CHAPTER XVII THE USE MADE OF MARIUS' FIVE-FRANC PIECE



Marius decided that the moment had now arrived when he must resume his post at his observatory. In a twinkling, and with the agility of his age, he had reached the hole in the partition.



He looked.



The interior of the Jondrette apartment presented a curious aspect, and Marius found an explanation of the singular light which he had noticed. A candle was burning in a candlestick covered with verdigris, but that was not what really lighted the chamber. The hovel was completely illuminated, as it were, by the reflection from a rather large sheet-iron brazier standing in the fireplace,and filled with burning charcoal, the brazier prepared by the Jondrette woman that morning. The charcoal was glowing hot and the brazier was red; a blue flame flickered over it, and helped him to make out the form of the chisel purchased by Jondrette in the Rue Pierre-Lombard, where it had been thrust into the brazier to heat. In one corner, near the door, and as though prepared for some definite use,two heaps were visible, which appeared to be, the one a heap of old iron, the other a heap of ropes. All this would have caused the mind of a person who knew nothing of ehahock and with horror.



The Jondrette entered.



The dormer window permitted the entrance of a ray of moonlight between two blocks of shadow. One of these blocks of shadow entirely covered the wall against which Marius was leaning,so that he disappeared within it.



Mother Jondrette raised her eyes, did not see Mariu蛾j∴d dark-lantern of copper, worthy of Diogenes turned Cartouche, stood on the chimney-piece.



The brazier, placed in the fireplace itself, beside the nearly extinct brands, sent its vapors up the chimney, and gave out no odor.　



The moon, entering through the four panes of the window, cast its whiteness into the crimson and flaminggarret; and to the poetic spirit of Marius, who was dreamy even in the moment of action, it was like a thought of heaven mingled with the misshapen reveries of earth.



A breath of air which made its way in through the open pane, helped to dissipate the smell of the charcoal and to conceal the presence of the brazier.



The Jondrette lair was, if the reader recalls what we have said of the Gorbeau building, admirably chosen to serve as the theatre of a violent and sombre deed, and as the envelope for a crime. It was the most retiredchamber in the most isolated house on the most deserted boulevard in Paris. If the system of ambush and traps had not already existed, they would have been invented there.



The whole thickness of a house and a multitude of uninhabited rooms separated this den from the boulevard, and the only window that existed opened on waste lands enclosed with walls and palisades.



Jondrette had lighted his pipe, seated himself on the seatless chair, and was engaged in smoking. His wife was talking to him in a low tone.　



If Marius had been Courfeyrac, that is to say, one of those men who laugh on every occasion in life, he would have burst with laughter when his gaze fell on the Jondrette woman. She had on a black bonnet with plumes not unlike the hats of the heralds-at-arms at the coronation of Charles X., an immense tartan shawl over her knitted petticoat, and the man's shoes which her daughter had scorned in the morning. It was this toilette which had extracted from Jondrette the exclamation: "Good! You have dressed up.



You have done well. You must inspire confidence!"



As for Jondrette, he had not taken off the new surtout, which was too large for him, and which M. Leblanc had given him, and his costume continued to present that contrast of coat and trousers which constituted the ideal of a poet in Courfeyrac's eyes. 　



All at once, Jondrette lifted up his voice:--



"By the way! Now that I think of it. In this weather, he will come in a carriage. Light the lantern, take it and go down stairs. You will stand behind the lower door. The very moment that you hear the carriage stop, you will open the door, instantly, he will come up, you will light the staircase and the corridor, and when he enters here, you will go down stairs again as speedily as possible, you will pay the coachman, and dismiss the fiacre.



"And the money?" inquired the woman.



Jondrette fumbled in his trousers pocket and handed her five francs.



"What's this?" she exclaimed.



Jondrette replied with dignity:--



"That is the monarch which our neighbor gave us this morning."



And he added:--



"Do you know what? Two chairs will be needed here."



"What for?"



"To sit on."



Marius felt a cold chill pass through his limbs at hearing this mild answer from Jondrette.



"Pardieu! I'll go and get one of our neighbor's."



And with a rapid movement, she opened the door of the den, and went out into the corridor. 　



Marius absolutely had not the time to descend from the commode, reach his bed, and conceal himself beneath it.　



"Take the candle," cried Jondrette.



"No," said she, "it would embarrass me, I have the two chairs to carry. There is moonlight."



Marius heard Mother Jondrette's heavy hand fumbling at his lock in the dark. The door opened. He remained nailed to the spot with the shock and with horror.



The Jondrette entered.



The dormer window permitted the entrance of a ray of moonlight between two blocks of shadow. One of these blocks of shadow entirely covered the wall against which Marius was leaning,so that he disappeared within it.



Mother Jondrette raised her eyes, did not see Marius, took the two chairs, the only ones which Marius possessed, and went away, letting the door fall heavily to behind her.



