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`I, ALEXANDRE MANETTE, unfortunate physician, native of Beauvais, and afterwards resident in Paris, write this melancholy paper in my doleful cell in the Bastille, during the last month of the year 1767. I write it at stolen intervals, under every difficulty. I design to secrete it in the wall of the chimney, where I have slowly and laboriously made a place of
concealment for it. Some pitying hand may find it there, when I and my sorrows are dust.
`These words are formed by the rusty iron point with which I write with difficulty in scrapings of soot and charcoal from the chimney, mixed with blood, in the last month of the tenth year of my captivity. Hope has quite departed from my breast. I know from terrible warnings I have noted in myself that my reason will not long remain unimpaired, but I solemnly declare that I am at this time in the possession of my right mind--that my memory is exact and circumstantial--and that I write the truth as I shall answer for these my last recorded words, whether they be ever read by men or not, at the Eternal Judgment-seat.
`One cloudy moonlight night, in the third week of December (I think the twenty-second of the month) in the year 1757, I was walking on a retired part of the quay by the Seine for the refreshment of the frosty air, at an hour's distance from my place of residence in the Street of the School of Medicine, when a carriage came along behind me, driven very fast. As I stood aside to let that carriage pass, apprehensive that it might otherwise run me down, a head was put out at the window, and a voice called to the driver to stop.
`The carriage stopped as soon as the driver could rein in his horses, and the same voice called to me by my name. I answered. The carriage was then so far in advance of me that two gentlemen had time to open the door and alight before I came up with it. I observed that they were both wrapped in cloaks and appeared to conceal themselves. As they stood carriage door, I also observed that they both looked of about my own age, or rather younger, and that they were greatly alike, in stature, manner, voice, and (as far as I could see) face too.
`"You are Doctor Manette?" said one.
`"I am."
`"Doctor Manette, formerly of Beauvais," said the other; "the young physician, originally an expert surgeon, who within the last year or two has made a rising reputation in Paris?"
`"Gentlemen," I returned, "I am that Doctor Manette of whom you speak so graciously."
`"we have been to your residence," said the first, "and not being so fortunate as to find you there, and being informed that you were probably walking in this direction, we followed, in the hope of overtaking you. Will you please to enter the carriage?"
`The manner of both was imperious, and they both moved, as these words were spoken, so as to place me between themselves and the carriage door. They were armed. I was not.
`"Gentlemen," said I, "pardon me; but I usually inquire who does me the honour to seek my assistance, and what is the nature of the case to which I am summoned."
`The reply to this was made by him who had spoken second. "Doctor, your clients are people of condition. As to the nature of the case, our confidence in your skill assures us that you will ascertain it for yourself better than we can describe it. Enough.
Will you please to enter the carriage?"
`I could do nothing but comply, and I entered it in silence. They both entered after me--the last springing in, after putting up the steps. The carriage turned about, and drove on as its former speed.
`I repeat this conversation exactly as it occurred. I have no doubt that it is, work for word, the same. I describe everything exactly as it took place, constraining my mind not to wander from the task. Where I make the broken marks that follow here, I leave off for the time, and put my paper in its hiding-place. * * * *
`The carriage left the streets behind, passed the North Barrier, and emerged upon the country road. At two-thirds of a league from the Barrier--I did not estimate the distance at that time, but afterwards when I traversed it--it struck out of the main avenue, and presently stopped at a solitary house. We all three alighted, and walked, by a damp soft footpath in a garden where a neglected fountain had overflowed, to the door of the house. It was not opened immediately, in answer to the ringing of the bell, and one of my two conductors struck the man who opened it, with his heavy riding-glove, across the face.
`There was nothing in this action to attract my particular attention, for I had seen common people struck more commonly than dogs. But, the other of the two, being angry like-wise, struck the man in like manner with his arm; the look and bearing of the brothers were then so exactly alike, that I then first perceived them to be twin brothers.
`From the time of our alighting at the outer gate (which we found locked, and which one of the brothers had opened to admit us, and had re-locked), I had heard cries proceeding from an upper chamber. I was conducted to this chamber straight, the cries growing louder as we ascended the stairs, and I found a patient in a high fever of the brain, lying on a bed.
`The patient was a woman of great beauty, and young; assuredly not much past twenty. Her hair was torn and ragged, and her arms were bound to her sides with sashes and handkerchiefs. I noticed that these bonds were all portions of a gentleman's dress. On one of them, which was a fringed Scarf for a dress of ceremony, I saw the armorial bearings of a Noble, and the letter E.
`I saw this, within the first minute of my contemplation of the patient; for, in her restless strivings she had turned over on her face on the edge of the bed, had drawn the end of the scarf into her mouth, and was in danger of suffocation. My first act was to put out my hand to relieve her breathing; and in moving the scarf aside, the embroidery in the corner caught my sight.
`I turned her gently over, placed my hands upon her breast to calm her and keep her down, and looked into her face. Her eyes were dilated and wild, and she constantly uttered piercing shrieks, and repeated the words, "My husband, my father, and my brother!" and then counted up to twelve, and said, "Hush!" For an instant, and no more, she would pause to listen, and then the piercing shrieks would begin again, and she would repeat the cry, "My husband, my father, and my brother!" and would count up to twelve, and say "Hush!" There was no variation in the order, or the manner. There was no cessation, but the regular moment's pause, in the utterance of these sounds.
`"How long," I asked, "has this lasted?"
`To distinguish the brothers, I will call them the elder and the younger; by the elder, I mean him who exercised the most authority. It was the elder who replied, "Since about this hour last night."
`"She has a Husband, a father, and a brother?"
`"A brother."
`"I do not address her brother?"
`He answered with great contempt, "No."
`"She has some recent association with the number twelve?"
`The younger brother impatiently rejoined, "With twelve o'clock?"
`"See, gentlemen," said I, still keeping my hands upon her breast, "how useless I am, as you have brought me! If I had known what I was coming to see, I could have come provided. As it is, time must be lost. There are no medicines to be obtained in this lonely place."
`The elder brother looked to the younger, who said haughtily, "There is a case of medicines here;" and brought it from a closet, and put it on the table. * * *
`I opened some of the bottles, smelt them, and put the stoppers to my lips. If I had wanted to use anything save narcotic medicines that were poisons in themselves, I would not have administered any of those.
`"Do you doubt them?" asked the younger brother.
`"You see, monsieur, I am going to use them," I replied, and said no more.
