Two Cities

Chapter 9 The Shoemaker (2)
"She leaned on my shoulder when I was called away that night - she was afraid of me leaving, though I wasn't - and they found this on my sleeve when I was sent to the North Tower.'You can Give it back to me? It can't help me escape, although it can make my spirit fly away.' These are the words I said at the time. I remember it very well."

He moved his lips and made many movements to express these meanings.But as soon as he found the words, the words came coherently, though slowly.

"Well—is that you?"

The two men next to him startled again, for he turned on her with great terror.However, she let him grab her without any resistance, sat calmly, and whispered, "I beg you, good gentlemen, don't come here, don't talk, don't move."

"Listen," he exclaimed, "who's talking?" He let go of his hand while yelling, and then stretched out his hands to his head, pulling his hair like crazy.As if everything would pass for him except making shoes, the seizure finally passed.He packed up his little bag, intending to hang it on his chest again, but he kept looking at her, shaking his head very sadly.

"No, no, no, you're too young and too pretty for that to be possible. Look at the prisoner! She's never seen such a hand before, she's never seen such a face before, so voice she had never heard before. No, no. She—and he—was a long time ago—before that long time in the North Tower. What is your name, I gentle angel?"

To congratulate him on his softened tone and attitude, the daughter knelt in front of him, her begging hands caressing her father's chest.

"Oh, sir, I'll tell you later on what my name is, who my parents are, and why I don't know what happened to them. But I can't tell you here now. What I can tell you here now is I beg you to touch me lightly with your hand, bless me, kiss me, darling, my darling!"

His miserable white hair mingled with hers of shining blond hair, which warmed and illuminated it, as if the light of freedom shone on him.

"If you hear in my voice the sweet music you've heard before—though I don't know if you will, but I hope you will—weep for it, weep for it! If you Touch my hair and remember the words of your head resting on your chest when you were young, just cry for it, cry for it! If I tell you we'll still have a home, I'll be fine I am filial to you and serve you wholeheartedly, these words can remind you of a family that has been ruined for many years, and thus make your heart wither, just cry for it, cry for it!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and rocked him to her chest like a child.

"If I tell you, my dearest, that your pain is over, that I have come to take you out of here, that we are going to England, to live a life of peace and tranquility, that you would be reminded of your in vain The good old days of ruin, think of our birthplace - France, which is so indifferent and harsh to you, so heartless, cry! cry! If I tell you my name, talk about my father who is still alive and who has been Dead mother, I tell you that I should kneel before my righteous father and beg his forgiveness, because I never went to save him, I never cried and couldn't sleep for him, and it was because my poor mother loved me, Don't want me to know her pain. If so you cry! Cry for her! Cry for me too! Good gentlemen, thank God! I feel his noble tears fall on my face, and the sound of his weeping Convulsions in my heart! Ah, look! Thank God for us! Thank God!"

He is in her arms, his face pressed against her breast: the scene is moving and frightening (because of the injustice and tragedy).The two people on the side couldn't help covering their faces with their hands.

The quiet attic was undisturbed for a long time, and the sobbing chest and trembling body finally calmed down.As with all storms there is always calm.That is the sign of the world, that the storm called life must calm down into rest and solitude.The two went forward together to help the father and daughter up from the ground - the old man had slowly collapsed on the ground, lost all energy, and fell asleep.The girl supported him to fall, letting his head rest on her arm.Her blond hair fell down, blocking his light.

"If everything can be arranged," she said, and Mr. Lorry, who had already twitched his nostrils several times, bent down.She raised her hand to him and said, "Let's get away from Paris at once! Take him out the door without waking him—"

"But you must find out, can he stand a long way?" asked Mr. Lorry.

"This city is too scary for him. It is better for him to travel long distances than to stay here."

"That is true," said Defarge, who was on his knees watching and listening to them. "And what is more, M. Manette has every reason to think that it would be better to leave France. Shall I not hire a stagecoach, you see?"

"It's business work," said Mr. Lorry, and for a moment he resumed his businesslike manner. "Since it's business work, let me do it."

"Thank you very much," urged Miss Manette, "he's calmed down, you see. Just leave me here with him. Leave him to me, don't worry. If you close the door, make sure we There will be no disturbances, and I am not at all worried that he will be as peaceful when you return as when you left. I swear I will do everything I can to take care of him. We will take him away as soon as you return."

