酷兔英语
文章总共3页
It was clear that it was she. Marius felt his heart stop beating.







What was he to do? Discharge the pistol? Place all those scoundrels in the hands of justice? But the horrible man with the meat-axe would, none the less, be out of reach with the young girl, and Marius reflected on Thenardier's words, of which he perceived the bloody significance: "If you have me arrested, my comrade will give a turn of his thumb to the Lark."







Now, it was not alone by the colonel's testament, it was by his own love, it was by the peril of the one he loved, that he felt himself restrained.







This frightful situation, which had already lasted above half an hour, was changing its aspect every moment. 







Marius had sufficient strength of mind to review in succession all the most heart-breaking conjectures, seeking hope and finding none.  







The tumult of his thoughts contrasted with the funereal silence of the den.







In the midst of this silence, the door at the bottom of the staircase was heard to open and shut again. 







The prisoner made a movement in his bonds.







"Here's the bourgeoise," said Thenardier.







He had hardly uttered the words, when the Thenardier woman did in fact rush hastily into the room, red, panting, breathless, with flaming eyes, and cried, as she smote her huge hands on her thighs simultaneously:-- 







"False address!"







The ruffian who had gone with her made his appearance behind her and picked up his axe again.







She resumed:--







"Nobody there! Rue Saint-Dominique, No. 17, no Monsieur Urbain Fabre! They know not what it means!" 







She paused, choking, then went on:--







"Monsieur Thenardier! That old fellow has duped you! You are too good, you see! If it had been me, I'd have chopped the beast in four quarters to begin with! And if he had acted ugly, I'd have boiled him alive! He would have been obliged to speak, and say where the girl is, and where he keeps his shiners! That's the way I should have managed matters! People are perfectly right when they say that men are a deal stupider than women! Nobody at No. 17. It's nothing but a big carriage gate! No Monsieur Fabre in the Rue Saint-Dominique! And after all that racing and fee to the coachman and all! I spoke to both the porter and the portress, a fine, stout woman, and they know nothing about him!"  







Marius breathed freely once more. 







She, Ursule or the Lark, he no longer knew what to call her, was safe.







While his exasperated wife vociferated, Thenardier had seated himself on the table.







For several minutes he uttered not a word, but swung his right foot, which hung down, and stared at the brazier with an air of savage revery. 







Finally, he said to the prisoner, with a slow and singularly ferocious tone:







"A false address? What did you expect to gain by that?"







"To gain time!" cried the prisoner in a thundering voice,and at the same instant he shook off his bonds; they were cut. The prisoner was only attached to the bed now by one leg.







Before the seven men had time to collect their senses and dash forward, he had bent down into the fireplace, had stretched out his hand to the brazier, and had then straightened himself up again, and now Thenardier, the female Thenardier, and the ruffians, huddled in amazement at the extremity of the hovel, stared at him in stupefaction, as almost free and in a formidable attitude, he brandished above his head the red-hot chisel, which emitted a threatening glow.







The judicial examination to which the ambush in the Gorbeau house eventually gave rise, established the fact that a large sou piece, cut and worked in a peculiar fashion, was found in the garret, when the police made their descent on it. This sou piece was one of those marvels of industry, which are engendered by the patience of the galleys in the shadows and for the shadows, marvels which are nothing else than instruments of escape. These hideous and delicate products of wonderful art are to jewellers' work what the metaphors of slang are to poetry. There are Benvenuto Cellinis in the galleys, just as there are Villons in language. The unhappy wretch who aspires to deliverance finds means sometimes without tools, sometimes with a common wooden-handled knife, to saw a sou into two thin plates, to hollow out these plates without affecting the coinage stamp, and to make a furrow on the edge of the sou in such a manner that the plates will adhere again. This can be screwed together and unscrewed at will; it is a box. In this box he hides a watch-spring, and this watch-spring, properly handled, cuts good-sized chains and bars of iron. The unfortunate convict is supposed to possess merely a sou; not at all,he possesses liberty. It was a large sou of this sort which, during the subsequent search of the police, was found under the bed near the window. They also found a tiny saw of blue steel which would fit the sou.







It is probable that the prisoner had this sou piece on his person at the moment when the ruffians searched him, that he contrived to conceal it in his hand, and that afterward, having his right hand free, he unscrewed it, and used it as a saw to cut the cords which fastened him, which would explain the faint noise and almost imperceptible movements which Marius had observed.  