`I made the patient swallow, with great difficulty, and after many efforts, the dose that I desired to give. As I intended to repeat it after a while, and as it was necessary to watch its influence, I then sat down by the side of the bed. There was a timid and suppressed woman in attendance (wife of the man down-stairs), who had retreated into a corner. The house was damp and decayed, indifferently furnished--evidently, recently occupied and temporarily used. Some thick old hangings had been nailed up before the windows, to deaden the sound of the shrieks. They continued to be uttered in their regular succession, with the cry, "My husband, my father, and my brother!" the counting up to twelve, and "Hush!" The frenzy was so violent, that I had not unfastened the bandages restraining the arms, but, I had looked to them, to see that they were not painful. The only spark of
encouragement in the case, was, that my hand upon the sufferer's breast had this much soothing influence, that for minutes at a time it tranquillised the figure. It had no effect upon the cries: no pendulum could be more regular.
`For the reason that my hand had this effect (I assume), I had sat by the side of the bed for half an hour, with the two brothers looking on, before the elder said:
`"There is another patient."
`I was startled and asked, "Is it a pressing case?"
`"You had better see," he carelessly answered; and took up a light. * * *
`The other patient lay in a back room across a second staircase, which was a species of loft over a stable. There was a low plastered ceiling to a part of it; the rest was open, to the ridge of the tiled roof, and there were beams across. Hay and straw were stored in that portion of the place, fagots for firing, and a heap of apples in sand. I had to pass through that part, to get at the other. My memory is circumstantial and unshaken. I try it with these details, and I see them all, in this my cell in the Bastille, near the close of the tenth year of my captivity, as I saw them all that night.
`On some hay on the ground, with a cushion thrown under his head, lay a handsome peasant-boy-a boy of not more than seventeen at the most. He lay on his back, with his teeth set, his right hand clenched on his breast, and his glaring eyes looking straight upward. I could not see where his wound was, as I kneeled on one knee over him; but, I could see that he was dying of a wound from a sharp point.
`"I am a doctor, my poor fellow," said I. "Let me examine it."
`"I do not want it examined," he answered; "let it be."
`It was under his hand, and I soothed him to let me move his hand away. The wound was a sword-thrust, received from twenty to twenty-four hours before, but no skill could have saved him if it had been looked to without delay. He was then dying fast. As I turned my eyes to the elder brother, I saw him looking down at this handsome boy whose life was ebbing out, as if he were a wounded bird, or hare, or rabbit; not at all as if he were a fellow-creature.
`"How has this been done, monsieur?" said I.
`"A crazed young common dog! A serf! Forced my brother to draw upon him, and has fallen by my brother's Sword--like a gentleman."
`There was no touch of pity, sorrow, or kindred humanity, in this answer. The speaker seemed to acknowledge that it was inconvenient to have that different order of creature dying there, and that it would' have been better if he had died in the usual obscure routine of his vermin kind. He was quite incapable of any compassionate feeling about the boy, or about his fate.
`The boy's eyes had slowly moved to him as he had spoken, and they now slowly moved to me.
`"Doctor, they are very proud, these Nobles; but we common dogs are proud too, sometimes. They plunder us, outrage us, beat us, kill us; but we have a little pride left, sometimes. She--have you seen her, Doctor?"
`The shrieks and the cries were audible there, though subdued by the distance. He referred to them, as if she were lying in our presence.
`I said, "I have seen her."
`"She is my sister, Doctor. They have had their shameful rights, these Nobles, in the modesty and virtue of our sisters, many years, but M have had good girls among us. I know it, and have heard my father say so. She was a good girl. She was betrothed to a good young man, too: a tenant of his. We are all tenants of his--that man's who stands there. The other is his brother, the worst of a bad race."
`It was with the greatest difficulty that the boy gathered bodily force to speak; but, his spirit spoke with a dreadful emphasis.
`We were so robbed by that man who stands there, as all we common dogs are by those superior Beings--taxed by him without mercy, obliged to work for him without pay, obliged to grind our corn at his mill, obliged to feed scores of his tame birds on our wretched crops, and forbidden for our lives to keep a single tame bird of our own, pillaged and plundered to that degree that when we chanced to have a bit of meat, we ate it in fear, with the door barred and the shutters closed, that his people should not see it and take it from us--I say, we were so robbed, and hunted, and were made so poor, that our father
told us it was a dreadful thing to bring a child into the world, and that what we should most pray for, was, that our women might be barren and our miserable race die out!"
`I had never before seen the sense of being oppressed, bursting forth like a fire. I had supposed that it must be latent in the people somewhere; but, I had never seen it break out, until I saw it in the dying boy.
`"Nevertheless, Doctor, my sister married. He was ailing at that time, poor fellow, and she married her lover, that she might tend and comfort him in our cottage--our dog-hut, as that man would call it. She had not been married many weeks, when that man's brother saw her and admired her, and asked that man to lend her to him--for what are husbands among us! He was willing enough, but my sister was good and virtuous, and hated his brother with a hatred as strong as mine. What did the two then, to persuade her husband to use his influence with her, to make her willing?"
`The boy's eyes, which had been fixed on mine, slowly turned to the looker-on, and I saw in the Mo faces that all he said was true. The two opposing kinds of pride confronting one another, I can see, even in this Bastille; the gentleman's all negligent indifference; the peasant's, all trodden-down sentiment, and passionate revenge.
`"You know, Doctor, that it is among the Rights of these Nobles to harness us common dogs to carts, and drive us. They so harnessed him and drove him. You know that it is among their Rights to keep us in their grounds all night, quieting the frogs, in order that their noble sleep may not be disturbed. They kept him out in the unwholesome mists at night, and ordered him back into his harness in the day. But he was not persuaded. No! Taken out of harness one day at noon, to feed--if he could find food--he sobbed twelve times, once for every stroke of the bell, and died on her bosom."
`Nothing human could have held life in the boy but his determination to tell all his wrong. He forced back the gathering shadows of death, as he forced his clenched right hand to remain clenched, and to cover his wound.
`"Then, with that man's permission and even with his aid, his brother took her away; in spite of what I know she must have told his brother--and what that is, will not be long unknown to you, Doctor, if it is now--his brother took her away--for his pleasure and diversion, for a little while. I saw her pass me on the road. When I took the tidings home, our father's heart burst; he never spoke one of the words that filled it. I took my young sister (for I have another) to a place beyond the reach of this man, and where, at least, she will never be his vassal. Then, I tracked the brother here, and last night climbed in-a common dog, but
sword in hand.--Where is the loft window? It was somewhere here?"
