundred of brass is exceeded. The excess of tin renders them too tender. Then it comes to pass that they have caves and chambers45 when looked at from the vent46 hole. In order to obviate47 this danger, and to render it possible to force the charge, it may become necessary to return to the process of the fourteenth century, hooping, and to encircle the piece on the outside with a series of unwelded steel bands, from the breech to the trunnions. In the meantime, they remedy this defect as best they may; they manage to discover where the holes are located in the vent of a cannon, by means of a searcher. But there is a better method, with Gribeauval's movable star."
"In the sixteenth century," remarked Bossuet, "they used to rifle cannon."
"Yes," replied Combeferre, "that augments48 the projectile49 force, but diminishes the accuracy of the firing. In firing at short range, the trajectory50 is not as rigid51 as could be desired, the parabola is exaggerated, the line of the projectile is no longer sufficiently52 rectilinear to allow of its striking intervening objects, which is, nevertheless, a necessity of battle, the importance of which increases with the proximity53 of the enemy and the precipitation of the discharge. This defect of the tension of the curve of the projectile in the rifled cannon of the sixteenth century arose from the smallness of the charge; small charges for that sort of engine are imposed by the ballistic necessities, such, for instance, as the preservation54 of the gun-carriage. In short, that despot, the cannon, cannot do all that it desires; force is a great weakness. A cannon-ball only travels six hundred leagues an hour; light travels seventy thousand leagues a second. Such is the superiority of Jesus Christ over Napoleon."
"Reload your guns," said Enjolras.
How was the casing of the barricade going to behave under the cannon-balls? Would they effect a breach55? That was the question. While the insurgents56 were reloading their guns, the artillery-men were loading the cannon.
The anxiety in the redoubt was profound.
The shot sped the report burst forth57.
"Present!" shouted a joyous58 voice.
And Gavroche flung himself into the barricade just as the ball dashed against it.
He came from the direction of the Rue du Cygne, and he had nimbly climbed over the auxiliary59 barricade which fronted on the labyrinth60 of the Rue de la Petite Truanderie.
Gavroche produced a greater sensation in the barricade than the cannon-ball.
The ball buried itself in the mass of rubbish. At the most there was an omnibus wheel broken, and the old Anceau cart was demolished61. On seeing this, the barricade burst into a laugh.
"Go on!" shouted Bossuet to the artillerists.
天很快就要亮了，但没有一扇窗子打开来，没有一扇门半开半掩，这是黎明，但还不是苏醒。街垒对面麻厂街尽头的部队撤走了，正如我们前面提到过的，它似乎已经畅通并在不祥的沉寂中向行人开放。圣德尼街象底比斯城内的斯芬克司大道一样鸦雀无声。在阳光照亮了的十字路口没有一个行人。没有比这种晴朗日子的荒凉街道更凄凉的了。
人们什么也看不到，可是听得见。一个神秘的活动在远处进行。可以肯定，重要关头就要到来。正如昨晚哨兵撤退，现在已全部撤离完毕一样。
这街垒比起第一次受攻打时更坚固了，当那五个人离开后，大伙又把它加高了一些。
根据侦察过菜市场区的放哨人的意见，安灼拉为防备后面受到突击，作出了重要的决定。他堵住那条至今仍通行无阻的蒙德都巷子。为此又挖了几间屋子长的铺路石。这个街垒如今堵塞了三个街口：前面的麻厂街，左边的天鹅街和小化子窝，右边的蒙德都街，这确是不易攻破的了，不过大家也就被封死在里面了。它三面临敌而没有一条出路。古费拉克笑着说：“这确是一座堡垒，但又象一只捕鼠笼。”
安灼拉把三十多块石头堆在小酒店门口，博须埃说：“挖得太多了点。”
将发动进攻的那方无比沉寂，所以安灼拉命令各人回到各自的岗位上去。
每人分到一定量的烧酒。
没有什么比一个准备冲锋的街垒更令人惊奇的了。每个人象观剧那样选择好自己的位置，互相紧挨着，肘靠肘，肩靠肩。有些人把石块堆成一个坐位。哪儿因墙角碍事就离开一些，找到一个可作防御的突出部分就躲在里面，惯用左手操作的人就更可贵了，他们到别人觉得不顺手的地方去。许多人布置好可以坐着战斗的位置。大家都愿意自在地杀敌或舒舒服服地死去。在一八四八年六月那场激战中，有一个起义者是一个凶猛的枪手，他摆了一张伏尔泰式的靠背椅，在一个屋顶的平台上作战，一颗机枪子弹就在那儿打中了他。
当首领发出了准备战斗的口令以后，一切杂乱的行动顿时终止了。相互间不再拉扯，不再说闲话，不再东一群西一堆地聚在一起，所有的人都精神集中，等待着进攻的人。一个街垒处在危急状态之前是混乱的，而在危急时刻则纪律严明；危难产生了秩序。
当安灼拉一拿起他的双响枪，待在他准备好的枪眼前，这时，大家都不说话了。接着一阵清脆的嗒嗒声沿着石块墙错杂地响了起来，这是大家在给枪上膛。
此外，他们的作战姿态更为勇猛，信心十足；高度的牺牲精神使他们非常坚定，他们已经没有希望，但他们有的是失望。失望，这个最后的武器，有时会带来胜利，维吉尔曾这样说过。最大的决心会产生最高的智慧。坐上死亡的船可能会逃脱翻船的危险；棺材盖可以成为一块救命板。
和昨晚一样，所有的注意力都转向或者可以说都盯着那条街的尽头，现在是照亮了，看得很清楚。
等待的时间并不长。骚动很明显地在圣勒那方开始了，可是这次不象第一次进攻。链条的嗒拉声，一个使人不安的巨大物体的颠簸声，一种金属在铺路石上的跳动声，一种巨大的隆隆声，预报着一个可怕的铁器在向前推进，震动了这些安静的老街道的心脏，当初这些街道是为了思想和经济利益的畅通而修建的，并不是为通过庞大的战车的巨轮而建。
所有注视这街道尽头的目光都变得凶狠异常。
一尊大炮出现了。