She re-entered the lair.



"Here are the two chairs."



"And here is the lantern. Go down as quick as you can."



She hastily obeyed, and Jondrette was left alone.



He placed the two chairs on opposite sides of the table, turned the chisel in the brazier, set in front of the fireplace an old screen which masked the chafing-dish, then went to the corner where lay the pile of rope, and bent down as though to examine something. Marius then recognized the fact, that what he had taken for a shapeless mass was a very well-made rope-ladder, with wooden rungs and two hooks with which to attach it. 　



This ladder, and some large tools, veritable masses of iron, which were mingled with the old iron piled up behind the door, had not been in the Jondrette hovel in the morning, and had evidently been brought thither in the afternoon, during Marius' absence.



"Those are the utensils of an edge-tool maker," thought Marius.



Had Marius been a little more learned in this line, he would have recognized in what he took for the engines of an edge-tool maker, certain instruments which will force a lock or pick a lock, and others which will cut or slice, the two families of tools which burglars call cadets and fauchants.　



The fireplace and the two chairs were exactly opposite Marius. The brazier being concealed, the only light in the room was now furnished by the candle; the smallest bit of crockery on the table or on the chimney-piece cast a large shadow. There was something indescribably calm, threatening, and hideous about this chamber. One felt that there existed in it the anticipation of something terrible.　



Jondrette had allowed his pipe to go out, a serious sign of preoccupation, and had again seated himself. The candle brought out the fierce and the fine angles of his countenance. He indulged in scowls and in abrupt unfoldings of the right hand, as though he were responding to the last counsels of a sombre inward monologue. In the course of one of these dark replies which he was making to himself, he pulled the table drawer rapidly towards him, took out a long kitchen knife which was concealed there, and tried the edge of its blade on his nail. That done, he put the knife back in the drawer and shut it.



Marius, on his side, grasped the pistol in his right pocket, drew it out and cocked it.



The pistol emitted a sharp, clear click, as he cocked it.



Jondrette started, half rose, listened a moment, then began to laugh and said:--



"What a fool I am! It's the partition cracking!"



Marius kept the pistol in his hand.







十七　马吕斯的五个法郎的用途



马吕斯认为重上他那了望台上的岗位的时刻已经到来。凭他那种年龄的轻捷劲儿，一眨眼，他便到了那墙上的小孔旁边。



他注视着。



容德雷特住处的内部呈现着一种奇特的景象，马吕斯还看出他刚才发现的那种怪光的来源，在一个起了铜绿的烛台上点了一支蜡烛，但是真正照亮那屋子的并不是蜡烛，而是一个相当大的铁皮炉子里的一满炉煤火，也就是容德雷特大娘在早上准备好的那个炉子，炉子放在壁炉里，煤火的反射光把那屋子照得雪亮，火烧得正旺，炉皮已被烧红，蓝色的火焰在炉里跳跃，使人容易看到容德雷特在皮埃尔－伦巴第街买来的那把钝口凿的形状，它正深深地插在烈火中发红。他还看见门旁角落里有两堆东西，一堆仿佛是铁器，一堆仿佛是绳子，都象是事先安排好，放在那里备用的。对一个不明内幕的人，这一切能使他的思想在一种极其凶险的和一种极为简单的想法之间徘徊。这火光熊熊的窟穴与其说象地狱口，不如说象锻冶房，可是那火光中的容德雷特不象是个铁匠，而是个魔鬼。



炉火的温度是那么高，使桌子上那支蜡烛靠炉子的半边熔了。烛芯在斜面上燃烧。壁炉上放着一个有掩光活门的旧铜灯笼，够得上供给变成卡图什的第欧根尼使用。



铁皮炉放在壁炉膛里几根即将熄灭的焦柴旁边，把它的煤气送进壁炉的烟囱，没有气味散开来。



白洁的月光穿过窗子的玻璃，照着那红光闪耀的穷窟，这对在斗争关口仍然诗情萦绕的马吕斯来说，竟好象是上苍的意图来与人间的噩梦相会。



从那玻璃碎了的窗格里吹进来的阵阵冷气，也有助于驱散煤味并隐蔽那火炉。



我们从前曾谈到过这所戈尔博老屋，读者如果还能回忆起，便会知道容德雷特这兽穴，选来作行凶谋害的场所、犯罪的地点是最恰当不过的。这是巴黎一条最荒僻大路上的一所最孤单的房屋里的那间最靠后的屋子。在这种地方，即使人间不曾有过绑架的暴行，也会有人创造出来的。