As he had not been able to bend down, for fear of betraying himself, he had not cut the bonds of his left leg. 







The ruffians had recovered from their first surprise.  







"Be easy," said Bigrenaille to Thenardier. "He still holds by one leg, and he can't get away. I'll answer for that. I tied that paw for him."







In the meanwhile, the prisoner had begun to speak:--







"You are wretches, but my life is not worth the trouble of defending it. When you think that you can make me speak, that you can make me write what I do not choose to write, that you can make me say what I do not choose to say--" 







He stripped up his left sleeve, and added:--







"See here." 







At the same moment he extended his arm, and laid the glowing chisel which he held in his left hand by its wooden handle on his bare flesh. 







The crackling of the burning flesh became audible, and the odor peculiar to chambers of torture filled the hovel. 







Marius reeled in utter horror, the very ruffians shuddered, hardly a muscle of the old man's face contracted, and while the red-hot iron sank into the smoking wound, impassive and almost august, he fixed on Thenardier his beautiful glance, in which there was no hatred, and where suffering vanished in serene majesty.  







With grand and lofty natures, the revolts of the flesh and the senses when subjected to physical suffering cause the soul to spring forth, and make it appear on the brow, just as rebellions among the soldiery force the captain to show himself.







"Wretches!" said he, "have no more fear of me than I have for you!"







And, tearing the chisel from the wound, he hurled it through the window, which had been left open; the horrible, glowing tool disappeared into the night, whirling as it flew, and fell far away on the snow. 







The prisoner resumed:--







"Do what you please with me." He was disarmed.







"Seize him!" said Thenardier.







Two of the ruffians laid their hands on his shoulder, and the masked man with the ventriloquist's voice took up his station in front of him, ready to smash his skull at the slightest movement. 







At the same time, Marius heard below him, at the base of the partition, but so near that he could not see who was speaking, this colloquy conducted in a low tone:--







"There is only one thing left to do."







"Cut his throat."







"That's it."







It was the husband and wife taking counsel together.







Thenardier walked slowly towards the table, opened the drawer, and took out the knife. Marius fretted with the handle of his pistol. Unprecedented perplexity! For the last hour he had had two voices in his conscience, the one enjoining him to respect his father's testament, the other crying to him to rescue the prisoner. These two voices continued uninterruptedly that struggle which tormented him to agony. Up to that moment he had cherished a vague hope that he should find some means of reconciling these two duties, but nothing within the limits of possibility had presented itself.







However,



crossed Marius' mind; this was the expedient of which he was in search, the solution of that frightful problem which was torturing him, of sparing the assassin and saving the victim.







He knelt down on his commode, stretched out his arm, seized the sheet of paper, softly detached a bit of plaster from the wall, wrapped the paper round it, and tossed the whole through the crevice into the middle of the den.







It was high time. Thenardier had conquered his last fears or his last scruples, and was advancing on the prisoner. 







"Something is falling!" cried the Thenardier woman.







"What is it?" asked her husband.







The woman darted forward and picked up the bit of plaster. She handed it to her husband.







"Where did this come from?" demanded Thenardier.







"Pardie!" ejaculated his wife, "where do you suppose it came from? Through the window, of course." 







"I saw it pass," said Bigrenaille.







Thenardier rapidly unfolded the paper and held it close to the candle.







"It's in Eponine's handwriting. The devil!"







He made a sign to his wife, who hastily drew near, and showed her the line written on the sheet of paper, then he added in a subdued voice:--







"Quick! The ladder! Let's leave the bacon in the mousetrap and decamp!"







"Without cutting that man's throat?" asked, the Thenardier woman.







"We haven't the time."







"Through what?" resumed Bigrenaille.







"Through the window," replied Thenardier. "Since Ponine has thrown the stone through the window, it indicates that the house is not watched on that side."







The mask with the ventriloquist's voice deposited his huge key on the floor, raised both arms in the air, and opened and clenched his fists, three times rapidly without uttering a word.







This was the signal like the signal for clearing the decks for action on board ship.







The ruffians who were holding the prisoner released him; in the twinkling of an eye the rope ladder was unrolled outside the window, and solidly fastened to the sill by the two iron hooks.







The prisoner paid no attention to what was going on around him. He seemed to be dreaming or praying.







As soon as the ladder was arranged, Thenardier cried:







"Come! the bourgeoise first!"







And he rushed headlong to the window.







But just as he was about to throw his leg over, Bigrenaille seized him roughly by the collar.