炮兵们推着炮车，炮已上了炮弹，在前面拖炮的车已分开，两个人扶着炮架，四个人走在车轮旁，其余的人都跟着子弹车。人们看到点燃了的导火线在冒烟。
“射击！”安灼拉发出命令。
整个街垒开了火，在一阵可怕的爆炸声里倾泻出大量浓烟，淹没了炮和人，一会儿烟雾散去，又出现了炮和人；炮兵们缓慢地、不慌不忙地、准确地把大炮推到街垒对面。没有一个人被击中。炮长用力压下炮的后部，抬高炮口，象天文学家调整望远镜那样慎重地把炮口瞄准。
“干得好啊，炮兵们！”博须埃喊道。
所有街垒中的人都鼓掌。
片刻后，大炮恰好安置在街中心，跨在街沟上，准备射击。
一个令人生畏的炮口对准了街垒。
“好呀，来吧！”古费拉克说，“粗暴的家伙来了，先弹弹手指，现在挥起拳头来了。军队向我们伸出了它的大爪子。街垒会被狠狠地震动一下。火枪开路，大炮攻打。”
“这是新型的铜制八磅重弹捣炮，”公白飞接着说，“这一类炮，只要锡的分量超过铜的百分之十就会爆炸；锡的分量多了就太软。有时就会使炮筒内有砂眼缺口。要避免这种危险，并增加炸药的分量，也许要回到十四世纪时的办法，就是加上箍，在炮筒外面从后膛直至炮耳加上一连串的无缝钢环。目前，只有尽可能修补缺陷，有人用一种大炮检查器在炮筒中寻找砂眼缺口，但是另有一个更好的方法，就是用格里博瓦尔的流动星去探视。”
“在十六世纪炮筒中有来复线。”博须埃指出。
“是呀，”公白飞回答，“这样会增加弹道的威力，可是减低了瞄准性。此外，在短射程中，弹道不能达到需要的陡峭的斜度，抛物线过大，弹道不够直，不易打中途中的所有目标，而这是作战中严格要求的；随着敌人的迫近和快速发射，这一点越来越重要了。这种十六世纪有膛线的炮的炮弹张力不足是由于炸药的力量小，对于这类炮，炸药力量不足是受到了炮弹学的限制，例如要保持炮架的稳固。总之，大炮这暴君，它不能为所欲为，力量是一个很大的弱点。一颗炮弹每小时的速度是六百法里，可是光的速度每秒钟是七万法里。这说明耶稣要比拿破仑高明得多。”
“重上子弹！”安灼拉说。
街垒的墙将怎样抵挡炮弹呢？会不会被打开一个缺口？这倒是一个问题。当起义者重上子弹时，炮兵们也在上炮弹。
在棱堡中人心焦虑。
开炮了，突然出现一声轰响。
“到！”一个喜悦的声音高呼道。
炮弹打中街垒的时候，伽弗洛什也跳了进来。
他是从天鹅街那边进来的，他轻巧地跨过了正对小化子窝斜巷那边侧面的街垒。
伽弗洛什的进入，在街垒中起着比炮弹更大的影响。
炮弹在一堆杂乱的破砖瓦里消失了，最多只打烂了那辆公共马车的一个轮子，毁坏了安索那辆旧车子。看到这一切，街垒中人大笑起来。
“再来呀。”博须埃向炮兵们大声叫道。
收听单词发音 |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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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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evacuated
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| 撤退者的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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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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gut
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| n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏 | |
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barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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rues
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| v.对…感到后悔( rue的第三人称单数 ) | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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doled
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| 救济物( dole的过去式和过去分词 )； 失业救济金 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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insurgent
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| adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子 | |
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coteries
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| n.（有共同兴趣的）小集团( coterie的名词复数 ) | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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converges
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| v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的第三人称单数 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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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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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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obviate
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| v.除去，排除，避免，预防 | |
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augments
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| 增加，提高，扩大( augment的名词复数 ) | |
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projectile
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| n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的 | |
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trajectory
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| n.弹道，轨道 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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insurgents
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| n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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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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