On the 20th of August, 1672, the city of the Hague, always so lively, so neat, and so trim that one might believe every day to be Sunday, with its shady park, with its tall trees, spreading over its Gothic houses, with its canals like large mirrors, in which its steeples and its almost Eastern cupolas are reflected,—the city of the Hague, the capital of the Seven United Provinces, was swelling in all its arteries with a black and red stream of hurried, panting, and restless citizens, who, with their knives in their girdles, muskets on their shoulders, or sticks in their hands, were pushing on to the Buytenhof, a terrible prison, the grated windows of which are still shown, where, on the charge of attempted murder preferred against him by the surgeon Tyckelaer, Cornelius de Witt, the brother of the Grand Pensionary of Holland was confined.

海牙城一直是那么充满活力、整洁干净，公园绿树成阴，哥特式的房屋周围布满了高大的树木，运河像一面大镜子，倒映着尖塔和带有东方色彩的炮塔楼，这一切会让人以为每天都是礼拜日——一六七二年八月二十日那天，在七省联邦的首府海牙，所有交通要道都涌满了穿着黑色和红色衣服的人流。那些行色匆匆、气喘吁吁、焦躁不安的人们，有的腰间插着刀，有的肩上扛着枪，还有人手里拿着棍子。他们纷纷奔向布伊坦霍夫，那是一座阴森的监狱，现在都能看到那里的带铁栏的窗户。荷兰议长的哥哥科尔内留斯·德维特就关在那里，因为一个叫第克莱尔的外科医生指控他试图谋杀。

If the history of that time, and especially that of the year in the middle of which our narrative commences, were not indissolubly connected with the two names just mentioned, the few explanatory pages which we are about to add might appear quite supererogatory; but we will, from the very first, apprise the reader—our old friend, to whom we are wont on the first page to promise amusement, and with whom we always try to keep our word as well as is in our power—that this explanation is as indispensable to the right understanding of our story as to that of the great event itself on which it is based.

如果那个时代的历史，尤其是我们故事开始那一年的历史，与刚刚提及的两个名字没有密不可分的关系的话，我们将要补充说明的篇章似乎显得相当累赘。但我们开门见山就告知读者——我们的老朋友，我们在第一页就向你们保证，你们会饶有兴致地读下去，我们也总是就我们能力所及信守诺言——要正确理解我们的故事以及该故事背后的那一重大事件本身，这一解释说明是必不可少的。

Cornelius de Witt, Ruart de Pulten, that is to say, warden of the dikes, ex-burgomaster of Dort, his native town, and member of the Assembly of the States of Holland, was forty-nine years of age, when the Dutch people, tired of the Republic such as John de Witt, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, understood it, at once conceived a most violent affection for the Stadtholderate, which had been abolished for ever in Holland by the "Perpetual Edict" forced by John de Witt upon the United Provinces.

科尔内留斯·德维特，“普尔唐的留亚特”，也就是海堤视察官，曾当过他的故乡多特市的市长，也曾当过荷兰国会议员。他四十九岁那年，荷兰人民厌倦了荷兰议长约翰·德维特所理解的共和制，突然更强烈地拥护起总督制，而总督制早已由约翰·德维特在七省联邦颁布实行的《永久法令》在荷兰永久废除了。

As it rarely happens that public opinion, in its whimsical flights, does not identify a principle with a man, thus the people saw the personification of the Republic in the two stern figures of the brothers De Witt, those Romans of Holland, spurning to pander to the fancies of the mob, and wedding themselves with unbending fidelity to liberty without licentiousness, and prosperity without the waste of superfluity; on the other hand, the Stadtholderate recalled to the popular mind the grave and thoughtful image of the young Prince William of Orange.

