屋顶间的哲学家_梭维斯特-第7部分
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tonedituptohidethewantofashirt。
hisfacewashalfhidunderhisgrayhair；andhiseyeswereclosed；asifhewishedtoescapethesightofhisownhumiliation；andheremainedmuteandmotionless。thosewhopassedhimtooknonoticeofthebeggar；whosatinsilenceanddarkness！theyhadbeensoluckyastoescapeplaintsandimportunities；andweregladtoturnawaytheireyestoo。
suddenlythegreatgateturnedonitshinges；andaverylowcarriage；lightedwithsilverlampsanddrawnbytwoblackhorses；cameslowlyout；andtooktheroadtowardthefaubourgst。germain。icouldjustdistinguish；within；thesparklingdiamondsandtheflowersofaball…dress；theglareofthelampspassedlikeabloodystreakoverthepalefaceofthebeggar；andshowedhislookashiseyesopenedandfollowedtherichmansequipageuntilitdisappearedinthenight。
idroppedasmallpieceofmoneyintothehathewasholdingout；andpassedonquickly。
ihadjustfallenunexpectedlyuponthetwosaddestsecretsofthediseasewhichtroublestheagewelivein：theenvioushatredofhimwhosufferswant；andtheselfishforgetfulnessofhimwholivesinaffluence。
alltheenjoymentofmywalkwasgone；ileftofflookingaboutme；andretiredintomyownheart。theanimatedandmovingsightinthestreetsgaveplacetoinwardmeditationuponallthepainfulproblemswhichhavebeenwrittenforthelastfourthousandyearsatthebottomofeachhumanstruggle；butwhicharepropoundedmoreclearlythaneverinourdays。
iponderedontheuselessnessofsomanycontests；inwhichdefeatandvictoryonlydisplaceeachotherbyturns；andonthemistakenzealotswhohaverepeatedfromgenerationtogenerationthebloodyhistoryofcainandabel；and；saddenedwiththesemournfulreflections；iwalkedonaschancetookme；untilthesilenceallaroundinsensiblydrewmeoutfrommyownthoughts。
ihadreachedoneoftheremotestreets；inwhichthosewhowouldliveinfortandwithoutostentation；andwholoveseriousreflection；delighttofindahome。therewerenoshopsalongthedimlylightedstreet；oneheardnosoundsbutofdistantcarriages；andofthestepsofsomeoftheinhabitantsreturningquietlyhome。
iinstantlyrecognizedthestreet；thoughihadbeenthereonlyoncebefore。
thatwastwoyearsago。iwaswalkingatthetimebythesideoftheseine；towhichthelightsonthequaysandbridgesgavetheaspectofalakesurroundedbyagarlandofstars；andihadreachedthelouvre；wheniwasstoppedbyacrowdcollectedneartheparapettheyhadgatheredroundachildofaboutsix；whowascrying；andiaskedthecauseofhistears。
〃itseemsthathewassenttowalkinthetuileries；〃saidamason；whowasreturningfromhisworkwithhistrowelinhishand；〃theservantwhotookcareofhimmetwithsomefriendsthere；andtoldthechildtowaitforhimwhilehewenttogetadrink；butisupposethedrinkmadehimmorethirsty；forhehasnoteback；andthechildcannotfindhiswayhome。〃
〃whydotheynotaskhimhisname；andwherehelives？〃
〃theyhavebeendoingitforthelasthour；butallhecansayis；thatheiscalledcharles；andthathisfatherismonsieurduval鈥斺�攖herearetwelvehundredduvalsinparis。〃
〃thenhedoesnotknowinwhatpartofthetownhelives？〃
〃ishouldnotthink；indeed！dontyouseethatheisagentlemanschild？hehasnevergoneoutexceptinacarriageorwithaservant；hedoesnotknowwhattodobyhimself。〃
herethemasonwasinterruptedbysomeofthevoicesrisingabovetheothers。
〃wecannotleavehiminthestreet；〃saidsome。
〃thechild…stealerswouldcarryhimoff；〃continuedothers。
〃wemusttakehimtotheoverseer。〃
〃ortothepolice…office。〃
〃thatsthethinge；littleone！〃
butthechild；frightenedbythesesuggestionsofdanger；andatthenamesofpoliceandoverseer；criedlouder；anddrewbacktowardtheparapet。invaintheytriedtopersuadehim；hisfearsmadehimresistthemore；andthemosteagerbegantogetweary；whenthevoiceofalittleboywasheardthroughtheconfusion。
〃iknowhimwell鈥斺�攊do；〃saidhe；lookingatthelostchild；〃hebelongsinourpartofthetown。〃
〃whatpartisit？〃
〃yonder；ontheothersideoftheboulevards鈥斺�攔uedesmagasins。〃
〃andyouhaveseenhimbefore？〃
〃yes；yes！hebelongstothegreathouseattheendofthestreet；wherethereisanirongatewithgiltpoints。〃
thechildquicklyraisedhishead；andstoppedcrying。thelittleboyansweredallthequestionsthatwereputtohim；andgavesuchdetailsasleftnoroomfordoubt。theotherchildunderstoodhim；forhewentuptohimasiftoputhimselfunderhisprotection。
〃thenyoucantakehimtohisparents？〃askedthemason；whohadlistenedwithrealinteresttothelittleboysaccount。
