登陆注册
5572500000005

第5章

There is something so infectious and childlike in the pleasantries of youth, that Marcas smiled again in reply.

"What incidents can have given you this detestable philosophy?" asked I.

"I forgot once more that chance is the result of an immense equation of which we know not all the factors. When we start from zero to work up to the unit, the chances are incalculable. To ambitious men Paris is an immense roulette table, and every young man fancies he can hit on a successful progression of numbers."He offered us the tobacco I had brought that we might smoke with him;the Doctor went to fetch our pipes; Marcas filled his, and then he came to sit in our room, bringing the tobacco with him, since there were but two chairs in his. Juste, as brisk as a squirrel, ran out, and returned with a boy carrying three bottles of Bordeaux, some Brie cheese, and a loaf.

"Hah!" said I to myself, "fifteen francs," and I was right to a sou.

Juste gravely laid five francs on the chimney-shelf.

There are immeasurable differences between the gregarious man and the man who lives closest to nature. Toussaint Louverture, after he was caught, died without speaking a word. Napoleon, transplanted to a rock, talked like a magpie--he wanted to account for himself. Z.

Marcas erred in the same way, but for our benefit only. Silence in all its majesty is to be found only in the savage. There is never a criminal who, though he might let his secrets fall with his head into the basket of sawdust does not feel the purely social impulse to tell them to somebody.

Nay, I am wrong. We have seen one Iroquois of the Faubourg Saint-Marceau who raised the Parisian to the level of the natural savage--a republican, a conspirator, a Frenchman, an old man, who outdid all we have heard of Negro determination, and all that Cooper tells us of the tenacity and coolness of the Redskins under defeat. Morey, the Guatimozin of the "Mountain," preserved an attitude unparalleled in the annals of European justice.

This is what Marcas told us during the small hours, sandwiching his discourse with slices of bread spread with cheese and washed down with wine. All the tobacco was burned out. Now and then the hackney coaches clattering across the Place de l'Odeon, or the omnibuses toiling past, sent up their dull rumbling, as if to remind us that Paris was still close to us.

His family lived at Vitre; his father and mother had fifteen hundred francs a year in the funds. He had received an education gratis in a Seminary, but had refused to enter the priesthood. He felt in himself the fires of immense ambition, and had come to Paris on foot at the age of twenty, the possessor of two hundred francs. He had studied the law, working in an attorney's office, where he had risen to be superior clerk. He had taken his doctor's degree in law, had mastered the old and modern codes, and could hold his own with the most famous pleaders. He had studied the law of nations, and was familiar with European treaties and international practice. He had studied men and things in five capitals--London, Berlin, Vienna, Petersburg, and Constantinople.

No man was better informed than he as to the rules of the Chamber. For five years he had been reporter of the debates for a daily paper. He spoke extempore and admirably, and could go on for a long time in that deep, appealing voice which had struck us to the soul. Indeed, he proved by the narrative of his life that he was a great orator, a concise orator, serious and yet full of piercing eloquence; he resembled Berryer in his fervor and in the impetus which commands the sympathy of the masses, and was like Thiers in refinement and skill;but he would have been less diffuse, less in difficulties for a conclusion. He had intended to rise rapidly to power without burdening himself first with the doctrines necessary to begin with, for a man in opposition, but an incubus later to the statesman.

Marcas had learned everything that a real statesman should know;indeed, his amazement was considerable when he had occasion to discern the utter ignorance of men who have risen to the administration of public affairs in France. Though in him it was vocation that had led to study, nature had been generous and bestowed all that cannot be acquired--keen perceptions, self-command, a nimble wit, rapid judgment, decisiveness, and, what is the genius of these men, fertility in resource.

By the time when Marcas thought himself duly equipped, France was torn by intestine divisions arising from the triumph of the House of Orleans over the elder branch of the Bourbons.

The field of political warfare is evidently changed. Civil war henceforth cannot last for long, and will not be fought out in the provinces. In France such struggles will be of brief duration and at the seat of government; and the battle will be the close of the moral contest which will have been brought to an issue by superior minds.

This state of things will continue so long as France has her present singular form of government, which has no analogy with that of any other country; for there is no more resemblance between the English and the French constitutions than between the two lands.

Thus Marcas' place was in the political press. Being poor and unable to secure his election, he hoped to make a sudden appearance. He resolved on making the greatest possible sacrifice for a man of superior intellect, to work as a subordinate to some rich and ambitious deputy. Like a second Bonaparte, he sought his Barras; the new Colbert hoped to find a Mazarin. He did immense services, and he did them then and there; he assumed no importance, he made no boast, he did not complain of ingratitude. He did them in the hope that his patron would put him in a position to be elected deputy; Marcas wished for nothing but a loan that might enable him to purchase a house in Paris, the qualification required by law. Richard III. asked for nothing but his horse.

同类推荐
  • 爱在尘埃堆积的角落(英文爱藏双语系列)

    爱在尘埃堆积的角落(英文爱藏双语系列)

    很多时候,爱就是这样简简单单的两三事。我牵着你的手,你靠着我的肩膀,刹那间,爱就是一切。过寻常日子,看细水长流。虽无声,却动人。
  • 每一次相遇都是奇迹

    每一次相遇都是奇迹

    浩如烟海的宇宙中,我们既然相遇了,那这一切就是我们生命中的奇迹。用爱去珍惜这一切,让爱永驻心间,你的人生才会如鲜花般灿烂。
  • 我的最后一本日语单词书:看这本真的够了

