《BOOK SIXTH CHAPTER III.HISTORY OF A LEAVENED CAKE OF MAIZE. Page 1》 At the epoch of this history, the cell in the Tour-Roland was occupied.If the reader desires to know by whom, he has only to lend an ear to the conversation of three worthy gossips, who, at the moment when we have directed his attention to the Rat-Hole, were directing their steps towards the same spot, coming up along the water's edge from the Chatelet, towards the Grève. Two of these women were dressed like good ~bourgeoises~ of paris.Their fine white ruffs; their petticoats of linsey- woolsey, striped red and blue; their white knitted stockings, with clocks embroidered in colors, well drawn upon their legs; the square-toed shoes of tawny leather with black soles, and, above all, their headgear, that sort of tinsel horn, loaded down with ribbons and laces, which the women of Champagne still wear, in company with the grenadiers of the imperial guard of Russia, announced that they belonged to that class wives which holds the middle ground between what the lackeys call a woman and what they term a lady.They wore neither rings nor gold crosses, and it was easy to see that, in their ease, this did not proceed from poverty, but simply from fear of being fined.Their companion was attired in very much the same manner; but there was that indescribable something about her dress and bearing which suggested the wife of a provincial notary.One could see, by the way in which her girdle rose above her hips, that she had not been long in paris.--Add to this a plaited tucker, knots of ribbon on her shoes--and that the stripes of her petticoat ran horizontally instead of vertically, and a thousand other enormities which shocked good taste. The two first walked with that step peculiar to parisian ladies, showing paris to women from the country.The provincial held by the hand a big boy, who held in his a large, flat cake. We regret to be obliged to add, that, owing to the rigor of the season, he was using his tongue as a handkerchief. The child was making them drag him along, ~non passibus Cequis~, as Virgil says, and stumbling at every moment, to the great indignation of his mother.It is true that he was looking at his cake more than at the pavement.Some serious motive, no doubt, prevented his biting it (the cake), for he contented himself with gazing tenderly at it.But the mother should have rather taken charge of the cake.It was cruel to make a Tantalus of the chubby-checked boy. Meanwhile, the three demoiselles (for the name of dames was then reserved for noble women) were all talking at once. "Let us make haste, Demoiselle Mahiette," said the youngest of the three, who was also the largest, to the provincial, "I greatly fear that we shall arrive too late; they told us at the Chatelet that they were going to take him directly to the pillory." "Ah, bah! what are you saying, Demoiselle Oudarde Musnier?" interposed the other parisienne."There are two hours yet to the pillory.We have time enough.Have you ever seen any one pilloried, my dear Mahiette?" "Yes," said the provincial, "at Reims." "Ah, bah!What is your pillory at Reims?A miserable cage into which only peasants are turned.A great affair, truly!" "Only peasants!" said Mahiette, "at the cloth market in Reims!We have seen very fine criminals there, who have killed their father and mother!peasants!For what do you take us, Gervaise?" It is certain that the provincial was on the point of taking offence, for the honor of her pillory.Fortunately, that discreet damoiselle, Oudarde Musnier, turned the conversation in time. "By the way, Damoiselle Mahiette, what say you to our Flemish Ambassadors?Have you as fine ones at Reims?" "I admit," replied Mahiette, "that it is only in paris that such Flemings can be seen." "Did you see among the embassy, that big ambassador who is a hosier?" asked Oudarde. "Yes," said Mahiette."He has the eye of a Saturn." "And the big fellow whose face resembles a bare belly?" resumed Gervaise."And the little one, with small eyes framed in red eyelids, pared down and slashed up like a thistle head?" "'Tis their horses that are worth seeing," said Oudarde, "caparisoned as they are after the fashion of their country!" "Ah my dear," interrupted provincial Mahiette, assuming in her turn an air of superiority, "what would you say then, if you had seen in '61, at the consecration at Reims, eighteen years ago, the horses of the princes and of the king's company?Housings and caparisons of all sorts; some of damask cloth, of fine cloth of gold, furred with sables; others of velvet, furred with ermine; others all embellished with goldsmith's work and large bells of gold and silver!And what money that had cost!And what handsome boy pages rode upon them!" "That," replied Oudarde dryly, "does not prevent the Flemings having very fine horses, and having had a superb supper yesterday with monsieur, the provost of the merchants, at the H?tel-de-Ville, where they were served with comfits and hippocras, and spices, and other singularities." "What are you saying, neighbor!" exclaimed Gervaise. "It was with monsieur the cardinal, at the petit Bourbon that they supped." "Not at all.At the H?tel-de-Ville. "Yes, indeed.At the petit Bourbon!" "It was at the H?tel-de-Ville," retorted Oudarde sharply, "and Dr. Scourable addressed them a harangue in Latin, which pleased them greatly.My husband, who is sworn bookseller told me." "It was at the petit Bourbon," replied Gervaise, with no less spirit, "and this is what monsieur the cardinal's procurator presented to them: twelve double quarts of hippocras, white, claret, and red; twenty-four boxes of double Lyons marchpane, gilded; as many torches, worth two livres a piece; and six demi-queues* of Beaune wine, white and claret, the best that could be found.I have it from my husband, who is a cinquantenier**, at the parloir-aux Bourgeois, and who was this morning comparing the Flemish ambassadors with those of prester John and the Emperor of Trebizond, who came from Mesopotamia to paris, under the last king, and who wore rings in their ears." *A Queue was a cask which held a hogshead and a half. **A captain of fifty men. "So true is it that they supped at the H?tel-de-Ville," replied Oudarde but little affected by this catalogue, "that such a triumph of viands and comfits has never been seen." "I tell you that they were served by Le Sec, sergeant of the city, at the H?tel du petit-Bourbon, and that that is where you are mistaken." "At the H?tel-de-Ville, I tell you!" "At the petit-Bourbon, my dear! and they had illuminated with magic glasses the word hope, which is written on the grand portal." "At the H?tel-de-Ville!At the H?tel-de-Ville!And Husson-le-Voir played the flute!" "I tell you, no!" "I tell you, yes!" "I say, no!" plump and worthy Oudarde was preparing to retort, and the quarrel might, perhaps, have proceeded to a pulling of caps, had not Mahiette suddenly exclaimed,--"Look at those people assembled yonder at the end of the bridge!There is something in their midst that they are looking at!" "In sooth," said Gervaise, "I hear the sounds of a tambourine.I believe 'tis the little Esmeralda, who plays her mummeries with