Two Cities

Chapter 30 Weaving (2)
"Listen then, Jacques," said Jacques I sternly, "to understand that a petition has been sent to the King and Queen. All of us present, except you, have seen the King take the petition. .It was in the carriage in the street, he sat beside the Queen. It was Defarge you saw here who jumped on top of the horse with the petition at the risk of his life."

"Also, Jacques," said Number Three, who was kneeling on one foot, and kept scratching at the sensitive part with his fingers, looking a little greedy, as if longing for something that was neither something to eat nor something to want. Drink, "The cavalry and infantry guards surrounded him and beat him, did you hear?"

"Yes, gentlemen." "Go on," said Defarge.

"Also. They discussed another matter softly by the spring," the countryman continued. "It is said that he was brought to our country to be executed, and to die. They He even went on to say that because he had killed his lord, and that he was the father of the tenants, who might be called serfs, he would be condemned to death as a rebellious son who killed his father. There was an old man by the spring The son said that he was right-handed with a knife, so his right hand would be burned in front of his face, and then he would make a series of cuts on his arms, chest, and legs, and pour hot oil, molten lead, Hot rosin, wax and sulfur are poured in, and then four strong horses are tied to the hands and feet, and then the body is torn into several pieces. The old man said that there was a prisoner who wanted to murder the former King Louis XV. He was executed in this way. But I don’t know whether he is telling the truth? I have never been to school.”

"Then listen again, Jacques," said he, grasping the eager man with his hands, "that man's name was Damien, and he was executed publicly in broad daylight in the streets of Paris. The spectators There are many, but the most striking ones are the fashionable and noble ladies. They are also very interested in this, and they must see the end--the end, Jacques, until it was getting dark, when he was ripped off Two broken legs and one arm and still breathing! Didn't kill him until the last moment - how old are you?"

"35," said the mender of roads.He looked all sixty. "That happened when you were ten years old, you should have a chance to see it."

"Enough," said Defarge, looking impatient and stern. "Long live the devil! Go on."

"Ah! One will talk about this and another about that, but the subject is inseparable, and even the spring seems to lower its voice. Finally, on Sunday night, when the whole village has gone to sleep, a group of pawnbrokers come The soldiers came down the hill from the prison, and their guns kept ringing when they hit the stones in the side street. The workers dug the ground, nailed the nails, and the soldiers were laughing and laughing. The ten-foot gallows made the spring look poisonous."

The road mender looked up—no, he saw through—to the ultra-low ceiling, and pointed with his finger, as if he saw a gallows erected in the sky. "Therefore all work was stopped, and all the people were gathered together. No one led the ox out, and the drums sounded at noon with the ox and the man. The soldier went to prison before dawn, and put him all It was all surrounded. He was tied up as before, with an extra wooden stick stuffed in his mouth, tied tightly with a rope, and he seemed to be smiling from a distance.” He pulled the corners of his mouth to the sides of his ears with two thumbs, and pulled out a Wrinkled face. "His knife was bound on top of the gallows, with the edge up and the point hanging in the air. He was hanged on that forty-foot gallows, and hung there, poisoning the spring."

He wiped his face with the blue hat, and as long as he remembered that scene, many beads of sweat would flow out of his face again.Everyone looked at each other.

"It's horrible, gentlemen. How can women and children have the courage to draw water in such shadows? Who will talk here at night! Under the gallows, did I say? Monday night falls, the sun When I went to sleep, I left there. I looked back on the hill, and the shadow hung obliquely over the spring, over the windmill, over the prison—as if over the whole land, gentlemen, To the point where it meets the sky!"

The longing man gnawed a finger and looked at the others, his fingers trembling because he wanted to be longed for.

"That's the only way, gentlemen. I left the village at the moment when the sun was about to set and walked forward according to the notice. After walking for one night and half a day the next day, I met this comrade (according to the notice that he would join me), and immediately He came together. We rode for a while, walked for a while, finished yesterday, and walked all night, and we have not arrived at your place until now."

After a sad silence, Jacques One said, "Okay, you speak the truth and act very well. Can you wait for us outside the door?"

"No problem," said the mender of roads.Defarge accompanied him to the landing, made him sit down, and then went into the attic himself.

When he arrived at the house, the three men had stood up, their heads clustered together. "What do you think, Jacques?" asked One. "Is it on the record?"

"On the record. The verdict is all clear," replied Defarge. "Brilliant!" murmured the longing man. "The estate and the whole family?" asked Number One. "The estate and the family," replied Defarge. "Clear them all." The man with the longing look let out another carnival in a low voice, "It's wonderful!" He gnawed on another finger. "Are you sure that our record will not cause problems?" Jacques II asked Defarge. "It's safe, no doubt, because no one can crack it but ourselves. But are we sure we can crack it ourselves?—or should I say, does she always crack it?"

