Book 10 Chapter 6 Little Sword In Pocket

On emerging from the Bastille, Gringoire descended¹ the Rue² Saint-Antoine with the swiftness of a runaway³ horse. On arriving at the Baudoyer gate, he walked straight to the stone cross which rose in the middle of that place, as though he were able to distinguish in the darkness the figure of a man clad and cloaked in black, who was seated on the steps of the cross.

"Is it you, master?" said Gringoire.

The personage in black rose.

"Death and passion! You make me boil, Gringoire. The man on the tower of Saint-Gervais has just cried half-past one o'clock in the morning."

"Oh," retorted Gringoire, "'tis no fault of mine, but of the watch and the king. I have just had a narrow escape. I always just miss being hung. 'Tis my predestination."

"You lack everything," said the other. "But come quickly. Have you the password?"

"Fancy, master, I have seen the king. I come from him. He wears fustian⁴ breeches. 'Tis an adventure."

"Oh! distaff of words! what is your adventure to me! Have you the password of the outcasts?"

"I have it. Be at ease. 'Little sword in pocket.'"

"Good. Otherwise, we could not make our way as far as the church. The outcasts bar the streets. Fortunately, it appears that they have encountered resistance. We may still arrive in time."

"Yes, master, but how are we to get into Notre-Dame?"

"I have the key to the tower."

"And how are we to get out again?"

"Behind the cloister⁵ there is a little door which opens on the Terrain⁶ and the water. I have taken the key to it, and I moored⁷ a boat there this morning."

"I have had a beautiful escape from being hung!" Gringoire repeated.

"Eh, quick! come!" said the other.

Both descended towards the city with long strides.

 

甘果瓦出了巴士底，就象脱韁的马一般飞快地走下圣安东尼街，到达波多瓦耶门，他径直向着竖在广场中央的一个石头十字架走去，好象已经在黑暗里看清了那个坐在十字架台阶上的黑衣黑帽的人。“是您吧，老师？”

那个黑衣人站起来：“死亡和热情呀！甘果瓦！你真叫人着急。圣热尔维教堂的钟楼刚刚敲过钟了，早上一点半已经过了。”

“啊，”甘果瓦说，“那不能怪我，得怪夜巡队和国王，我刚才逃脱了他们的手掌心！我老是差点被绞死，我真是命该如此。”

“什么你都差一点，”那人说道，“还是快些吧，你有通行的口令吗？”

“你想想看，老师，我看见国王哪，我就是从他那里来的。他穿着粗布短外衣。真惊险呀！”

“啊，多嘴多舌的！你的惊险同我有什么相干？你有乞丐队伍的通行口令没有？”

“我有，别发脾气吧，口令是‘小火把在闲逛’。”

“好啊，要不然我们可进不了教堂，乞丐们封锁了一切街道，幸好他们似乎碰到了抵抗，我们也许还赶得上。”

“对呀，老师。可是我们怎样进圣母院里去呢？”

“我有那座钟塔的钥匙。”

“我们又怎样出来呢？”

“修道院后面有一道开向德罕的侧门，从德罕就能到河岸去。我已经拿了那把钥匙，今天早上我还系了一只船在那里。”

“我真庆幸差点儿没有被绞死！”甘果瓦说。

“赶快呀，走吧！”那人说。

于是他俩一道迈开大步向旧城区走去。

1 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。

2 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。

3 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

4 fustian   

n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布

参考例句：

• Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.浮夸的文章掩饰不住这个作者的贫乏情节。
• His fustian shirt,sanguineflowered,trembles its Spanish tassels at his secrets.他身上穿的是件印有血红色大花的粗斜纹布衬衫，每当他吐露秘密时，西班牙式的流苏就颤悠。

5 cloister   

n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝

参考例句：

• They went out into the stil,shadowy cloister garden.他们出了房间，走到那个寂静阴沉的修道院的园子里去。
• The ancient cloister was a structure of red brick picked out with white stone.古老的修道院是一座白石衬托着的红砖建筑物。

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。