Two Cities

Chapter 54
"You used to go to see the barber—" "To see him shave? Every day. What a clever barber! Haven't you ever seen him shave?" "No."

"Go and see while he's busy. Think about it, Citizen. He shaved sixty-three heads today in less than two packs of cigarettes! Quick, quick."

The smirking little man took down his pipe and explained to him one by one how the time was allocated.A thought flashed through Carlton's mind, and he wished to beat him at once.He turned to leave.

"You're not English," asked the Sawyer, "though your dress is English."

"British," Carlton replied, stopping again, and turning. "You talk like a Frenchman."

"I went to school there." "Aha! True French! Good night, Englishman." "Good-bye, citizen." "You've got to see that interesting thing," insisted the little man , cried after him, "Take a pipe!" Sidney stopped in the middle of the street not long after he had left.He wrote on the paper by the street light, and then walked through several dark and dirty streets very skillfully—the streets were not as clean as usual, because no one cared about the cleanliness of even the most majestic streets in the time of terror— When I came to a pharmacy, I stopped.The drugstore owner was about to close his shop, a dishonest dingy little shop on a crooked uphill road run by a non-regular dim-witted little man.

He went to the counter to greet the boss, and handed him the note he had just written on the street lamp. "Hoo!" The pharmacy owner read the note and whistled softly, "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

Sidney Carton did not answer.The drugstore owner asked again: "Is it you, citizen?"

"That's right." "You have to be careful, you can't use them together, citizen. Do you know the consequences of using them together?"

"I know."

Several packs of medicine were packed and handed to him.He carefully put it in the pocket of his inner jacket, counted the money, paid the bill, and carefully left the pharmacy. "Before tomorrow comes," he said, looking up at the moon, "everything will be done. I'm afraid I shall lose sleep."

He said this aloud under the swiftly drifting clouds, and his attitude was not indifference, nor more lazy than contempt, but some firm conviction of a weary man.He once wandered and wandered, and he also fought, but he always felt that he had nowhere to go.Now he finally understood and found a way for himself.

It was a relatively long time ago. When he was famous for his outstanding achievements and great prospects among his competitors in the early years, he followed his father's coffin to the tomb - his mother had passed away many years ago - now, when he walked along Pacing along the dark street, he didn’t care about anything that happened around him, and the solemn words in front of his father’s grave suddenly appeared in his mind: “I am the resurrection, and I am the life. Those who believe in me will be resurrected even though they die. Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die."

Alone, he wanders through a city ruled by the axe, grieving for the 63 people who have already been executed, and for the countless others who are in jail to be executed tomorrow, the day after, and the day after tomorrow.He kept thinking about it, which reminded him of the words and sentences of the year, and he could think of many past things through these.But he didn't go back, just repeated those few words and walked forward.

Sidney Carton looked solemnly at the window where the light was still shining. In this rare calm, the people in the window forgot their fear and went to sleep.He looked at the church tower, which was deserted, for the years of crooks, robbers, and dandies who had appeared as priests had been so disgusting to the point of self-destructiveness.He looked at the cemetery in the distance, and the gate of the cemetery was marked as allocated to "eternal rest".He looked at the full prison, at the streets where groups of prisoners were dying.Death is no longer a rare event, and the action of the guillotine no longer arouses any tragic legends of lingering souls in the hearts of the world.He watched with dignified interest the city that lay dormant only briefly at night amidst its tumult and fury, and watched how its life began and ended.He crossed the Seine again and stepped into the brightly lit city streets.

There are few carriages on the street, because it is not safe to ride a carriage. People in the upper class have long hidden their heads under their red caps, put on heavy shoes, and walked slowly.But the theater was still full. When he passed the theater, the crowd was laughing and rushing out, discussing and heading home.In front of the theater a little girl was crossing the street with her mother.He helped the child's mother hold the little girl and send her across the road.He wanted to kiss her as the timid arms relaxed his neck.

"I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will be resurrected even though they die. Those who live and believe in me will never die."

The road was very quiet at this time, and the night was getting darker. The words of the Bible and the echo of his footsteps echoed in the air.His heart was peaceful, and he could not stop thinking, only occasionally chanting those words and phrases in his mouth along with his footsteps, but these were still fresh in his memory.As the night gradually faded, he stood on the bridge, listening to the river lapping against the embankment of Paris Island. The houses and cathedral beside the embankment glowed white under the moonlight, blending together like a beautiful picture.Day came quickly, and the face of a dead body appeared from the sky.Then night and moon and stars faded to gray and died.For a while, the only ruler of the Great Thousand World was Death.But the glorious sun had risen, and it seemed that with its blinding brilliance it had sent directly into his heart the words that weighed on him at night, and finally made him feel warm.He covered his eyes with his hands, looked towards the sun, and saw a light bridge in the air, connecting him with the sun, and the river shone brightly under the sun.The surging tide in the tranquility of the morning is so fast, so deep, so credible, like a long-lost friend, so trustworthy.He stayed away from the house, walked by the river, and fell asleep on the bank, basking in the light and warmth of the sun.He woke up and stood up, and lingered there for a while, watching a whirlpool whirling aimlessly, finally being sucked up by the current, and rushing to the sea-"Same as me!"

A small trading boat, with its soft sails, sailed past his vision.As the trace of the skiff disappeared in the water, a prayer broke out in his heart, that all his blindness and error would be mercifully dealt with.That prayer ends: "I am the resurrection and the life."