    我的最后一本日语单词书:看这本真的够了

    这本包含几千词汇的单词书,不仅按照日语五十音图顺序排列,且每个单词都会附上相应音调和例句,保证你学一个会一个记住一个。
  • 用耳朵听最优美的名著

    用耳朵听最优美的名著

    系列图书精选的各类故事、散文、演讲、时文及名著片段,均用词精准简洁,语句流畅优美,将引领你进入趣、情、爱与理的博大世界,使你更加充满信心地去追求梦想。这里有嘻嘻哈哈的幽默故事,有体会幸福与生活的感悟故事,有帮你战胜挫折给你勇气的故事,有闪烁着人性光辉的美德故事,有发人深省的智慧故事,也有在成长路上给你动力的哲理故事。相信本系列图书能为你展现一个美丽新世界并使您的英语学习更上一层楼。
  • 欧洲之行(Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad)

    欧洲之行(Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad)

    本书主要讲述了约翰叔叔带着三个侄女——贝丝、露易丝和帕齐到欧洲旅行的故事。在旅行中,他们目睹了维苏威火山喷发,他们乘坐的马车险些坠崖,约翰叔叔遭遇绑架差点丢掉性命,孩子们冒险营救……
热门推荐
  • 东坡易传

    东坡易传

    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。
  • 花都独裁者

    花都独裁者

    一年前,为挚爱,他锒铛入狱。一年后,当他再次出现时,将掀起无尽风波!他奇遇连连而因缘崛起,而神秘古武世家又需要他来传承,不明组织与倾世美女纷纷来袭!感情的纠葛与实力的提升,一个个未知与阴谋的较量,将再现精彩绝伦的战歌!!
  • 射雕英雄传(全四册)(纯文字新修版)

    射雕英雄传(全四册)(纯文字新修版)

    《射雕英雄传》又名《大漠英雄传》,是“射雕三部曲”之一,下接《神雕侠侣》和《倚天屠龙记》。这部小说历史背景突出,场景纷繁,气势宏伟,具有鲜明的“英雄史诗”风格。在人物创造与情节安排上,它打破了传统武侠小说一味传奇,将人物作为情节附庸的模式,坚持以创造个性化的人物形象为中心,坚持人物统帅故事,按照人物性格的发展需要及其内在可能性、必然性来设置情节,从而使这部小说达到了事虽奇人却真的妙境。
  • 世界航空母舰实录

    世界航空母舰实录

    当1910年11月14日,美国人尤金·埃利驾驶着飞机从“伯明翰”号巡洋舰上起飞,1911年1月18日埃利驾机降落在“宾夕法尼亚”号战列舰上,人们还没有意识到飞机在战列舰上的起落意味着什么。然而埃利的这两次冒险尝试,催生了迄今为止人类最伟大武器的诞生。
  • 灵变之传说

    灵变之传说

    校园里一座被废弃的宿舍楼接连发生连环命案,死状惨不忍睹!血性手段,不寒而栗!是人为,还是厉鬼所致?细细的品读本文会将你一步一步的带进恐惧中,准备好了么?窒息般的惊秫正在占据着你的神经!
  • 硬伤:中国式创业软肋

    硬伤:中国式创业软肋

    不可否认,在人格修养、商业道德、管理模式、决策定位、合作共赢等许多方面,中国企业家都还很不完善,有很长的路要走。但是这些“硬伤”并非不可挽救的。一方面,西方久已完善的企业管理制度为我们提供了最佳的学习榜样。另一方面,中国现有的成功企业在“西方管理思想中国化”方面为我们指明了方向。《硬伤——中国式创业软肋》一书,正是荟萃了这些方面的精华,为迷茫失措中的中国创业者准备了对症下药的良方。
  • 农女狂妃

    农女狂妃

    人生最悲催的事情是什么?好不容易以为找到了一生中最爱,结果在为他生下孩子的时候,被一刀捅死了。人生更悲催的事情是什么?死没死成,又活过来了。结果却变成了一个未婚生子的相府小姐,而且居然连孩子他爹是哪只都完全不知道?大婚前夕,她意外产子,惊吓了相府上下所有人。相爷大怒,要杀此孽子,连那两个刚刚出生的孩儿也不放过。叔可忍,婶婶也不能忍!据理力争,连哄带吓,终于骗的相爷松口,愿意放她母子离开。离了相府,归了田园,一间茅房,两亩薄田,三面环山,水土肥美。带着丫鬟,养着娃儿,上山挖药,下地种田,丰胸瘦身,美容健身。金子银子,滚滚而来,乡绅土豪,上门求亲,渣爹后娘,前来认亲。赶走了土豪,赶走了亲爹,天上却是掉下来了一个绝世美男。哪里?美男为何跟她家里的两只小包子那么相似?哪里?美男就是当初强了她的禽兽?关门,放包子!某男苦兮兮,追妻之路,其漫漫而修远兮。
  • 剑映神川

    剑映神川

    南唐将领皇甫继勋之子皇甫承贞国破之后流落四川青城县,后化名李顺起义,兵败后与子(灵玉)失散,后出家为道。本书主要讲述灵玉闯荡江湖、寻根溯源、冲破层层感情纠葛,并最终成长为一代大侠的曲折故事。
  • 再见,一只蚂蚁(中国好小说)

    再见,一只蚂蚁(中国好小说)

    本篇小说讲述了华商钟开山和蒋万福在俄罗斯“一只蚂蚁”市场做生意期间的经历,以钟开山女友韩悦然失踪为主要线索展开,真实地再现了一群持有非法签证的华商在莫斯科的生活境遇。
  • 狂龙战狼

    狂龙战狼

    他是华夏龙组的天之骄子、放荡不羁惜花护花的龙少,也是敌人心中的终极恶魔、辣手无情屠戮三千的“阎王”,如今隐退归来,龙游花都。在战场他是无敌兵王,令敌人闻风丧胆,在都市,他同样是最强至尊。