her goat.Eh, be quick, Mahiette! redouble your pace and drag along your boy.You are come hither to visit the curiosities of paris.You saw the Flemings yesterday; you must see the gypsy to-day." "The gypsy!" said Mahiette, suddenly retracing her steps, and clasping her son's arm forcibly."God preserve me from it!She would steal my child from me!Come, Eustache!" And she set out on a run along the quay towards the Grève, until she had left the bridge far behind her.In the meanwhile, the child whom she was dragging after her fell upon his knees; she halted breathless.Oudarde and Gervaise rejoined her. "That gypsy steal your child from you!" said Gervaise. "That's a singular freak of yours!" Mahiette shook her head with a pensive air. "The singular point is," observed Oudarde, "that ~la sachette~ has the same idea about the Egyptian woman." "What is ~la sachette~?" asked Mahiette. "Hé!" said Oudarde, "Sister Gudule." "And who is Sister Gudule?" persisted Mahiette. "You are certainly ignorant of all but your Reims, not to know that!" replied Oudarde."'Tis the recluse of the Rat-Hole." "What!" demanded Mahiette, "that poor woman to whom we are carrying this cake?" Oudarde nodded affirmatively. "precisely.You will see her presently at her window on the Grève.She has the same opinion as yourself of these vagabonds of Egypt, who play the tambourine and tell fortunes to the public.No one knows whence comes her horror of the gypsies and Egyptians.But you, Mahiette--why do you run so at the mere sight of them?" "Oh!" said Mahiette, seizing her child's round head in both hands, "I don't want that to happen to me which happened to paquette la Chantefleurie." "Oh! you must tell us that story, my good Mahiette," said Gervaise, taking her arm. "Gladly," replied Mahiette, "but you must be ignorant of all but your paris not to know that!I will tell you then (but 'tis not necessary for us to halt that I may tell you the tale), that paquette la Chantefleurie was a pretty maid of eighteen when I was one myself, that is to say, eighteen years ago, and 'tis her own fault if she is not to-day, like me, a good, plump, fresh mother of six and thirty, with a husband and a son. However, after the age of fourteen, it was too late!Well, she was the daughter of Guybertant, minstrel of the barges at Reims, the same who had played before King Charles VII., at his coronation, when he descended our river Vesle from Sillery to Muison, when Madame the Maid of Orleans was also in the boat.The old father died when paquette was still a mere child; she had then no one but her mother, the sister of M. pradon, master-brazier and coppersmith in paris, Rue Farm- Garlin, who died last year.You see she was of good family. The mother was a good simple woman, unfortunately, and she taught paquette nothing but a bit of embroidery and toy-making which did not prevent the little one from growing very large and remaining very poor.They both dwelt at Reims, on the river front, Rue de Folle-peine.Mark this: For I believe it was this which brought misfortune to paquette. In '61, the year of the coronation of our King Louis XI. whom God preserve! paquette was so gay and so pretty that she was called everywhere by no other name than "la Chantefleurie"--blossoming song.poor girl!She had handsome teeth, she was fond of laughing and displaying them.Now, a maid who loves to laugh is on the road to weeping; handsome teeth ruin handsome eyes.So she was la Chantefleurie.She and her mother earned a precarious living; they had been very destitute since the death of the minstrel; their embroidery did not bring them in more than six farthings a week, which does not amount to quite two eagle liards.Where were the days when Father Guybertant had earned twelve sous parisian, in a single coronation, with a song?One winter (it was in that same year of '61), when the two women had neither fagots nor firewood, it was very cold, which gave la Chantefleurie such a fine color that the men called her paquette!* and many called her pàquerette!** and she was ruined.--Eustache, just let me see you bite that cake if you dare!--We immediately perceived that she was ruined, one Sunday when she came to church with a gold cross about her neck. At fourteen years of age! do you see?First it was the young Vicomte de Cormontreuil, who has his bell tower three leagues distant from Reims; then Messire Henri de Triancourt, equerry to the King; then less than that, Chiart de Beaulion, sergeant-at-arms; then, still descending, Guery Aubergeon, carver to the King; then, Mace de Frépus, barber to monsieur the dauphin; then, Thévenin le Moine, King's cook; then, the men growing continually younger and less noble, she fell to Guillaume Racine, minstrel of the hurdy gurdy and to Thierry de Mer, lamplighter.Then, poor Chantefleurie, she belonged to every one: she had reached the last sou of her gold piece.What shall I say to you, my damoiselles?At the coronation, in the same year, '61, 'twas she who made the bed of the king of the debauchees!In the same year!" *Ox-eye daisy. **Easter daisy. Mahiette sighed, and wiped away a tear which trickled from her eyes. "This is no very extraordinary history," said Gervaise, "and in the whole of it I see nothing of any Egyptian women or children." "patience!" resumed Mahiette, "you will see one child.--In '66, 'twill be sixteen years ago this month, at Sainte- paule's day, paquette was brought to bed of a little girl. The unhappy creature! it was a great joy to her; she had long wished for a child.Her mother, good woman, who had never known what to do except to shut her eyes, her mother was dead.paquette had no longer any one to love in the world or any one to love her.La Chantefleurie had been a poor creature during the five years since her fall.She was alone, alone in this life, fingers were pointed at her, she was hooted at in the streets, beaten by the sergeants, jeered at by the little boys in rags.And then, twenty had arrived: and twenty is an old age for amorous women.Folly began to bring her in no more than her trade of embroidery in former days; for every wrinkle that came, a crown fled; winter became hard to her once more, wood became rare again in her brazier, and bread in her cupboard.She could no longer work because, in becoming voluptuous, she had grown lazy; and she suffered much more because, in growing lazy, she had become voluptuous. At least, that is the way in which monsieur the cure of Saint-Remy explains why these women are colder and hungrier than other poor women, when they are old." "Yes," remarked Gervaise, "but the gypsies?" "One moment, Gervaise!" said Oudarde, whose attention was less impatient."What would be left for the end if all were in the beginning?Continue, Mahiette, I entreat you. That poor Chantefleurie!" Mahiette went on. "So she was very sad, very miserable, and furrowed her cheeks with tears.But in the midst of her shame, her folly, her debauchery, it seemed to her that she should be less wild, less shameful, less dissipated, if there were something or some one in the world whom she could love, and who could love her.It was necessary that it should be a child, because only a child could