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第113章

zanoni-第113章

小说: zanoni 字数: 每页4000字

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jury; the accuser; and amidst the victims the one dauntless and

radiant form。



〃Thou knowest the danger to the State;confess!〃



〃I know; and I keep my promise。  Judge; I reveal thy doom!  I

know that the Anarchy thou callest a State expires with the

setting of this sun。  Hark; to the tramp without; hark to the

roar of voices!  Room there; ye dead!room in hell for

Robespierre and his crew!〃



They hurry into the court;the hasty and pale messengers; there

is confusion and fear and dismay!  〃Off with the conspirator; and

to…morrow the woman thou wouldst have saved shall die!〃



〃To…morrow; president; the steel falls on THEE!〃



On; through the crowded and roaring streets; on moves the

Procession of Death。  Ha; brave people! thou art aroused at last。

They shall not die!  Death is dethroned!Robespierre has

fallen!they rush to the rescue!  Hideous in the tumbril; by the

side of Zanoni; raved and gesticulated that form which; in his

prophetic dreams; he had seen his companion at the place of

death。  〃Save us!save us!〃 howled the atheist Nicot。  〃On;

brave populace! we SHALL be saved!〃  And through the crowd; her

dark hair streaming wild; her eyes flashing fire; pressed a

female form; 〃My Clarence!〃 she shrieked; in the soft Southern

language native to the ears of Viola; 〃butcher! what hast thou

done with Clarence?〃  Her eyes roved over the eager faces of the

prisoners; she saw not the one she sought。  〃Thank Heaven!thank

Heaven!  I am not thy murderess!〃



Nearer and nearer press the populace;another moment; and the

deathsman is defrauded。  O Zanoni! why still upon THY brow the

resignation that speaks no hope?  Tramp! tramp! through the

streets dash the armed troop; faithful to his orders; Black

Henriot leads them on。  Tramp! tramp! over the craven and

scattered crowd!  Here; flying in disorder;there; trampled in

the mire; the shrieking rescuers!  And amidst them; stricken by

the sabres of the guard; her long hair blood…bedabbled; lies the

Italian woman; and still upon her writhing lips sits joy; as they

murmur; 〃Clarence! I have not destroyed thee!〃



On to the Barriere du Trone。  It frowns dark in the air;the

giant instrument of murder!  One after one to the glaive;

another and another and another!  Mercy!  O mercy!  Is the bridge

between the sun and the shades so brief;brief as a sigh?

There; there;HIS turn has come。  〃Die not yet; leave me not

behind; hear mehear me!〃 shrieked the inspired sleeper。  〃What!

and thou smilest still!〃  They smiled;those pale lips;and

WITH the smile; the place of doom; the headsman; the horror

vanished。  With that smile; all space seemed suffused in eternal

sunshine。  Up from the earth he rose; he hovered over her;a

thing not of matter; an IDEA of joy and light!  Behind; Heaven

opened; deep after deep; and the Hosts of Beauty were seen; rank

upon rank; afar; and 〃Welcome!〃 in a myriad melodies; broke from

your choral multitude; ye People of the Skies;〃welcome!  O

purified by sacrifice; and immortal only through the grave;this

it is to die。〃  And radiant amidst the radiant; the IMAGE

stretched forth its arms; and murmured to the sleeper:

〃Companion of Eternity!THIS it is to die!〃



。。。



〃Ho! wherefore do they make us signs from the house…tops?

Wherefore gather the crowds through the street?  Why sounds the

bell?  Why shrieks the tocsin?  Hark to the guns!the armed

clash!  Fellow…captives; is there hope for us at last?〃



So gasp out the prisoners; each to each。  Day wanesevening

closes; still they press their white faces to the bars; and still

from window and from house…top they see the smiles of friends;

the waving signals!  〃Hurrah!〃 at last;〃Hurrah!  Robespierre is

fallen!  The Reign of Terror is no more!  God hath permitted us

to live!〃



Yes; cast thine eyes into the hall where the tyrant and his

conclave hearkened to the roar without!  Fulfilling the prophecy

of Dumas; Henriot; drunk with blood and alcohol; reels within;

and chucks his gory sabre on the floor。  〃All is lost!〃



〃Wretch! thy cowardice hath destroyed us!〃 yelled the fierce

Coffinhal; as he hurled the coward from the window。



Calm as despair stands the stern St。 Just; the palsied Couthon

crawls; grovelling; beneath table; a shot;an explosion!