〃idontcareifido；〃repliedhe；〃itsthewayimgoing。〃
〃thenyouwilltakechargeofhim？〃
〃hehasonlytoewithme。〃
and；takingupthebaskethehadputdownonthepavement；hesetofftowardthepostern…gateofthelouvre。
thelostchildfollowedhim。
〃ihopehewilltakehimright；〃saidi；whenisawthemgoaway。
〃neverfear；〃repliedthemason；〃thelittleoneintheblouseisthesameageastheother；but；asthesayingis；heknowsblackfromwhite；poverty；yousee；isafamousschoolmistress！〃
thecrowddispersed。formypart；iwenttowardthelouvre；thethoughtcameintomyheadtofollowthetwochildren；soastoguardagainstanymistake。
iwasnotlonginovertakingthem；theywerewalkingsidebyside；talking；andalreadyquitefamiliarwitheachother。thecontrastintheirdressthenstruckme。littleduvalworeoneofthosefancifulchildrensdresseswhichareexpensiveaswellasingoodtaste；hiscoatwasskilfullyfittedtohisfigure；histrouserscamedowninplaitsfromhiswaisttohisbootsofpolishedleatherwithmother…of…pearlbuttons；andhisringletswerehalfhidbyavelvetcap。theappearanceofhisguide；onthecontrary；wasthatoftheclasswhodwellontheextremebordersofpoverty；butwhotheremaintaintheirgroundwithnosurrender。hisoldblouse；patchedwithpiecesofdifferentshades；indicatedtheperseveranceofanindustriousmotherstrugglingagainstthewearandtearoftime；histrouserswerebeetooshort；andshowedhisstockingsdarnedoverandoveragain；anditwasevidentthathisshoeswerenotmadeforhim。
thecountenancesofthetwochildrenwerenotlessdifferentthantheirdress。thatofthefirstwasdelicateandrefined；hisclearblueeye；hisfairskin；andhissmilingmouthgavehimacharminglookofinnocenceandhappiness。thefeaturesoftheother；onthecontrary；hadsomethingroughinthem；hiseyewasquickandlively；hisplexiondark；hissmilelessmerrythanshrewd；allshowedamindsharpenedbytooearlyexperience；hewalkedboldlythroughthemiddleofthestreetsthrongedbycarriages；andfollowedtheircountlessturningswithouthesitation。
ifound；onaskinghim；thateverydayhecarrieddinnertohisfather；whowasthenworkingontheleftbankoftheseine；andthisresponsibledutyhadmadehimcarefulandprudent。hehadlearnedthosehardbutforciblelessonsofnecessitywhichnothingcanequalorsupplytheplaceof。unfortunately；thewantsofhispoorfamilyhadkepthimfromschool；andheseemedtofeeltheloss；forheoftenstoppedbeforetheprintshops；andaskedhispaniontoreadhimthenamesoftheengravings。inthiswaywereachedtheboulevardbonnenouvelle；whichthelittlewandererseemedtoknowagain。notwithstandinghisfatigue；hehurriedon；hewasagitatedbymixedfeelings；atthesightofhishouseheutteredacry；andrantowardtheirongatewiththegiltpoints；aladywhowasstandingattheentrancereceivedhiminherarms；andfromtheexclamationsofjoy；andthesoundofkisses；isoonperceivedshewashismother。
notseeingeithertheservantorchildreturn；shehadsentinsearchofthemineverydirection；andwaswaitingfortheminintenseanxiety。
iexplainedtoherinafewwordswhathadhappened。shethankedmewarmly；andlookedroundforthelittleboywhohadrecognizedandbroughtbackherson；butwhileweweretalking；hehaddisappeared。
itwasforthefirsttimesincethenthatihadeintothispartofparis。didthemothercontinuegrateful？hadthechildrenmetagain；andhadthehappychanceoftheirfirstmeetingloweredbetweenthemthatbarrierwhichmaymarkthedifferentranksofmen；butshouldnotdividethem？
whileputtingthesequestionstomyself；islackenedmypace；andfixedmyeyesonthegreatgate；whichijustperceived。suddenlyisawitopen；andtwochildrenappearedattheentrance。althoughmuchgrown；irecognizedthematfirstsight；theywerethechildwhowasfoundneartheparapetofthelouvre；andhisyoungguide。butthedressofthelatterwasgreatlychanged：hisblouseofgrayclothwasneat；andevenspruce；andwasfastenedroundthewaistbyapolishedleatherbelt；heworestrongshoes；butmadeforhisfeet；andhadonanewclothcap。
justatthemomentisawhim；heheldinhistwohandsanenormousbunchoflilacs；towhichhispanionwastryingtoaddnarcissusesandprimroses；thetwochildrenlaughed；andpartedwithafriendlygood…by。
m。duvalssondidnotgointillhehadseentheotherturnthecornerofthestreet。
theniaccostedthelatter；andremindedhimofourformermeeting；helookedatmeforamoment；andthenseemedtorecollectme。
〃forgivemeifidonotmakeyouabow；〃saidhe；merrily；〃butiwantbothmyhandsforthenosegaymonsieur
