Part 5 Book 3 Chapter 10 Return of the Son Who Was Prodigal of His Life

At every jolt¹ over the pavement, a drop of blood trickled² from Marius' hair.

Night had fully³ closed in when the carriage arrived at No. 6, Rue⁴ des Filles-du-Calvaire.

Javert was the first to alight; he made sure with one glance of the number on the carriage gate, and, raising the heavy knocker of beaten iron, embellished⁵ in the old style, with a male goat and a satyr confronting each other, he gave a violent peal⁶. The gate opened a little way and Javert gave it a push. The porter half made his appearance yawning, vaguely⁷ awake, and with a candle in his hand.

Everyone in the house was asleep. People go to bed betimes in the Marais, especially on days when there is a revolt. This good, old quarter, terrified at the Revolution, takes refuge in slumber⁸, as children, when they hear the Bugaboo coming, hide their heads hastily under their coverlet.

In the meantime Jean Valjean and the coachman had taken Marius out of the carriage, Jean Valjean supporting him under the armpits, and the coachman under the knees.

As they thus bore Marius, Jean Valjean slipped his hand under the latter's clothes, which were broadly rent, felt his breast, and assured himself that his heart was still beating. It was even beating a little less feebly, as though the movement of the carriage had brought about a certain fresh access of life.

Javert addressed the porter in a tone befitting the government, and the presence of the porter of a factious⁹ person.

"Some person whose name is Gillenormand?"

"Here. What do you want with him?"

"His son is brought back."

"His son?" said the porter stupidly.

"He is dead."

Jean Valjean, who, soiled and tattered¹⁰, stood behind Javert, and whom the porter was surveying with some horror, made a sign to him with his head that this was not so.

The porter did not appear to understand either Javert's words or Jean Valjean's sign.

Javert continued:

"He went to the barricade¹¹, and here he is."

"To the barricade?" ejaculated the porter.

"He has got himself killed. Go waken his father."

The porter did not stir.

"Go along with you!" repeated Javert.

And he added:

"There will be a funeral here to-morrow."

For Javert, the usual incidents of the public highway were categorically classed, which is the beginning of foresight¹² and surveillance, and each contingency¹³ had its own compartment¹⁴; all possible facts were arranged in drawers, as it were, whence they emerged on occasion, in variable quantities; in the street, uproar¹⁵, revolt, carnival¹⁶, and funeral.

The porter contented¹⁷ himself with waking Basque. Basque woke Nicolette; Nicolette roused great-aunt Gillenormand.

As for the grandfather, they let him sleep on, thinking that he would hear about the matter early enough in any case.

Marius was carried up to the first floor, without any one in the other parts of the house being aware of the fact, and deposited on an old sofa in M. Gillenormand's antechamber; and while Basque went in search of a physician, and while Nicolette opened the linen-presses, Jean Valjean felt Javert touch him on the shoulder. He understood and descended¹⁸ the stairs, having behind him the step of Javert who was following him.

The porter watched them take their departure as he had watched their arrival, in terrified somnolence¹⁹.

They entered the carriage once more, and the coachman mounted his box.

"Inspector²⁰ Javert," said Jean, "grant me yet another favor."

"What is it?" demanded Javert roughly.

"Let me go home for one instant. Then you shall do whatever you like with me."

Javert remained silent for a few moments, with his chin drawn²¹ back into the collar of his great-coat, then he lowered the glass and front:

"Driver," said he, "Rue de l'Homme Arme, No. 7."

