登陆注册
5302500000110

第110章 TO ME,MY FRIENDS!(6)

But a panic is not easily shaken off,nor is any fear so difficult to combat and defeat as the fear of the invisible.The terrors which food and drink had for a time thrust out presently returned with sevenfold force.Men looked uneasily in one another's faces,and from them to the haze which veiled all distant objects.They muttered of the heat,which was sudden,strange,and abnormal at that time of the year.And by-and-by they had other things to speak of.We met a man,who ran beside us and begged of us,crying out in a dreadful voice that his wife and four children lay unburied in the house.A little farther on,beside a well,the corpse of a woman with a child at her breast lay poisoning the water;she had crawled to it to appease her thirst,and died of the draught.Last of all,in,a beech-wood near Lotier we came upon a lady living in her coach,with one or two panic-stricken women for her only attendants.Her husband was in Paris,she told me;half her servants were dead,the rest had fled.Still she retained in a remarkable degree both courage and courtesy,and accepting with fortitude my reasons and excuses for perforce leaving her in such a plight,gave me a clear account of Bruhl and his party,who had passed her some,hours before.The picture of this lady gazing after us with perfect good-breeding,as we rode away at speed,followed by the lamentations of her women,remains with me to this day;filling my mind at once with admiration and melancholy.For,as I learned later,she fell ill of the plague where we left her in the beech-wood,and died in a night with both her servants.

The intelligence we had from her inspired us to push forward,sparing neither spur nor horseflesh,in the hope that we might overtake Bruhl before night should expose his captives to fresh hardships and dangers.But the pitch to which the dismal sights and sounds I have mentioned,and a hundred like them,had raised the fears of my following did much to balk my endeavours.For a while,indeed,under the influence of momentary excitement,they spurred their horses to the gallop,as if their minds were made up to face the worst;but presently they checked them despite all my efforts,and,lagging slowly and more slowly,seemed to lose all spirit and energy.The desolation which met our eyes on every side,no less than the death-like stillness which prevailed,even the birds,as it seemed to us,being silent,chilled the most reckless to the heart.Maignan's face lost its colour,his voice its ring.As for the rest,starting at a sound and wincing if a leather galled them,they glanced backwards twice for once they looked forwards,and held themselves ready to take to their heels and be gone at the least alarm.

同类推荐
  • 六十种曲灌园记

    六十种曲灌园记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上六壬明鉴符阴经

    太上六壬明鉴符阴经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上三五正一盟威阅箓醮仪

    太上三五正一盟威阅箓醮仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上老君说益算神符妙经

    太上老君说益算神符妙经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 醉花窗医案

    醉花窗医案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 老实老三

    老实老三

    在某个古代的年代,老李头家有三个儿子。只有三儿子,李老三忠厚孝顺。父亲去世后,李老三听从了遗言,经历了一段奇遇,得到了一份良缘。诠释了一段神话故事,我来写,由你来读。?????????
  • 天荒至尊

    天荒至尊

    浩瀚神洲,万族林立,强者遨游于九天之上,弱者只能沦为踏石。最强战体逐一显世,群雄逐鹿,诸圣争霸,谁能高坐九天,俯世间?一个少年自上古圣地走出,强势崛起,横扫无敌,在谈笑之间弑神魔,于回眸之间越巅峰,翻手之间镇诸天。登天路,踏歌行,弹指弑仙!——罗陨
  • 哈佛学生最喜欢的智力游戏

    哈佛学生最喜欢的智力游戏

    《哈佛学生最喜欢的智力游戏》精选了上百个拓展思维的智力游戏,难度由浅及深,每个问题都结合了一个妙趣横生、精彩动人的故事,极具阅读性,让读者不仅能增长知识储备,还能锻炼推理能力,适合青少年课余时间阅读,并能从中增长知识、开发智力、锻炼反应能力与推理能力。
  • 人伦大统赋

    人伦大统赋

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 咏怀

    咏怀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 假如你的恋人来自香水小镇

    假如你的恋人来自香水小镇

    这本小说集收录沈嘉柯发表于《南方文学》《女报》《青年文摘》《女友》等杂志的经典短篇小说,以及多篇尚未刊发的新作。该书采用双封面设计,由文学名社译林出版社推出,凤凰雪漫出品。著名作家饶雪漫作为本书出品人,读后为之动容,认为兼顾畅销和文艺品质。这本书在《女友》传媒总编袁倩看来,“用狡黠闲扯真假莫辨的小说,来包裹直指现代都会情爱本质的锐利看法。”这本书不只在讲爱情,同时也在诉说生活中每个人会真真实实经历的东西。真实、感人、城市味道、直抵现代爱情的本质。一座城市,一个故事。全书文笔诚挚,清爽自然,充满会心领悟的小幽默,又是一本感动万千读者的催泪之作。
  • 都市之齐天大圣

    都市之齐天大圣

    父亲被害,家财被夺,手脚全数打断,复仇火焰点燃之际,获得齐天大圣传承。自此逆天崛起,神挡杀神,佛挡杀佛!秦风身披金甲战袍,手持定海神针:“我要这万界三十六天,尽归大圣旗之下!”
  • 我闻八千里路云和月

    我闻八千里路云和月

    山山水水两相隔我会跨过那千山和万水,其实没有人告诉我那里有什么,但是我觉得有什么在那里发光,然后我寻着光前行,直至你出现。百鸟倏忽而上,它们也看到了光。
  • 和武相公中秋夜西蜀

    和武相公中秋夜西蜀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 梵高的火柴

    梵高的火柴

    在这部小说集里,作者用文字启动了12种爱情模式。这里面有20%的你,30%的我,还有50%的他。爱情或斑斓,或澄明,或暧昧,或隐忍……爱情到底有没有本相,爱情究竟有没有品格。爱情萌发之时,其强大的力量可以支撑起一个世界;而爱情之火熄灭之后,人与人之间又该建立怎样一种共属的关系,互相取暖,直至燃尽生命呢……