"Not much, come now, you old dog, after us!"







"After us!" yelled the ruffians.







"You are children," said Thenardier, "we are losing time.







The police are on our heels." 







"Well, said the ruffians, "let's draw lots to see who shall go down first."







Thenardier exclaimed:--







"Are you mad! Are you crazy! What a pack of boobies! You want to waste time, do you? Draw lots, do you? By a wet finger, by a short straw! With written names! Thrown into a hat!--"







"Would you like my hat?" cried a voice on the threshold.







All wheeled round. It was Javert.







He had his hat in his hand, and was holding it out to them with a smile.

关键字:Les Miserables,悲惨世界 第三部马吕斯

生词表:


  • garret [´gærit] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.阁楼,顶楼 四级词汇

  • cudgel [´kʌdʒəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.短棍,棒 vt.棒打 六级词汇

  • athlete [´æθlit, ´æθli:t] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.体育家;运动员 四级词汇

  • robust [rəu´bʌst] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.强建的;茁壮的 六级词汇

  • courageous [kə´reidʒəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.勇敢的;无畏的 四级词汇

  • intervention [,intə´venʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.干涉;调停;插入 六级词汇

  • readiness [´redinis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.准备就绪;愿意 四级词汇

  • ferocious [fə´rəuʃəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.凶猛的;残忍的 六级词汇

  • posture [´pɔstʃə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.姿势 v.故作姿态 六级词汇

  • haggard [´hægəd] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.憔悴的 四级词汇

  • identity [ai´dentiti] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.身份;同一性;一致 六级词汇

  • injunction [in´dʒʌŋkʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.指令;法院禁令 四级词汇

  • saviour [´seiviə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.救星;救助者 四级词汇

  • mockery [´mɔkəri] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.嘲笑;笑柄 六级词汇

  • acquit [ə´kwit] 移动到这儿单词发声 vt.无罪开释 四级词汇

  • horribly [´hɔrəbli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.恐怖地 六级词汇

  • wretch [retʃ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.不幸的人;卑鄙的人 四级词汇

  • remorse [ri´mɔ:s] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.懊悔;自责;同情 四级词汇

  • imperious [im´piəriəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.傲慢的;紧急的 六级词汇

  • testament [´testəment] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.契约,誓约;遗嘱 四级词汇

  • deliberation [dilibə´reiʃ(ə)n] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.仔细考虑;商量 四级词汇

  • catastrophe [kə´tæstrəfi] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.大灾难;(悲剧)结局 四级词汇

  • whirlwind [´wə:l,wind] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.旋风;猛烈的势力 四级词汇

  • frenzy [´frenzi] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.&vt.(使)狂乱 四级词汇

  • tallow [´tæləu] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.脂,兽脂 六级词汇

  • mister [´mistə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.先生 vt.称…先生 四级词汇

  • livelihood [´laivlihud] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.生活,生计 四级词汇

  • ignoble [ig´nəubəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.卑鄙的,无耻的 六级词汇

  • cowardly [´kauədli] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.&ad.胆小的(地) 四级词汇

  • harass [´hærəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 vt.使烦恼,骚扰 四级词汇

  • hoarsely [´hɔ:sli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.嘶哑地 六级词汇

  • politeness [pə´laitnis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.礼貌;文雅;温和 六级词汇

  • peculiarly [pi´kju:liəli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.特有地;古怪地 四级词汇

  • odious [´əudiəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.可憎的;丑恶的 四级词汇

  • bankrupt [´bæŋkrʌpt] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.破产者 a.破产了的 四级词汇

  • asparagus [ə´spærəgəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.文竹;天门冬;龙须菜 四级词汇

  • calling [´kɔ:liŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.点名;职业;欲望 六级词汇

  • elector [i´lektə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.有选举权的人 四级词汇

  • outburst [´autbə:st] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.喷发;爆发;激增 六级词汇

  • beastly [´bi:stli] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.残忍的;卑鄙的 六级词汇

  • prowess [´prauis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.勇猛;技术;本领 四级词汇

  • ingratitude [in´grætitju:d] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.忘恩负义 六级词汇

  • perplexity [pə´pleksiti] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.困惑;为难;纷乱 四级词汇

  • malicious [mə´liʃəs] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.恶意的;预谋的 六级词汇

  • shipwreck [´ʃiprek] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.&v.(船)失事;毁灭 四级词汇