每次遇到街石引起的震动，从马吕斯的头发中就掉下一滴血。

街车到了受难修女街六号时已是夜晚了。

沙威第一个下车，在大门上看一眼门牌，就抬起式样古老的沉重的熟铁门锤，锤上饰有公羊和森林之神角力的像，重重敲了一下。门半开了，沙威把门推开。看门人半露出身子，打着呵欠，似醒非醒，手中拿着蜡烛。

房子里所有的人都已入睡。在沼泽区大家睡得很早，尤其在暴动时期。这个老区，被革命吓坏了，就到睡梦中躲避危险，就象孩子们听见妖怪来了，就急忙把头藏进被窝里。

这时冉阿让和车夫把马吕斯从车里抬出来，冉阿让从胁下抱着他，车夫抱着腿部。

冉阿让一面这样抱着马吕斯，一面把手伸进口子撕得很大的衣服，摸摸他的胸口，证实了他的心还在跳。心跳得比刚才有力一些了，好象车子的震动对生命的恢复起了一定的作用。

沙威对看门人说话的声音和政府工作人员对叛乱者的门房说话时的口气是一样的：

“有个叫吉诺曼的人吗？”

“是这儿，您找他有什么事？”

“我们把他的儿子送回来了。”

“他的儿子？”看门人目瞪口呆地说。

“他死了。”

冉阿让，在沙威后面来到，衣服又破又脏，使看门人见了有点厌恶，他向门房摇头表示没有死。

看门人好象既没有懂沙威的话，也没有懂冉阿让摇头所表示的意思。

沙威继续说：

“他到街垒去了，现在在这儿。”

“到街垒去了！”看门人叫了起来。

“他自己去找死。快去把他父亲叫醒。”

看门人不动。

“快去呀！”沙威又说。

并又加上一句：

“明天这里要埋葬人了。”

对沙威来说，街道上经常发生的事故是分门别类排列整齐的。这是警惕和监督的开始，每件偶然事故都有各自的一格；可能发生的事可以说是放在抽屉里，并根据场合，当街上闹事、发生暴动、过狂欢节、有丧事时，就从抽屉里取出一定数量的案卷来。

看门人只叫醒巴斯克。巴斯克叫醒妮珂莱特；妮珂莱特叫醒吉诺曼姨妈。至于外祖父，人家让他睡觉，考虑到他总会很早知道这件事的。

他们把马吕斯抬到二楼，家里其他的人谁也没有见到，他们把他放在吉诺曼先生套间里一张旧长沙发上。巴斯克去找医生，妮珂莱特打开衣柜，这时冉阿让感到沙威碰了一下他的肩头，他明白了，就下楼去，沙威的脚步声在后面跟着他。

看门人望着他们离开，跟望见他们来时一样，带着半睡半醒的恐怖神情。

他们又坐上马车，车夫坐到自己的位子上。

“侦察员沙威，”冉阿让说，“再答应我一件事吧。”

“什么事？”沙威粗暴地问他。

“让我回一趟家，以后随您怎样处理我。”

沙威沉默了片刻，下巴缩进大衣的领子里去，然后放下了前面一块玻璃：

“车夫，”他说，“武人街，七号。”

1 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

2 trickled   

v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Blood trickled down his face. 血从他脸上一滴滴流下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tears trickled down her cheeks. 热泪一滴滴从她脸颊上滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 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。

5 embellished   

v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色

参考例句：

• The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句

6 peal   

n.钟声；v.鸣响

参考例句：

• The bells of the cathedral rang out their loud peal.大教堂响起了响亮的钟声。
• A sudden peal of thunder leaves no time to cover the ears.迅雷不及掩耳。

7 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。

8 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

9 factious   

adj.好搞宗派活动的，派系的，好争论的

参考例句：

• Many of the old puritan colonist retain their factious temperament in the new world.许多清教徒殖民者在新大陆仍保持他们好争论的脾气。
• Fabvier was factious;Bavoux was revolutionary.法布维埃是暴动分子，巴武是革命党人。

10 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

11 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。

12 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

13 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

14 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

15 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

16 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

17 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

18 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

19 somnolence   

n.想睡，梦幻；欲寐；嗜睡；嗜眠

参考例句：

• At length he managed to get him into a condition of somnolence. 他终于促使他进入昏昏欲睡的状态。 来自辞典例句
• A lazy somnolence descended on the crowd. 一阵沉沉欲睡的懒意降落在人群里面。 来自辞典例句

20 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。

21 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。