`The room was darkening to his sight; the world was narrowing around him. I glanced about me, and saw that the hay and straw were trampled over the floor, as if there had been a struggle.
`"She heard me, and ran in. I told her not to come near us till he was dead. He came in and first tossed me some pieces of money; then struck at me with a whip. But I, though a common dog, so struck at him as to make him draw. Let him break into as many pieces as he will, the sword that he stained with my common blood; he drew to defend himself--thrust at me with all his skill for his life."
`My glance had fallen, but a few moments before, on the fragments of a broken sword, lying among the hay. That weapon was a gentleman's. In another place, lay an old sword that seemed to have been a soldier's.
`"Now, lift me up, Doctor; lift me up. Where is he?"
`"He is not here," I said, supporting the boy, and thinking that he referred to the brother.
`"He! Proud as these nobles are, he is afraid to see me. Where is the man who was here? Turn my face to him."
`I did so, raising the boy's head against my knee. But, invested for the moment with extraordinary power, he raised himself completely: obliging me to rise too, or I could not have still supported him.
`"Marquis," said the boy, turned to him with his eyes opened wide, and his right hand raised, "in the days when all these things are to be answered for, I summon you and yours, to the last of your bad race, to answer for them. I mark this cross of blood upon you, as a sign that I do it. In the days when all these things are to be answered for, I summon your brother, the worst of the bad race, to answer for them separately. I mark this cross of blood upon him, as a sign that I do it.
`Twice, he put his hand to the wound in his breast, and with forefinger drew a cross in the air. He stood for an instant with the finger yet raised, and, as it with it, and I laid him down dead. * * * *
`When I returned to the bedside of the young woman, I found her raving in precisely the same order and continuity. I knew that this might last for many hours, and that it would probably end in the silence of the grave.
`I repeated the medicines I had given her, and I sat at the side of the bed until the night was far advanced. She never abated the piercing quality of her shrieks, never stumbled in the distinctness or the order of her words. They were always "My husband, my father, and my brother! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Hush!"
`This lasted twenty-six hours from the time when I first saw her. I had come and gone twice, and was again sitting by her, when she began to falter. I did what little could be done to assist that opportunity, and by-and-by she sank into a lethargy, and lay like the dead.
`It was as if the wind and rain had lulled at last, after a long and fearful storm. I released her arms, and called the woman to assist me to compose her figure and the dress she had torn. It was then that I knew her condition to be that of one in whom the first expectations of being a mother have arisen; and it was then that I lost the little hope I had had of her.
`"Is she dead?" asked the Marquis, whom I will still describe as the elder brother, coming booted into the room from his horse.
`"Not dead," said I; "but like to die."
`"what strength there is in these common bodies!" he said, looking down at her with some curiosity.
`"There is prodigious strength," I answered him, "in sorrow and despair."
`He first laughed at my words, and then frowned at them. He moved a chair with his foot near to mine, ordered the woman away, and said in a subdued voice,
`"Doctor, finding my brother in this difficulty with these hinds, I recommended that your aid should be invited. Your reputation is high, and, as a young man with your fortune to make, you are probably mindful of your interest. The things that you see here, are things to be seen, and not spoken of."
`I listened to the patient's breathing, and avoided answering.
` "Do you honour me with your attention, Doctor?
`"Monsieur," said I, "in my profession, the communications of patients are always received in confidence." I was guarded in my answer, for I was troubled in my mind with what I had heard and seen.
`Her breathing was so difficult to trace, that I carefully tried the pulse and the heart. There was life, and no more. Looking round as I resumed my seat, I found the brothers intent upon me. * * * *
`I write with so much difficulty, the cold is so severe, I am so fearful of being detected and consigned to an underground cell and total darkness, that I must abridge this narrative. There is no confusion or failure in my memory; it can recall, and could detail, every word that was ever spoken between me and those brothers.
`She lingered for a week. Towards the last, I could understand some few syllables that she said to me, by placing my ear close to her lips. She asked me where she was, and I told her; who I was, and I told her. It was in vain that I asked her for her family name. She faintly shook her head upon the pillow, and kept her secret, as the boy had done.
`I had no opportunity of asking her any question, until I had told the brothers she was sinking fast, and could not live another day. Until then, though no one was ever presented to her consciousness save the woman and myself, one or other of them had always jealously sat behind the curtain at the head of the bed when I was there. But when it came to that, they seemed careless what communication I might hold with her; as if--the thought passed through my mind--I were dying too.
`I always observed that their pride bitterly resented the younger brother's (as I call him) having crossed swords with a peasant, and that peasant a boy. The only consideration that appeared to affect the mind of either of them was the consideration that this
was highly degrading to the family, and was ridiculous. As often as I caught the younger brother's eyes, their expression reminded me that he disliked me deeply, fur knowing what I knew from the boy. He was smoother and more polite to me than the elder; but I saw this. I also saw that I was an incumbrance in the mind of the elder, too.
`My patient died, two hours before midnight--at a time, by my watch, answering almost to the minute when I had first seen her. I was alone with her, when her forlorn young head trooped gently on one side, and all her earthly wrongs and sorrows ended.
`The brothers were waiting in a room down-stairs, impatient to ride away. I had heard them, alone at the bedside, striking their boots with their riding-whips, and loitering up and down.
`"At last she is dead?" said the elder, when I went in.
`"She is dead," said I.
`"I congratulate you, my brother," were his words as he turned round.
`He had before offered me money, which I had postponed taking. He now gave me a rouleau of gold. I took it from his hand, but laid it on the table. I had considered the question, and had resolved to accept nothing.
`"Pray excuse me," said I. "Under the circumstances, no." `They exchanged looks, but bent their heads to me as I bent mine to them, and we parted without another word on either side. * * * *
`I am weary, weary, weary--worn down by misery. I cannot read what I have written with this gaunt hand.
`Early in the morning, the rouleau of gold was left at m' door in a little box, with my name on the outside. From the first, I had anxiously considered what I ought to do. I decided, that day, to write privately to the Minister, stating the nature of the two eases to which I had been summoned, and the place to which I had gone: in effect, stating all the circumstances. I knew what Court influence was, and what the immunities of the Nobles were, and I expected that the matter would never be heard of; but, I wished to relieve my own mind. I had kept the matter a profound secret, even from my wife; and this, too, I resolved to state in my letter. I had no apprehension whatever of my real danger; but I was conscious that there might be danger for others, if others were compromised by possessing the knowledge that I possessed.
