-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
7 A call for help
The troubles in France continued. The citizens of France had fought to win power, and now they used it. Castles were burned, laws were changed, and the rich and powerful1 nobles2 died—their heads cut off by that terrible new machine of death, the Guillotine. In Paris the King was put in prison, and in 1792 the people of France sent him to the Guillotine as well. The French Revolution3 was now three years old, but there were more years of terror4 to come.
Not all the rich nobles had died. Some had escaped to England；some had even sent or brought their money to London before the Revolution began. And Tellson's Bank, which the French emigrants6 used, had become a meeting－place where they could hear and talk about the latest news from France.
One wet August day Mr Lorry7 sat at his desk in the bank, talking to Charles Darnay. The years since Charles's marriage had seen the arrival8 of a daughter, little Lucie, who was now nine years old. Dr9 Manette had continued in good health, and at the centre of that warm family circle was always Lucie—a loving daughter, wife, mother, and a kind－hearted friend. Even Sydney Carton, though his old, bad ways were unchanged, was a family friend—and very much a favourite with little Lucie.
But at this moment Charles Darnay was trying very hard to persuade his old friend Mr Lorry not to go to France.'It's too dangerous. The weather is not good, the roads are bad, think of your age, ' he said.
'My dear Charles, ' said the banker.'You think that, at nearly eighty years of age, I'm too old. But that's exactly why I must go. I have the experience, I know the business. My work is to find and hide papers10 that might be dangerous to our customers. And anyway, Jerry Cruncher goes with me. He'll take good care of my old bones.'
'I wish I could go, ' said Charles restlessly11.'I feel sorry for the people in France, and perhaps I could help them. Only last night, when I was talking to Lucie－'
'Talking to Lucie, ' repeated Mr Lorry.'You talk about your lovely wife at the same time as you talk about going to France. You must not go. Your life is here, with your family.'
'Well, I'm not going to France. But you are, and I'm worried about you.'
Just at that moment a bank clerk put an old, unopened letter on Mr Lorry's desk, and Darnay happened to see the name on it：The Marquis of Evrémonde, at Tellson's Bank,
London. Since his uncle's death, this was Darnay's real name. On the morning of his wedding to Lucie he had told Dr Manette, but the Doctor had made him promise to keep his name secret. Not even Lucie or Mr Lorry knew.
'We can't find this Marquis, ' said the clerk.
'I know where to find him, ' said Darnay.'Shall I take the letter?'
'That would be very kind, ' said Mr Lorry.
As soon as he had left the bank, Darnay opened the letter. It was from Monsieur Gabelle, who had been arrested and taken to Paris. Monsieur, once the Marquis
I am in prison, and I may lose my life, because I worked for a landowner who has left France. You told me to work for the people and not against them, and I have done this. But no one believes me. They say only that I worked for an emigrant5, and where is that emigrant? Oh Monsieur,
please help me, I beg you！
This cry for help made Darnay very unhappy. After the death of the Marquis, he had told Gabelle to do his best for the people. But now Gabelle was in prison, just because he was employed by a nobleman. It was clear to Darnay that he must go to Paris. He did not think that he would be in danger, as he had done everything he could to help the people of his village. He hoped that he would be able to save his old servant.
That night Charles Darnay sat up late, writing two letters. One was to his wife, Lucie；the other was to her father, Dr Manette. He told them where he had gone and why, and he promised that he would write to them from France. He had left secretly, he wrote, to save them from worrying.
The next day he went out, without saying anything to them of his plans. He kissed his wife and his daughter, and said that he would be back soon. And then he began his journey to Paris.
When he arrived in France, Darnay found that he could travel only very, very slowly towards Paris. The roads were bad and every town, every village had its citizens with guns who stopped all travellers12, asked them questions, looked at their papers, made them wait or threw them in prison, turned them back or sent them on their way. And it was all done in the name of freedom—the new Freedom of France.
Darnay soon realized that he could not turn back until he had reached Paris and proved himself to be a good citizen, not an enemy of the people.
On his third night in France he was woken by an official and three other men with guns.
'Emigrant,' said the official.'These three soldiers will take you to Paris, and you must pay them.'