be sufficiently innocent for that.She had recognized this fact after having tried to love a thief, the only man who wanted her; but after a short time, she perceived that the thief despised her.Those women of love require either a lover or a child to fill their hearts.Otherwise, they are very unhappy.As she could not have a lover, she turned wholly towards a desire for a child, and as she had not ceased to be pious, she made her constant prayer to the good God for it.So the good God took pity on her, and gave her a little daughter.I will not speak to you of her joy; it was a fury of tears, and caresses, and kisses.She nursed her child herself, made swaddling-bands for it out of her coverlet, the only one which she had on her bed, and no longer felt either cold or hunger.She became beautiful once more, in consequence of it.An old maid makes a young mother.Gallantry claimed her once more; men came to see la Chantefleurie; she found customers again for her merchandise, and out of all these horrors she made baby clothes, caps and bibs, bodices with shoulder-straps of lace, and tiny bonnets of satin, without even thinking of buying herself another coverlet.--Master Eustache, I have already told you not to eat that cake.--It is certain that little Agnes, that was the child's name, a baptismal name, for it was a long time since la Chantefleurie had had any surname--it is certain that that little one was more swathed in ribbons and embroideries than a dauphiness of Dauphiny!Among other things, she had a pair of little shoes, the like of which King Louis XI. certainly never had!Her mother had stitched and embroidered them herself; she had lavished on them all the delicacies of her art of embroideress, and all the embellishments of a robe for the good Virgin.They certainly were the two prettiest little pink shoes that could be seen.They were no longer than my thumb, and one had to see the child's little feet come out of them, in order to believe that they had been able to get into them.'Tis true that those little feet were so small, so pretty, so rosy! rosier than the satin of the shoes!When you have children, Oudarde, you will find that there is nothing prettier than those little hands and feet." "I ask no better," said Oudarde with a sigh, "but I am waiting until it shall suit the good pleasure of M. Andry Musnier." "However, paquette's child had more that was pretty about it besides its feet.I saw her when she was only four months old; she was a love!She had eyes larger than her mouth, and the most charming black hair, which already curled.She would have been a magnificent brunette at the age of sixteen! Her mother became more crazy over her every day.She kissed her, caressed her, tickled her, washed her, decked her out, devoured her!She lost her head over her, she thanked God for her.Her pretty, little rosy feet above all were an endless source of wonderment, they were a delirium of joy! She was always pressing her lips to them, and she could never recover from her amazement at their smallness.She put them into the tiny shoes, took them out, admired them, marvelled at them, looked at the light through them, was curious to see them try to walk on her bed, and would gladly have passed her life on her knees, putting on and taking off the shoes from those feet, as though they had been those of an Infant Jesus." "The tale is fair and good," said Gervaise in a low tone; "but where do gypsies come into all that?" "Here," replied Mahiette."One day there arrived in Reims a very queer sort of people.They were beggars and vagabonds who were roaming over the country, led by their duke and their counts.They were browned by exposure to the sun, they had closely curling hair, and silver rings in their ears.The women were still uglier than the men.They had blacker faces, which were always uncovered, a miserable frock on their bodies, an old cloth woven of cords bound upon their shoulder, and their hair hanging like the tail of a horse.The children who scrambled between their legs would have frightened as many monkeys.A band of excommunicates. All these persons came direct from lower Egypt to Reims through poland.The pope had confessed them, it was said, and had prescribed to them as penance to roam through the world for seven years, without sleeping in a bed; and so they were called penancers, and smelt horribly.It appears that they had formerly been Saracens, which was why they believed in Jupiter, and claimed ten livres of Tournay from all archbishops, bishops, and mitred abbots with croziers. A bull from the pope empowered them to do that.They came to Reims to tell fortunes in the name of the King of Algiers, and the Emperor of Germany.You can readily imagine that no more was needed to cause the entrance to the town to be forbidden them.Then the whole band camped with good grace outside the gate of Braine, on that hill where stands a mill, beside the cavities of the ancient chalk pits.And everybody in Reims vied with his neighbor in going to see them. They looked at your hand, and told you marvellous prophecies; they were equal to predicting to Judas that he would become pope.Nevertheless, ugly rumors were in circulation in regard to them; about children stolen, purses cut, and human flesh devoured.The wise people said to the foolish: "Don't go there!" and then went themselves on the sly.It was an infatuation.The fact is, that they said things fit to astonish a cardinal.Mothers triumphed greatly over their little ones after the Egyptians had read in their hands all sorts of marvels written in pagan and in Turkish.One had an emperor; another, a pope; another, a captain.poor Chantefleurie was seized with curiosity; she wished to know about herself, and whether her pretty little Agnes would not become some day Empress of Armenia, or something else.So she carried her to the Egyptians; and the Egyptian women fell to admiring the child, and to caressing it, and to kissing it with their black mouths, and to marvelling over its little band, alas! to the great joy of the mother.They were especially enthusiastic over her pretty feet and shoes.The child was not yet a year old.She already lisped a little, laughed at her mother like a little mad thing, was plump and quite round, and possessed a thousand charming little gestures of the angels of paradise.