民意反复无常，很少不拿某一个人来界定一个政治理念。因此，人们看到的共和制化身就是德维特兄弟俩的严厉形象。这两个荷兰的罗马人，不屑去迎合民众的喜好，坚持认为要不屈不挠地忠于自由，但不散漫放肆，要不屈不挠地忠于繁荣，但不铺张浪费，但另一方面，总督制以年轻的奥兰治亲王威廉严肃多思的形象越来越深入民心。

The brothers De Witt humoured Louis XIV., whose moral influence was felt by the whole of Europe, and the pressure of whose material power Holland had been made to feel in that marvellous campaign on the Rhine, which, in the space of three months, had laid the power of the United Provinces prostrate.

德维特兄弟处处迎合路易十四，他的道德影响力遍及整个欧洲，荷兰在那场不可思议的莱茵河战役中也感受到了他巨大的威慑力，只用了短短三个月，那场战争就让七省联邦俯首称臣了。

Louis XIV. had long been the enemy of the Dutch, who insulted or ridiculed him to their hearts' content, although it must be said that they generally used French refugees for the mouthpiece of their spite. Their national pride held him up as the Mithridates of the Republic. The brothers De Witt, therefore, had to strive against a double difficulty,—against the force of national antipathy, and, besides, against the feeling of weariness which is natural to all vanquished people, when they hope that a new chief will be able to save them from ruin and shame.

路易十四一直以来都是荷兰人的敌人，他们恣意侮辱或奚落他，尽管必须指出的是他们一般是借法国难民之口宣泄他们的怨恨。他们的民族自尊心把他推崇为共和的米特拉达梯。因此，德维特兄弟要对抗双重困难，一是要对抗全民的抵触情绪，此外还要对抗败北的民众自然而然产生的一种厌倦感，他们希望有新的领袖能救他们于毁灭和耻辱之中。

This new chief, quite ready to appear on the political stage, and to measure himself against Louis XIV., however gigantic the fortunes of the Grand Monarch loomed in the future, was William, Prince of Orange, son of William II., and grandson, by his mother Henrietta Stuart, of Charles I. of England. We have mentioned him before as the person by whom the people expected to see the office of Stadtholder restored.

这个新领袖，早就准备好登上政治舞台去和路易十四较量了，无论这位伟大的君主未来的前途看起来多么远大。这个新领袖就是奥兰治亲王威廉，威廉二世和亨利埃特·斯图亚特的儿子，也就是英王查理一世的外孙。我们前面提到过他，人们就是期望通过他实现总督制的复辟。

This young man was, in 1672, twenty-two years of age. John de Witt, who was his tutor, had brought him up with the view of making him a good citizen. Loving his country better than he did his disciple, the master had, by the Perpetual Edict, extinguished the hope which the young Prince might have entertained of one day becoming Stadtholder. But God laughs at the presumption of man, who wants to raise and prostrate the powers on earth without consulting the King above; and the fickleness and caprice of the Dutch combined with the terror inspired by Louis XIV., in repealing the Perpetual Edict, and re-establishing the office of Stadtholder in favour of William of Orange, for whom the hand of Providence had traced out ulterior destinies on the hidden map of the future.

一六七二年，这位年轻人二十二岁。他的家庭教师约翰·德维特把他培养成人，期望他成为一个好公民。在自己的学生和国家之间，这位老师更爱自己的国家，他通过颁布《永久法令》，扑灭了这位年轻亲王曾经可能怀揣的有朝一日成为总督的希望。但是上帝嘲笑人类的自以为是，居然不征求上天的意见就擅自建立和推翻世间的政权。荷兰人民的反复无常，再加上路易十四造成的恐惧，使人们撤销了《永久法令》，重建总督制，拥戴奥兰治亲王威廉登上宝座。上帝之手已经在那张未来的隐形地图上为威廉勾画出他将来的命运。

The Grand Pensionary bowed before the will of his fellow citizens; Cornelius de Witt, however, was more obstinate, and notwithstanding all the threats of death from the Orangist rabble, who besieged him in his house at Dort, he stoutly refused to sign the act by which the office of Stadtholder was restored. Moved by the tears and entreaties of his wife, he at last complied, only adding to his signature the two letters V. C. (Vi Coactus), notifying thereby that he only yielded to force.

