4 The Marquis of Evremonde 
　  
　　The Marquis of Evremonde was a disappointed man. He had waited for hours at the palace of the King of France, but the King had not spoken to him. Angrily, the Marquis got into his coach and told the driver to take him home. Very soon the coach was driving fast out of Paris, and the people in the narrow streets had to run to get out of the way—if they could. At the corner of a street in Saint Antoine, one of the coach wheels hit something, and the people in the street screamed loudly. The horses were frightened and stopped. 
　　'What has gone wrong?' asked the Marquis calmly, looking out of the window of the coach. A tall man had picked something up from under the feet of the horses and was crying loudly over it. 
　　'Why is that man making that terrible noise?' asked the Marquis impatiently. 
　　'I'm sorry, Monsieur the Marquis. It is his child, ' said one of the people. 
　　'Dead！Killea！'screamed the man. 
　　The people in the street came close to the coach and looked to the coach and looked at the Marquis with stony, silent faces. The Marquis looked back at them in bored dislike. To him, they were no more than animals. 
　　'I can't understand, ' he said coldly, 'why you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. I hope my horses are not hurt.' And he threw a gold coin to his driver.'Give this to that man！' 
　　'Dead！'shouted the father of the child again. 
　　Another man came forward.'Be brave, Gaspard. Your child has died quickly, and without pain. It is better to die like that than to go on living in these terrible times.' 
　　'You are a sensible man, ' said the Marquis from his coach. 
　　'What is your name?' 
　　'They call me Defarge.' 
　　'This is for you, ' said the Marquis, and he threw Defarge another gold coin.'Drive on, ' he called to his driver. 
　　Just as the coach was leaving, a coin was thrown back in through the window. The Marquis looked angrily at the corner where Defarge had been standing. Defarge had gone. At the corner there now stood a large, dark－haired woman, knitting. She stared long and hard at the face of the Marquis, but he did not look at her, and drove on. 
　　Later that day, as the sun was going down, the same coach stopped in a village near the Marquis's castle. Several villagers, in poor thin clothes, with thin hungry faces, were standing in the village square. The Marquis looked at their faces and then pointed to one of them. 
　　'Bring that man to me, ' he said to his driver. 
　　The man came up to the coach, hat in hand, and the other villagers moved closer to listen. 
　　'I passed you on the road just outside the village, ' said the Marquis.'You were looking at my coach in a very strange way. Why was that?' 
　　'Monsieur, I was looking at the man, ' came the reply. 
　　'What man?' asked the Marquis angrily. 
　　'The man who was holding on under your coach, ' said the poor man, trembling with fear. 
　　'What was he like?' 
　　'Oh, Monsieur, he was white from head to foot. All covered with dust. Just like a ghost.' 
　　'Where is he now? What happened to him?' 
　　'Oh, he ran away down the hill outside the village.' 
　　The Marquis turned to speak to another man. This was Monsieur Gabelle, the Marquis's official in the village. 
　　'Gabelle, ' the Marquis said, 'watch out for this man. If he comes here, put him in prison.' 
　　When the Marquis arrived at his castle, he asked if his nephew, Monsieur Charles, had arrived from England. 
　　'Not yet, sir, ' replied the servant, but as the Marquis was eating his dinner, he heard the sound of a coach outside. Soon his nephew entered the room. In England he was known as Charles Darnay. 
　　'You've been away for a long time, ' said the Marquis, with his cold, polite smile. 
　　　 
　　'I've had many problems in England. Perhaps because of you, ' Darnay said to his uncle.'I was in great danger.' 
　　'No, no, I had nothing to do with your problems, ' replied the Marquis coldly.'Unfortunately, our family no longer has the power that it once had.' 
　　'If it still had that power, one word from you would doubtless send me to prison, ' said Darnay. 
　　'Possibly. For the good of our family.' 
　　'The name of our family is hated everywhere in France. We are hard, cruel landowners. Our miserable people own nothing. They work for us night and day, but they don't even have enough food for themselves and their children. If this land became mine, I would give it away, and go and live somewhere else.' 
　　'You seem to be very fond of England, although you are not a rich man there, ' said the Marquis.'I believe you know another Frenchman who has found a safe home there. A Doctor, I believe?' 
　　'Yes.' 
　　'With a daughter?' 
　　'Yes.' 
　　'Yes, ' said the Marquis with a secret smile on his face. 'So, a new way of life begins. But you are tired. Goodnight, Charles sleep well. I shall see you in the morning.' 
　　After his nephew had gone to bed, the Marquis went to his room. The castle was surrounded with darkness. In the villages nearby the hungry people dreamt of a better life, with enough good food to eat, and time to rest from their work. 
　　Early in the morning the dreamers awoke and started their day's hard work. The people in the castle did not get up until later, but when they did, why did the great bell start ringing? Why did people ride out of the castle to the village as fast as they could? 
　　The answer lay in the bed of the Marquis. He lay there, like stone, with a knife pushed into his heart. On his chest lay a piece of paper with the words： 
　　'Drive him fast to his grave. This is from JACQUES.'  
