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第9节

the hunchback of notre dame-第9节

小说: the hunchback of notre dame 字数: 每页4000字

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of gold of the dais; produced the effect of a caterpillar on an orange。

The novelty of this singular scene excited such a murmur of mirth and gayety in the hall; that the cardinal was not slow to perceive it; he half bent forward; and; as from the point where he was placed he could catch only an imperfect view of Trouillerfou's ignominious doublet; he very naturally imagined that the mendicant was asking alms; and; disgusted with his audacity; he exclaimed: 〃Bailiff of the Courts; toss me that knave into the river!〃

〃Cross of God! monseigneur the cardinal;〃 said Coppenole; without quitting Clopin's hand; 〃he's a friend of mine。〃

〃Good! good!〃 shouted the populace。  From that moment; Master Coppenole enjoyed in Paris as in Ghent; 〃great favor with the people; for men of that sort do enjoy it;〃 says Philippe de Comines; 〃when they are thus disorderly。〃 The cardinal bit his lips。  He bent towards his neighbor; the Abbé of Saint Geneviéve; and said to him in a low tone;〃Fine ambassadors monsieur the archduke sends here; to announce to us Madame Marguerite!〃

〃Your eminence;〃 replied the abbé; 〃wastes your politeness on these Flemish swine。  ~Margaritas ante porcos~; pearls before swine。〃

〃Say rather;〃 retorted the cardinal; with a smile; 〃~Porcos ante Margaritam~; swine before the pearl。〃

The whole little court in cassocks went into ecstacies over this play upon words。  The cardinal felt a little relieved; he was quits with Coppenole; he also had had his jest applauded。

Now; will those of our readers who possess the power of generalizing an image or an idea; as the expression runs in the style of to…day; permit us to ask them if they have formed a very clear conception of the spectacle presented at this moment; upon which we have arrested their attention; by the vast parallelogram of the grand hall of the palace。

In the middle of the hall; backed against the western wall; a large and magnificent gallery draped with cloth of gold; into which enter in procession; through a small; arched door; grave personages; announced successively by the shrill voice of an usher。  On the front benches were already a number of venerable figures; muffled in ermine; velvet; and scarlet。  Around the daiswhich remains silent and dignifiedbelow; opposite; everywhere; a great crowd and a great murmur。  Thousands of glances directed by the people on each face upon the dais; a thousand whispers over each name。  Certainly; the spectacle is curious; and well deserves the attention of the spectators。  But yonder; quite at the end; what is that sort of trestle work with four motley puppets upon it; and more below?  Who is that man beside the trestle; with a black doublet and a pale face?  Alas! my dear reader; it is Pierre Gringoire and his prologue。

We have all forgotten him completely。

This is precisely what he feared。

From the moment of the cardinal's entrance; Gringoire had never ceased to tremble for the safety of his prologue。  At first he had enjoined the actors; who had stopped in suspense; to continue; and to raise their voices; then; perceiving that no one was listening; he had stopped them; and; during the entire quarter of an hour that the interruption lasted; he had not ceased to stamp; to flounce about; to appeal to Gisquette and Liénarde; and to urge his neighbors to the continuance of the prologue; all in vain。  No one quitted the cardinal; the embassy; and the gallerysole centre of this vast circle of visual rays。  We must also believe; and we say it with regret; that the prologue had begun slightly to weary the audience at the moment when his eminence had arrived; and created a diversion in so terrible a fashion。  After all; on the gallery as well as on the marble table; the spectacle was the same: the conflict of Labor and Clergy; of Nobility and Merchandise。  And many people preferred to see them alive; breathing; moving; elbowing each other in flesh and blood; in this Flemish embassy; in this Episcopal court; under the cardinal's robe; under Coppenole's jerkin; than painted; decked out; talking in verse; and; so to speak; stuffed beneath the yellow amid white tunics in which Gringoire had so ridiculously clothed them。

Nevertheless; when our poet beheld quiet reestablished to some extent; he devised a stratagem which might have redeemed all。

〃Monsieur;〃 he said; turning towards one of his neighbors; a fine; big man; with a patient face; 〃suppose we begin again。〃

