Two Cities

Chapter 29 Weaving (1)
The guests at Monsieur Defarge's inn were earlier than usual.As early as six o'clock in the morning, several thin faces were peeping in through the railed windows, and there were many people drinking and drinking.Monsieur Defarge sold only one light wine, even when he was doing well.But his drink of the day was much weaker than usual and sour, better called "sour wine" because it can bring down the drinker.The jubilant flame cannot be ignited from the grape juice made by Mr. Defarge. Even the wine lees hides a fire that only blooms silently in the dark.

This was the third day in a row that M. Defarge had morning wine at M. Defarge's hotel.It started on Monday and today is Wednesday.Actually drank less in the morning than expected because most of the men who have been hanging out and chatting away since it opened couldn't afford to pay for alcohol even to save their souls.But they are very interested in the hotel, like a potential big buyer.They wandered from seat to seat, corner to corner, with a greedy look in their eyes, and swallowed not the wine but the spoken word.

Even though there are so many guests, the hotel owner has disappeared, and no one mentions him. People who have just stepped through the threshold do not look for him, and no one asks about him.They only saw Mrs. Defarge sitting at the counter in charge of drinking, but they didn't think it was strange.In front of Madame Defarge was a bowl containing little deformed coins, deformed by age, wear and tear, and completely different from when they were freshly minted.And the group of people who took coins out of their tattered pockets were the same, they were quite different from their natural image.

The spies investigated inside and out, from the king's palace to the criminal's prison.What they saw in this tavern might have been a general wanting but not getting it, looking absent-minded.The card players were listless.The domino player thoughtfully builds a tower with his cards.

The drinker doodles on the table with the spilled wine.Madame Defarge, carefully selecting patterns with a toothpick on her woven sleeves, could see and hear what was invisible and inaudible in the distance.

Saint-Antoine drank it half-and-half until noon.At noon came two dusty men hurrying through its streets.One is Monsieur Defarge, the other a road mender in a blue cap.The two walked into the hotel covered in dust, very thirsty.Their presence kindled a blazing fire in St. Antoine's chest.The flame spread following the two people's whereabouts, burning most of the windows and the faces behind the door openings, causing them to burst into sparks and ignite the flames.But still walking with them, when they entered the hotel, no one spoke in silence, although every face turned to them.

"Good day, gentlemen!" said M. Defarge.The salutation, presumably a tongue-free signal, elicited a chorus of "Good day!" in reply. "The weather is not very good, gentlemen," said Defarge, shaking his head.In this way, everyone looked at each other, and then sat with their heads bowed without saying a word.But he stood up alone and went out. "Ma'am," said Monsieur Defarge to Madame Defarge, "I have traveled a long way with this mender of roads, his name is Jacques. I happened to meet him outside Paris. The mender of roads is a good fellow." , called Jacques. Give him a drink, wife!"

The second person stood up and went out too.Madame Defarge put the wine in front of the mender of roads named Jacques, who took off his blue cap, saluted everyone, and drank.On the breast of his clothes he carried a piece of hard, cold black bread, and sat down at Madame Defarge's counter, biting and chewing it from time to time, and drinking the wine.Not long after, the third person also left.

Defarge drank and cleared his throat, but he drank not at all compared with his guests, since wine was not a thing to him.When he had finished he stood there waiting for the countryman to eat his breakfast.He looked at no one, and no one looked at him.Even Madame Defarge did not look at him.Now she took up her knitting and began to fight again.

"Have you finished your dessert, my friend?" he asked after a while. "It's over, thank you." "Come on then! I'll take you to the room I just told you about. This room is perfect for you." The two walked out of the hotel, into the street, out of the street, into the The yard, out of the yard, up a slightly steep staircase, out of the stairs, into an attic - at that time, an old man with white hair often sat on a stool in this attic, looking down at his body and busy making shoes.

Although the white-haired old man is gone now, the three people who just walked out of the hotel are here.There was a little rift between them and the white-haired old man who was busy: they had peeped at him through a crack in the wall.

Defarge closed the door tightly and said in a low voice: "Jacques One, Jacques Two, Jacques Three! He is Jacques Five, and I, Jacques Four, appointed me to meet you. Let him discuss the matter. .You can say, Jacques Five."

The mender of roads took off his blue hat with a salute, then wiped his swarthy forehead and said, "Where do we begin, sir?"

"Just start at the beginning," replied Defarge, not without reason. "Gentlemen, a year ago, too, in a summer like this," began the mender of roads, "I saw a man under the Marquis's carriage, chained. Just imagine the situation. The sun It's going downhill, and I'm leaving my get off work, when the Marquis's carriage is coming uphill. The man is hanging on the chain--like this." The mender of roads made another mimetic performance.He should have performed flawlessly. He had been performing this show in the village for a year, and every time it was full of houses, it had become one of the indispensable shows.

