屋顶间的哲学家_梭维斯特-第20章
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〃jerome；saidhe；doyouknowwhatisgoingononthefrontier？
〃no；lieutenant；repliedi。
〃well；resumedhe；ourcountryisindanger！
〃ididnotwellunderstandhim；andyetitseemedsomethingtome。
〃perhapsyouhaveneverthoughtwhatyourcountrymeans；continuedhe；placinghishandonmyshoulder；‘itisallthatsurroundsyou；allthathasbroughtyouupandfedyou；allthatyouhaveloved！thisgroundthatyousee；thesehouses；thesetrees；thosegirlswhogoalongtherelaughing鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！thelawswhichprotectyou；thebreadwhichpaysforyourwork；thewordsyouinterchangewithothers；thejoyandgriefwhichetoyoufromthemenandthingsamongwhichyoulive鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！thelittleroomwhereyouusedtoseeyourmother；theremembrancesshehasleftyou；theearthwheresherests鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！youseeit；youbreatheit；everywhere！thinktoyourself；myson；ofyourrightsandyourduties；youraffectionsandyourwants；yourpastandyourpresentblessings；writethemallunderasinglename鈥斺�攁ndthatnamewillbeyourcountry！
〃iwastremblingwithemotion；andgreattearswereinmyeyes。
〃ah！iunderstand；criedi；itisourhomeinlarge；itisthatpartoftheworldwheregodhasplacedourbodyandoursoul。
〃youareright；jerome；continuedtheoldsoldier；soyouprehendalsowhatweoweit。
〃truly；resumedi；weoweitallthatweare；itisaquestionoflove。
〃andofhonesty；myson；concludedhe。thememberofafamilywhodoesnotcontributehisshareofworkandofhappinessfailsinhisduty；andisabadkinsman；thememberofapartnershipwhodoesnotenrichitwithallhismight；withallhiscourage；andwithallhisheart；defraudsitofwhatbelongstoit；andisadishonestman。itisthesamewithhimwhoenjoystheadvantagesofhavingacountry；anddoesnotaccepttheburdensofit；heforfeitshishonor；andisabadcitizen！
〃andwhatmustonedo；lieutenant；tobeagoodcitizen？askedi。
〃doforyourcountrywhatyouwoulddoforyourfatherandmother；saidhe。
〃ididnotansweratthemoment；myheartwasswelling；andthebloodboilinginmyveins；butonreturningalongtheroad；myuncleswordswere；sotospeak；writtenupbeforemyeyes。irepeated；doforyourcountrywhatyouwoulddoforyourfatherandmother。andmycountryisindanger；anenemyattacksit；whilei鈥斺�攊turncupsandballs！
〃thisthoughttormentedmesomuchallnightthatthenextdayireturnedtovincennestoannouncetothelieutenantthatihadjustenlisted；andwasgoingofftothefrontier。thebravemanpresseduponmehiscrossofst。louis；andiwentawayasproudasanambassador。
〃thatishow；neighbor；ibecameavolunteerundertherepublicbeforeihadcutmywisdomteeth。〃
allthiswastoldquietly；andinthecheerfulspiritofhimwholooksuponanacplisheddutyneitherasameritnoragrievance。
whilehespoke；fatherchaufourgrewanimated；notonaccountofhimself；butofthegeneralsubject。evidentlythatwhichoccupiedhiminthedramaoflifewasnothisownpart；butthedramaitself。
thissortofdisinterestednesstouchedme。iprolongedmyvisit；andshowedmyselfasfrankaspossible；inordertowinhisconfidenceinreturn。inanhourstimeheknewmypositionandmyhabits；iwasonthefootingofanoldacquaintance。
ievenconfessedtheill…humorthelightofhislampputmeintoashorttimebefore。hetookwhatisaidwiththetouchingcheerfulnesswhichesfromaheartintherightplace；andwhichlooksuponeverythingonthegoodside。heneitherspoketomeofthenecessitywhichobligedhimtoworkwhileicouldsleep；norofthedeprivationsoftheoldsoldierparedtotheluxuryoftheyoungclerk；heonlystruckhisforehead；accusedhimselfofthoughtlessness；andpromisedtoputlistroundhisdoor！
ogreatandbeautifulsoul！withwhomnothingturnstobitterness；andwhoartperemptoryonlyindutyandbenevolence！
october15th鈥斺�攖hismorningiwaslookingatalittleengravingihadframedmyself；andhungovermywriting…table；itisadesignofgavarnis；inwhich；inagravemood；hehasrepresentedaveteranandaconscript。
byoftencontemplatingthesetwofigures；sodifferentinexpression；andsotruetolife；bothhavebeelivinginmyeyes；ihaveseenthemmove；ihaveheardthemspeak；thepicturehasbeearealscene；atwhichiampresentasspectator。
theveteranadvancesslowly；hishandleaningontheshoulderoftheyoungsoldier。hiseyes；closedforever；nolongerperceivethesunshiningthroughthefloweringchestnut…trees。intheplaceofhisrightarmhangsanemptysleeve；andhewalkswithawoodenleg；thesoundofwhichonthepavementmakesthosewhopassturntolook。