《BOOK SIXTH CHAPTER III.HISTORY OF A LEAVENED CAKE OF MAIZE. Page 2》 She was very much frightened by the Egyptians, and wept. But her mother kissed her more warmly and went away enchanted with the good fortune which the soothsayers had foretold for her Agnes.She was to be a beauty, virtuous, a queen. So she returned to her attic in the Rue Folle-peine, very proud of bearing with her a queen.The next day she took advantage of a moment when the child was asleep on her bed, (for they always slept together), gently left the door a little way open, and ran to tell a neighbor in the Rue de la Séchesserie, that the day would come when her daughter Agnes would be served at table by the King of England and the Archduke of Ethiopia, and a hundred other marvels.On her return, hearing no cries on the staircase, she said to herself: 'Good! the child is still asleep!'She found her door wider open than she had left it, but she entered, poor mother, and ran to the bed.---The child was no longer there, the place was empty.Nothing remained of the child, but one of her pretty little shoes.She flew out of the room, dashed down the stairs, and began to beat her head against the wall, crying: 'My child! who has my child?Who has taken my child?'The street was deserted, the house isolated; no one could tell her anything about it.She went about the town, searched all the streets, ran hither and thither the whole day long, wild, beside herself, terrible, snuffing at doors and windows like a wild beast which has lost its young.She was breathless, dishevelled, frightful to see, and there was a fire in her eyes which dried her tears.She stopped the passers-by and cried: 'My daughter! my daughter! my pretty little daughter! If any one will give me back my daughter, I will he his servant, the servant of his dog, and he shall eat my heart if he will.'She met M. le Curé of Saint- Remy, and said to him: 'Monsieur, I will till the earth with my finger-nails, but give me back my child!'It was heartrending, Oudarde; and IL saw a very hard man, Master ponce Lacabre, the procurator, weep.Ah! poor mother!In the evening she returned home.During her absence, a neighbor had seen two gypsies ascend up to it with a bundle in their arms, then descend again, after closing the door.After their departure, something like the cries of a child were heard in paquette's room.The mother, burst into shrieks of laughter, ascended the stairs as though on wings, and entered.--A frightful thing to tell, Oudarde!Instead of her pretty little Agnes, so rosy and so fresh, who was a gift of the good God, a sort of hideous little monster, lame, one-eyed, deformed, was crawling and squalling over the floor.She hid her eyes in horror.'Oh!' said she, 'have the witches transformed my daughter into this horrible animal?'They hastened to carry away the little club-foot; he would have driven her mad.It was the monstrous child of some gypsy woman, who had given herself to the devil.He appeared to be about four years old, and talked a language which was no human tongue; there were words in it which were impossible.La Chantefleurie flung herself upon the little shoe, all that remained to her of all that she loved.She remained so long motionless over it, mute, and without breath, that they thought she was dead. Suddenly she trembled all over, covered her relic with furious kisses, and burst out sobbing as though her heart were broken. I assure you that we were all weeping also.She said: 'Oh, my little daughter! my pretty little daughter! where art thou?'--and it wrung your very heart.I weep still when I think of it.Our children are the marrow of our bones, you see.---My poor Eustache! thou art so fair!--If you only knew how nice he is! yesterday he said to me: 'I want to be a gendarme, that I do.'Oh! my Eustache! if I were to lose thee!--All at once la Chantefleurie rose, and set out to run through Reims, screaming: 'To the gypsies' camp! to the gypsies' camp!police, to burn the witches!'The gypsies were gone.It was pitch dark.They could not be followed. On the morrow, two leagues from Reims, on a heath between Gueux and Tilloy, the remains of a large fire were found, some ribbons which had belonged to paquette's child, drops of blood, and the dung of a ram.The night just past had been a Saturday.There was no longer any doubt that the Egyptians had held their Sabbath on that heath, and that they had devoured the child in company with Beelzebub, as the practice is among the Mahometans.When La Chantefleurie learned these horrible things, she did not weep, she moved her lips as though to speak, but could not.On the morrow, her hair was gray.On the second day, she had disappeared. "'Tis in truth, a frightful tale," said Oudarde, "and one which would make even a Burgundian weep." "I am no longer surprised," added Gervaise, "that fear of the gypsies should spur you on so sharply." "And you did all the better," resumed Oudarde, "to flee with your Eustache just now, since these also are gypsies from poland." "No," said Gervais, "'tis said that they come from Spain and Catalonia." "Catalonia? 'tis possible," replied Oudarde."pologne, Catalogue, Valogne, I always confound those three provinces, One thing is certain, that they are gypsies." "Who certainly," added Gervaise, "have teeth long enough to eat little children.I should not be surprised if la Sméralda ate a little of them also, though she pretends to be dainty. Her white goat knows tricks that are too malicious for there not to be some impiety underneath it all." Mahiette walked on in silence.She was absorbed in that revery which is, in some sort, the continuation of a mournful tale, and which ends only after having communicated the emotion, from vibration to vibration, even to the very last fibres of the heart.Nevertheless, Gervaise addressed her, "And did they ever learn what became of la Chantefleurie?" Mahiette made no reply.Gervaise repeated her question, and shook her arm, calling her by name.Mahiette appeared to awaken from her thoughts. "What became of la Chantefleurie?" she said, repeating mechanically the words whose impression was still fresh in her ear; then, ma king an effort to recall her attention to the meaning of her words, "Ah!" she continued briskly, "no one ever found out." She added, after a pause,-- "Some said that she had been seen to quit Reims at nightfall by the Fléchembault gate; others, at daybreak, by the old Basée gate.A poor man found her gold cross hanging on the stone cross in the field where the fair is held.It was that ornament which had wrought her ruin, in '61.It was a gift from the handsome Vicomte de Cormontreuil, her first lover. paquette had never been willing to part with it, wretched as she had been.She had clung to it as to life itself.So, when we saw that cross abandoned, we all thought that she was dead.Nevertheless, there were people of the Cabaret les Vantes, who said that they had seen her pass along the road to paris, walking on the pebbles with her bare feet.But, in that case, she must have gone out through the porte de Vesle, and all this does not agree.Or, to speak more truly, I believe that she actually did depart by the porte de Vesle, but departed from this world." "I do not understand you," said Gervaise. "La Vesle," replied Mahiette, with a melancholy smile, "is the river." "poor Chantefleurie!" said Oudarde, with a shiver,--"drowned!" "Drowned!" resumed Mahiette, "who could have told good Father Guybertant, when he passed under the bridge of Tingueux with the current, singing in his barge, that one day his dear little paquette would also pass beneath that bridge, but without song or boat. "And the little shoe?" asked Gervaise. "Disappeared with the mother," replied Mahiette. "poor little shoe!" said Oudarde. Oudarde, a big and tender woman, would have been well pleased to sigh in company with Mahiette.But Gervaise, more curious, had not finished her questions. "And the monster?" she said suddenly, to Mahiette. "What monster?" inquired the latter. "The little gypsy monster left by