双城记(A Tale of Two Cities)第五章 锯木工(7)
These occupations brought her round to the December month, wherein her father walked among the terro`rs with a steady head. On a lightly-snowing afternoon she arrived at the usual co`rner. It was a day of some wild rejoicing, an`d a festival. She had seen the houses, as she came along, deco`rated with little pikes, an`d with little red caps stuck upon them; also, with tricoloured ribbons; also, with the stan`dard inscription (tricoloured letters were the favourite), Republic One an`d Indivisible. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, o`r Death!
这样的活动又把她带到了十二月,她的父亲仍然在恐怖之中昂首阔步地走着。一个微雪的下午,她来到她总要去的角落。那是一个疯狂的喜庆日子。她来时见到房屋点缀了刺刀,刺刀顶上点缀了红便帽,屋上还挂着三色彩带,还有标准的口号(字母也常用三个颜色书写):统一不可分割的共和国,自由平等博爱或死亡!
The miserable shop of the wood-sawyer was so small, that its whole surface furnished very indifferent space fo`r this legend. He had got somebody to scrawl it up fo`r him, however, who had squeezed Death in with most inappropriate difficulty. On his house-top, he displayed pike an`d cap, as a good citizen must, an`d in a window he had stationed his saw inscribed as his `Little Sainte Guillotine'--fo`r the great sharp female was by that time popularly canonised. His shop was shut an`d he was not there, which was a relief to Lucie, an`d left her quite alone.
锯木工那可怜的铺面太小,整个门面也塞不下这条标语。不过他还是找了个人给他歪歪扭扭涂上了,写到“死亡”好不容易才挤了进去。他在屋顶插了枪和便帽,那是好公民必办的事。他还把锯子摆在一个窗户里,标上“小圣徒断头台”,那时那伟大锋利的女性正受到普遍的崇敬。劈柴店关了门,主人也不在,露西一个人。她松了一口气。
But, he was not far off, fo`r presently she heard a troubled movement an`d a shouting coming along, which filled her with fear. A moment afterwards, an`d a throng of people came pouring round the co`rner by the prison wall, in the midst of whom was the wood-sawyer han`d in han`d with The Vengeance. There could not be fewer than five hundred people, an`d they were dancing like five thousan`d demons. There was no other music than their own singing. They danced to the popular Revolution song, keeping a ferocious time that was like a gnashing of teeth in unison. Men an`d women danced together, women danced together, men danced together, as hazard had brought them together. At first, they were a mere sto`rm of coarse red caps an`d coarse woollen rags; but, as they filled the place, an`d stopped to dance about Lucie, some ghastly apparition of a dance-figure gone raving mad arose among them. They advanced, retreated, struck at one another's han`ds, clutched at one another's heads, spun round alone, caught one another an`d spun round in pairs, until many of them dropped. While those were down, the rest linked han`d in han`d, an`d all spun round together: then the ring broke, an`d in separate rings of two an`d four they turned an`d turned until they all stopped at once, began again, struck, clutched, an`d to`re, an`d then reversed the spin, an`d all spun round another way. Suddenly they stopped again, paused, struck out the time afresh, fo`rmed into lines the width of the public way, an`d, with their heads low down an`d their han`ds high up, swooped screaming off. No fight could have been half as terrible as this dance. It was so emphatically a fallen spo`rt--a something, once innocent, delivered over to all devilries--a healthy pastime changed into a means of angering the blood, bewildering the senses, an`d steeling the heart. Such grace as was visible in it, made it the uglier, showing how warped an`d perverted all things good by nature were become. The maidenly bosom bared to this, the pretty almost-child's head thus distracted, the delicate foot mincing in this slough of blood an`d dirt, were types of the disjointed time.'
但是那人离得并不远,因为她马上就听见一阵骚动和一阵叫喊传来,心里不禁充满了恐惧。顷刻间,一大群人从监狱墙角转出,锯木工也在其中,他跟复仇女神手牵着手。他们的人数不少于五百,可跳起舞来倒像有五千个妖魔鬼怪。除了自己的歌声他们别无音乐,只能踏着流行的革命歌曲的节拍跳着,节拍踏得很凶狠,仿佛是统一了步调在咬牙切齿。男人跟女人跳,女人跟女人跳,男人跟男人跳,碰见谁就跟谁跳。最初,他们只不过是一片粗糙的红便帽和粗糙的破毛料的风暴,但到他们挤满了那地方、停止了前进在露西身边跳的时候,便变成了一片发着呓语的疯狂可怖的幢幢鬼影。他们时而前进,时而后退,彼此叭叭地击掌,彼此揪抓着脑袋,单人旋转,双人旋转,直转到有的人跌倒在地。这时没有倒下的又手拉手围成圈子旋转,圈子破了,又捉对儿旋转,四个人旋转,直转到突然停步。于是重新开始,又是击掌,又是揪脑袋,又是拉手,扯来扯去,反方向旋转,再牵成大圈反方向旋转。突然站住,稍停,重新踏起节拍,排成街道一样宽的长排,低下头,举起手,尖叫着向前飞扑。就是厮杀也不及这种舞蹈的一半可怖。这是一种堕落得无以复加的游戏。当初原很纯洁,后来却具有了这种鬼魅的形象。一种健康的娱乐变作了促使血液狂奔、知觉混乱、心肠狠毒的手段。依稀可见的几分优美使得这种舞蹈益发丑恶了,它表现出一切本质善良的东西已经遭到多么严重的扭曲与败坏。舞蹈中露出了少女的胸脯,几乎还未成年的美丽却疯狂的头、精巧的脚在血污的泥泞中蹒跚踏步。这一切都是脱了节的时代的象征。
(编辑:yinheyingying)