Neither M. Farroy nor Defarge agreed with this.They all hope that someone can stay with them, but they have to hire a carriage and go through travel procedures.It was getting dark and time was running out.In the end, they had no choice but to divide the work in a hurry and rush to do the work.

When it got dark, the daughter put her head on the hard ground, leaning against her father, watching him silently, and the two lay quietly.It was getting darker and darker, and a ray of light came in through the crack in the wall.

Mr. Lorry and M. Defarge had made all preparations for the journey, and had brought sandwiches, wine, and hot coffee, as well as traveling coats and shawls.Monsieur Defarge placed the food and the lamp he had brought on the cobbler's bench (there was nothing in the attic but a bed), and he and Mr. Lorry awoke the prisoner, and helped him to his feet.

It's just that all the people together couldn't tell the secret in his heart from the terrified expression on that face.Does he understand what has happened?Did he remember what they had told him?Did he know he was free?No bright mind can answer.They tried talking to him, but he was still unclear, and answers came slowly.Seeing his bewildered and bewildered appearance, they all felt very scared and decided not to bother him anymore.He had a look of madness and bewilderment that he had never seen on his face, and he clasped his head tightly with both hands.But whenever he heard his daughter's voice, he was very happy and turned his head to her.

They gave him something to eat, and he ate.Give him something to drink, and he will drink.Give him something to wear, and he will wear it.Surround him with things, and he will surround him, with a long-term habit of being afraid and obedient to everything.His daughter took his arm, and he reacted quickly, grabbing her hand with both hands and not letting go.

They began to descend, Mr. Defarge first with his lamp, and Mr. Lorry last.They had only taken a few steps up the main staircase when the old man stopped and stared carefully at the roof and walls.

"Do you remember this, Pa? Do you remember how you went up here?"

"What did you say?" Before she could repeat her question, he murmured the answer, as if she had already asked it again. "Remember? No, don't remember, it's been too long." They found that he had no memory of being brought from prison to this room.

They heard him babbled and murmured "North Tower 0" in a low voice.He looked around, evidently looking for the strong walls of the castle where he had been held for so long.As soon as he got down into the patio, he instinctively changed his gait, as if he knew that the suspension bridge was ahead.When he saw that there was no drawbridge, only a carriage waiting for him on the street, he let go of his daughter's hand and hugged his head tightly.

There was no crowd at the door.There are many windows, but there is no one in front of the windows, not even pedestrians on the street.An unnatural silence and emptiness reigned.There was only one person to be seen there, and that was Madame Defarge—she was knitting against the doorframe and saw nothing.

The prisoner stepped into the carriage, followed by his daughter, and Mr. Lorry was about to step on the pedals when he was stopped by his questions—the old man was asking painfully about his cobbler's tools and his unfinished shoes.Madame Defarge at once told her husband that she would fetch it, and then she knitted out of the light and into the patio.She quickly took out the things, handed them into the carriage-and immediately leaned against the door frame and began knitting again, seeing nothing.

Defarge took the driver's seat and said, "To the checkpoint!" With a bang of his hands and a crack of his whip, the gang set out on the road under the dim, swaying lamps overhead.

The carriage walked under the flickering street lamps.The streets are bright when the lights are on, and dark when the lights are off.They drove past lit shops, brightly dressed crowds, brightly lit cafés and theater gates, toward a city gate.Guards with lanterns in their hands stood by the sentry hut. "Passage, guest!" "Then here is the paper, Monsieur officer," said Defarge, getting out of the carriage and drawing the guard aside. "Here is the paper of the gray-haired gentleman in the carriage. Both the paper and him are by I'm in charge, I'm--" He lowered his voice, several military lanterns flickered, his uniformed arm raised a lantern, reached into the carriage, and looked at the white-haired head with unusual eyes. "All right, let's go!" said the man in uniform. "Good-bye!" replied Defarge.In this way, they walked out from the ever-dimmer forest of light wavering above their heads, and came under the vast and boundless forest of starlight.There are eternal points of light everywhere in the sky, and the dark shadows of the night under the sky are vast and faint.Some points of light are so far away from this little earth that scholars even tell us that it is doubtful whether their light can reveal itself.They are but specks of dust in the universe where everything is tolerated and everything is revealed.During the whole cold journey before dawn, the little stars whispered the old question again in the ear of Mr. Jarvis Lorry-Mr. Lorry sat facing the old man who had been buried and exhumed, wondering What subtle faculties have been lost by the old man, and which faculties can be restored:

"I hope you are willing to return to the world?" The old answer is still: "I don't know."

(End of this chapter)