`I was much engaged that day, and could not complete my letter that night. I rose long before my usual time next morning to finish it. It was the last day of the year. The letter was lying before me just completed, when I was told that a lady waited, who wished to see me. * * * *
`I am growing more and more unequal to the task I have set myself. It is so cold, so dark, my senses are so benumbed, and the gloom upon me is so dreadful.
`The lady was young, engaging, and handsome, but not marked for long life. She was in great agitation. She presented herself to me as the wife of the Marquis St. Evrémonde. I connected the title by which the boy had addressed the elder brother, with the initial letter embroidered on the scarf, and had no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that I had seen that nobleman very lately.
`My memory is still accurate, but I cannot write the words of Our conversation. I suspect that I am watched more closely than I was, and I know not at what times I may be watched. She had in part suspected, and in part discovered, the main facts of the cruel story, of her husband's share in it, and my being resorted to. She did not know that the girl was dead. Her hope had been, she said in great distress, to show her, in secret, a woman's sympathy. Her hope had been to avert the wrath of Heaven from a House that had long been hateful to the suffering many.
`She had reasons for believing that there was a young sister living, and her greatest desire was, to help that sister. I could tell her nothing but that there was such a sister; beyond that, I knew nothing. Her inducement to come to me, relying on my confidence, had been the hope that I could tell her the name and place of abode. Whereas, to this wretched hour I am ignorant of both. * * * *
`These scraps of paper fail me. One was taken from me, with a warning, yesterday. I must finish my record to-day.
`She was a good, compassionate lady, and not happy in her marriage. How could she be! The brother distrusted and disliked her, and his influence was all opposed to her; she stood in dread of him, and in dead of her husband too. When I handed her down to the door, there was a child, a pretty boy from two to three years old, in her carriage.
`"For his sake, Doctor," she said, pointing to him in tears, "I would do all I can to make what poor amends I can. He will never prosper in his inheritance otherwise. I have a presentiment that if no other innocent atonement is made for this, it will one day be required of him. What I have left to call my own--it is little beyond the worth of a few jewels--I will make it the first charge of his life to bestow, with the compassion and lamenting of his dead mother, on this injured family, if the sister can be discovered."
`She kissed the boy, and said, caressing him, "It is for thine own dear sake. Thou wilt be faithful, little Charles?" The child answered her bravely, "Yes!" I kissed her hand, and she took him in her arms, and went away caressing him. I never saw her more.
`As she had mentioned her husband's name in the faith that I knew it, I added no mention of it to my letter. I sealed my letter, and, not trusting it out of my own hands, delivered it myself that day.
`That night, the last night of the year, towards nine o'clock, a man in a black dress rang at my gate, demanded to see me, and softly followed my servant, Ernest Defarge, a youth, upstairs. When my servant came into the room where I sat with my wife--O my wife, beloved of my heart! My fair young English wife!--we saw the man, who was supposed to be at the gate, standing silent behind him.
`An urgent case in the Rue St. Honoré', he said. It would not detain me, he had a coach in waiting.
`It brought me here, it brought me to my grave. When I was clear of the house, a black muffler was drawn tightly over my mouth from behind, and my arms were pinioned. The two brothers crossed the road from a dark corner, and identified me with a single gesture. The Marquis took from his pocket the letter I had written, showed it me, burnt it in the light of a lantern that was held, and extinguished the ashes with his foot. Not a word was spoken. I was brought here, I was brought to my living grave.
`If it had pleased GOD to put it in the hard heart of either of the brothers, in all these frightful years, to grant me any tidings of my dearest wife--so much as to let me know by a word whether alive or dead--I might have thought that He had not quite abandoned them. But, now I believe that the mark of the red cross is fatal to them, and that they have no part in His mercies. And them and their descendants, to the last of their race, I, Alexandre Manette, unhappy prisoner, do this last night of the year 1767, in my unbearable agony, denounce to the times when all these things shall be answered for. I denounce them to Heaven and to earth.'
A terrible sound arose when the reading of this document was done. A sound of craving and eagerness that had nothing articulate in it but blood. The narrative called up the most revengeful passions of the time, and there was not a head in the nation but must have dropped before it.
Little need, in presence of that tribunal and that auditory, to show how the Defarges had not made the paper public, with the other captured Bastille memorials borne in procession, and had kept it, biding their time. Little need to show that this detested
family name had long been anathematised by Saint Antoine, and was wrought into the fatal register. The man never trod ground whose virtues and Services would have sustained him in that place that day, against such denunciation.
And all the worse for the doomed man, that the denouncer was a well-known citizen, his own attached friend, the father of his wife. One of the frenzied aspirations of the populace was, for imitations of the questionable public virtues of antiquity, and for sacrifices and self-immolations on the people's altar. Therefore when the President said (else had his own head quivered on his shoulders), that the good physician of the Republic would deserve better still of the Republic by rooting out an obnoxious family of Aristocrats, and would doubtless feel a sacred glow and joy in making his daughter a widow and her child an orphan, there was wild excitement, patriotic fervour, not a touch of human sympathy.
`Much influence around him, has that Doctor?' murmured Madame Defarge, smiling to The Vengeance. `Save him now, my Doctor, save him!'
At every juryman's vote, there was a roar. Another and another. Roar and roar.