When he returned to the bank, Mr. Lorry had gone out.He knew exactly where the kind old man had gone.Sidney Carton drank nothing but coffee, ate a little bread, washed and refreshed himself, and went to court.

The courtroom was full of sound and commotion when the black sheep (whose sight frightened many) tucked him into an inconspicuous corner of the crowd.Mr. Lorry was there, Dr. Manette was there, and there she was, sitting beside her father.

When her husband was brought in, she turned her eyes to him, her eyes were sonorous and encouraging, such tenderness full of admiration, love and pity, but it also showed her courage for him.Those gazes changed his face back to a flushed complexion, which made him radiant every time he glanced at it, and felt excited instantly.If one had noticed the effect Lucy's eyes had upon Sidney Carton at this moment, it would have been found that she had exactly the same effect upon him as it had upon her husband.

There are few, and sometimes none, procedures before the so-called impartial tribunals that guarantee a hearing of the accused's complaints.The Revolution would not exist if all laws, formalities, and ceremonies had not been trampled upon with such wantonness that the destructive vengeance of the Revolution threw them all into oblivion.

Every eye was on the jury.The jury was all very staunch patriots, good republicans.Among them, there was one person who stood out the most. That person had an impatient expression on his face, and kept scratching his fingers around his mouth. The audience watched all this with satisfaction.That was Jack Three of St. Antoine, a bloodthirsty, cannibalistic, bloody juror.The whole jury is like a pack of vicious dogs assembled to judge a deer.Each pair of eyes fixed on the five judges and the chief public prosecutor. Today it seems that there is only notarization here, only a cruel, ruthless, murderous look, and everything is done according to the rules.Each pair of eyes turned to another pair of eyes in the crowd, gave the other a little hint of approval, looked forward again, and listened carefully.

Charles Evermond, aka Darnay.He was released in court yesterday, charged again yesterday and arrested again.The indictment was handed over to the prisoner himself last night.The criminal was exposed as an enemy of the republic, a nobleman, and a family of vicious nobles, all of whom were deprived of legal protection because they had no right to oppress the people with their now deprived privileges.Charles Evermond, also known as Darnay, is legally liable to death under the Denial of Legal Protection Act, for no other reason.

The Public Prosecutor's statement was very brief, and that was about it.The president of the court asked the question whether the defendant had been exposed publicly or secretly.

"Public disclosure, President." "Who is his whistleblower?"

"Three denounced. Ernest Defarge, hotelier of the Quarter Saint-Antoine."

"Good." "Thérèse Defarge, wife of the aforementioned Defarge." "Yes."

"Alexander Manette, doctor." Amid the uproar in the courtroom, Doctor Manette stood up from his seat, pale and trembling. "President, I protest to you in anger. Can this be true? You know that the accused is my daughter's husband, and that my daughter and those she loves are most precious in my eyes. Who did this To frame me? Where?"

"Citizen Manette, silence. Disobedience to the authority of the courts will not protect you. As for your life, nothing is more precious to a good citizen than a republic."

This denunciation was loudly endorsed by the public.The presiding judge rang the bell for silence, and then went on excitedly.

"Even if the Republic asks you to sacrifice your daughter, your only responsibility is to sacrifice her. Be quiet and listen!"

There was a constant deafening noise.Dr. Manette sat down, looking around, his lips trembling.His daughter moved closer to him.The hungry man rubbed his hands together and scratched his mouth with one hand.

Defarge appeared in court.When the court was so quiet that he could be heard speaking, he briefly recalled what had happened.He had worked in the doctor's house since he was a child and was handed over to him when the doctor was released.His statement is subject to brief scrutiny below.Court work has always been very fast.

"You did well in the storming of the Bastille, didn't you, citizen?" "I think so."

Then there was a woman's excited scream from the crowd, "You were the best patriot at Bastille, didn't you say? You were a gunner there that day, and you were a gunner when that damned fort fell." The first to rush in. Patriots, am I right!"

It was the Nemesis who sped up the interrogation process like this amidst the loud applause of the audience.The presiding judge rang the bell, and the inspired, feverish Nemesis screamed, "I don't care about your bell," and she was again applauded.

"Report to the court what you did that day in the Bastille, citizen!"

"I know that the prisoner I speak of was held in a cell called 0 in the North Tower," said Defarge, looking down at his wife, who was standing at the bottom of the steps of his witness box, still watching. he. "The doctor told me this. When he was making shoes under my care, he only knew that his name was Beita 0, and he didn't know anything else. When I fired the cannon that day, I made up my mind that as soon as the fortress was captured, I must go to check it." The cell. I climbed into the cell with another citizen, led by a jailer. The citizen is now one of the jurors present. I searched the house very carefully. I found in a hole in the chimney A suspicious place, a stone that had been removed and reinstalled, was the one that found the clue. That's all. I have studied Dr. Manette's handwriting quite a bit as a job. This manuscript It is indeed in Dr. Manette's handwriting. I submit this manuscript in Dr. Manette's handwriting to the presiding judge."

"Read the manuscript." Deathly silence and quiet.A pin dropped and the prisoner on trial could be heard looking lovingly at his wife.His wife watched anxiously from him to her father.Dr. Manette kept looking at the reader.Madame Defarge stared at the prisoner.Defarge gazed intently at his wife, who was enjoying herself.The rest looked intently at the doctor.Doctors didn't respond to them.The court read the manuscript, which follows in full.

(End of this chapter)