Book 11 Chapter 4 The Marriage Of Quasimodo

We have just said that Quasimodo disappeared from Notre- Dame¹ on the day of the gypsy's and of the archdeacon's death. He was not seen again, in fact; no one knew what had become of him.

During the night which followed the execution of la Esmeralda, the night men had detached her body from the gibbet, and had carried it, according to custom, to the cellar of Montfau?on.

Montfau?on was, as Sauval says, "the most ancient and the most superb gibbet in the kingdom." Between the faubourgs of the Temple and Saint Martin, about a hundred and sixty toises from the walls of Paris, a few bow shots from La Courtille, there was to be seen on the crest² of a gentle, almost imperceptible eminence³, but sufficiently⁴ elevated to be seen for several leagues round about, an edifice⁵ of strange form, bearing considerable resemblance to a Celtic cromlech, and where also human sacrifices were offered.

Let the reader picture to himself, crowning a limestone⁶ hillock, an oblong mass of masonry⁷ fifteen feet in height, thirty wide, forty long, with a gate, an external railing and a platform; on this platform sixteen enormous pillars of rough hewn stone, thirty feet in height, arranged in a colonnade⁸ round three of the four sides of the mass which support them, bound together at their summits by heavy beams, whence hung chains at intervals⁹; on all these chains, skeletons; in the vicinity, on the plain, a stone cross and two gibbets of secondary importance, which seemed to have sprung up as shoots around the central gallows¹⁰; above all this, in the sky, a perpetual flock of crows; that was Montfau?on.

At the end of the fifteenth century, the formidable gibbet which dated from 1328, was already very much dilapidated; the beams were wormeaten, the chains rusted¹¹, the pillars green with mould; the layers of hewn stone were all cracked at their joints¹², and grass was growing on that platform which no feet touched. The monument made a horrible profile against the sky; especially at night when there was a little moonlight on those white skulls¹³, or when the breeze of evening brushed the chains and the skeletons, and swayed all these in the darkness. The presence of this gibbet sufficed to render gloomy all the surrounding places.

The mass of masonry which served as foundation to the odious¹⁴ edifice was hollow. A huge cellar had been constructed there, closed by an old iron grating, which was out of order, into which were cast not only the human remains¹⁵, which were taken from the chains of Montfau?on, but also the bodies of all the unfortunates executed on the other permanent gibbets of Paris. To that deep charnel-house, where so many human remains and so many crimes have rotted in company, many great ones of this world, many innocent people, have contributed their bones, from Enguerrand de Marigni, the first victim, and a just man, to Admiral de Coligni, who was its last, and who was also a just man.

As for the mysterious disappearance¹⁶ of Quasimodo, this is all that we have been able to discover.

About eighteen months or two years after the events which terminate this story, when search was made in that cavern¹⁷ for the body of Olivier le Daim, who had been hanged two days previously¹⁸, and to whom Charles VIII. had granted the favor of being buried in Saint Laurent, in better company, they found among all those hideous¹⁹ carcasses two skeletons, one of which held the other in its embrace. One of these skeletons, which was that of a woman, still had a few strips of a garment which had once been white, and around her neck was to be seen a string of adrézarach beads²⁰ with a little silk bag ornamented²¹ with green glass, which was open and empty. These objects were of so little value that the executioner had probably not cared for them. The other, which held this one in a close embrace, was the skeleton of a man. It was noticed that his spinal²² column was crooked²³, his head seated on his shoulder blades, and that one leg was shorter than the other. Moreover, there was no fracture of the vertebrae at the nape of the neck, and it was evident that he had not been hanged. Hence, the man to whom it had belonged had come thither²⁴ and had died there. When they tried to detach the skeleton which he held in his embrace, he fell to dust.