Unanimously voted. At heart and by descent an Aristocrat, an enemy of the Republic, a notorious oppressor of the People. Back to the Conciergerie, and Death within four-and-twenty hours! “我，不幸的医生亚历山大.曼内特，波维市人，后居巴黎，于一七六七年最后一个月在巴士底狱凄凉的牢房里写下这份悲惨的记录。我打算把它藏在烟囱墙壁里——我花了很长的时间，下了极大的功夫才挖出了这个隐藏之地。在我和我的悲哀都归于尘土之后也许会有人怀着怜惜之情在这里找到它。
“我是在被幽禁的第十年的最后一个月用生锈的铁尖蘸着从烟囱刮下的烟炭和木炭末拌和了我的血很吃力地书写的。我心里已不再存有希望。我从自己身上的可怕征兆看出，我的神智不久即将遭到破坏。但我庄严宣布我现在神智绝对清楚，记忆完全准确，我所写下的全是事实，我可以在永恒的审判席位上为我所写的最后记录负责，无论是否有人会读到它。
“一七五七年十二月第三周一个多云的月夜（我想是二十二日夜），我在塞纳河码头边一个行人已稀的地点散步，想借霜冻的空气清凉一下。“那地方距我在医学院街的住处有一小时路程。这时一辆飞驰的马车从我身后赶来，我怕被它撞伤，急忙闪到路边，让它过去，车窗里却伸出一个头来，一个声音命令车夫停下。
“车夫一收马缰，车停下了，刚才那个声音叫着我的名字，我答应了。那时马车已在我前面颇远，在我走到车前时，两位绅士已开门下了车。我观察到两人都用大氅裹紧，仿佛不愿叫别人认出。他俩并排站在车门边，我观察到他们跟我年纪相仿，也许略小一点，而且两人的高矮、神态、声音和面貌（就我所能看到的部分而言）都十分相像。
“‘你是曼内特医生么？’一个说。
“‘是的。’
“‘曼内特医生，以前住在波维，’另一个说，‘年轻的内科医生，最初原是外科专家，近一两年在巴黎名气越来越大，是么？’
“‘先生们，’我回答道，‘我就是曼内特医生，你们过奖了。’
“‘我们到你家去过，’第一个说，‘运气不好，没找到你，听说你可能往这个方向走，便跟着来了，希望能赶上你。请上车吧！’
“两人架子都很大，一边说话，一边走了上来，把我夹在他们和马车车门之间。两人都带着武器，我却没有。
“‘先生们，’我说，‘对不起，但我一向是要事先了解是谁赏光要我出诊，病号的情况如何的。’
“回答的是第二个说话的人。‘医生，你的病家是有地位的人。至于病人情况，我们信服你的医术，用不着我们介绍，你自己会知道的。行了，请上车吧！’
“我无可奈何，只好服从，一言不发上了车。两人也跟着上来了——第二个人是收了踏脚板跳上来的。马车掉过头，用刚才的速度飞驰而去。
“我是按实际情况复述这次谈话的，字字句句都如实记录，这我毫不怀疑。我控制了我的思想，不让它游离我的工作。我如实准确地描述了一切。我在这里划上暂停号，把我写下的文件隐藏起来，准备以后再写。”
“马车把街道丢在后面，穿过北门关隘进入乡间道路。在离开关隘三分之二里格时——当时我没有估计距离，是在下次通过时估计的—一马车离开了大路，在一套独立的宅院前停下了。我们下了车，沿着花园潮湿柔软的小径走去。那儿有一温泉水，由于无人管理，已经溢流出来，流到宅院门口。拉了门铃却无人立即开门，等到门开了，引我来此的其中一人便用他那厚重的骑马手套揍了来开门的人一个耳光。
“这个行为并未引起我多大注意，普通老百姓像狗一样挨打我已司空见惯。但是，另一个人也生气了，伸出胳膊又揍了那人一家伙。这时我才第一次发现他们是孪生兄弟。
“住宅的门锁着。两兄弟之一开了门让我们进去，然后又反锁上了。从我们刚在院落大门下车时起我就听见楼上屋里有哭喊声。我被径直带进了那屋子。上楼时那叫声越来越大，我发现一个病人躺在床上，害了脑炎，发着高烧。
“病人是个绝色美女，很年轻，无疑刚过二十。她头发蓬松披散，两臂用带子和手巾捆在身体两侧。我注意到这些捆绑用品都来自男人的服装。其中之一是穿礼服用的绣有花边的围巾。在那上面我看到一个贵族纹章和字母E。
“这一切是我在研究病人的第一分钟发现的，因为病人在不断挣扎时已翻过身子把脸转向了床边，让围巾的一角卷进了嘴里，有被窒息而死的危险。我的第一个动作是伸出手来解除她的危险；在拉开围巾时，巾角上的刺绣落入了我的眼里。
“我把她轻轻翻过身来，双手放在她胸上，让她平静，也让她躺好，同时看看她的脸。她瞪大了眼睛，神志不清，不断发出尖锐的呼喊，反复地叫着：‘我的丈夫，我的爸爸，我的弟弟！’接着便从一数到十二，然后说，‘嘘！’像这样周而复始，次序不变，态度也不变。除了那固定的停顿之外一直没有住口。
“‘这种情况有多久了？’我问。
“为了区别两个弟兄，我把他俩分别叫作哥哥和弟弟。我把那最权威的叫哥哥。哥哥回答道，‘大约从咋天晚上这时候开始的。’
“‘她有丈夫、父亲和弟弟吗？’
“‘有一个弟弟。’
“‘我不是在跟她的哥哥说话吧？’
“他非常轻蔑地回答道，‘不是。’
“‘她近来有什么跟数字十二有关的事么？’
“弟弟不耐烦地插嘴道，‘十二点钟！’
“‘你们看，先生们，’我说，我的手仍在她胸口上，‘你们像这样把我带了来，我是无能为力的！我若早知道是来看什么病，就可以带好应用的药品。像现在这样，只能是浪费时间。在这种偏远的地方哪几有药呢。’
“哥哥望了弟弟一眼，弟弟傲慢地说，‘有个药品箱。’他便从一间小屋里把它取了出来，放在桌上。”
“我打开几个药瓶，嗅了嗅，用嘴唇碰了碰瓶塞，这里的药除了本身就是毒药的麻醉剂之外，并没有我要用的药。
“‘这些药你不放心么？’弟弟问。
“‘你看，先生，我会用的，’我回答，就再也没说话。