议长屈从了他国民同胞们的意见，但科尔内留斯·德维特却更为固执一些，尽管奥兰治派的暴民包围了他在多特的房子，频频威胁他的生命，他还是断然拒绝在复辟总督制的法案上签字。在他妻子的眼泪与哀求之下，他终于屈从了，但他在他的签名后加了两个字母V. C.（为暴力所迫），以此表明他仅仅是为暴力所迫。

It was a real miracle that on that day he escaped from the doom intended for him.

那一天，他能躲过敌人的毒手，真是天大的奇迹。

John de Witt derived no advantage from his ready compliance with the wishes of his fellow citizens. Only a few days after, an attempt was made to stab him, in which he was severely although not mortally wounded.

约翰·德维特虽然很乐意地顺从了他同胞们的意愿，但却没从中得到任何好处。此后没几天就有人企图刺杀他，伤势虽不致命，但也够严重的。

This by no means suited the views of the Orange faction. The life of the two brothers being a constant obstacle to their plans, they changed their tactics, and tried to obtain by calumny what they had not been able to effect by the aid of the poniard.

奥兰治派绝不会善罢甘休。只要这两兄弟活着，就始终是他们实施计划的绊脚石，于是，他们改变了策略，打算用诽谤达到他们用匕首未能达到的效果。

How rarely does it happen that, in the right moment, a great man is found to head the execution of vast and noble designs; and for that reason, when such a providential concurrence of circumstances does occur, history is prompt to record the name of the chosen one, and to hold him up to the admiration of posterity. But when Satan interposes in human affairs to cast a shadow upon some happy existence, or to overthrow a kingdom, it seldom happens that he does not find at his side some miserable tool, in whose ear he has but to whisper a word to set him at once about his task.

在恰当的时刻，能有一个伟大的人来领导执行这些宏伟高尚的计划，这是非常难得的。因此，一旦有这样机缘巧合的事出现，历史会立刻铭记这位上帝选民的姓名，并让他名垂青史，受到子孙的景仰。可是，当撒旦要想介入世事，给某人幸福的生活投下阴影，或是推翻一个王朝时，他几乎总能在自己身边找到某个卑劣的帮手，他只需在那人耳边低语几句，就能让他立即开始执行任务。

The wretched tool who was at hand to be the agent of this dastardly plot was one Tyckelaer whom we have already mentioned, a surgeon by profession.

手头这个无耻的工具，也就是这次卑鄙阴谋的代理人，就是我们前面已经提过的那个叫第克莱尔的外科医生。

He lodged an information against Cornelius de Witt, setting forth that the warden—who, as he had shown by the letters added to his signature, was fuming at the repeal of the Perpetual Edict—had, from hatred against William of Orange, hired an assassin to deliver the new Republic of its new Stadtholder; and he, Tyckelaer was the person thus chosen; but that, horrified at the bare idea of the act which he was asked to perpetrate, he had preferred rather to reveal the crime than to commit it.

他向有关当局揭发科尔内留斯·德维特，他信口雌黄地说视察官签名后加的两个字母表明，他对撤销《永久法令》极为恼火。因此，出于对奥兰治亲王威廉的仇恨，他雇了一个杀手准备行刺新共和国的新总督。而他，第克莱尔就是被选中的杀手，可是一想到人家要他干这种勾当，他就毛骨悚然，所以他情愿揭发此罪行，也不愿明知故犯。

This disclosure was, indeed, well calculated to call forth a furious outbreak among the Orange faction. The Attorney General caused, on the 16th of August, 1672, Cornelius de Witt to be arrested; and the noble brother of John de Witt had, like the vilest criminal, to undergo, in one of the apartments of the town prison, the preparatory degrees of torture, by means of which his judges expected to force from him the confession of his alleged plot against William of Orange.