"Jacques," replied Defarge, straightening up, "since my wife has accepted the commission and consented to the record being kept in her memory alone, she will not forget a word—not even a word." Will forget. Make it easy to remember with her own methods and marks, and it seems to her as clear as the sun. Trust Madame Defarge. To erase a name from the record that Madame Defarge wove Or crime, even a single letter, is easier for the most cowardly coward to obliterate his own life!"

There was a creaking whisper, expressing agreement and approval.The eager man asked, "Send this countryman home as soon as possible? I hope so. He is too simple. Will he get into any trouble?"

"He knows nothing," said Defarge, "and what he knows will not carry him to the gallows as high. I will do his work. Let him stay with me, by I'll take care of him and send him back. He wants to see the world—to see the king and queen and palace. Let him go and see it on Sunday!"

"What?" The man with longing eyes opened his eyes wide and shouted, "He wants to see the king's luxury and aristocratic style, how can this be a good sign?"

"Jacques," said Defarge, "the best way to make a cat like milk is to make it see the milk. The best way to know when a dog is going to kill is to make it see that it is ready to hunt." object."

Nothing else was said, and he was fast asleep at the foot of the stairs when they found the repairman.They wanted to tell him to lie down in bed and rest.He immediately lay down and fell asleep without opening his mouth.

The accommodation that a poor provincial man like himself can find in Paris is generally inferior to the cottage at the Defarge Hotel.So if it weren't for the fear of the proprietress that cannot be ignored in his heart, his life should be considered very novel and interesting.Fortunately, the proprietress sat at the counter every day, as if deliberately not to take him to heart, she made up her mind, and she pretended not to see anything other than the superficial relationship between him and what happened there.This made him tremble every time he saw her, because he thought about it and felt that he had no idea what she was going to do next.If her well-dressed head suddenly decides to pretend to see him kill someone and skin him, she will definitely insist on him and play with him to the end.

So when Sunday came and he found out that the landlady was going to accompany M. Defarge and him to the Palace of Versailles, he did not feel very happy (although she expressed her pleasure verbally).What made him even more nervous was that when they were sitting in the stagecoach, the proprietress was knitting comfortably.What made him especially nervous was that in the afternoon the crowd was already waiting to see the king and queen driving, and she continued to weave among the crowd.

"How industrious you are, ma'am!" said her attendant. "Yes," replied Madame Defarge, "I have much work to do." "What do you knit, madame?"

"Many things." "Like—"

"For example," Madame Defarge replied stoically, "the shroud."

The man moved to the side as fast as he could, far away.The mender of roads fanned the wind with his blue cap, and he felt very crowded and stuffy.Now he needs the king and queen to wake him up, and he's not lucky, because the dose of sobriety is almost here.The slightly larger king and the pretty queen had arrived in a golden carriage.There are a bunch of people with lanterns in front, a large group of brightly dressed, laughing women and beautiful gentlemen.They were full of jewels, richly dressed, powdered and painted, with a loud voice and arrogance, revealing the faces of men and women who were beautiful and disdainful.The road mender was silent in the midst of this grand scene, and his heart was so excited that he couldn't help shouting "Long live the king!" "Long live the queen!" "Long live everyone!" "Long live everything!" Like the ubiquitous Jacques Party.Then there are gardens, courtyards, steps, fountains, green lawns, more kings and queens, more court prosperity, more dignitaries, ladies and ladies, and many long live!At last he was overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry.During this three-hour-long spectacle, he was shouting and crying along with many emotional people here.Defarge clutched him by the collar the whole time, as if afraid that he would rush out at the objects of his temporary adoration and tear them to pieces.

"Good!" The parade was over, Defarge patted him on the back, and said like his benefactor, "You are such a good baby!"

The road patcher has just come to his senses now, and he is very worried that what he just did was a mistake.Fortunately, it doesn't matter.

"We need men like you," said Defarge in his ear. "You make these fools think that this situation can go on forever, so they are more arrogant than before, and they will fall sooner."

"Here!" cried the mender of roads, considering it. "That's right." "These fools don't know anything. They don't hear your voices. For their dogs or horses, they Can gag hundreds of people like you for a long time. On the other hand, they only want to listen to what you tell them. Just let them continue to be deceived. This kind of person can't deceive him enough .”

Madame Defarge looked at her visitor disdainfully, and nodded her agreement.

"As for you," she said, "you'll yell and shed tears about anything, as long as it's conspicuous and noisy enough. Whether you're going to do it or not, tell me!"

"Go ahead, ma'am, I'll do it. This is what I'll do." "Suppose you have a lot of dolls in front of you, and someone asks you to strip them for your own use. You will choose noble and beautiful ones, won't you?" ? Say it!"

"Yes, ma'am." "Suppose you were presented with a flock of flightless birds, and you were urged to pluck their feathers to adorn yourself, you would pick the prettiest ones, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, ma'am." "Now you've seen the doll, and you've seen the bird, too,"

Madame Defarge waved her hand in the direction they had just gone, "Now, go home!"

(End of this chapter)