整所房子的进深和许多间没人住的空屋子把这兽穴从大路隔离开来，它唯一的窗户又正对着一片被围在砖墙和木栅栏里的大荒地。



容德雷特点燃了他的烟斗，坐在那张捅破了的椅子上吸烟。他的女人在和他低声谈话。



假使马吕斯是古费拉克，就是说，是个能在生活中随时发现笑料的人，见了容德雷特婆娘的模样就一定会忍俊不禁。她头上戴着一顶插满了羽毛的黑帽子，颇象那些参加查理十世祝圣大典的武士们所戴的帽子，在她那条棉线编结的裙子上面扎了一块花花绿绿的方格花纹的特大围巾，脚上穿的是一双男人鞋，也就是这天早上她女儿抱怨过的那双。正是这身打扮曾获得容德雷特的称赞："好！你换了衣服！你得取得人家的信任，这是完全必要的！"



至于容德雷特本人，他一直没有脱掉白先生给他的那件过分宽大的全新外套，他这身衣服继续保持着大衣与长裤间的对比，也就是古费拉克心目中的所谓诗人的理想。



忽然，容德雷特提高了嗓子：



"正是！我想起了。象这种天气，他一定会乘马车来。你把这灯笼点起来，带着它下楼去。你去待在下面的门背后。你一听到车子停下来，便立刻打开门，他上来时，你一路替他照着楼梯和过道，等他走进这屋子，你赶快再下楼去，付了车钱，打发马车回去就是。"



"可是钱呢？"那妇人问。



容德雷特搜着自己的裤口袋，给了她一枚值五法郎的硬币。



"这是哪里来的？"她喊道。



容德雷特神气十足地回答：



"这是邻居今天早上给的那枚大头。"



他又接着说：



"你知道？这儿得有两把椅子才行。"



"干什么？"



"坐。"



马吕斯感到自己腰里一阵战栗，当他听到容德雷特大娘轻轻松松地回答：



"成！我去替你把隔壁人家的那两把找来就是。"



话没说完，她已开了房门，到了过道里。



马吕斯说什么也来不及跳下抽斗柜，再去躲在床底下。



"把蜡烛带去。"容德雷特喊道。



"不用，"她说，"不方便，我有两把椅子要搬。月亮照着呢。"



马吕斯听见容德雷特大娘的笨手在黑暗中摸索他的钥匙。门开了。他惊呆了，只好待在原处不动。



容德雷特大娘进来了。



从天窗透进一道月光，光的两旁是两大片黑影，马吕斯靠着的那堵墙完全在黑影中，因而隐没了他。



容德雷特大娘昂着脑袋，没有瞧见马吕斯，拿起马吕斯仅有的两把椅子走了，房门在她背后?绲囊簧?止厣狭恕?br />


她回到了那穷窟：



"两把椅子在这儿。"



"灯笼在那儿，"她丈夫说，"赶快下去。"



她连忙服从。容德雷特独自留下。



他把椅子放在桌子两旁，又把炉火里的钝口凿翻了个身，放了一道旧屏风在壁炉前面，遮住火炉，继又走到那放着一堆绳子的屋角里，弯下腰去，好象在检查什么。马吕斯这才看出他先头认为不成形的那一堆东西，原来是一条做得很好的软梯，结有一级级的木棍和两个挂钩。



这条混在废铁堆中堆在房门后面的软梯，和几件真象是大头铁棒的粗笨工具，早上还没有在容德雷特的屋子里，显然是下午马吕斯外出时，搬来放在那里的。



"这是些铁匠师傅的工具。"马吕斯想。



假使马吕斯在这方面阅历较多，他便会认出在他所谓的铁匠工具中，有某些撬锁撬门和某些能割能砍的工具，两大类盗贼们称之为"小兄弟"和"一扫光"的凶器。



壁炉、桌子和那两把椅子都正对着马吕斯。火炉被遮住了，屋子里只有那支蜡烛的光在照着，桌上或壁炉上的一点点小破烂也都投出高大的黑影。一只缺嘴水罐就遮没半边墙。屋子里的平静使人感到说不出的阴森可怕，感到有什么凶险的事即将发生。



容德雷特已让他的烟斗熄灭掉??思想集中的重要的迹象，并又转回头坐了下来。烛光把他脸上凶横和阴险的曲角突现出来。他时而蹙起眉头，时而急促地张开右手，仿佛是在对自己心中的密谋深算作最后的问答。在一次这样的反复暗自思量的过程中，他忽然拉开桌子的抽屉，把藏在里面的一把尖长厨刀取出来，在自己的指甲上试着刀锋。试过以后，又把那刀子放进抽屉，重行推上。



在马吕斯这方面，他也从背心右边的口袋里取出手枪，把子弹推进了枪膛。



手枪在子弹进膛的时候，发出了一下轻微清脆的声音。



容德雷特惊了一下，从椅子上欠身起来。



"谁呀？"他喊道。



马吕斯屏住呼吸，容德雷特细听了一阵，笑了起来，说道：



"我真傻！是这板墙发裂。"



马吕斯仍把手枪捏在手里。
关键字:Les Miserables,悲惨世界 第三部马吕斯
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