“我费了很大的力气，想了许多办法把我要用的药给她喂了下去。因为过一会儿还得用药，现在也要观察疗效，我便在床边坐了下来。有一个很胆小的怯生生的妇女在服侍（她是楼下那人的妻子），此刻退到了一个角落里。那房子非常潮湿腐朽，家具也很平常——显然是最近才临时使用的。窗前钉了些陈旧的厚窗帘，想要挡住那尖叫声。尖叫继续有规律地发出，‘我的丈夫，我的爸爸，我的弟弟：’数到十二，然后是‘嘘!’病人很疯狂，我没敢解掉捆缚她双臂的带子，却也作了检查，设法不让她疼痛。病人溅出的唯一令我鼓舞的火星是我放在她胸前的手产生了抚慰的效果，有时能让那身躯平静一点，但是对尖叫却没有作
用：没有钟摆比它更准时的
“因为自以为我的手有这种效果，我在床边坐了半个小时，弟兄俩在旁边看着。后来哥哥说：
“还有一个病人。’
“我吃了一惊问，‘是危重病么？’
“‘你还是自己去看吧，’他满不在乎地回答，说时拿起了一盏灯。”
“另一个病人在另一道楼梯后的一间房里。那房间在马厩的上方，也可算是一种阁楼。楼顶有低矮的天花板，一部分抹了石粉，剩下的部分却空着，露出瓦房顶的屋脊和横梁。那是堆放麦秸和干草的地方，也放木柴，还存放着一堆埋在沙里的苹果。我穿过那地方来到病号面前。我的记忆精确无误。我用这些细节来审查我的记忆力。在我被幽禁快满十年的此刻，在巴士底狱我的牢房里，那天晚上的景象全都历历如在我眼前。
“一个英俊的农村少年躺在地上的干草里，头下枕着一个扔在地上的垫子。他最多只有十七岁。他右手捂着胸口躺在地上，咬紧牙关，圆睁着双眼望着头顶。我在他身边跪下一条腿，却看不见他的伤在哪里。我可以看出他因锐器刺伤，快要死去了。
“‘我是个医生，可怜的朋友，’我说，‘让我检查一下吧。’
“‘我不要检查，’他回答，‘随它去。’
“伤口在他捂住的地方，我说服他拿开了手。是剑伤，受伤时间大约在二十至二十四小时以前。但是即使他当时立即得到治疗也已无术可治。他正在迅速死去。我转过眼去看那位哥哥，只见他低头望着这个英俊少年的生命在消逝，只如看着一只受了伤的鸟或兔，一点也不像看着跟他相同的人类。
一这是怎么回事，先生？’我问。
“‘一条小疯狗！一个农奴！逼着我弟弟拔剑决斗，把他杀了——倒像个贵族一样。’
“那答话里没有一丝怜悯、痛苦，或是人类的同情。说话人似乎承认那个卑贱的生物死在这儿不太方便，认为他还是像虫子那样默默无闻地死去为好。对于那少年和他的命运，他根本不可能表示同情。
“他说话时，那少年的眼睛慢慢转向了他，这时又慢慢转向了我。
“‘医生，这些贵族非常骄傲。可我们这些卑贱的狗有时也很骄傲。他们掠夺我们、侮辱我们、殴打我们、杀死我们，可我们有时也还剩下点自尊心。她——你见到她了么，医生？’
“虽然距离很远，但那尖叫在这儿也还隐约可闻。他指的就是那尖叫，仿佛她就躺在我们身边。
“我说，‘我见到她了。’
她是我姐姐，医生。多少年来这些贵族对我们的姐妹们的贞操和德行就拥有一种可耻的权利，可我们也有好姑娘。这我知道，也听我爸爸说过。我姐姐就是个好姑娘，而且跟一个好青年订了婚，我姐夫是他的佃户。我们都是他的佃户——站在那边那个家伙。那另一个是他的弟弟，是一个恶劣的家族里最恶劣的人。’
“那少年是克服了最大的困难才集中了全身的力量说出话来的，但是他的神色却起着可怕的强调作用。
“‘我们这些卑贱的狗就要挨那些高贵的家伙的抢掠。站在那边的那个家伙，他抢夺我们，逼我们交苛捐杂税，逼我们给他们做事、不给报酬，逼我们到他的磨坊磨面。他的鸡鸭鹅大群大群地吃我们少得可怜的庄稼，却一只鸡鸭都不准我们喂养。他把我们抢得干干净净，我们若是有了一小片肉，只好闩上门，闭上窗，提心吊胆地吃，怕被他的人看见拿走—一我说，我们给抢得、逼得、刮得太苦了，我爸爸对我们说生孩子很可怕，我们最应当祈祷的就是让我们的妇女不要生育，让我们悲惨的种族灭绝！’
“被压迫者的痛苦像烈火一样爆发燃烧的情况我还从来没看见过。我原以为它只能隐藏在人们心里的什么地方呢！可现在我却在这个快要死去的少年身上看见了。
“‘不过，我姐姐却结婚了。那时她的情人在生病，可怜的人，她却嫁给了他。她想在我们的农家屋里—一这家伙叫它狗窝——照顾他，安慰他。她结婚才几个星期这家伙的弟弟就看见了她。他看中了她的漂亮，要求这家伙把我姐姐借给他使用——在我们这种人当中丈夫算得了什么！这家伙倒很愿意，但是我姐姐却又善良又贞洁，对这家伙的弟弟怀着跟我一样强烈的仇恨。为了逼迫我的姐夫对姐姐施加影响，让她同意，这一对弟兄干出了些什么样的事呀！’
“那少年一双眼睛原先望着我，此时却慢慢转向了我身边那个人。我从这两张面孔上看出那少年的话全是真的。就是此刻在巴士底狱里我也还能看到两种针锋相对的骄傲彼此的对峙。一面是贵族的骄傲，轻蔑，冷淡；一面是农民的骄傲，被践踏的感情和强烈的复仇情绪。
“‘你知道，医生，按照贵族的权利，我们只是些卑贱的狗，他们可以把我们套在车辕上赶着走。他们便这样把我姐夫套上车辕赶着走了。你知道，他们有权让我们通夜在地里轰青蛙，不让它们干扰老爷们高贵的睡眠。他们夜里逼迫我姐夫在有害的雾气里干活，白天又命令他回来套车。可是我姐夫仍然不听他们的。不听！一天中午他被从车轭上放下来吃东西——若是他还找得到东西吃的话——他呜咽了十二声，每一声呜咽正好有一声钟声相伴，然后便死在我姐姐怀里。’
“若不是有他倾诉冤情的决心支持，人世间是没有力量让他活下去的。他的右手仍然紧握着，捂住伤口，逼退了逐渐加重的死亡的阴影。
“‘然后，那弟弟得到了这家伙的同意，甚至帮助，把我姐姐弄来了，尽管她告诉了他一件事——我知道她一定会告诉他的，这事如果你现在还不知道，马上也会知道的。他的弟弟把我姐姐带走’了。他拿她寻开心，消遣了几天。我在路上看见她路过，把消息带回家里，我爸爸便心碎而死。他满腹冤屈，却一个字也没说。我把我的小妹妹（我还有个妹妹）带到了一个这家伙找不到的地方，她在那儿至少可以不做他的奴仆。然后我便跟踪他的弟弟来到这里，昨天晚上刻进了院子——一条卑贱的狗，手里却有一柄剑。阁楼的窗户在哪儿？就在这旁边么？’
