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第13章

st. ives-第13章

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that sent my blood to the boil。  There was a private in our shed 

called Clausel; a man of a very ugly disposition。  He had made one 

of the followers of Goguelat; but; whereas Goguelat had always a 

kind of monstrous gaiety about him; Clausel was no less morose than 

he was evil…minded。  He was sometimes called THE GENERAL; and 

sometimes by a name too ill…mannered for repetition。  As we all sat 

listening; this man's hand was laid on my shoulder; and his voice 

whispered in my ear: 'If you don't go; I'll have you hanged; 

Marquis!'



As soon as the round was past … 'Certainly; gentlemen!' said I。  'I 

will give you a lead; with all the pleasure in the world。  But; 

first of all; there is a hound here to be punished。  M。 Clausel has 

just insulted me; and dishonoured the French army; and I demand 

that he run the gauntlet of this shed。'



There was but one voice asking what he had done; and; as soon as I 

had told them; but one voice agreeing to the punishment。  The 

General was; in consequence; extremely roughly handled; and the 

next day was congratulated by all who saw him on his NEW 

DECORATIONS。  It was lucky for us that he was one of the prime 

movers and believers in our project of escape; or he had certainly 

revenged himself by a denunciation。  As for his feelings towards 

myself; they appeared; by his looks; to surpass humanity; and I 

made up my mind to give him a wide berth in the future。



Had I been to go down that instant; I believe I could have carried 

it well。  But it was already too late … the day was at hand。  The 

rest had still to be summoned。  Nor was this the extent of my 

misfortune; for the next night; and the night after; were adorned 

with a perfect galaxy of stars; and showed every cat that stirred 

in a quarter of a mile。  During this interval; I have to direct 

your sympathies on the Vicomte de Saint…Yves!  All addressed me 

softly; like folk round a sickbed。  Our Italian corporal; who had 

got a dozen of oysters from a fishwife; laid them at my feet; as 

though I were a Pagan idol; and I have never since been wholly at 

my ease in the society of shellfish。  He who was the best of our 

carvers brought me a snuff…box; which he had just completed; and 

which; while it was yet in hand; he had often declared he would not 

part with under fifteen dollars。  I believe the piece was worth the 

money too!  And yet the voice stuck in my throat with which I must 

thank him。  I found myself; in a word; to be fed up like a prisoner 

in a camp of anthropophagi; and honoured like the sacrificial bull。  

And what with these annoyances; and the risky venture immediately 

ahead; I found my part a trying one to play。



It was a good deal of a relief when the third evening closed about 

the castle with volumes of sea…fog。  The lights of Princes Street 

sometimes disappeared; sometimes blinked across at us no brighter 

than the eyes of cats; and five steps from one of the lanterns on 

the ramparts it was already groping dark。  We made haste to lie 

down。  Had our jailers been upon the watch; they must have observed 

our conversation to die out unusually soon。  Yet I doubt if any of 

us slept。  Each lay in his place; tortured at once with the hope of 

liberty and the fear of a hateful death。  The guard call sounded; 

the hum of the town declined by little and little。  On all sides of 

us; in their different quarters; we could hear the watchman cry the 

hours along the street。  Often enough; during my stay in England; 

have I listened to these gruff or broken voices; or perhaps gone to 

my window when I lay sleepless; and watched the old gentleman 

hobble by upon the causeway with his cape and his cap; his hanger 

and his rattle。  It was ever a thought with me how differently that 

cry would re…echo in the chamber of lovers; beside the bed of 

death; or in the condemned cell。  I might be said to hear it that 

night myself in the condemned cell!  At length a fellow with a 

voice like a bull's began to roar out in the opposite thoroughfare:



'Past yin o'cloak; and a dark; haary moarnin'。'



At which we were all silently afoot。



As I stole about the battlements towards the … gallows; I was about 

to write … the sergeant…major; perhaps doubtful of my resolution; 

kept close by me; and occasionally proffered the most indigestible 

reassurances in my ear。  At last I could bear them no longer。



'Be so obliging as to let me be!' said I。  'I am neither a coward 

nor a fool。  What do YOU know of whether the rope be long enough?  

But I shall know it in ten minutes!'



The good old fellow laughed in his moustache; and patted me。



It was all very well to show the disposition of my temper before a 

friend alone; before my assembled comrades the thing had to go 

handsomely。  It was then my time to come on the stage; and I hope I 

took it handsomely。



'Now; gentlemen;' said I; 'if the rope is ready; here is the 

criminal!'



The tunnel was cleared; the stake driven; the rope extended。  As I 

moved forward to the place; many of my comrades caught me by the 

hand and wrung it; an attention I could well have done without。



'Keep an eye on Clausel!' I whispered to Laclas; and with that; got 

down on my elbows and knees took the rope in both hands; and worked 

myself; feet foremost; through the tunnel。  When the earth failed 

under my feet; I thought my heart would have stopped; and a moment 

after I was demeaning myself in mid…air like a drunken jumping…

jack。  I have never been a model of piety; but at this juncture 

prayers and a cold sweat burst from me simultaneously。



The line was knotted at intervals of eighteen inches; and to the 

inexpert it may seem as if it should have been even easy to 

descend。  The trouble was; this devil of a piece of rope appeared 

to be inspired; not with life alone; but with a personal malignity 

against myself。  It turned to the one side; paused for a moment; 

and then spun me like a toasting…jack to the other; slipped like an 

eel from the clasp of my feet; kept me all the time in the most 

outrageous fury of exertion; and dashed me at intervals against the 

face of the rock。  I had no eyes to see with; and I doubt if there 

was anything to see but darkness。  I must occasionally have caught 

a gasp of breath; but it was quite unconscious。  And the whole 

forces of my mind were so consumed with losing hold and getting it 

again; that I could scarce have told whether I was going up or 

coming down。



Of a sudden I knocked against the cliff with such a thump as almost 

bereft me of my sense; and; as reason twinkled back; I was amazed 

to find that I was in a state of rest; that the face of the 

precipice here inclined outwards at an angle which relieved me 

almost wholly of the burthen of my own weight; and that one of my 

feet was safely planted on a ledge。  I drew one of the sweetest 

breaths in my experience; hugged myself against the rope; and 

closed my eyes in a kind of ecstasy of relief。  It occurred to me 

next to see how far I was advanced on my unlucky journey; a point 

on which I had not a shadow of a guess。  I looked up: there was 

nothing above me but the blackness of the night and the fog。  I 

craned timidly forward and looked down。  There; upon a floor of 

darkness; I beheld a certain pattern of hazy lights; some of them 

aligned as in thoroughfares; others standing apart as in solitary 

houses; and before I could well realise it; or had in the least 

estimated my distance; a wave of nausea and vertigo warned me to 

lie back and close my eyes。  In this situation I had really but the 

one wish; and that was: something else to think of!  Strange to 

say; I got it: a veil was torn from my mind; and I saw what a fool 

I was … what fools we had all been … and that I had no business to 

be thus dangling between earth and heaven by my arms。  The only 

thing to have done was to have attached me to a rope 

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