the sorceresses in Chantefleurie's chamber, in exchange for her daughter.What did you do with it?I hope you drowned it also." "No." replied Mahiette. "What?You burned it then?In sooth, that is more just. A witch child!" "Neither the one nor the other, Gervaise.Monseigneur the archbishop interested himself in the child of Egypt, exorcised it, blessed it, removed the devil carefully from its body, and sent it to paris, to be exposed on the wooden bed at Notre- Dame, as a foundling." "Those bishops!" grumbled Gervaise, "because they are learned, they do nothing like anybody else.I just put it to you, Oudarde, the idea of placing the devil among the foundlings!For that little monster was assuredly the devil. Well, Mahiette, what did they do with it in paris?I am quite sure that no charitable person wanted it." "I do not know," replied the Rémoise, "'twas just at that time that my husband bought the office of notary, at Bern, two leagues from the town, and we were no longer occupied with that story; besides, in front of Bern, stand the two hills of Cernay, which hide the towers of the cathedral in Reims from view." While chatting thus, the three worthy ~bourgeoises~ had arrived at the place de Grève.In their absorption, they had passed the public breviary of the Tour-Roland without stopping, and took their way mechanically towards the pillory around which the throng was growing more dense with every moment.It is probable that the spectacle which at that moment attracted all looks in that direction, would have made them forget completely the Rat-Hole, and the halt which they intended to make there, if big Eustache, six years of age, whom Mahiette was dragging along by the hand, had not abruptly recalled the object to them: "Mother," said he, as though some instinct warned him that the Rat-Hole was behind him, "can I eat the cake now?" If Eustache had been more adroit, that is to say, less greedy, he would have continued to wait, and would only have hazarded that simple question, "Mother, can I eat the cake, now?" on their return to the University, to Master Andry Musnier's, Rue Madame la Valence, when he had the two arms of the Seine and the five bridges of the city between the Rat-Hole and the cake. This question, highly imprudent at the moment when Eustache put it, aroused Mahiette's attention. "By the way," she exclaimed, "we are forgetting the recluse!Show me the Rat-Hole, that I may carry her her cake." "Immediately," said Oudarde, "'tis a charity." But this did not suit Eustache. "Stop! my cake!" said he, rubbing both ears alternatively with his shoulders, which, in such cases, is the supreme sign of discontent. The three women retraced their steps, and, on arriving in the vicinity of the Tour-Roland, Oudarde said to the other two,-- "We must not all three gaze into the hole at once, for fear of alarming the recluse.Do you two pretend to read the _Dominus_ in the breviary, while I thrust my nose into the aperture; the recluse knows me a little.I will give you warning when you can approach." She proceeded alone to the window.At the moment when she looked in, a profound pity was depicted on all her features, and her frank, gay visage altered its expression and color as abruptly as though it had passed from a ray of sunlight to a ray of moonlight; her eye became humid; her mouth contracted, like that of a person on the point of weeping.A moment later, she laid her finger on her lips, and made a sign to Mahiette to draw near and look. Mahiette, much touched, stepped up in silence, on tiptoe, as though approaching the bedside of a dying person. It was, in fact, a melancholy spectacle which presented itself to the eyes of the two women, as they gazed through the grating of the Rat-Hole, neither stirring nor breathing. The cell was small, broader than it was long, with an arched ceiling, and viewed from within, it bore a considerable resemblance to the interior of a huge bishop's mitre.On the bare flagstones which formed the floor, in one corner, a woman was sitting, or rather, crouching.Her chin rested on her knees, which her crossed arms pressed forcibly to her breast. Thus doubled up, clad in a brown sack, which enveloped her entirely in large folds, her long, gray hair pulled over in front, falling over her face and along her legs nearly to her feet, she presented, at the first glance, only a strange form outlined against the dark background of the cell, a sort of dusky triangle, which the ray of daylight falling through the opening, cut roughly into two shades, the one sombre, the other illuminated.It was one of those spectres, half light, half shadow, such as one beholds in dreams and in the extraordinary work of Goya, pale, motionless, sinister, crouching over a tomb, or leaning against the grating of a prison cell. It was neither a woman, nor a man, nor a living being, nor a definite form; it was a figure, a sort of vision, in which the real and the fantastic intersected each other, like darkness and day.It was with difficulty that one distinguished, beneath her hair which spread to the ground, a gaunt and severe profile; her dress barely allowed the extremity of a bare foot to escape, which contracted on the hard, cold pavement. The little of human form of which one caught a sight beneath this envelope of mourning, caused a shudder. That figure, which one might have supposed to be riveted to the flagstones, appeared to possess neither movement, nor thought, nor breath.Lying, in January, in that thin, linen sack, lying on a granite floor, without fire, in the gloom of a cell whose oblique air-hole allowed only the cold breeze, but never the sun, to enter from without, she did not appear to suffer or even to think.One would have said that she had turned to stone with the cell, ice with the season.Her hands were clasped, her eyes fixed.At first sight one took her for a spectre; at the second, for a statue. Nevertheless, at intervals, her blue lips half opened to admit a breath, and trembled, but as dead and as mechanical as the leaves which the wind sweeps aside. Nevertheless, from her dull eyes there escaped a look, an ineffable look, a profound, lugubrious, imperturbable look, incessantly fixed upon a corner of the cell which could not be seen from without; a gaze which seemed to fix all the sombre thoughts of that soul in distress upon some mysterious object. Such was the creature who had received, from her habitation, the name of the "recluse"; and, from her garment, the name of "the sacked nun." The three women, for Gervaise had rejoined Mahiette and Oudarde, gazed through the window.Their heads intercepted the feeble light in the cell, without the wretched being whom they thus deprived of it seeming to pay any attention to them."Do not let us trouble her," said Oudarde, in a low voice, "she is in her ecstasy; she is praying." Meanwhile, Mahiette was gazing with ever-increasing anxiety at that wan, withered, dishevelled head, and her eyes filled with tears."This is very singular," she murmured. She thrust her head through the bars, and succeeded in casting a glance at the corner where the gaze of the unhappy woman was immovably riveted. When she withdrew her head