 

我们刚才说过，伽西莫多在埃及姑娘和副主教死去的那天就从教堂失踪了。人们真的没有再看见过他，不知道他上哪儿去了。

把拉·爱斯梅拉达处死的当天晚上，刽子手的助手们就把她的尸体从绞刑架上解下来，按照当时的惯例，送到隼山的墓窖里去了。

正如索瓦尔所说的，隼山是“王国里最古老最良好的刑台”。在庙堂镇和圣马尔丹之间，在离巴黎城垣约六十哩及距古尔第耶数箭之地，在一个几里外都看得见的高高的安静的山丘顶上，可以望见一个形状古怪的建筑，很象克尔特的环形大石台，那里也是个杀人的场所。

请想象在一个大石灰堆的顶上，有一个砖砌的高大的平行六面体的东西，有十五呎高，三十呎宽，四十呎长。它有一道门，一圈向外的围栏和一个平台。平台上有十六根巨大的石柱，每根三十呎高，排成柱廊，环绕在支撑它们的平台的三面。每两根石柱顶端有粗大的横梁联结起来，横梁上每个间隔里挂着一条铁链，每条铁链上都吊着一具尸骨。在它们周围的平地上，有一个石头十字架和两个差一些的刑台，好象从中央那座刑台上辐射出来似的。它们顶上的天空里永远盘旋着一群乌鸦，那地方就是隼山。

在十五世纪末，那骇人的刑台——上面记明是一三二八年建造的——已经十分老旧。横梁都朽坏了，铁链都生锈了，柱子上布满了绿苔，石子路上到处都是裂缝，青草一直长上了没人踏上去的平台。这个建筑物高耸天际的样子极其可怕，尤其在夜里。当月光照着那些白色头盖骨的时候，夜里凛冽的风使那些铁链和尸骨相撞，使它们在黑暗里不断晃动。那刑台的存在足以使那一带显得阴森恐怖。

那令人憎恶的建筑物的石头底座是中空的，其中筑有一个大地窖，用一道歪歪斜斜的铁格子关住，被抛在那里面的不只是从隼山的铁链上解下的尸骨，还有巴黎各处长期设置的刑台上处死的不幸的人的尸体。在那个深邃的墓窖里，有多少人类的尘灰和多少罪恶同在一起腐烂，世界上有多少伟大人物，多少清白无辜的人的骸骨不断被送到那里，上自昂格安·德·马意尼，他是第一个给送到隼山去的，是一个正直的人，下至郭里尼海军上将，他是最后一个被送去的，也是一个正直的人。

至于伽西莫多的神秘失踪，下面就是我们所能披露的全部情况。

大约在这段故事结尾的情节发生了两年或十八个月之后，人们到隼山的地窖里去寻找奥里维·勒丹的尸体，他是两天前才被绞死的，后来查理八世又恩赐他葬在圣洛昂，和好人葬在一起。人们在那些怕人的骸骨中发现了两具尸骨，一具把另一具抱得很紧。一具尸骨是女的，上面还残留着从前一定是白色布料的衣服的破片，还看见颈骨上有一条阿德雷扎拉珠链，串着一个嵌绿玻璃片的丝绸荷包，荷包已经打开了，掏空了。这些东西值不了几个钱，一定是刽子手不愿要才留下来的。紧抱住那具尸骨的另一具尸骨是个男人，人们只看到他有弯曲的脊梁骨，头盖骨缩在肩胛骨中间，一条腿骨比另一条腿骨短些。他的颈骨上没有一点伤痕，可见他并不是绞死的。那个男子一定是自己去到那里，而且就死在那里了。人们想把他同他抱着的那具尸骨分开，他就倒下去化成了灰尘。

1 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

2 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

3 eminence   

n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家

参考例句：

• He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。

4 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

5 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

6 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

7 masonry   

n.砖土建筑；砖石

参考例句：

• Masonry is a careful skill.砖石工艺是一种精心的技艺。
• The masonry of the old building began to crumble.旧楼房的砖石结构开始崩落。

8 colonnade   

n.柱廊

参考例句：

• This colonnade will take you out of the palace and the game.这条柱廊将带你离开宫殿和游戏。
• The terrace was embraced by the two arms of the colonnade.平台由两排柱廊环抱。

9 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

10 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

11 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

13 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

14 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

17 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

18 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

19 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

20 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

21 ornamented   

adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ornamented her dress with lace. 她用花边装饰衣服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

23 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

24 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。