酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

Father Goriot-Part34_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页


news of young Taillefer's duel. They were anxious to hear any

detail about the affair, and to talk over the probable change in



Victorine's prospects. Father Goriot alone was absent, but the

rest were chatting. No sooner did Eugene come into the room, than



his eyes met the inscrutable gaze of Vautrin. It was the same

look that had read his thoughts before--the look that had such



power to waken evil thoughts in his heart. He shuddered.

"Well, dear boy," said the escaped convict, "I am likely to cheat



death for a good while yet. According to these ladies, I have had

a stroke that would have felled an ox, and come off with flying



colors."

"A bull you might say," cried the widow.



"You really might be sorry to see me still alive," said Vautrin

in Rastignac's ear, thinking that he guessed the student's



thoughts. "You must be mighty sure of yourself."

"Mlle. Michonneau was talking the day before yesterday about a



gentleman named Trompe-la-Mort," said Bianchon; "and, upon my

word, that name would do very well for you."



Vautrin seemed thunderstruck. He turned pale, and staggered back.

He turned his magnetic glance, like a ray of vivid light, on



Mlle. Michonneau; the old maid shrank and trembled under the

influence of that strong will, and collapsed into a chair. The



mask of good-nature had dropped from the convict's face; from the

unmistakable ferocity of that sinister look, Poiret felt that the



old maid was in danger, and hastily stepped between them. None of

the lodgers understood this scene in the least, they looked on in



mute amazement. There was a pause. Just then there was a sound of

tramping feet outside; there were soldiers there, it seemed, for



there was a ring of several rifles on the pavement of the street.

Collin was mechanically looking round the walls for a way of



escape, when four men entered by way of the sitting-room.

"In the name of the King and the Law!" said an officer, but the



words were almost lost in a murmur of astonishment.

Silence fell on the room. The lodgers made way for three of the



men, who had each a hand on a cocked pistol in a side pocket. Two

policemen, who followed the detectives, kept the entrance to the



sitting-room, and two more men appeared in the doorway that gave

access to the staircase. A sound of footsteps came from the



garden, and again the rifles of several soldiers rang on the

cobblestones under the window. All chance of salvation by flight



was cut off for Trompe-la-Mort, to whom all eyes instinctively

turned. The chief walked straight up to him, and commenced



operations by giving him a sharp blow on the head, so that the

wig fell off, and Collin's face was revealed in all its ugliness.



There was a terrible suggestion of strength mingled with cunning

in the short, brick-red crop of hair, the whole head was in



harmony with his powerful frame, and at that moment the fires of

hell seemed to gleam from his eyes. In that flash the real



Vautrin shone forth, revealed at once before them all; they

understood his past, his present, and future, his pitiless



doctrines, his actions, the religion of his own good pleasure,

the majesty with which his cynicism and contempt for mankind



invested him, the physical strength of an organization proof

against all trials. The blood flew to his face, and his eyes



glared like the eyes of a wild cat. He started back with savage

energy and a fierce growl that drew exclamations of alarm from



the lodgers. At that leonine start the police caught at their

pistols under cover of the general clamor. Collin saw the



gleaming muzzles of the weapons, saw his danger, and instantly

gave proof of a power of the highest order. There was something



horrible and majestic in the spectacle of the sudden

transformation in his face; he could only be compared to a



cauldron full of the steam that can send mountains flying, a

terrific force dispelled in a moment by a drop of cold water. The



drop of water that cooled his wrathful fury was a reflection that

flashed across his brain like lightning. He began to smile, and



looked down at his wig.

"You are not in the politest of humors to-day," he remarked to



the chief, and he held out his hands to the policemen with a jerk

of his head.



"Gentlemen," he said, "put on the bracelets or the handcuffs. I

call on those present to witness that I make no resistance."



A murmur of admiration ran through the room at the sudden

outpouring like fire and lava flood from this human volcano, and



its equally sudden cessation.




文章总共2页
文章标签:翻译  译文  翻译文  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号