from the window, her countenance was inundated with tears. "What do you call that woman?" she asked Oudarde. Oudarde replied,-- "We call her Sister Gudule." "And I," returned Mahiette, "call her paquette la Chantefleurie." Then, laying her finger on her lips, she motioned to the astounded Oudarde to thrust her head through the window and look. Oudarde looked and beheld, in the corner where the eyes of the recluse were fixed in that sombre ecstasy, a tiny shoe of pink satin, embroidered with a thousand fanciful designs in gold and silver. Gervaise looked after Oudarde, and then the three women, gazing upon the unhappy mother, began to weep. But neither their looks nor their tears disturbed the recluse. Her hands remained clasped; her lips mute; her eyes fixed; and that little shoe, thus gazed at, broke the heart of any one who knew her history. The three women had not yet uttered a single word; they dared not speak, even in a low voice.This deep silence, this deep grief, this profound oblivion in which everything had disappeared except one thing, produced upon them the effect of the grand altar at Christmas or Easter.They remained silent, they meditated, they were ready to kneel.It seemed to them that they were ready to enter a church on the day of Tenebrae. At length Gervaise, the most curious of the three, and consequently the least sensitive, tried to make the recluse speak: "Sister!Sister Gudule!" She repeated this call three times, raising her voice each time.The recluse did not move; not a word, not a glance, not a sigh, not a sign of life. Oudarde, in her turn, in a sweeter, more caressing voice,--"Sister!" said she, "Sister Sainte-Gudule!" The same silence; the same immobility. "A singular woman!" exclaimed Gervaise, "and one not to be moved by a catapult!" "perchance she is deaf," said Oudarde. "perhaps she is blind," added Gervaise. "Dead, perchance," returned Mahiette. It is certain that if the soul had not already quitted this inert, sluggish, lethargic body, it had at least retreated and concealed itself in depths whither the perceptions of the exterior organs no longer penetrated. "Then we must leave the cake on the window," said Oudarde; "some scamp will take it.What shall we do to rouse her?" Eustache, who, up to that moment had been diverted by a little carriage drawn by a large dog, which had just passed, suddenly perceived that his three conductresses were gazing at something through the window, and, curiosity taking possession of him in his turn, he climbed upon a stone post, elevated himself on tiptoe, and applied his fat, red face to the opening, shouting, "Mother, let me see too!" At the sound of this clear, fresh, ringing child's voice, the recluse trembled; she turned her head with the sharp, abrupt movement of a steel spring, her long, fleshless hands cast aside the hair from her brow, and she fixed upon the child, bitter, astonished, desperate eyes.This glance was but a lightning flash. "Oh my God!" she suddenly exclaimed, hiding her head on her knees, and it seemed as though her hoarse voice tore her chest as it passed from it, "do not show me those of others!" "Good day, madam," said the child, gravely. Nevertheless, this shock had, so to speak, awakened the recluse.A long shiver traversed her frame from head to foot; her teeth chattered; she half raised her head and said, pressing her elbows against her hips, and clasping her feet in her hands as though to warm them,-- "Oh, how cold it is!" "poor woman!" said Oudarde, with great compassion, "would you like a little fire?" She shook her head in token of refusal. "Well," resumed Oudarde, presenting her with a flagon; "here is some hippocras which will warm you; drink it." Again she shook her head, looked at Oudarde fixedly and replied, "Water." Oudarde persisted,--"No, sister, that is no beverage for January.You must drink a little hippocras and eat this leavened cake of maize, which we have baked for you." She refused the cake which Mahiette offered to her, and said, "Black bread." "Come," said Gervaise, seized in her turn with an impulse of charity, and unfastening her woolen cloak, "here is a cloak which is a little warmer than yours." She refused the cloak as she had refused the flagon and the cake, and replied, "A sack." "But," resumed the good Oudarde, "you must have perceived to some extent, that yesterday was a festival." "I do perceive it," said the recluse; "'tis two days now since I have had any water in my crock." She added, after a silence, "'Tis a festival, I am forgotten. people do well.Why should the world think of me, when I do not think of it?Cold charcoal makes cold ashes." And as though fatigued with having said so much, she dropped her head on her knees again.The simple and charitable Oudarde, who fancied that she understood from her last words that she was complaining of the cold, replied innocently, "Then you would like a little fire?" "Fire!" said the sacked nun, with a strange accent; "and will you also make a little for the poor little one who has been beneath the sod for these fifteen years?" Every limb was trembling, her voice quivered, her eyes flashed, she had raised herself upon her knees; suddenly she extended her thin, white hand towards the child, who was regarding her with a look of astonishment."Take away that child!" she cried."The Egyptian woman is about to pass by." Then she fell face downward on the earth, and her forehead struck the stone, with the sound of one stone against another stone.The three women thought her dead.A moment later, however, she moved, and they beheld her drag herself, on her knees and elbows, to the corner where the little shoe was. Then they dared not look; they no longer saw her; but they heard a thousand kisses and a thousand sighs, mingled with heartrending cries, and dull blows like those of a head in contact with a wall.Then, after one of these blows, so violent that all three of them staggered, they heard no more. "Can she have killed herself?" said Gervaise, venturing to pass her head through the air-hole."Sister!Sister Gudule!" "Sister Gudule!" repeated Oudarde. "Ah! good heavens! she no longer moves!" resumed Gervaise; "is she dead?Gudule!Gudule!" Mahiette, choked to such a point that she could not speak, made an effort."Wait," said she.Then bending towards the window, "paquette!" she said, "paquette le Chantefleurie!" A child who innocently blows upon the badly ignited fuse of a bomb, and makes it explode in his face, is no more terrified than was Mahiette at the effect of that name, abruptly launched into the cell of Sister Gudule. The recluse trembled all over, rose erect on her bare feet, and leaped at the window with eyes so glaring that Mahiette and Oudarde, and the other woman and the child recoiled even to the parapet of the quay. Meanwhile, the sinister face of the recluse appeared pressed to the grating of the air-hole."Oh! oh!" she cried, with an appalling laugh; "'tis the Egyptian who is calling me!" At that moment, a scene which was passing at the pillory caught her wild eye.Her brow contracted with horror, she stretched her two skeleton arms from her cell, and shrieked in a voice which resembled a death-rattle, "So 'tis thou once more, daughter of Egypt!'Tis thou who callest me, stealer of children!Well!Be thou accursed! accursed! accursed! accursed!"