  • intercept [,intə´sept] 移动到这儿单词发声 vt.拦截;截获;窃听 六级词汇

  • composed [kəm´pəuzd] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.镇静自若的 四级词汇

  • phantom [´fæntəm] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.幽灵;幻影 a.幻想的 六级词汇

  • beating [´bi:tiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.敲;搅打;失败 六级词汇

  • vaguely [´veigli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.含糊地,暖昧地 四级词汇

  • sinister [´sinistə] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.阴险的;不吉的 四级词汇

  • intently [in´tentli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.专心地 四级词汇

  • cracked [krækt] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.有裂缝的;碎的;粗哑 六级词汇

  • trigger [´trigə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.扳机 vt.触发,启动 六级词汇

  • inconvenience [,inkən´vi:niəns] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.不方便;打扰 四级词汇

  • alternative [ɔ:l´tə:nətiv] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.二中选一的 n.选择 四级词汇

  • millstone [´milstəun] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.磨石;重担 六级词汇

  • holding [´həuldiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.保持,固定,存储 六级词汇

  • securely [si´kjuəli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.安全地;无疑地 六级词汇

  • tranquil [´træŋkwil] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.平静的,稳定的 六级词汇

  • metamorphosis [,metə´mɔ:fəsis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.变形;变质;变态 六级词汇

  • retired [ri´taiəd] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.退休的;通职的 六级词汇

  • improper [im´prɔpə] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.不恰当的;不正确的 六级词汇

  • mortar [´mɔ:tə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.灰浆 vt.用灰浆涂抹 四级词汇

  • outcry [´autkrai] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.喊叫;强烈抗议 四级词汇

  • trying [´traiiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.难堪的;费劲的 四级词汇

  • insolence [´insələns] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.傲慢;无礼 六级词汇

  • crafty [´krɑ:fti] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.狡猾的 六级词汇

  • affected [ə´fektid] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.做作的;假装的 六级词汇

  • inaccessible [,inæk´sesəbəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.达不到的,难接近的 六级词汇

  • chisel [´tʃizəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.凿子 v.凿;欺骗;干涉 四级词汇

  • taking [´teikiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.迷人的 n.捕获物 六级词汇

  • benevolent [bi´nevələnt] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.仁慈的;乐善好施的 六级词汇

  • discretion [di´skreʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.谨慎;判断(力) 四级词汇

  • feverish [´fi:vəriʃ] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.发烧的;狂热的 四级词汇

  • hoarse [hɔ:s] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.嘶哑的;嗓门粗哑的 四级词汇

  • fascination [,fæsi´neiʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.魅力;强烈爱好 四级词汇

  • incapable [in´keipəbəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.无能力的;不能的 四级词汇

  • abominable [ə´bɔminəbəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.可憎的;极坏的 四级词汇

  • vehicle [´vi:ikəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.车辆;媒介物 四级词汇

  • staircase [´steəkeis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.楼梯 =stairway 四级词汇

  • flaming [´fleimiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.熊熊燃烧的;热情的 四级词汇

  • ruffian [´rʌfiən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.流氓 a.残暴的 六级词汇

  • coachman [´kəutʃmən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.赶马车人 四级词汇

  • judicial [dʒu:´diʃəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.法庭(官)的,审判的 四级词汇

  • ambush [´æmbuʃ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.埋伏(地点);伏兵 四级词汇

  • eventually [i´ventʃuəli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.最后,终于 四级词汇

  • deliverance [di´livərəns] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.援救;获释 四级词汇

  • coinage [´kɔinidʒ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.造币;货币;新造词语 四级词汇

  • furrow [´fʌrəu] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.沟 vt.犁;使起皱纹 四级词汇

  • extended [iks´tendid] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.伸长的;广大的 六级词汇

  • audible [´ɔ:dibəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.听得见的 四级词汇

  • contracted [kən´træktid] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.收缩了的;缩略的 六级词汇

  • august [ɔ:´gʌst] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.尊严的;威严的 六级词汇

  • speaking [´spi:kiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.说话 a.发言的 六级词汇

  • unprecedented [ʌn´presidentid] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.空前的 六级词汇

  • expedient [ik´spi:diənt] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.合适的 n.权宜之计 四级词汇

  • assassin [ə´sæsin] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.刺客,暗杀者 六级词汇

  • crevice [´krevis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.裂缝,罅隙 四级词汇

  • clearing [´kliəriŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.(森林中的)空旷地 四级词汇





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