Robespierre would destroy himself!  The trembling hand has

mangled; and failed to kill!  The clock of the Hotel de Ville

strikes the third hour。  Through the battered door; along the

gloomy passages; into the Death…hall; burst the crowd。  Mangled;

livid; blood…stained; speechless but not unconscious; sits

haughty yet; in his seat erect; the Master…Murderer!  Around him

they throng; they hoot;they execrate; their faces gleaming in

the tossing torches!  HE; and not the starry Magian; the REAL

Sorcerer!  And round HIS last hours gather the Fiends he raised!



They drag him forth!  Open thy gates; inexorable prison!  The

Conciergerie receives its prey!  Never a word again on earth

spoke Maximilien Robespierre!  Pour forth thy thousands; and tens

of thousands; emancipated Paris!  To the Place de la Revolution

rolls the tumbril of the King of Terror;St。 Just; Dumas;

Couthon; his companions to the grave!  A womana childless

woman; with hoary hairsprings to his side; 〃Thy death makes me

drunk with joy!〃  He opened his bloodshot eyes;〃Descend to hell

with the curses of wives and mothers!〃



The headsmen wrench the rag from the shattered jaw; a shriek; and

the crowd laugh; and the axe descends amidst the shout of the

countless thousands; and blackness rushes on thy soul; Maximilien

Robespierre!  So ended the Reign of Terror。



。。。



Daylight in the prison。  From cell to cell they hurry with the

news;crowd upon crowd; the joyous captives mingled with the

very jailers; who; for fear; would fain seem joyous too; they

stream through the dens and alleys of the grim house they will

shortly leave。  They burst into a cell; forgotten since the

previous morning。  They found there a young female; sitting upon

her wretched bed; her arms crossed upon her bosom; her face

raised upward; the eyes unclosed; and a smile of more than

serenityof blissupon her lips。  Even in the riot of their

joy; they drew back in astonishment and awe。  Never had they seen

life so beautiful; and as they crept nearer; and with noiseless

feet; they saw that the lips breathed not; that the repose was of

marble; that the beauty and the ecstasy were of death。  They

gathered round in silence; and lo! at her feet there was a young

infant; who; wakened by their tread; looked at them steadfastly;

and with its rosy fingers played with its dead mother's robe。  An

orphan there in a dungeon vault!



〃Poor one!〃 said a female (herself a parent); 〃and they say the

father fell yesterday; and now the mother!  Alone in the world;

what can be its fate?〃



The infant smiled fearlessly on the crowd; as the woman spoke

thus。  And the old priest; who stood amongst them; said gently;

〃Woman; see! the orphan smiles!  THE FATHERLESS ARE THE CARE OF

GOD!〃









NOTE。



The curiosity which Zanoni has excited among those who think it

worth while to dive into the subtler meanings they believe it

intended to convey; may excuse me in adding a few words; not in

explanation of its mysteries; but upon the principles which

permit them。  Zanoni is not; as some have supposed; an allegory;

but beneath the narrative it relates; TYPICAL meanings are

concealed。  It is to be regarded in two characters; distinct yet

harmonious;1st; that of the simple and objective fiction; in

which (once granting the license of the author to select a

subject which is; or appears to be; preternatural) the reader

judges the writer by the usual canons;namely; by the

consistency of his characters under such admitted circumstances;

the interest of his story; and the coherence of his plot; of the

work regarded in this view; it is not my intention to say

anythin

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