《第六卷 三 一块玉米饼的故事》 这个故事发生的时候,罗朗塔楼的那间小室是有人居住着的.看官要是想知道是谁住在里面,那只需听一听三个正派的妇道人家的谈话就明白了.在我们把看官的注意力引到老鼠洞时,这三个妇道人家正好沿着河岸,一起从小堡向河滩广场走了过来. 其中两个从衣着来看,是巴黎的殷实市民.柔软的雪白绉领,红蓝条纹相杂的混纺粗呢裙子,腿部紧裹着羊毛编织的白袜子,脚踝处饰着彩绣,黑底方头的褐色皮鞋,尤其是她们的帽子,就是香帕尼地区妇女到如今还带的那种尖角帽,饰满绸带.花边和金属箔片,简直可以同俄国禁卫军的榴弹兵的帽子相匹敌,这一切的一切都表示这两个女子属于富裕的商妇阶层,其身份介于如今仆役们称之为太太和夫人之间.她们既没戴金戒指,也没戴金十字架,这很容易看出,那并非因为她们家境贫寒,而只是天真质地害怕被罚款的缘故.另一个同伴的打扮也不差上下,只是在衣着和姿态方面有着某种难以名状的东西,散发着外省公证人妻子的气质.从她把腰带高束在臀部之上的样子来看,她很久没到巴黎来了.而且,她的绉领是打褶的,鞋子上打着绸带结子,裙子的条纹是横的而不是直的,还有其他许多不伦不类的装束,令高雅趣味的人大倒胃口. 头两位往前走着,迈着巴黎女子带领外省妇女游览巴黎的那种特别步履.那外省女子手拉着一个胖胖的男孩,男孩手里拿着一大块饼. 我们很抱歉还得加上一笔:因为季节严寒,他竟把舌头作手帕使用了. 这孩子硬是被拖着才走,恰如维吉尔所说的,步子并不稳重,老是绊跤,惹得他母亲大声嚷叫,实际上,他眼睛只盯着手里的饼,并不注意看路.大约由于某种的重大的原由,他才没有去咬那块饼,只是恋恋不舍地把它看来看去.其实,这块饼本来应该由他母亲来拿的,却把胖娃娃变成了坦塔洛斯,真有点太过于残忍了.这时三位佳妇(因为"夫人"一词那时只用于贵妇)一起说开了. "快点走,马伊埃特大嫂."三人中最年轻也是最胖的一个对外省来的那个女子说."我真怕我们去晚了,刚才听小堡的人说,马上就要带他到耻辱柱去啦." "唔!得了,乌达德.缪斯尼埃大嫂,瞧你说什么来的呀!"另个巴黎女子接着说道."他要在耻辱柱消磨两个钟头哩.我们有时间.亲爱的马伊埃特,你见过刑台示众吗?" "见过,在兰斯."外省女子回答道. "呵,得了!你们兰斯的耻辱刑柱那算什么东西?不过是一只蹩脚笼子,只用来惩罚一些乡下人罢了.那才真是了不起呀!" "何止乡下人!"马伊埃特说."在呢绒市场!在兰斯!我们见过许多罪大恶极的杀人犯,他们弑父杀母呐!哪里只有乡下人!你把我们看成什么啦,热尔维丝?" 这外地女子为家乡耻辱柱的名声,真的马上就要生气了,幸亏乌达德.缪斯尼埃大嫂识趣,及时改变了话题. "对啦,马伊埃特大嫂,你想那些弗朗德勒御使如何?兰斯也见过这么漂亮的御使吗?" "我承认,想要看这样的弗朗德勒人,只有在巴黎呐."马伊埃特应道. "御使团当中有个身材魁梧的使臣是卖袜子的,你看见了吗?"乌达德问. "看到了."马伊埃特答道."他好像个萨图尔努斯." "还有那个大胖子,面孔像个光溜溜的大肚皮,你也看见啦?"热尔维丝又问道."还有那个矮个子,小眼睛,红眼皮,眼皮像缺刻的叶子,睫毛蓬乱,象毛球似的?" "他们的马那才好看哩,全遵照他们国家的方式打扮的!"乌达德说道. "啊!亲爱的,"外省来的马伊埃特打断她的话,轮到她摆出一副神气活现的样子."要是你在六一年,也就是十八年前在兰斯举行加冕典礼时,亲眼看见那班王侯和王上随从的乘骑,不知道你会有何感想呢!马鞍和马披,形形色色,有大马士革呢的,金丝细呢的,都镶有黑貂皮;也有天鹅绒的,镶着白鼬皮;还有的缀满金银制品,挂着粗大的金铃银铃!那到底要用掉多少钱呀!骑在马上的年轻侍从,一个个多么标致呀!" "就算是这样,"乌达德大嫂冷冷地反驳道,"还是弗朗德勒使臣的马比较漂亮,而且他们昨天到市政厅参加巴黎府尹大人的晚宴,酒肴才丰盛哩,有糖杏仁啦,肉桂酒啦,珍馐啦,以及其他各式各样的山珍海味啦." "说到哪儿去啦,我的好邻居?"热尔维丝嚷道,"弗朗德勒使臣们是在小波旁宫红衣主教大人府用餐的." "不对,是在市政厅!" "不是.是在小波旁宫!" "明明在市政厅,"乌达德尖着声音刻薄地接着说道,"还是斯古拉布尔大夫用拉丁文向他们致词的,把他们听了心里乐滋滋的.这是我丈夫-由法院指定的书商-亲自告诉我的." "明明是在小波旁宫,"热尔维丝也激动地回敬说,"红衣主教大人的总管赠送他们的礼品有:十二瓶半升的肉桂滋补酒,有白的,朱红的,还有淡红的;二十四大盒里昂的蛋黄双层杏仁糕;二十四支大蜡烛,每支足足有两磅重;六桶两百升的波纳葡萄酒,白的和淡红的,那是世上最好的美酒.这可是千真万确的,是从我丈夫那里听来的,他是市民接待室的五什长,今早他还把弗朗德勒使臣同博雷特—约翰的使臣以及特雷比宗德皇帝的使臣做了一番比较,这些使臣是前些时从美索不达米亚到巴黎来的,耳朵上还都戴耳环哩." "他们的确是在市政厅用膳的,"乌达德听到这番炫耀的话有点按捺不住了,反驳道,"从没有人曾见过那么阔绰的酒肉和杏仁糕." "我呀,还可以告诉你,他们是在小波旁府邸由城防捕头勒.塞克服侍用膳的,而你正好在这一点弄错了." "是在市政厅,错不了!" "在小波旁,亲爱的!绝对没错,而且还用幻灯照亮大门廊上希望那两个字哩." "在市政厅!市政厅!准没错,于松.勒.瓦尔而且还吹奏笛子来着呢." "告诉你,不对的!" "我也告诉你,就是!" "听着,绝对不是!" 肉墩墩的乌达德正要回嘴,眼看这场争吵就可能要变成动手互相揪头发了,正在这当儿,幸亏马伊埃特突然叫道:"你们快看呀,那边桥头上挤着那么多人!他们正在围观什么事.""真的呢,"热尔维丝说,"我听见手鼓声哩.我看,一定是爱斯梅拉达同她的小山羊在耍把戏啦.快,马伊埃特!放开脚步,攥着孩子快走.你到巴黎的目的就是来看新奇玩艺儿的,昨日看过了弗朗德勒人,今天该看一看埃及女郎." "埃及女郎!"马伊埃特一边说,一边猛然折回去抓住儿子的胳膊,"上帝保佑!她说不定会拐走我孩子的!-快点,厄斯塔舍!" 话音刚落,马伊埃特拔腿沿着河岸向河滩广场跑去,直到远远离开了那座桥.这时她拽着的孩子跌倒了,她这才停了下来,上气不接下气.乌达德和热尔维丝也赶了上来. "那埃及女郎会偷你的孩子!你真能胡思乱想,离奇古怪."热尔维丝微笑着说道. 马伊埃特听后,若有所思地摇了摇头. "说来也怪,那个麻衣女对埃及女人也有一样的看法."乌达德提醒了一句. "谁是麻衣女?"马伊埃特问. "哦!是古杜尔修女嘛."乌达德回答道. "古杜尔修女是谁?"马伊埃特又再问. "你真是地道的兰斯人,这也不知道!"乌达德答道."就是老鼠洞的那个归隐修女呗!""怎么!就是我们带这个饼给她的那个可怜女人吗?"马伊埃特问道. 乌达德立即点了一下头. "正是.你等一下到了河滩广场,就可以从她小屋的窗洞口看到她.她对那些敲着手鼓给人算命的埃及浪人,看法跟你一样.她对吉普赛人和埃及人的这种恐惧心理,不知道是什么原因.可是你,马伊埃特,一听见吉普赛人和埃及人,就这样没命地逃跑,到底为什么?" "唉!"马伊埃特双手搂着儿子的圆脑袋瓜,说道."我可不想遭到像那个叫花喜儿的帕盖特的那境遇." "啊!那肯定是一个动人的故事,赶快给我们讲一讲,我的好人儿马伊埃特."热尔维丝边说边挽起她的胳臂. "我倒是愿意,"马伊埃特应道,"不过,你真是地道的巴黎人,才会不知道这件事.那我就说给你听吧,可是用不着站在这里讲呀.帕盖特是个十八岁的俊俏姑娘,那时我也是,即十八年前我也是,如今我却是个三十六岁的母亲,体态丰满,容光焕发,有丈夫,儿子,如果说帕盖特今天不像我这样,那都怪她自己,况且,打从十四岁起,她就悔之晚矣!其父亲叫居贝托,兰斯船上吟游诗人和乐师;查理七世加冕的时候,乘船沿维尔河顺流而下,从西勒里驾临缪宗,贵妇人贞女也在船上,那个在圣驾面前献过艺的就是居贝托.老父亲去世时,帕盖特还小得很呢,身边只剩母亲了.她母亲有个哥哥,马蒂厄.普拉东先生,是巴黎帕兰一加兰街一个黄铜器皿匠和锅匠,去年刚亡故.你们看,她出身怪不错的.可惜她母亲是个老实巴交的妇道人家,只教帕盖特做点针线活和小玩意儿,别的什么也没有教她,然而她还是长大了,仍然很穷.母女俩就住在兰斯沿河那条名为'苦难街’上.请注意这一点,我相信那正是帕盖特不幸的根源.在六一年,即我们圣上路易十一愿上帝保佑-加冕的那一年,帕盖特长得活泼又俊俏,真是百里挑一没得说,到处都叫她花喜儿.可怜的姑娘!她有着一口漂亮的牙齿,老是笑盈盈的,好露给人看.话说回来,红颜美女多薄命.花喜儿正是如此.她同母亲相依为命,度日艰难.自乐师死后,家境一落千丈,完全败了,母女俩做一星期的针线活,所挣的钱多不过六德尼埃,还折合不到两个鹰里亚.想当年,居贝埃老爹逢到一次仅有绝无的加冕典礼,唱一支歌便能挣到十二巴黎索尔,这种良机到哪儿去找呢?有一年冬天,就是六一年那个冬天,母女俩连根柴火棍儿也没有,天气又异常寒冷,把花喜儿冻得脸色分外红艳,男人们嘴上都挂着她名字:帕盖特!有些人叫她作帕盖丽特!她就走上堕落的道路了.-厄斯塔舍,看你还敢咬那个饼!-有一个星期天,她到教堂去,脖子上挂着饰有金十字架的项链,一看就明白她完了.才十四岁!你们看看这种事!头一个勾搭上的是住在兰斯三公里外的科蒙雷伊的年轻子爵.接着是御前侍骑亨利.德.特里昂古老爷.然后,就不那么再露面了,是击剑侍卫希亚尔.德.博利翁;再然后,每况愈下,是御膳的切肉侍仆格里.奥贝尔戎,太子殿下的理发师马塞.德.弗雷皮,外号'修士’的厨子王泰弗南;最后,一个不如一个,连岁数大的.地位低的也成,随便倒给了弦琴手吉约姆.拉辛,管路灯的蒂埃里.德.梅尔.可怜的花喜儿,于是成了众人的玩物.她这块金币的价值早就丧失,一文不值了.还有什么好说的呢,两位大嫂?就在六一年王上加冕的那一年,她还替丐帮大王垫被呢!-不错,就是那一年!" 说到这儿,马伊埃特眼泪盈眶,叹息了一声,揩掉一滴泪水. "这称不上什么惊心动魄的故事,"热尔维丝说,"我也看不出这一切与埃及人有何关系,与孩子有什么关系." "别急!"马伊埃特接着说下去."说到孩子嘛,立刻就会有一个的.-在六六年,到这个月为止圣保罗节已十六个年头了,帕盖特生了一个小女孩.不幸的女人!她高兴得很.她早就期盼生个孩子.她的母亲,那个只知道闭着眼睛装做一无所知的老实女人,早就死了.在这世间,帕盖特再也没有什么人可爱了,也没有什么人爱她的了.自从开始堕落后五年间,花喜儿真是怪可怜见的,茕茕孑立形影相吊一身,在这红尘中无依无靠,到处被人指指戳戳,被街上的人叫骂,被捕役殴打,被那些一身破旧的男娃嘲弄.接着,年到二十,而对于卖弄风情的娘儿来说,二十岁就已经人老珠黄了.放荡营生越来越掉价,并不比从前卖针线活挣得多,每增添一条皱纹,就少了一个金埃居.到了冬天又变得很艰难了,炉子里又难得有木柴,食橱里又难得有面包了.什么活计也干不了,因为纵欲,人也懒了,而变懒也就越纵欲,也就越陷越深,再不能自拔了.-圣雷米的本堂神父在解释为什么这类女人比别的穷苦女人在年老时更受饥寒的折磨,他至少是这么说的." "丝毫不爽,"热尔维丝说,"可是埃及人呢?" "等一下嘛,热尔维丝!"乌达德比较耐心听,就说道."要是一开头就和盘托出,那结尾还有什么可说的呢?接着往下讲吧,马伊埃特,我求求你啦.这个可怜的花喜儿!" 马伊埃特又往下讲. "她确实很伤心,好不悲惨,终日以泪洗面,哭得两边腮帮都凹陷下去了.不过,由于蒙羞受辱,放荡形骸,遭人唾弃,不由萌发一种念头:如果这世上有某种东西或是某个人能让她爱,也能爱她,那么她就不会那样丢人现眼,不会那样恣意轻薄,也不会那么被人遗弃.这必须是个孩子,因为唯有稚童才能那么天真无邪,对此毫不在意.-她好不容易才意识到这一点的.在此之前她曾经全心爱过一个小偷,他也是唯一可能会要她的男人,可是没有多久,她发现这个小偷也瞧不起她.-大凡痴情女子,都需要一个情郎或一个孩子来填补她们的心灵,要不然就非常凄惨了.-既然不可能有个情郎,她就回心转意,一心想有个孩子,而且她虔诚之心始终并未泯灭,便把想生个孩子的愿望不断祷告慈悲的上帝.诚之所至,慈悲的上帝可怜了她,便赐给她一个女儿.她那快活的样子,就不必细说了,又是眼泪,又是爱抚,又是亲吻,简直发疯了.亲自给孩子喂奶,把自己床上唯一的一条被子拿去做襁褓,而她却不再感到寒冷和饥饿了.她于是恢复了美貌,老姑娘又成为年轻的母亲.奸情复起,又有人来找花喜儿了,她那货色再次有人光顾了.她将这些下流勾当挣来的钱,统统拿去给女儿买小衣衫.小软帽.围涎.花边衬衣.缎帽,却连想也没有想过给自己重买一条被子.-厄斯塔舍先生,让你别吃那个饼,你是怎么搞的!-小阿妮丝,就是那个女孩洗礼时的教名,因为花喜儿不再有什么姓了,说起来一点不假,小阿妮丝穿绸着锦,打扮得比多菲内的公主还要花枝招展!尤其是她那双小鞋恐怕连国王路易十一肯定也没有这样的鞋子!那双小鞋,是当母亲的亲手缝的和刺绣的,精细,各种装饰之讲究,不亚于慈悲圣母身上的袍子.这双粉红小鞋,真是说要有多可爱就有多可爱!仅我大拇指这么长,若不是看见孩子的小脚丫脱去鞋子露了出来,真难相信那双小脚能穿得进去.千真万确,那双小脚是多么小巧,多么漂亮,多么粉红呀!真是赛过鞋面的粉红缎子!-乌达德,等你有了孩子,那你就会知道没什么能比得上那些小手小脚更好看的了." "我求之不得哩."乌达德叹气道,"不过,得等安德里.缪斯尼埃先生乐意呀." "而且,"马伊埃特又说,"帕盖特的孩子不光是一双脚好看而已.我见到这孩子时她才四个月,那真是心肝宝贝!一双眼睛比嘴巴还大,一头秀发又柔软又乌黑,都已卷曲了.她十六岁时,肯定是一个神气活现.肤色深褐的美人儿!她母亲一天比一天更加发疯地爱她,抚摸她,亲吻她,咯吱她,为她洗澡,把她打扮得花里花俏,差点没把吞吃她下去!她为女儿高兴得糊里糊涂,念念不忘上帝的恩德.尤其是女儿那双玫瑰色的漂亮小脚,真让她无限惊讶,乐得发狂!老是把嘴唇贴在那双小脚上面,再也没法放开.忽而给她穿上小鞋,忽而又把它脱下,道不尽的赞赏,说不完的惊奇,看一整天也嫌看不够,满怀爱怜,试着在床上教她学步,心甘情愿一辈子跪着,替这双好似圣婴耶稣的小脚穿鞋脱鞋." "这故事倒是怪动人挺好听的,可是哪有埃及人呢?"急性子的热尔维丝嘀咕道. "就有啦!"马伊埃特回了她一声."有一天,兰斯来了一伙骑马的人,样子很古怪.这是一帮叫化子和流浪汉,由他们的公爵和伯爵带领,浪迹天涯.他们皮肤都晒得发黑,头发卷曲,耳朵上挂着银耳环,女人比男人还要丑,脸更黑,头上什么也不戴,抱着一个丑恶的小鬼,肩上披着一块用麻线织的粗布旧披巾,头发扎成马尾巴形状.那些在她们腿上爬过来爬过去的孩子,连猴子见了都能吓跑的.这是一群被逐出教门的人,直接从下埃及经过波兰来到兰斯.据说,教皇听了他们忏悔后,要他们在凡尘中连续漂泊七年,不许睡在床上,以表示赎罪.所以他们称为'悔罪者’,一身臭气.看样子他们原是萨拉森人,因此信奉朱庇特,并且有权向所有戴十字架和法冠的大主教.主教和修道院主持索取十图利弗尔,是教皇一道训谕为他们这样规定的.他们是打着阿尔及尔国王与德意志皇帝的招牌来兰斯给人算命的.你们可以想见单凭这一点,便足以禁止他们进入兰斯城.于是,整队人马倒也乐意在布雷纳城门边安营,就住在迄今为止还可以看见一座磨坊紧靠着从前石灰坑的那个土丘上.他们给人看手相,说得天花乱坠,真能够预言犹大会当上教皇呢.不过,种种有关的流言蜚语也传开了,说他们拐小孩,吃人肉,扒钱包.审慎的人劝那班傻瓜说道:'千万可别去!’但自己却悄悄跑去了.那真是一种狂热.事实上,他们所说的一些事情,会叫红衣主教吃惊的.虽然那些埃及婆娘给孩子们看手相,按照异教徒和土耳其人的相术征象,头头是道,说出万般奇迹来,做母亲的听了,无不为自己子女的富贵命道而扬眉吐气,得意洋洋.这个孩子会当皇帝,那一个会当教皇,另个会当将领.可怜的花喜儿,心里痒痒的,很想知道自己的命运如何,漂亮的小阿妮丝有一天会不会当上亚美尼亚女皇或别的什么的,就把女儿抱去见那伙埃及人.那些个埃及女人一眼见到这个女娃,交口称赞,用手轻轻摸她,是用污黑的嘴唇吻她,对她的小手惊叹不已.咳!真是把花喜儿说得心里乐开了花!埃及娘们对这小女孩的美丽小脚和美丽小鞋更是赞不绝口.这孩子还没满一岁,已经开始叽哩咕噜学讲话了,像小傻瓜似地朝她母亲直笑.她胖乎乎,圆滚滚的,会做出许许多多天使般的可爱小动作来.可是,一看到那些埃及婆娘,吓得哇哇哭了起来.母亲更热烈地亲她,听到那班算命婆说小阿妮丝命中大贵,立刻抱着她走开.小阿妮丝将会成为一个绝代佳人,一个贞操女子,一个王后.花喜儿回到了苦难街的阁楼上,觉得是抱着一个王后回来,说无比自豪.第二天,孩子在她床上睡觉-她一向同孩子睡在一起,她趁一会儿功夫,轻轻推开房门,让它半掩着,悄悄跑到干旱街去找一个女街坊,将她女儿阿妮丝以及终有一天会由英王和埃塞俄比亚大公亲自服侍用膳,以及其他种种惊人的事情,都搬给这女邻听.等她回到家,上楼时没有听到孩子的哭闹声,心想:'这可好!孩子还没有醒呢.’