Darnay could only obey and at three o'clock in the morning he left with three soldiers to guard him. Even with them he was sometimes in danger；the people in the towns and villages all seemed to be very angry with emigrants, but finally they arrived safely at the gates of Paris. Darnay had to wait a long time while officials carefully read his papers, which explained the reasons for his journey. One official, seeing Gabelle's letter, looked up at Darnay in great surprise, but said nothing. Another official asked roughly13：
'Are you Evrémonde?'
'Yes,' replied Darnay.
'You will go to the prison of La Force！'
'But why?' asked Darnay.'Under what law?'
'We have new laws, Evrémonde,' said the official sharply14, 'and emigrants have no rights. You will be held in secret. Take him away.'
As Darnay left, the first official said quietly to him,'Are you the man who married the daughter of Dr Manette?'
'Yes,' replied Darnay in surprise.
'My name is Defarge and I have a wine－shop in Saint15 Antoine. Perhaps you have heard of me.'
'Yes. My wife came to your house to find her father.'
'Why did you come back to France? It will be very bad for you.'
Darnay was taken to the prison of La Force and put in a cold empty room with a locked door and bars across the windows. He thought of Dr Manette and his many years alone, forgotten, in the Bastille.
'Now I, too, have been buried alive,' he thought.
7 求救
法国的风暴在继续着。法国的公民们曾为争得权力而战斗，现在他们可以使用权力了。城堡被烧掉，法律被改换，那些有钱有势的贵族死了：他们的脑袋被那可怕的新死亡机器——断头台给砍掉了。在巴黎，国王被投进了监狱。1792年，法国人民把他也送上了断头台。法国大革命到现在已3年了，但是恐怖还要持续更长的岁月。
并非所有的有钱贵族都已死了，他们有一些逃到了英国；有一些在大革命开始之前就已把他们的钱财带到或寄到了伦敦。台尔森银行为法国移民所利用，现在它已经成了他们聚集在一起打听和谈论从法国来的最新消息的场所。
8月里一个潮湿的日子，劳里先生坐在他银行里的办公桌旁和查尔斯·代尔那交谈。查尔斯婚后已有了一个女儿小路茜来到世上。现在她已经9岁了。马内特医生的身体一直很健康。这个温馨的家庭的中心始终是路茜——一个让人喜欢的女儿、妻子、母亲和善良的朋友。甚至西得尼·卡登，虽然他原先那些不好的生活方式并未改变，也是这个家庭的朋友——而且是小路茜最喜爱的人。
但在此刻，查尔斯·代尔那正竭力说服他的老朋友劳里先生不要去法国。“那太危险了，天气也不好，路也难走，还有您的年纪。”他说。
“我亲爱的查尔斯，”银行家说。“你认为我快80岁了，所以太老了，但这正是我必须去的原因。我有经验，也懂业务。我的工作是去找到并收藏有可能对我们的客户有危险的文件。况且还有杰里·克拉彻和我一起去，他会照顾好我这把老骨头的。”
“我希望我能去。”查尔斯不安地说。“我为法国人民难过，也许我能帮助他们。只是昨天夜里，我和路茜谈起的时候——”
“和路茜谈，”劳里先生重复道。“你谈起去法国一事的同时还谈起你可爱的妻子。你不能去，你的生活在这儿，和你的家人在一起。”
“好吧，我不去法国了。但是你却要去，我是为你担心。”
就在这时一个银行职员把一封旧的，没有打开的信放在了劳里先生的桌子上。代尔那正巧看见了信封上的名字，上面写着：伦敦，台尔森银行·埃弗蒙侯爵。在他叔叔死后，这就成了代尔那真正的名字。在他和路茜举行婚礼的那天早晨他就告诉了马内特医生，但是医生自己答应将他的名字保密。所以，甚至路茜和劳里先生都不知道。
“我们找不到这个侯爵。”那个职员说。
“我知道上哪儿去找他。”代尔那说。“可以把这封信给我吗?”
