Part 5 Book 1 Chapter 11 The Shot Which Misses Nothing and Kills No One

The assailants' fire continued. Musketry and grape-shot alternated,but without committing great ravages¹, to tell the truth. The top alone of the Corinthe facade² suffered; the window on the first floor, and the attic³ window in the roof, riddled⁴ with buck-shot and biscaiens, were slowly losing their shape. The combatants who had been posted there had been obliged to withdraw. However, this is according to the tactics of barricades⁵; to fire for a long while, in order to exhaust the insurgents⁷' ammunition⁸, if they commit the mistake of replying. When it is perceived, from the slackening of their fire, that they have no more powder and ball, the assault is made. Enjolras had not fallen into this trap; the barricade⁶ did not reply.

At every discharge by platoons, Gavroche puffed⁹ out his cheek with his tongue, a sign of supreme¹⁰ disdain¹¹.

"Good for you," said he, "rip up the cloth. We want some lint¹²."

Courfeyrac called the grape-shot to order for the little effect which it produced, and said to the cannon¹³:

"You are growing diffuse¹⁴, my good fellow."

One gets puzzled in battle, as at a ball. It is probable that this silence on the part of the redoubt began to render the besiegers uneasy, and to make them fear some unexpected incident, and that they felt the necessity of getting a clear view behind that heap of paving-stones, and of knowing what was going on behind that impassable wall which received blows without retorting. The insurgents suddenly perceived a helmet glittering in the sun on a neighboring roof. A fireman had placed his back against a tall chimney, and seemed to be acting¹⁵ as sentinel. His glance fell directly down into the barricade.

"There's an embarrassing watcher," said Enjolras.

Jean Valjean had returned Enjolras' rifle, but he had his own gun.

Without saying a word, he took aim at the fireman, and, a second later, the helmet, smashed by a bullet, rattled¹⁶ noisily into the street. The terrified soldier made haste to disappear. A second observer took his place. This one was an officer. Jean Valjean, who had re-loaded his gun, took aim at the newcomer and sent the officer's casque to join the soldier's. The officer did not persist, and retired¹⁷ speedily. This time the warning was understood. No one made his appearance thereafter on that roof; and the idea of spying on the barricade was abandoned.

"Why did you not kill the man?" Bossuet asked Jean Valjean.

Jean Valjean made no reply.

攻打的军队继续在开火。排枪和霰弹轮番发射，但实际上并没有造成多大损伤。只有科林斯正面的上方遭了殃；二楼的格子窗和屋顶阁楼被大小子弹打得百孔千疮，已慢慢地在变形。驻守在那儿的战士得侧身躲开。再说，这也是攻打街垒的一种策略，采用疲劳战术射击，目的是消耗起义者的弹药，如果被围的人回击就中了计。一旦发现被围者的火力弱下来，就说明没有子弹和炸药了，这就可以发动突击。但安灼拉没有中计；街垒毫不回击。

分队每发一次排枪，伽弗洛什就用舌头鼓起他的腮帮子，表示极大的蔑视。

“好吧，”他说，“把床垫撕烂。我们需要绷带呀。”

古费拉克斥责霰弹不中用，他对大炮说：

“伙计，你太不集中了。”

在作战时，好象在舞会上一样，人们互施诡计。大概这棱堡的沉默开始使进攻的一方担心了，生怕发生意外，他们感到需要摸清这堆石块后面的情况，并了解这堵漠不关心、只挨打不还击的墙内究竟在干什么。起义者们突然发觉邻近的屋顶上有一顶消防队的钢盔在阳光中闪烁。一个消防队员靠在高烟囱旁好象在那儿站岗。他的视线正好直直地落到街垒里。

“那是一个碍事的监视。”安灼拉说。

冉阿让已经把卡宾枪还给了安灼拉，但他还有自己的枪。

他一声不响，瞄准那消防队员，一秒钟后，钢盔被一颗子弹打中，很响亮地落在街心。受惊的士兵赶快逃开了。

另一个监视人接替了他的岗位。这是一个军官。冉阿让又装好子弹，瞄准新来的人，把军官的钢盔打下去找士兵的钢盔作伴去了。军官不再坚持，很快也退了下去。他们明白了这个警告。从此没有人再出现在屋顶上，他们放弃了对街垒的侦察。

“您为什么不打死那个人？”博须埃问冉阿让。

冉阿让没有答复。

1 ravages   

劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹

参考例句：

• the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难
• It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。

2 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

3 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

4 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

6 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

7 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

8 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

9 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

11 disdain   

n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑

参考例句：

• Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
• A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。

12 lint   

n.线头；绷带用麻布，皮棉

参考例句：

• Flicked the lint off the coat.把大衣上的棉绒弹掉。
• There are a few problems of air pollution by chemicals,lint,etc.,but these are minor.化学品、棉花等也造成一些空气污染问题，但这是次要的。

13 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

14 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

17 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。