忽然间,发现房门大开,开得比她刚离开时大得多,不管三七二十一,还是走了进去,可怜的母亲,慌忙跑到床上......孩子不见了,床上空空的.孩子已经无影无踪了,只见一只漂亮的小鞋掉在那儿.她一下子冲出门外,扑到楼下,用头撞墙,呼天唤地嚷道:'我的孩子!谁看着我的孩子?谁抱走了我的孩子?’街上空空荡荡,她家的房子冷冷凄凄惨惨戚戚,没有一个人能告诉她什么.她跑遍全城,找遍大街小巷,整天到处乱窜,疯了似的,神情恍惚,相貌可怕,活像一头丢了小仔们发疯的野兽,到各家各户的门窗上乱嗅一气.她直喘粗气,头发散乱,样子怪吓人的,眼睛像冒着火,把眼泪都烧干了.见到行人,拦住嚷道:'我的女儿!我的女儿!我那漂亮的小女儿!谁要把她还给我,我情愿做她的奴婢,做他的狗的奴婢,要是他愿意,吃我心肝也行.’遇到了圣雷米教堂的神甫,对他说:'神甫先生,我可以用手指头去刨地,可你得把我的孩子还给我!’-乌达德,这真叫人撕心裂肺,讼师蓬斯.拉卡布尔老爷是个铁石心肠人,我看见他都哭了.-'啊!可怜的母亲!’晚上,她刚回到家里来,就在她不在家时,有个女邻看见两个埃及婆娘抱着一包什么东西偷偷上楼去,然后重新把门关好,走下楼来,就匆匆溜走了.她俩走后,听见帕蓝特房里好像有孩子的哭叫声.母亲回来一听,放声哈哈大笑,立刻像长了翅膀似地飞快奔上楼去,又好像炮弹轰然一响,破门而入......-乌达德,那可真是骇人听闻!那呈露在她眼前的并不是她那娇小可爱的阿妮丝,绝不是仁慈的上帝恩赐给她的那个何等红润.何等鲜艳的心肝宝贝,而是一个活像小妖怪似的丑八怪,跛脚,独眼,畸形,瞎嚷嚷在地板上爬来爬去.把她吓得连忙捂住眼睛.她说:'唉!会不会是巫婆把我的女儿变成了这么可怕的畜生了?’人们赶紧把那个小罗圈腿抱开,要不,非叫她发疯不可.这准是某个把灵魂卖给魔鬼的埃及女人生下的孽障,看样子大概四岁左右,说起话来不像人话,而只是一些无法听懂的词儿.花喜儿一头扑向那只小鞋,这是她以前一切所爱留下的所有了.她呆在那里许久许久,不开口,不喘气,大家都以为她已经断气了.猛然间,她浑身直打哆嗦,疯狂地把那只圣物般的小鞋吻个遍,才放声大哭起来,仿佛心都碎了.我敢说,如果是换了我们,也会一样悲恸的.她声连喊道:'咳!我的小女儿呀!我漂亮的小女儿呀!你在哪里?’让人听了肝肠欲断.我现在一想起来还要哭哩.你们不知道,我们的孩子,那可是我们的骨肉呵.-我的可怜的厄斯塔舍!你呀你,长得有多俊!你们不知道那孩子有多乖巧呀!昨天她对我说:'我呀,长大了要当近卫骑兵!’哦,我的宝贝厄斯塔舍呀!要是你丢了,让我怎么活呀!-花喜儿猛地站起身来,随即在兰斯城奔跑,一边嚷叫:'到埃及人营地去!到埃及人营地去!捕役们快去烧死那些巫婆!’然而埃及人已经走了,天也已经黑了,追赶他们是没有可能的.第二天,在离兰斯八公里外的丐地和蒂鲁瓦之间的灌木丛中,发现了篝火的残迹.帕盖特孩子的几根绸带.点点血斑和一些山羊粪.刚过去的这个夜晚,正是周末六之夜,可以确信无疑埃及人就在灌木丛里举行过巫魔会,同鬼王别西卜一道把那个小女孩生吞活吃了,现在回教徒仍然保留着这种习俗呐.花喜儿听到这些可怕的事情后并没有哭,只动了动嘴唇像要说话,可是什么也说不出来.隔天,她满头黑发顿时全花白了.再隔天,她就失踪了." "这的确是一个骇人听闻的故事,"乌达德说道,"连连勃艮第人听了也会落泪的." "难怪你一听到埃及人就怕得要命!"热尔维丝插上一句. "你刚刚带着你的儿子赶紧逃走,这样做很正确,因为这伙埃及人也是从波兰来的."乌达德接着又说. "不对."热尔维丝说,"听说是从西班牙和卡塔卢尼亚来的." "卡塔卢尼亚?这倒有可能."乌达德应道."波兰,卡塔卢尼亚,瓦卢尼亚,我老是把这三个地方弄混的.但是有一点是确信无疑的,他们一定都是埃及人." "而且,他们肯定都长着獠牙,吃起小孩来才行."热尔维丝加油添醋地说."要是爱斯梅拉达也吃一点,一边却噘起小嘴作出一副轻蔑的样子,那我才不会感到意外的.她身边的那只白山羊耍的把戏太鬼了,这里头必有歪门邪道." 马伊埃特默然地走着.她沉浸在遐思之中,这种遐思简直是某个悲惨故事的延续,并引起精神上的阵阵震撼,直到触及心灵深处,它才会停止.这时,热尔维丝对她说:"花喜儿的下落怎么样,没人知道吗?"马伊埃特没有应声.直到热尔维丝摇着她的胳膊,叫着她的名字,又问了一遍,马伊埃特这才似乎从沉思中惊醒. "花喜儿的下落吗?"她机械地重复这句话,好像刚听到这问题似的.然后,她尽力集中精神,注意弄明白这话的意思,于是急速应道:"啊!无人知晓." 马伊埃特停了一下接着说: "有人说看见她傍晚时从弗莱尚博门出了兰斯城,也有人说她是在天刚亮时从老巴泽门出城的.有个穷人在今天某市场的那块地里的石十字架上,然后找到了她挂在上面的那金十字架,也就是六一年毁了她的那件金首饰,是她的第一个情郎.英俊的科蒙雷伊子爵送给她的礼物.那帕盖特哪怕再穷,也从舍不得把它脱手,把它当命根子一样珍惜.因此一看见她把这金十字架也扔了,我们妇道人家都相信她已经自尽了.可是,旺特酒店的人说,曾在通往巴黎的那条石子路上,看见她赤着脚走着.不过,如果真的是这样的话,那她就得从维尔门出城,但这看法并不一致.换种说法会明白些,我相信她确实是从维尔门出去的,不过也就从这个人世间出去的." "我不明白."热尔维丝说. "维尔,那是一条河呀."马伊埃特用着忧伤的笑容应道. "可怜的花喜儿!"乌达德说,禁不由一阵颤抖,"投河死了!" "投河死了!"马伊埃特紧接着说道."想当初,居贝托这个好老爹坐船顺流而下,唱着歌经过丹格桥下,有谁知道日后有一天,他亲爱的小帕盖特也从这桥下经过,既没歌声,也无船只呢?" "还有那只小鞋呢?"热尔维丝问. "也同那母亲一起消失了."马伊埃特回答道. "可怜的小鞋呀!"乌达德说道. 乌达德,肥胖而又容易动感情,随着马伊埃特唉声叹气,本来到此也就心满意足了,可是热尔维丝好奇得很,问题还没有穷究到底呐. "那妖怪呢?"她突然问马伊埃特道. "哪个妖怪?"马伊埃特问. "就是巫婆扔在花喜儿家里换走了她女儿的那个小埃及怪物呗!你们把他弄成什么样了?我巴不得你们把他也淹死才好呢." "没有."马伊埃特回答. "怎么!那是烧死的?其实,理当如此,一个妖孽嘛!" "既没有淹死,也没有烧死,热尔维丝.大主教大人十分关心这埃及孩子,替他驱了邪,洗了礼,仔细地祛除了附在他身上的魔鬼,然后将他送到巴黎来,作为一个弃婴,放在圣母院前的木床上,叫人收养了." "这班主教呀!"热尔维丝嘀咕着."他们满肚子学问,做起事来非同一般.我倒要请教你,乌达德,把魔鬼算做弃婴,这是怎么一回事呀!这个小怪物准是个魔鬼,算了,马伊埃特,那这小怪物在巴黎又怎么了?我相信,没有一个好心肠的人会要收留他的." "不知道."这个兰斯女人回答道."正好那时我丈夫买下了伯吕公证事务所,离兰斯城有八公里远,我们就不再关心这件事了,再说,伯吕前面有两座塞尔内土丘,挡住视线,望不见兰斯大教堂的钟楼." 这三个可敬的女市民就这么说说谈谈,已经来到了河滩广场.由于全神贯注谈论她们的故事,经过罗朗塔楼公用祈祷书前也没停步,就下意识地径直朝耻辱柱走去,周围的观众每时每刻都在不停增多,很有可能此时吸引着众人视线的景象,使她们完全忘记了老鼠洞和打算在那里祈祷的事儿.想不到马伊埃特手中牵着那个六岁的胖墩厄斯塔舍,突然提醒了她们那东西."妈妈,"他说道,好像某种本能告诉他老鼠洞已经走过了."现在可以吃饼了吗?" 若是厄斯塔舍机智一点,就是说不那么嘴馋,他就会再等一等,等到回去时,回到了大学城,到了瓦朗斯夫人街安德里.缪斯尼埃的家里,等到老鼠洞和玉米饼中间隔着塞纳河的两道河弯和老城的五座桥,那时才放大胆子,提出这样一个让人难为情的问题:"妈妈,现在能吃饼了吗?" 厄斯塔舍此刻提出这个问题是很冒失的,却引了马伊埃特的注意. "对啦,"她一下子叫了起来,"我们竟把隐修女给忘了!快点告诉我老鼠洞在哪儿,我给她送饼去." "马上就去."乌达德说道."这可真是一件善事." 但对厄斯塔舍却不是好事了. "哎呀,我的饼!"他说着,一下子高耸左肩,一下子又高耸右肩,连连直碰着各边耳朵,那是表示他相当不快. 三个妇女转身往回走,到了罗朗塔楼附近,乌达德对另外两个人说:"三个人可别同时都往洞里看,免得把麻衣女吓坏了.你俩装念着祈祷书的赞主篇,而我就把脸孔贴到窗洞口去看.麻衣女有点认得我.你们何时可以过去,我会告诉你们的." 她独个儿走到窗洞口.她的眼睛刚往里面一瞄,一种悲天悯人的表情立即露在了脸上,原来又快活又开朗的面容顿时改变了表情和脸色,似乎从阳光下走到了月光下.眼睛湿了,嘴巴抽搐着像快要哭了起来.不久后,她把一只手指按在嘴唇上示意叫马伊埃特过去看. 马伊埃特心情激动,就悄悄地踮起脚尖走了过去,就像走近一个垂死的人的床前那样. 两个女子立在老鼠洞装有栅栏的窗口前,一动也不动,不敢出大气,朝洞里瞧着,眼前的景象实是悲惨. 那间斗室又窄又浅,顶上尖拱状,朝里面看很像一顶主教的大法冠.在光秃秃石板地面的一个角落里,有个女人,与其说是坐着,倒不如说是蹲着.下巴靠在膝盖上,两臂交叉,紧紧地合抱在胸前.她就这样蜷缩成一团,有一件麻袋状的褐色粗布长衫把她全身裹住,宽大的皱褶层叠着,花白的长发从前面披下来,遮住面孔,顺着双腿直拖到脚上.乍一看,她好像映托在小屋阴暗底部的一个怪异的物体,一种非黑似黑的三棱体,被从窗洞口透进来的日光一映照,她身上有两种反差强烈的色调,一半明亮,而一半阴暗,宛如人们在梦中或是在戈雅的非凡作品中所见到那种半暗半明的幽灵,苍白,呆板,阴森,蹲在坟墓上或靠在牢房的铁栅上,这既非女人,也非男人;既不是活人,也不是确定的形体,这是一个影象,是真实与虚幻交错.黑暗与光明交叉的一种幻影.在那垂至地上的头发掩盖下,几乎分辨不出一个消瘦和冷峻的身影;自她的长袍下,隐隐约约露出一只挛缩在坚硬冰冷的石板地面上的光脚.这紧裹在丧服下若隐若现的依稀形体,让人看了不寒而栗. 这个似乎被牢牢砌在石板上的形体,看上去没有动作,没有呼吸,没有思想.时值一月,穿着那状如麻袋的单薄粗布衫,赤着脚瘫坐在花岗石地面上,没有火取暖,呆在一间阴暗的黑牢里,通风口是歪斜的,从外面进来的只是寒风,而不是阳光;对于没有这一切,她好像并不痛苦,甚至连感觉都没有.仿佛她跟着这黑牢已化作石头,随着这季节已变成冰.她双手合掌,两眼直直地愣着.第一眼看上去以为是个鬼魂,第二眼以为是个石像. 但是,她那发青的嘴唇偶尔微开,好透口气,又不时颤抖,好像随风飘荡的树叶,死气沉沉,死板木然. 但是,她那双暗淡的眼睛却露出一种难以形容的目光,一种阴郁.冷静.深沉的目光,不停地盯着小屋中一个无法从外面看得清的角落.这一目光仿佛紧系悲惨灵魂的一切伤感在什么奇异的事物上. 这就是那个因其住处而被称之为隐修女.又因她的衣裳而被叫做麻衣女的人儿. 热尔维丝也走过来和马伊埃特及乌达德在一起了,三个女子都打窗洞口往里张望.她们的头挡住了照进土牢里的微弱光线,那个不幸的女人虽然没有了光,但是似乎并没有注意到她们.乌达德低声说:"别打扰她.她出神入定,正在祈祷哩." 这时,马伊埃特仔细察看那张憔悴.消瘦.披头散发的脸孔,心里益发惴惴不安,眼里充满着泪水,不由悄悄嘀咕了一句道:"要是真的,那可太奇怪了!" 她将脑袋从通气孔的栏栅当中伸进去,好容易才看得见那悲惨女人一直盯着的那个角落.她把头从窗洞缩回来的时候,只见她泪流满脸. "这个女人叫什么来着?"她问乌达德道. "古杜尔修女." "而我呀,叫她花喜儿帕盖特."马伊埃特继续说. 于是,伸出一根指头按住嘴唇,朝呆若木鸡的乌达德示意,要她把头也伸进窗洞里去看一看. 乌达德看了一眼,只见在隐修女阴沉的眼光死盯着的角落里,有一只绣满金银箔片的粉红色小缎鞋. 热尔维丝也随着去看,于是三个女子一起仔细瞧着那悲惨的母亲,情不自禁都哭了起来. 但是,她们端视也罢,落泪也罢,丝毫没有分散隐修女的注意力.她仍旧双掌紧合,双唇纹丝不动,两眼发呆.凡是知道她底细的人,看见她这样死盯着那只小鞋心都碎了. 三位女子没说一句话儿,她们不敢作声,甚至连轻声细语也不敢.看见这种极度的沉默,这种极度的痛苦,这种极度的丧失记忆-除了一件东西外,其他的一切统统忘却了-,她们仿佛觉得置身在复活节或圣诞节的正祭台前,沉思默想,肃然起敬,随时准备下跪了.她们好像在耶稣受难纪念日刚刚走进了教堂一般. 最后,还是三个人当中最好奇.因而也最不易动感情的热尔维丝,试图让隐修女开口,就叫道:"嬷嬷!古杜尔嬷嬷!" 她这么叫了三遍,声音一遍比一遍高.隐修女纹丝不动,没应一声,没看一眼,也没叹一口气,没有一丝反应. 这回由乌达德来喊,声音变得更加甜蜜温柔:"嬷嬷!圣古杜尔嬷嬷!" 同样的沉默,同样的静寂. "一个怪女人!"热尔维丝叫道."炮轰都无动于衷!" "或许聋了."乌达德唉声叹气. "也许瞎了."热尔维丝添上一句. "也许死了."马伊埃特继续说道. 说得也对,灵魂即使还没有离开这麻木.沉睡.死气沉沉的躯体,至少早已退却并隐藏到深处去了,外部器官的感知就再也没有用处了. "那么只好把这块饼放在这窗口上啦."乌达德说."不过,小孩会把饼拿走的.怎样才能将叫醒她呢?" 直到这时,厄斯塔舍一直很开心,有只大狗拖着一辆小车刚经过那里,把他深深吸引住了,但忽然发现他母亲和两个阿姨正凑在窗洞口看什么东西,不由得也好奇起来,便爬上一块界石,踮起脚尖,把红润的小胖脸贴到窗口上,喊道:"妈妈,看吧,我也要瞧一瞧!" 一听到这纯真.清脆.响亮的童声,隐修女不由颤抖了一下,猛然转过头来,动作迅猛,好比钢制弹簧那般;她伸出两只嶙峋的长手,把披在额头上的头发掠开来,用惊讶.苦楚.绝望的目光紧紧盯着孩子.但这目光只不过像道闪电,一闪即逝. "哦,我的上帝啊!"她突然叫了一声,同时又将脑袋藏在两膝中间,听那嘶哑的声音,它经过胸膛时仿佛把胸膛都撕裂了."上帝求求你,至少别叫我看见别人的孩子!" "你好,太太."孩子神情严肃地说. 这个震撼有如山崩地裂,可以说把隐修女完完全完惊醒过来了.只见她从头到脚,全身一阵哆嗦,牙齿直打冷颤,格格作响,半抬起头来,两肘紧压住双腿,双手紧握住两脚,像要焐暖似的,她说:"噢!我好冷!" "可怜的人,你要点火吗?"乌达德满怀怜悯地问道. 她却摇了摇头,以示不要. "那好吧,"乌达德又说道,递给她一只小瓶子."这是一点肉桂酒,可以给你暖暖身子,喝吧!" 她又摇头,眼睛定定地望着乌达德,应声道:"水." 乌达德坚持道:"不,嬷嬷,一月里喝不得凉水.应该喝一点酒,吃这块我们特地为你做的玉米发面饼." 她推开马伊埃特给她的饼,说道:"我要黑面包." "来吧,这里有件大衣,比你身上的要暖和些.快披上吧!"热尔维丝也顿生怜悯之心,脱下身上的羊毛披风,说. 正象拒绝酒和饼一样,她不愿收下这件大衣,说:"一件粗布衣." "不过,你多少也应该看出来了吧,昨天是节日呀!"好心肠的乌达德又说. "看出来了."隐修女回答道,"我水罐里已经两天没有水了." 她停了一下又说:"大家过节,将我给忘了.人家做得对.我不想世人,世人为什么要想我呢?冷灰对灭炭." 话音刚落,她好像说了这么多话感到疲乏了,又垂下头,靠在膝盖上.乌达德,头脑简单而心地善良,自以为听懂了她最后几句话的意思,认为她还在埋怨寒冷,就天真地答道:"这么说,你要点火啦?" "火!"麻衣女说道,腔调怪里怪气,"那个已在地下十五年之久的可怜小娃娃,难道你也能给她生上一个火吗?" 她手脚哆嗦,声音发颤,眼睛闪亮,一下子跪了起来.突然,伸出惨白枯瘦的手,指着那个正惊诧望着她的孩子喊道:"快把这孩子带走!埃及婆娘就要来了!" 她随即一头扑倒在地下,额头碰在地面石板上,其响声就好比石头相击那般.那三个女子都以为她死了,但过了一会儿,她又动起来了,只见她趴在地上,手脚并用,爬到放小鞋的那个角落去.这时她们三人不敢看下去了,再也看不见她了,只听到接连不断的亲吻声,连连不断的叹息声,夹杂着撕心裂肺的哭叫声,一下又一下好像是头撞墙的闷浊声.接着,传来一个猛烈的撞声,将三个女子都吓得摇摇晃晃,随后就无声无息了. "保不定撞死了?"热尔维丝说着,一边冒然把头伸到窗洞口去张望."嬷嬷!古杜尔嬷嬷!" "古杜尔嬷嬷!"乌达德喊着. "啊!我的天呀!她不动了!"热尔维丝接着说道."她真的死了?古杜尔!古杜尔!" 马伊埃特一直哽咽在那里,话也说不出来,这时使劲振作起精神来,说道:"等一下."随即弯身向着窗洞喊道:"帕盖特!花喜儿帕盖特!" 就是一个孩子放鞭炮,看见没点燃,楞头楞脑去吹,结果鞭炮竟对着他眼睛炸开了,即便如此,也没有像马伊埃特冷不防高喊古杜尔修女的真名实姓,将她吓得魂不附体. 隐修女浑身战抖,光脚站起,一下子跳到窗洞口,两眼直冒火,把马伊埃特.乌达德,另一个女子同孩子吓得连忙往后退,一直退到河岸的栏杆边去了. 这当儿,隐修女那张阴森的脸孔出现在窗洞口,紧贴着窗栏.她发出阴森恐怖地笑声,叫道:"嗬!嗬!这是那个埃及婆娘在喊我吧!" 就在这时,她狂乱的目光被耻辱柱那边的情景吸引住了.她憎恶地皱起额头,把两只骷髅般的胳膊伸到黑牢外,像垂死的人那样喘着粗气,声音嘶哑地吼道:"还是你,埃及妞!是你在叫我吧,你这个偷小孩的贼婆娘!好呀!该死!该死!你该死!该死!"
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