　 
4 埃弗蒙侯爵 
　  
　　埃弗蒙侯爵很失望。他在法国王宫里等了好几个小时了，可是国王一直没和他说话。侯爵怒气冲冲地上了马车并告诉车夫送他回家。很快马车就快速地驶出巴黎，人们不得不在狭窄的街道上跑着给它让路——如果他们能做到的话。在圣安东尼的一个街道的拐角处，马车的一个车轮撞上了什么东西，街上的人们都尖叫起来。马匹受了惊吓，停了下来。 
　　“出了什么事?”侯爵从车窗探出头来沉着地问。一个高个子男人已从马蹄底下捡起了什么东西并朝它大哭起来。 
　　“那个男人干嘛弄出那么可怕的声音?”侯爵不耐烦地问。 
　　“对不起，侯爵先生，那是他的孩子。”其中一个人说。 
　　“死了！被撞死了！”那个男人哭喊道。 
　　街上的人们走近马车，带着冰冷、无言的表情看着侯爵。侯爵不耐烦又厌恶地回头看着他们。对他来说，他们不过是些动物而已。 
　　“我真不明白，”他冷冷地说，“你们这帮人为什么不能照顾好自己和你们的孩子。但愿我的马没有受伤。”接着他把一个金币扔给车夫。“把它给那个男人！” 
　　“死了呀！”孩子的父亲又一次嚷道。 
　　另外一个男人走上前来。“勇敢些，加斯珀，你的孩子很快地就死了，而且没有痛苦，这样死掉总比活在这个可怕的年月里要好些。” 
　　“你是一个通情达理的人，”侯爵在马车上说。 
　　“你叫什么名字?” 
　　“他们叫我得法热。” 
　　“这是给你的。”侯爵说着，将另一枚金币扔给得法热。“继续走。”他对他的车夫喊道。 
　　就在马车离开时，一枚金币从车窗扔进了车里。侯爵愤怒地看着得法热一直站着的那个拐角处。得法热已经走了。那个拐角处现在站着一个身材高大、黑头发的女人在织着毛线活儿。她长久地死死盯着侯爵的脸，但他并没有看她而是接着赶路。 
　　那天的晚些时候，太阳落山时，那同一辆马车停在了侯爵的城堡附近的一个村子里。几个衣衫褴褛、面黄饥瘦的村民正站在村里的场地上。侯爵看着他们的脸庞然后指着其中的一个人。 
　　“把那个男人带过来。”他对他的车夫说道。 
　　那个人朝马车走过来，手里拿着帽子，其余的村民都走近前来聆听。 
　　“我在村外的那条路上从你旁边经过，”侯爵说。“你当时正用一种奇特的眼光看着我的马车。为什么要这样?” 
　　“先生，我那时正看着那个男人。”回答说。 
　　“什么男人?”侯爵生气地问。 
　　“就是那个扒在您马车底下的男人。”这个可怜人说道，身子因为害怕而发抖。 
　　“他长得什么样?” 
　　　 
  
　　“他现在在哪儿?他怎么啦?” 
　　“哦，他朝村外的山脚下跑去了。” 
　　侯爵转过身去和另外一个人说话。那是加贝尔先生，是侯爵在村子里的官员。 
　　“加贝尔，”侯爵说。“留神这个人。如果他来这儿，就把他送进监狱。” 
　　当侯爵到了他的城堡后，他便问起他侄儿查尔斯先生是否从英格兰回来了。 
　　“还没有，先生。”仆人回答说。但是在侯爵吃晚饭时，他听到外面有马车的声音。不久他的侄子便走进屋来。在英国他的名字是查尔斯·代尔那。 
　　“你离开很长时间了，”侯爵带着冷冷的、有礼貌的微笑说道。 
　　“我在英国遇到了很多麻烦，也许是因为你。”代尔那对他的叔叔说。“我的处境曾经非常危险。” 
　　“不，不，我和你遇到的麻烦没有关系。”侯爵冷漠地说。“很不幸，我们的家族不再有它以往的权势了。” 
　　“如果还有那样的权势，你的一句话就可以毫无疑问地把我送进监狱了。” 
　　“也许吧。为了家族的利益嘛。” 
　　“我们家族的名字在法国所有的地方都令人痛恨。我们是心狠手辣的地主。我们苦难的人民一无所有。他们日夜为我们工作，可他们和他们的孩子却食不果腹。如果把这些土地给我，我就把它们分给人，然后离开这儿去别处生活。” 
　　“你似乎很喜欢英国，尽管你在那儿算不上一个有钱人，”侯爵说。“我想你知道另外一个法国人，他已在那儿找到了安身之所。他是个医生，对吗?” 
　　“是的。” 
　　“还有一个女儿?” 
　　“是的。” 
　　“啊，”侯爵说，脸上露出神秘的笑容。“那么，一种新的生活方式开始啦。但是你已经累了。晚安，查尔斯，祝你睡个好觉，我明天早上再见你。” 
　　在他侄儿上床后，侯爵进了自己的房间。城堡被夜色包围。附近村子里饥饿的人们在梦想着过上好一点的生活，以便有足够的好食物吃。还可以工作后有时间休息。 
　　一大早人们便从睡梦中醒来开始他们一天的辛勤劳作。城堡里的人很晚才会起床的。可等到他们起床时，为什么那个大钟开始响了起来呢?人们为什么骑着马拼命地从城堡往村子里跑呢?  
　　答案就在侯爵的床上。侯爵像一块石头僵躺在床上。一把尖刀插进了他的心脏，在他的胸前放着一张纸条。上面写着： 
　　“快把他送进他的坟墓。这是雅克干的。” 
　　　    


 