“在他眼中全屋黑了下来，周围的世界越缩越小。我向四面望望，看到麦秸干草踩得乱成一片，似乎这里有过搏斗。
“‘我姐姐听见我的声音，跑了进来。我要她在我杀掉那家伙之前别靠近我。那家伙进来了，先是扔给我一些钱，然后便用鞭子抽我。可是我却用剑刺他，逼他跟我决斗一—虽然我是条卑贱的狗。他拔出剑来保护自己，为了保住性命，他施展出了浑身解数。我使他把他那剑折成了几段，因为那上面染上了我卑贱的血。’
“刚才我曾在干草堆里瞥见一把折成几段的剑。那是贵族的佩剑。在另一个地方，还有一把老式的剑，似乎是士兵用的。
“‘现在，扶我起来吧，医生，扶我起来。他在哪儿？’
“‘他不在这儿。’我扶起少年，估计他指的是那哥哥。
“‘他！这些贵族尽管骄傲，他却害怕见我。刚才还在这儿的那个人呢？把我的脸转向他。’
“我照办了，抬起少年的头靠在我的膝盖上。但是少年此刻却具有了超乎寻常的力气，完全站直了身子，逼得我也站了起来，否则我便扶不住他。
“‘侯爵’少年圆睁了双眼对他转过身去，举起右手，‘等到清算这一笔笔血债的日子，我要你和你全家，直到你的种族的最后一个人对这一切承担责任。我对你画上这个血十字，记下我的要求。等到清算这一笔笔血债的日子，我要你的弟弟，你那卑劣种族中最卑劣的家伙，单独对此承担责任。我对他画上这个血十字，记下我的要求。’，
“他两次伸手到胸前的伤口上，然后用食指在空中画着十字。他举着手还站了一会儿，手落下时人也倒下了。我放下了他，他已经死了。”
“我回到那年轻妇女身边时，发现她仍按刚才的顺序一成不变地吃语尖叫。我知道那种情况还可能继续许多小时，十之八九要在坟墓的沉默里才能结束。
“我又让她服下刚才用的药，然后在她身边直坐到深夜。她的呼喊仍然尖利，她的话语仍然清楚，顺序也从不改变。总是‘我的丈．夫，我的爸爸，我的弟弟！一，二，三，四，五，六，七，八，九，十，十一，十二。嘘！’
“从我初见她时算起，她一直喊叫了二十六个小时。其间我曾离开过她两次。在我又一次坐到她身边时，她开始虚弱下来。我竭尽全力帮助她，但愿能有几分希望，可是不久她便昏沉了，像死人一样躺着。
“仿佛是一场可怕的漫长的风暴终于过去，风停了，雨止了。我放下了她的双臂，叫那个妇女来帮助我整理好她的容貌和撕开的衣衫。那时我才发觉她已经出现了最初的妊娠迹象，也是在那时我对她怀着的一点点希望终于破灭了。
她死了吗？’侯爵问，我还是把他称作哥哥吧。那哥哥刚下了马，穿着靴子进到屋里。
“‘没有死，’我说，‘但看来是要死了。’
一这些卑贱的家伙精力多么旺盛呀！’他低头看她，好奇地说。
“‘痛苦和绝望之中存在着极其强大的力量！’我回答他。
“他听见这话先是笑了笑，可马上便皱起了眉头。他用脚推了一把椅子到我的椅子面前，命令那仆妇出去，然后压低了嗓子说：
医生，在发现我的弟弟跟这些乡巴佬有了麻烦之后，我推荐了你来帮忙。你很有名气，是个前程远大的青年，也许懂得关心自己的前程。你在这儿见到的一切是只可以看、不可以外传的。’
“我只听着病人的呼吸，避而不答。
“‘你给我面子，听见我的话了么，医生？’
“‘先生，’我说，‘干我这种职业的人对病家的话都是保密的。’我的回答很警惕，因为我的所见所闻使我心里很痛苦。
“她的呼吸已很难听见，我仔细地把了把脉，摸了摸胸口。还活着，但也只是活着而已。我回到座位上回头一看，两弟兄都在注视着我。”
“我写得非常吃力，天气很寒冷，我非常害怕被发现后关到漆黑一团的地牢里去，因此，我得压缩我的叙述。我的记忆没有混乱，也没有失误。对我和那两弟兄之间的对话，我能回忆起每一个字和每一个细节。，
“她拖了一个礼拜，在她快死的时候，我把耳朵放到她的唇边，听见了她对我说的一些音节。她问我她在哪儿，我回答了；她问我是谁，我也回答了。我问她姓什么，她却没有回答。她在枕上轻轻摇了摇头，跟她弟弟一样保守了秘密。
“我告诉那两弟兄她的病情已急剧恶化，再也活不到一天了。这时我才有了机会问她问题。在那以前，除了那个妇女和我之外再也没有让她意识到还有别人在场。而只要我在场，那两兄弟总有一个警惕地坐在床头的帘子背后。可到那以后，他俩对我可能跟她说些什么仿佛已不在乎了。一个念头闪过我心里：我大约也快死了。
“我一直感到两弟兄都以弟弟曾跟一个农民（而且是个少年）决斗为奇耻大辱。他们唯一关心的好像只是这事非常有辱门风，荒唐可笑。我每一次看见那弟弟的眼光都感到他很憎恶我，因为我听见了那少年的话，知道了许多内情。他比他哥哥对我要圆滑些，客气些，但我仍看出了这一点。我也明白我是那哥哥心里的一块病。
“我的病人在午夜前两小时死去了——从我的表看，跟我初见她的时刻几乎分秒不差。她那年轻的悲伤的头轻轻向旁边一歪、结束了她在人间的冤屈与悲痛时，只有我一个人在她身边。
“那两弟兄在楼下一间房里不耐烦地等着，他们急着要走。我一个人坐在床前时就已听见他们用马鞭抽打着靴子，踱来踱去。
“‘她终于死了么？’我一进屋哥哥便说。
“‘死了，’我说。
“‘祝贺你，弟弟，’他转过身子说出的竟是这样的话。
“以前他曾给我钱，我都拖延不肯接受。现在他又递给我一纸筒金币，我从他手里接下，却放到了桌上。我已经考虑过了，决定什么也不收。
“‘请原谅，’我说，‘在目前情况下，我不能收。’
“两弟兄交换了一下眼色，却对我点了点头，因为我正在对他们点头。我们分了手，再也没有说话。”
“我很厌倦，厌倦，厌倦—一痛苦使我憔悴不堪。我无法读我这只瘦骨嶙峋的手写下的文字。