〃What?〃 said his neighbor。

〃Hé! the Mystery;〃 said Gringoire。

〃As you like;〃 returned his neighbor。

This semi…approbation sufficed for Gringoire; and; conducting his own affairs; he began to shout; confounding himself with the crowd as much as possible: 〃Begin the mystery again! begin again!〃

〃The devil!〃 said Joannes de Molendino; 〃what are they jabbering down yonder; at the end of the hall?〃 (for Gringoire was making noise enough for four。)  〃Say; comrades; isn't that mystery finished?  They want to begin it all over again。  That's not fair!〃

〃No; no!〃 shouted all the scholars。  〃Down with the mystery!  Down with it!〃

But Gringoire had multiplied himself; and only shouted the more vigorously: 〃Begin again! begin again!〃

These clamors attracted the attention of the cardinal。

〃Monsieur Bailiff of the Courts;〃 said he to a tall; black man; placed a few paces from him; 〃are those knaves in a holy…water vessel; that they make such a hellish noise?〃

The bailiff of the courts was a sort of amphibious magistrate; a sort of bat of the judicial order; related to both the rat and the bird; the judge and the soldier。

He approached his eminence; and not without a good deal of fear of the latter's displeasure; he awkwardly explained to him the seeming disrespect of the audience: that noonday had arrived before his eminence; and that the comedians had been forced to begin without waiting for his eminence。

The cardinal burst into a laugh。

〃On my faith; the rector of the university ought to have done the same。  What say you; Master Guillaume Rym?〃

〃Monseigneur;〃 replied Guillaume Rym; 〃let us be content with having escaped half of the comedy。  There is at least that much gained。〃

〃Can these rascals continue their farce?〃 asked the bailiff。

〃Continue; continue;〃 said the cardinal; 〃it's all the same to me。  I'll read my breviary in the meantime。〃

The bailiff advanced to the edge of the estrade; and cried; after having invoked silence by a wave of the hand;

〃Bourgeois; rustics; and citizens; in order to satisfy those who wish the play to begin again; and those who wish it to end; his eminence orders that it be continued。〃

Both parties were forced to resign themselves。  But the public and the author long cherished a grudge against the cardinal。

So the personages on the stage took up their parts; and Gringoire hoped that the rest of his work; at least; would be listened to。  This hope was speedily dispelled like his other illusions; silence had indeed; been restored in the audience; after a fashion; but Gringoire had not observed that at the moment when the cardinal gave the order to continue; the gallery was far from full; and that after the Flemish envoys there had arrived new personages forming part of the cortege; whose names and ranks; shouted out in the midst of his dialogue by the intermittent cry of the usher; produced considerable ravages in it。  Let the reader imagine the effect in the midst of a theatrical piece; of the yelping of an usher; flinging in between two rhymes; and often in the middle of a line; parentheses like the following;

〃Master Jacques Charmolue; procurator to the king in the Ecclesiastical Courts!〃

〃Jehan de Harlay; equerry guardian of the office of chevalier of the night watch of the city of Paris!〃

〃Messire Galiot de Genoilhac; chevalier; seigneur de Brussac; master of the king's artillery!〃

〃Master Dreux…Raguier; surveyor of the woods and forests of the king our sovereign; in the land of France; Champagne and Brie!〃

〃Messire Louis de Graville; chevalier; councillor; and chamberlain of the king; admiral of France; keeper of the Forest of Vincennes!〃

〃Master Denis le Mercier; guardian of the house of the blind at Paris!〃 etc。; etc。; etc。

This was becoming unbearable。

This strange accompaniment; which rendered it difficult to follow the piece; made Gringoire all the more indignant because he could not conceal from himself the fact that the interest was continually increasing; and that all his work required was a chance of being heard。

It was; in fact; difficult to imagine a more ingenious and more dramatic composition。  The four personages of the prologue were bewailing themselves in their mortal embarrassment; when Venus in person; (~vera incessa patuit dea~) presented herself to them; clad in a fine robe bearing the heraldic device of the ship of the city of Paris。  She had come herself to claim the dolphin promised to the most beautiful。  Jupiter; whose thunder could be heard rumbling in the dressing…room; supported her claim; and Venus was on the point of carrying it off;that is to say; without allegory; of marrying monsieur the dauphin; when a young child clad in white damask; and holding in her hand a daisy (a transparent personification of Mademoise

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