英文名著分集阅读 维克多·雨果《悲惨世界》part4

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

原文

Chapter 4: Marius

Nine years pass, Valjean and Cosette are living in the Rue Plumet in Paris,in a house with a big garden. It is a quiet street and nobody comes there. This pleases Valjean, because he is still afraid of Inspector Javert. Cosette is now a young woman. She is tall with golden brown hair. She is beautiful, but there are many beautiful faces in the world. The wonderful thing about Cosette's face is her smile, a slow warm gentle smile like sunlight after rain. And now, we must meet Marius and his young friend Gavroche. Marius is a student, a young man with many ideas but no money. Paris is full of young men like this. Marius has a grandfather, his father is dead, But he does not talk to him, their political ideas are very different. At 17, he leaves home with 30 francs, his watch and a small bag of clothes. Now five years older, he lives with other students, and they talk all night about books and ideas, politics and government, life and death. All students are like this. They live for ideas and do a little work here and there when they need to. Gavroche is a child of the Paris streets. He is 11 or 12 years old, and wears a man's trousers and a woman's shirt. A kind woman gave these clothes to him. He lives on the streets, knows everybody,goes everywhere, and enjoys life. Well, why not? He knows no other life, only this one. Marius loved walking through the streets and gardens of Paris, and he often walked in the Luxembourg Garden. One day in the garden, he saw a man with a young girl. The man was about 60, and the girl, Marius thought, was about 17. He did not see her eyes, but he saw her golden-brown hair and her slow gentle smile. He walked past them once and did not look back, but he came to the Luxembourg the next day, and the day after that. And for the next five days, the man and the girl were always there. He could not stop looking at the girl. He wanted very much to see that smile, smile again. On the seventh day, the girl turned her head and looked at Marius. She looked into his eyes across the garden, and that look went like a bullet from a gun into Marius's heart. There were no words, but at once Marius knew, and the girl knew this was love. Life stopped for Marius then. He spent hours in the Luxembourg. And every time he saw her, the sun came out and all the birds in the garden began singing. But the man began to look at Marius too, and his face was not friendly. Marius was afraid and he went to Gavroche. “Gavroche, please, you must help me.” “Why? What's the matter? Monsieur Marius.” “There's a girl, Gavroche. She walks in the Luxembourg every day. I want you to follow her home, and tell me the address.” “Why don't you follow her? I am busy.” said Gavroche. “I'm afraid to,” said Marius, “her father,grandfather, I don't know, is watching me. He doesn't like me.” “Why is this important? Monsieur Marius.” Gavroche said. “He had a big smile on his face. Because I'min love,” shouted Marius, “Please, Gavroche, do it.” Gavroche ran away laughing. Two days later, he came to Marius's rooms,Rue plume. He said, “House at the end of the street,hard to find, you need to look for it.” Spring came and Cosette began to go out into the garden at Rue Plume. She was usually alone. Her old servant Toussaint was always in the kitchen, and Father Jean Valjean was in his room reading. Cosette was sad. She remembered the young man in the Luxembourg Garden, but Father no longer wanted to go there. But that evening, in the Rue Plume Garden something very wonderful happened. She heard a voice, a man's voice. She looked round and it was him. “I'm so sorry,” he said, “please don't be afraid. I just wanted to… You remember the Luxembourg Garden? I saw you therefor the first time, I can't forget you day and night, I think about you. Please don't be afraid, you see, I love you. It just happened to me, I can't stop it. Don't be afraid, please.” Cosette listened to this wonderful river of words and