第 30 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-02-18 23:01      字数:9316
  Let papa Mirabeau speak  we want to hear him。〃
  A decree on subsistence having been passed; the leaders demand
  something in addition; they must be allowed to enter all places
  where they suspect any monopolizing to be going on; and the price of
  〃bread must be fixed at six sous the four pounds; and meat at six
  sous per pound。〃
  〃You must not think that we are children to be played with。  We are
  ready to strike。  Do as you are bidden。〃
  All their political injunctions emanate from this central idea。  And
  further:
  〃Send back the Flemish regiment  it is a thousand men more to
  feed; and they take bread out of our mouths。〃  〃Punish the
  aristocrats; who hinder the bakers from baking。〃 〃Down with the
  skull…cap; the priests are the cause of our trouble! 〃   〃Monsieur
  Mounier; why did you advocate that villainous veto? Beware of the
  lamp post ! 〃
  Under this pressure; a deputation of the Assembly; with the
  President at its head; sets out on foot; in the mud; through the
  rain; and watched by a howling escort of women and men armed with
  pikes: after five hours of waiting and entreaty; it wrings from the
  King; besides the decree on subsistence; about which there was no
  difficulty; the acceptance; pure and simple; of the Declaration of
  Rights; and his sanction to the constitutional articles。   Such is
  the independence of the King and the Assembly。'35' Thus are the new
  principles of justice established; the grand outlines of the
  Constitution; the abstract axioms of political truth under the
  dictatorship of a crowd which extorts not only blindly; but which is
  half…conscious of its blindness。
  〃Monsieur le President;〃 some among the women say to Mounier; who
  returns with the Royal sanction; 〃will it be of any real use to us?
  will it give poor folks bread in Paris?〃
  Meanwhile; the scum has been bubbling up around the chateau; and the
  abandoned women subsidized in Paris are pursuing their calling。'36'
  They slip through into the lines of the regiment drawn on the
  square; in spite of the sentinels。  Théroigne; in an Amazonian red
  vest; distributes money among them。
  〃Side with us;〃 some say to the men; 〃we shall soon beat the King's
  Guards; strip off their fine coats and sell them。〃
  Others lie sprawling on the ground; alluring the soldiers; and make
  such offers as to lead one of them to exclaim; 〃We are going to have
  a jolly time of it !〃 Before the day is over; the regiment is
  seduced; the women have; according to their own idea; acted for a
  good motive。  When a political idea finds its way into such heads;
  instead of ennobling them; it becomes degraded there; its only
  effect is to let loose vices which a remnant of modesty still keeps
  in subjection; and full play is given to luxurious or ferocious
  instincts under cover of the public good。   The passions;
  moreover; become intensified through their mutual interaction;
  crowds; clamor; disorder; longings; and fasting; end in a state of
  frenzy; from which nothing can issue but dizzy madness and rage。
  This frenzy began to show itself on the way。  Already; on setting
  out; a woman had exclaimed;
  〃We shall bring back the Queen's head on the end of a pike!〃'37'
  On reaching the Sèvres bridge others added;
  〃Let us cut her throat; and make cockades of her entrails!〃
  Rain is falling; they are cold; tired; and hungry; and get nothing
  to eat but a bit of bread; distributed at a late hour; and with
  difficulty; on the Place d'Armes。  One of the bands cuts up a
  slaughtered horse; roasts it; and consumes it half raw; after the
  manner of savages。  It is not surprising that; under the names of
  patriotism and 〃justice;〃 savage ideas spring up in their minds
  against 〃members of the National Assembly who are not with the
  principles of the people;〃 against 〃the Bishop of Langres; Mounier;
  and the rest。〃 One man in a ragged old red coat declares that 〃he
  must have the head of the Abbé Maury to play nine…pins with。〃 But it
  is especially against the Queen; who is a woman; and in sight; that
  the feminine imagination is the most aroused。
  〃She alone is the cause of the evils we endure 。。。。  she must be
  killed; and quartered。〃
  Night advances; there are acts of violence; and violence
  engenders violence。
  〃How glad I should be;〃 says one man; 〃if I could only lay my hand
  on that she…devil; and strike off her head on the first curbstone !〃
  Towards morning; some cry out;