Jacques No. [-] asked him out loud if he had seen the man before? "No," replied the mender of roads, returning to his original position.Jacques Three asked him how he later met that man. "Because he's taller," whispered the mender of roads, putting a finger in front of his nose. "My lord said to me towards the end of the day, 'Tell me, what does he look like?' I answered, as tall as a monster."

"You should have said 'short like a dwarf'," Jacques II interrupted again.

"Then I don't know. The man hadn't been killed then, and he didn't order me. Please pay attention! I didn't take the initiative to testify in that case. His Excellency the Marquis stood by our little spring and said,' Go and bring me that rascal!' He pointed at me! In truth, gentlemen, I have not offered anything at all." "He's telling the truth, Jacques," said Defarge to the interrupted People say. "Go on!" "Okay!" said the mender of roads slowly. "The tall man is gone. Look for him—how many months? Nine, ten, eleven months?" "It doesn't matter how many months," said Defarge. "Anyway, he hid well, but he was not lucky enough to be caught. Go on!" "I was working on the hillside, and the sun was about to set. I was packing up my tools and preparing to go back downhill to the village, and the village was already dark. At this moment, I raised my head and saw six soldiers coming from the other side of the hillside. One of them was tall, two One arm is tied--around the body--like this!"

He used the indispensable hat to let people see that a person's arms were tied tightly around the waist and tied tightly behind the back with knots.

"I was standing by the curb stones, gentlemen, and I saw some soldiers and prisoners pass me (the road is deserted, and everything unusual is worth looking at), and as soon as they came, I saw Six soldiers of the Qing Dynasty held a bound prisoner, and it was almost dark from my side, except for a red glow on the other side where the sun slept. I also saw their long shadows falling on the On the sunken ridges and raised hillsides on the other side of the road, it was like the shadow of a giant. I also saw them walking in dusty weather, and the dust was flying everywhere! When they were very close to me Well, I recognized the tall man, and he recognized me. Ah, he would be glad to jump off the cliff again as he did when he first saw him, and that place is near!"

He described it as if he was on the hillside at the moment and saw the scene vividly.Thinking about it, he hadn't seen too many scenes in his life.

"I didn't let the soldier see that I knew the tall guy, and he didn't let them see that he knew me. We just exchanged eyes and we understood. 'Let's go!' The soldier pointed Pointing to the village, 'Take him to the grave quickly!' After saying that, he walked faster. I followed behind them. His arms were swollen from being too tight. His wooden shoes Big and heavy and lame. Limps along little by little and they shoot him at guns—like this!"

He imitated a man walking with a gun pointed at him. "They ran fast like crazy men in a race, and he fell down. The soldiers laughed and pulled him up. His face was bloody and muddy, but he dared not touch it. When they saw it, Laughing again. They took him into the village, and the whole village gathered to watch. They led him past the windmill, up the hill, and at last they came to the prison. The whole village saw the prison in the dark night Opened the gate and swallowed him—just like that!"

He opened his mouth desperately, and then closed it suddenly, his teeth creaking.Sensing that he would not open his mouth again to lose effect, Defarge said, "Go on, Jacques."

"The people of the village," continued the mender of roads in a low voice, standing on tiptoe, "then all went back, talked quietly by the spring, fell asleep, and dreamed of the unfortunate In the prison on the cliff, you can't come out unless you are in the execution ground. In the morning I carried my tools and ate black bread to work. I made a detour to the prison and saw him there. He was locked in a very In the solid iron cage, it was full of blood and sand like last night. He was looking out. Because his hands were tied, he couldn’t wave to me. He could only look at me like a dead man. I didn’t dare to call him .”

Defarge and the three looked at each other.Listening to the countryman's story, their faces became very severe, depressed, and hateful. Although their appearance looked a little scary, they were also authoritative, and there was a chilling atmosphere surrounding them.Jacques One and Two sat on old hay-stacked beds, their chins resting on their hands, their eyes fixed on the mender of roads.Jacques Three knelt down on one leg behind them, with a very focused expression, and an excited hand kept scratching at the tiny nerve vessels between the mouth and nose.Defarge stood between them and the messenger—he made the messenger stand by a window that let in the light.The mender of roads kept looking from side to side over them.

"Go on, Jacques," said Defarge. "He was locked in that high cage for a while. People in the village were afraid, so they just looked at him secretly, but they kept looking up at the prison on the cliff in the distance. At dusk, a day's work When it was over, they all went to the fountain to chat, and all faces were turned to the prison again—they had all looked at the inn before, but now they turned to the prison. They discussed quietly by the fountain, saying that although he was sentenced to death, But not necessarily executed. It is said that several petitions are on their way to Paris, saying that he is mad because the child was crushed to death, and he is so angry. Another petition is said to be on the way to the king. I don't know, but it's possible, maybe possible, maybe not necessarily."

(End of this chapter)