“那真是太好了。”劳里先生说。
一离开银行，代尔那就打开了信。信是加贝尔先生写来的，他已经被抓了起来而且被送到了巴黎。
先生，前侯爵：
我在监狱里，而且也许会丧命，罪名是我曾为一个离开了法国的地主效劳。您曾告诉我要为人民效力而且不要反对他们，我这样做了，但是没有人相信我。他们只说我是为一个流亡者效力。还有就是那个流亡者在哪儿?啊，先生，请帮帮我吧，求求您了！
这个求救的哭诉使代尔那十分难受。侯爵死后，他就告诉过加贝尔要尽自己最大的努力去帮助人民，但是现在加贝尔进了监狱，仅仅因为他受雇于一个贵族。代尔那清楚自己必须去一趟巴黎。他认为自己不会有危险，因为他已尽力去帮助过他的村民们。他希望他能搭救老仆人。
那天晚上查尔斯·代尔那熬夜熬到很晚，写了两封信，一封给他的妻子路茜，另一封给他的岳父马内特医生。他告诉了他们他要去哪儿以及为什么要去，并许诺他会从法国写信给他们。他之所以不辞而别，他写道，是为了不让他们担心。
第二天他走时，投有提起任何有关他计划的事。他吻了妻子和女儿，而且说了他很快就会回来，然后他就开始了他的巴黎之旅。
到了法国以后，代尔那发现他的巴黎之行只能异常缓慢地进行。路况很糟，而且每个城镇、每个村庄都有拿枪的公民拦截任何过往的行人。他们盘问，查看他们的证件，让他们等候着或把他们送进监狱，让他们返回或押送他们上路。
这一切都是在自由的名义下干出来的——新式的法兰西自由。
代尔那很快意识到在他去巴黎并证明自己是个好公民而不是人民的敌人之前，他是回不去的了。
在他到法国的第三天晚上，他被一个官员和另外三个荷枪的人弄醒了。
“流亡者，”那个官员说。“这三个士兵将把你带到巴黎，你必须付给他们钱。”
代尔那只得从命，早上三点时他就和三个保护他的士兵离开了。即使跟他们在一起，他也不时地陷入危险，城里和村子里的人们似乎全都非常痛恨流亡者，但最后他们总算安全到达了巴黎的城门。在官员们仔细地看他的证件时，代尔那不得不等了很长时间。这些证件是用来说明他为什么来法国的。当一个官员看了加贝尔的信后，大为吃惊地抬头看着代尔那，但是没说什么。另一个官员粗暴地问道：
“你是埃弗蒙吗?”
“是的。”代尔那回答。
“你要进拉弗尔斯监狱。”
“可是为什么?”代尔那问。“依据什么法律?”
“我们有了新的法律，埃弗蒙，”那个官员厉声说。“流亡者没有权利；你将被秘密关押起来。把他带走！”
代尔那正要走，第一位官员悄声问他：“你是和马内特医生的女儿结婚的那个人吗?”
“是呀。”代尔那惊讶地口答。
“我叫得法热，我在圣安东尼有一家酒店，也许你听说过我。”
“是的，我妻子曾去你家里找回了他父亲。”
“你为什么要回法国呢?这对你太糟糕了。”
代尔那被送进了拉弗尔斯监狱，而且被关进一个寒冷而空荡的房间。门上了锁，窗户封了铁条。他想起了马内特医生在巴士底狱里多年孤独和被人遗忘的日子。
“现在，我也被活埋了。”他想着。
收听单词发音 |
1
powerful
|
|
| adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
nobles
|
|
| 尊贵的人( noble的名词复数 )； （中世纪后期的）英国金币（约合英国旧币六先令八便士或半马克）； （英国）爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
revolution
|
|
| n.革命，大变革；旋转；周期，循环 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
terror
|
|
| n.恐怖；可怖的人(事) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
emigrant
|
|
| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
emigrants
|
|
| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
lorry
|
|
| n.（英）卡车；（=<美>truck） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
arrival
|
|
| n.到达，达到，到达者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
Dr
|
|
| n.医生，大夫；博士(缩)（= Doctor） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
papers
|
|
| n.文件，纸币，论文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
restlessly
|
|
| ad.不安定地，不安静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
travellers
|
|
| n.旅行者( traveller的名词复数 )；旅游者；旅客；游客 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
roughly
|
|
| adv.概略地，粗糙地，粗鲁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sharply
|
|
| adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
saint
|
|
| n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索