  〃Where is that cursed cat? We must eat her heart out。。。  We'll take
  off her head; cut her heart out; and fry her liver I 〃
  With the first murders the appetite for blood has been awakened;
  the women from Paris say that 〃they have brought tubs to carry away
  the stumps of the Royal Guards;〃 and at these words others clap
  their hands。  Some of the riffraff of the crowd examine the rope of
  the lamp post in the court of the National Assembly; and judging it
  not to be sufficiently strong; are desirous of supplying its place
  with another 〃to hang the Archbishop of Paris; Maury; and
  d'Espréménil。〃  This murderous; carnivorous rage penetrates even
  among those whose duty it is to maintain order; one of the National
  Guard being heard to say that 〃the body…guards must be killed to the
  last man; and their hearts torn out for a breakfast。〃
  Finally; towards midnight; the National Guard of Paris arrives; but
  it only adds one insurrection to another; for it has likewise
  mutinied against its chiefs。'38'
  〃If M。 de Lafayette is not disposed to accompany us;〃 says one of
  the grenadiers; 〃we will take an old grenadier for our commander。〃
  Having come to this decision; they sought the general at the H?tel…
  de…Ville; and the delegates of six of the companies made their
  instructions known to him。
  〃General; we do not believe that you are a traitor; but we think
  that the Government is betraying us。。。。  The committee on
  subsistence is deceiving us; and must be removed。  We want to go to
  Versailles to exterminate the body…guard and the Flemish regiment
  who have trampled on the national cockade。  If the King of France is
  too feeble to wear his crown; let him take it off; we will crown his
  son and things will go better。〃
  In vain Lafayette refuses; and harangues them on the Place de Grève;
  in vain he resists for hours; now addressing them and now imposing
  silence。  Armed bands; coming from the Faubourgs Saint…Antoine and
  Saint…Marceau; swell the crowd; they take aim at him; others prepare
  the lamp…post。  He then dismounts and endeavors to return to the
  H?tel…de…Ville; but his grenadiers bar the way:
  〃Morbleu; General; you will stay with us; you will not abandon us !〃
  Being their chief it is pretty plain that he must follow them; which
  is also the sentiment of the representatives of the commune at the
  H?tel…de…Ville; who send him their authorization; and even the order
  to march; 〃seeing that it is impossible for him to refuse。〃
  Fifteen thousand men thus reach Versailles; and in front of and
  along with them thousands of ruffians; protected by the darkness。
  On this side the National Guard of Versailles; posted around the
  chateau; together with the people of Versailles; who bar the way
  against vehicles; have closed up every outlet。'39'  The King is
  prisoner in his own palace; he and his; with his ministers and his
  court; and with no defense。  For; with his usual optimism; he has
  confided the outer posts of the chateau to Lafayette's soldiers;
  and; through a humanitarian obstinacy which he is to maintain up to
  the last;'40' he has forbidden his own guards to fire on the crowd;
  so that they are only there for show。  With common right in his
  favor; the law; and the oath which Lafayette had just obliged his
  troops to renew; what could he have to fear? What could be more
  effective with the people than trust in them and prudence? And by
  playing the sheep one is sure of taming brutes!
  》From five o'clock in the morning they prowl around the palace…
  railings。  Lafayette; exhausted with fatigue; has taken an hour's
  repose;'41' which hour suffices for them。'42' A populace armed with
  pikes and clubs; men and women; surrounds a squad of eighty…eight
  National Guards; forces them to fire on the King's Guards; bursts
  open a door; seizes two of the guards and chops their heads off。
  The executioner; who is a studio model; with a heavy beard;
  stretches out his blood…stained hands and glories in the act; and so
  great is the effect on the National Guard that they move off;
  through sensibility; in order not to witness such sights: such is
  the resistance! In the meantime the crowd invade the staircases;
  beat down and trample on the guards they encounter; and burst open
  the doors with imprecations against the Queen。  The Queen runs off;
  just in time; in her underclothes; she takes refuge with the King
  and the rest of the royal family; who have in vain barricaded
  themselves in the ?il…d