“清晨一大早那筒金币又装在一个小匣子里放在了我的门口，外面写着我的名字。从一开始我就在焦虑着该怎么办，那天我便决定写封私信给大臣，把我所诊治的两个病号的性质和地点告诉了他。实际上我把我所知道的一切全部讲了。我明白宫廷权势的意义，也知道贵族的种种豁免权，也估计这件事不会有人知道，但我只想解除良心上的不安。我把这事严格保密，连我的妻子也没告诉。我决定把这一点也写在信里。我并不懂得我所面临的真正危险，但我意识到若是让别人知道了，卷了进来，他们也可能会遇到危险。
“我那天很忙，晚上没来得及写完信。第二天我比平时早起了许多，把它写完了。那是那一年的最后一天。我写完了信，信还摆在面前，便听说有一位夫人等着要见我。”
“我要想完成自己规定的任务越来越感到力不从心了。天太冷，牢房太黑，我的知觉太麻木，笼罩在我身上的阴云也太可怖。
“那位夫人年轻漂亮，令人倾倒，看去却已寿命不长了。她十分激动，向我介绍自己是圣.埃佛瑞蒙德侯爵夫人。我把那少年对那哥哥的称呼跟围巾上的字母E一对号，便不难得出结论：我最近所见到的便是那位贵族。
“我的记忆仍然准确，但是我不能把我跟侯爵夫人的谈话都写出来。我怀疑自己受到了更加严密的监视，而又不知道什么时候受到监视。侯爵夫人半靠发现、半靠推测明白了那残暴事件的主要情节，也知道了她丈夫在其中扮演的角色和请我治疗的事。她并不知道那姑娘已经死了。她非常痛苦地说，希望秘密地对那姑娘表示一个女人的同情。长期以来这个家族遭到了许多含冤受苦者的痛恨，她希望这不至引来上天的震怒。
“她有理由相信这家还有一个小妹妹活着。她的最大愿望便是帮助那小妹妹。我除了告诉她确实有这么一个妹妹之外说不出什么其它的话，因为我此外一无所知。她来找我的动力是希望我信任她，把那小妹妹的名字和地点告诉她。可是直到眼前这悲惨的时刻我却对此一无所知。”
“这些七零八碎的纸不够用了。昨天他们从我这几拿走了一张，还警告了我。我今天必须写完我的记录。
“她是个富于同情心的好太太，婚姻很不幸福。她怎么可能幸福呢！小叔子不信任她，不喜欢她。在他的势力之下大家都跟她作对。她怕他，也怕她的丈夫。我送她下楼来到门口时，她的马车里有一个孩子，一个漂亮的孩子，大约两三岁。
“‘为了孩子的缘故，医生，’她流着眼泪指着孩子说，‘我愿竭尽我可怜的一点力量进行弥补。否则他继承下来的东西对他绝不会有好处。我有一种预感，对这次事件若是没有作出清清白白的弥补，总有一天是会叫孩子来承担责任的。我仅有的一点可以称作个人所有的东西只是一些珠宝首饰。若是能找到那小妹妹，我给孩子的平生第一个任务就是把这点珠宝连同她亡母的同情与哀悼赠送给这个受到摧残的家庭。’
“她吻了吻孩子，爱抚着说，‘那是为了你好呢。你会守信用么，小查尔斯？’孩子勇敢地回答道，‘会的！’我吻了吻夫人的手，她抱起那孩子爱抚着他离开了。从此我再也没见过她。
“由于她深信我知道她丈夫的姓名，所以提起了它，我在信里却井未提名道姓。我封好了信，不愿交给别人，那天便亲自去付了邮费。
“那天晚上，亦即那年除夕晚上九点钟，一个穿黑衣的人拉响了我家的门铃，要求见我。他轻乎轻脚跟在我年轻的仆人欧内斯特．德伐日身后上了楼。我的仆人走进屋子，我跟我的妻子——啊，我的妻子，我心里最爱的人！我年轻美丽的英国妻子！——正坐在屋里，她看见那人不声不响站在他身后，而他是应当留在大门外的。
“他说圣奥诺雷街有人得了急病，不会耽误我多少时间，他有马车等候。
“那马车便把我带到了这儿，带进了我的坟墓。我刚出门，一条黑色的围巾便从身后勒紧了我的嘴，我的双手被反剪了起来。那两个弟兄从一个黑暗角落走出，打了一个手势，表示已验明正身。侯爵从口袋里取出我写的信，让我看了看，一言未发，在举起的风灯上点燃、烧掉了，又用脚踩灭了灰烬。我被带到了这里。带进了我的坟墓。
“若是上帝高兴，在这些可怕的岁月里曾让那铁石心肠的弟兄之一想起给我一点有关我最亲爱的妻子的消息，哪怕是一句话——她究竟是死是活——我也能认为上帝还没有完全抛弃他们。但是现在，我却相信那血十字已决定了他们的命运，上帝的怜悯已全没有他们的份。我，亚历山大.曼内特’，不幸的囚徒，在一七六七年的最后一夜，在我无法忍受的痛苦之中，对他们和他们的后裔，直到他们家族的最后一人，发出我的控诉。我向这一切罪孽得到清算的日子发出控诉。我向上天和大地控诉他们。”
手稿一读完便爆发出一片可怕的喧嚣。是渴望与急切的喧嚣，喧嚣中除了“血”字之外别的话都听不清。这番叙述唤起了那个时代最强烈的复仇情绪。这种情绪的锋芒所向是没有一个人头不会落地的。
当初在巴士底狱缴获的纪念品都曾被抬着游行，而德伐日夫妇却把这份手稿隐藏起来，秘而不宣，等待时机。这是为什么？可这样的法庭和这样的听众是不想追究的。这个受人憎恨的家族的名字长期以来就受到圣安托万的诅咒，而且被列入了死亡名单，这也是用不着追究的。世界上还没有任何人的德行和功勋能在那一天的那个地方抵挡得住那样的控诉的冲击。
使那注定要灭亡的人特别倒霉的是，那控诉他的人是一个声望很高的公民，是他自己的亲密朋友，他妻子的父亲。人群的一个疯狂理想是追效一种颇有问题的古代道德，以自我牺牲作为人民祭坛上的祭品。因此，庭长便说（他若不这样说，他的脑袋在他肩上也保不住）那善良的医生是会因为根除了一个令人憎恶的贵族家庭而更加受到共和国尊敬的。他无疑会因为把他的女儿变作寡妇、把外孙变作孤儿而感到一种神圣的光荣和快乐。此话唤起了一片疯狂的激动和爱国的狂热，此时人类的同情已荡然无存。
“那医生在他周围不是很有影响么？”德伐日太太对复仇女神笑笑说，“现在你来救他吧，医生，来救他吧！，
陪审团员每投一票，便掀起一片鼓噪。一票，又一票；鼓噪，又鼓噪。
全票通过。从心灵到血统的贵族、共和国的敌人、臭名昭著的人民压迫者，押回附属监狱，二十四小时之内执行死刑。 |
