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

The Collection of Antiquities-Part16_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
It is told of Talleyrand that one fatal day, three hours after

midnight, he suddenly interrupted a game of cards in the Duchesse de



Luynes' house by laying down his watch on the table and asking the

players whether the Prince de Conde had any child but the Duc



d'Enghien.

"Why do you ask?" returned Mme. de Luynes, "when you know so well that



he has not."

"Because if the Prince has no other son, the House of Conde is now at



an end."

There was a moment's pause, and they finished the game.--President du



Ronceret now did something very similar. Perhaps he had heard the

anecdote; perhaps, in political life, little minds and great minds are



apt to hit upon the same expression. He looked at his watch, and

interrupted the game of boston with:



"At this moment M. le Comte d'Esgrignon is arrested, and that house

which has held its head so high is dishonored forever."



"Then, have you got hold of the boy?" du Coudrai cried gleefully.

Every one in the room, with the exception of the President, the



deputy, and du Croisier, looked startled.

"He has just been arrested in Chesnel's house, where he was hiding,"



said the deputy public prosecutor, with the air of a capable but

unappreciated public servant, who ought by rights to be Minister of



Police. M. Sauvager, the deputy, was a thin, tall young man of five-

and-twenty, with a lengthy olive-hued countenance, black frizzled



hair, and deep-set eyes; the wide, dark rings beneath them were

completed by the wrinkled purple eyelids above. With a nose like the



beak of some bird of prey, a pinched mouth, and cheeks worn lean with

study and hollowed by ambition, he was the very type of a second-rate



personage on the lookout for something to turn up, and ready to do

anything if so he might get on in the world, while keeping within the



limitations of the possible and the forms of law. His pompous

expression was an admirableindication of the time-serving eloquence



to be expected of him. Chesnel's successor had discovered the young

Count's hiding place to him, and he took great credit to himself for



his penetration.

The news seemed to come as a shock to the examining magistrate, M.



Camusot, who had granted the warrant of arrest on Sauvager's

application, with no idea that it was to be executed so promptly.



Camusot was short, fair, and fat already, though he was only thirty

years old or thereabouts; he had the flabby, livid look peculiar to



officials who live shut up in their private study or in a court of

justice; and his little, pale, yellow eyes were full of the suspicion



which is often mistaken for shrewdness.

Mme. Camusot looked at her spouse, as who should say, "Was I not



right?"

"Then the case will come on," was Camusot's comment.



"Could you doubt it?" asked du Coudrai. "Now they have got the Count,

all is over."



"There is the jury," said Camusot. "In this case M. le Prefet is sure

to take care that after the challenges from the prosecution and the



defence, the jury to a man will be for an acquittal.--My advice would

be to come to a compromise," he added, turning to du Croisier.



"Compromise!" echoed the President; "why, he is in the hands of

justice."



"Acquitted or convicted, the Comte d'Esgrignon will be dishonored all

the same," put in Sauvager.



"I am bringing an action,"[*] said du Croisier. "I shall have Dupin

senior. We shall see how the d'Esgrignon family will escape out of his



clutches."

[*] A trial for an offence of this kind in France is an action brought



by a private person (partie civile) to recover damages, and at the

same time a criminalprosecution conducted on behalf of the



Government.--Tr.

"The d'Esgrignons will defend the case and have counsel from Paris;



they will have Berryer," said Mme. Camusot. "You will have a Roland

for your Oliver."



Du Croisier, M. Sauvager, and the President du Ronceret looked at

Camusot, and one thought troubled their minds. The lady's tone, the



way in which she flung her proverb in the faces of the eight

conspirators against the house of d'Esgrignon, caused them inward



perturbation, which they dissembled as provincials can dissemble, by

dint of lifelong practice in the shifts of a monastic existence.



Little Mme. Camusot saw their change of countenance and subsequent




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