atthesightofthisancientwreckfromourpatrioticwars；thegreaternumbershaketheirheadsinpity；andiseemtohearasighoranimprecation。
〃seetheworthofglory！〃saysaportlymerchant；turningawayhiseyesinhorror。
〃whatadeplorableuseofhumanlife！〃rejoinsayoungmanwhocarriesavolumeofphilosophyunderhisarm。
〃thetrooperwouldbetternothavelefthisplow；〃addsacountryman；withacunningair。
〃pooroldman！〃murmursawoman；almostcrying。
theveteranhasheard；andheknitshisbrow；foritseemstohimthathisguidehasgrownthoughtful。thelatter；attractedbywhathehearsaroundhim；hardlyanswerstheoldmansquestions；andhiseyes；vaguelylostinspace；seemtobeseekingthereforthesolutionofsomeproblem。
iseemtoseeatwitchinginthegraymoustachesoftheveteran；hestopsabruptly；and；holdingbackhisguidewithhisremainingarm：
〃theyallpityme；〃sayshe；〃becausetheydonotunderstandit；butifiweretoanswerthem鈥斺�敗�
〃whatwouldyousaytothem；father？〃askstheyoungman；withcuriosity。
〃ishouldsayfirsttothewomanwhoweepswhenshelooksatme；tokeephertearsforothermisfortunes；foreachofmywoundscallstomindsomestruggleformycolors。thereisroomfordoubtinghowsomemenhavedonetheirduty；withmeitisvisible。icarrytheaccountofmyservices；writtenwiththeenemyssteelandlead；onmyself；topitymeforhavingdonemydutyistosupposeiwouldbetterhavebeenfalsetoit。〃
〃andwhatwouldyousaytothecountryman；father？〃
〃ishouldtellhimthat；todrivetheplowinpeace；wemustfirstsecurethecountryitself；andthat；aslongasthereareforeignersreadytoeatourharvest；theremustbearmstodefendit。〃
〃buttheyoungstudent；too；shookhisheadwhenhelamentedsuchauseoflife。〃
〃becausehedoesnotknowwhatself…sacrificeandsufferingcanteach。
thebooksthathestudieswehaveputinpractice；thoughweneverreadthem：theprinciplesheapplaudswehavedefendedwithpowderandbayonet。〃
〃andatthepriceofyourlimbsandyourblood。themerchantsaid；whenhesawyourmaimedbody；seetheworthofglory！〃
〃donotbelievehim；myson：thetruegloryisthebreadofthesoul；itisthiswhichnourishesself…sacrifice；patience；andcourage。themasterofallhasbestoweditasatiethemorebetweenmen。whenwedesiretobedistinguishedbyourbrethren；dowenotthusproveouresteemandoursympathyforthem？thelongingforadmirationisbutonesideoflove。no；no；thetrueglorycanneverbetoodearlypaidfor！
thatwhichweshoulddeplore；child；isnottheinfirmitieswhichproveagenerousself…sacrifice；butthosewhichourvicesorourimprudencehavecalledforth。ah！ificouldspeakaloudtothosewho；whenpassing；castlooksofpityuponme；ishouldsaytotheyoungmanwhoseexcesseshavedimmedhissightbeforeheisold；whathaveyoudonewithyoureyes？totheslothfulman；whowithdifficultydragsalonghisenervatedmassofflesh；whathaveyoudonewithyourfeet？totheoldman；whoispunishedforhisintemperancebythegout；whathaveyoudonewithyourhands？toall；whathaveyoudonewiththedaysgodgrantedyou；withthefacultiesyoushouldhaveemployedforthegoodofyourbrethren？ifyoucannotanswer；bestownomoreofyourpityupontheoldsoldiermaimedinhiscountryscause；forhe鈥斺�攈eatleast鈥斺�攃anshowhisscarswithoutshame。〃
october16th鈥斺�攖helittleengravinghasmademeprehendbetterthemeritsoffatherchaufour；andithereforeesteemhimallthemore。
hehasjustnowleftmyattic。therenolongerpassesasingledaywithouthisingtoworkbymyfire；ormygoingtositandtalkbyhisboard。
theoldartillerymanhasseenmuch；andlikestotellofit。fortwentyyearshewasanarmedtravellerthroughouteurope；andhefoughtwithouthatred；forhewaspossessedbyasinglethought鈥斺�攖hehonorofthenationalflag！itmighthavebeenhissuperstition；ifyouwill；butitwas；atthesametime；hissafeguard。
thewordfrance；whichwasthenresoundingsogloriouslythroughtheworld；servedasatalismantohimagainstallsortsoftemptation。tohavetosupportagreatnamemayseemaburdentovulgarminds；butitisanencouragementtovigorousones。
〃i；too；havehadmanymoments；〃saidhetometheotherday；〃whenihavebeentemptedtomakefriendswiththedevil。warisnotpreciselytheschoolforruralvirtues。bydintofburning；destroying；andkilling；yougrowalittletoughasregardsyourfeelings；and；whenthebayonethasmadeyouking；thenotionsofanautocrateintoyourheadalittlestrongly。butatthesemomentsicalledtomindthatcountrywhichthelieutenantspokeoftome；andiwhisperedtomyselfthewell…knownphrase；toujoursfrancais！ithasbeenlaughedatsince。peoplew