这一消息的披露，确实在奥兰治派间掀起了狂风骤雨。一六七二年八月十六日，首席监察官派人逮捕了科尔内留斯·德维特。于是约翰·德维特的这位贵族兄弟，像最恶劣的罪犯一样，被关进了城里监狱的一间牢房里，将被施以酷刑，那些法官们希望以此让他对自己谋害奥兰治亲王威廉的阴谋供认不讳。

But Cornelius was not only possessed of a great mind, but also of a great heart. He belonged to that race of martyrs who, indissolubly wedded to their political convictions as their ancestors were to their faith, are able to smile on pain: while being stretched on the rack, he recited with a firm voice, and scanning the lines according to measure, the first strophe of the "Justum ac tenacem" of Horace, and, making no confession, tired not only the strength, but even the fanaticism, of his executioners.

然而，科尔内留斯不仅有大智，而且有大勇。他属于那种宁死不屈的先烈，像先辈们坚守信仰那样固守着他们的政治理念，并能够笑对苦难：当他被绑在受刑架上时，他还用决绝的声音按照韵律节奏背诵着贺拉斯的诗歌《正直而意志坚定的人》的第一节。他什么都不招认，这不仅让他的行刑人精疲力竭，也打消了他们的痴心妄想。

The judges, notwithstanding, acquitted Tyckelaer from every charge; at the same time sentencing Cornelius to be deposed from all his offices and dignities; to pay all the costs of the trial; and to be banished from the soil of the Republic for ever.

尽管如此，法官还是宣判第克莱尔无罪，与此同时判决科尔内留斯免除一切职务及爵位，承担全部诉讼费用，并被永远驱逐出共和国国境。

This judgment against not only an innocent, but also a great man, was indeed some gratification to the passions of the people, to whose interests Cornelius de Witt had always devoted himself: but, as we shall soon see, it was not enough.

对一个清白无辜的公民作出这样的判决确实使民众的激昂情绪得到了满足，然而这些人的利益却是伟大的科尔内留斯·德维特终身奋斗的目标。我们马上会看到，事情远不止如此。

The Athenians, who indeed have left behind them a pretty tolerable reputation for ingratitude, have in this respect to yield precedence to the Dutch. They, at least in the case of Aristides, contented themselves with banishing him.

雅典人因忘恩负义而声名狼藉，但在这一点上，荷兰人比他们更胜一筹。至少，雅典人只把阿里斯蒂德驱逐出去就满足了。

John de Witt, at the first intimation of the charge brought against his brother, had resigned his office of Grand Pensionary. He too received a noble recompense for his devotedness to the best interests of his country, taking with him into the retirement of private life the hatred of a host of enemies, and the fresh scars of wounds inflicted by assassins, only too often the sole guerdon obtained by honest people, who are guilty of having worked for their country, and of having forgotten their own private interests.

一听到自己的哥哥被指控，约翰·德维特就辞去了议长的职位。他也因为尽心于祖国的利益而获得了丰厚的回报，带着众多敌人的仇恨和暗杀者留下的新伤疤归隐。而这通常就是那些为祖国效力而忘了自己利益的老实人的唯一奖赏。

In the meanwhile William of Orange urged on the course of events by every means in his power, eagerly waiting for the time when the people, by whom he was idolised, should have made of the bodies of the brothers the two steps over which he might ascend to the chair of Stadtholder.

与此同时，奥兰治亲王威廉在职权范围内使尽浑身解数推进事情发展，迫切地等待着时机。他期待着对他顶礼膜拜的民众能够用这两兄弟的身躯铺就他登上总督宝座的台阶。

Thus, then, on the 20th of August, 1672, as we have already stated in the beginning of this chapter, the whole town was crowding towards the Buytenhof, to witness the departure of Cornelius de Witt from prison, as he was going to exile; and to see what traces the torture of the rack had left on the noble frame of the man who knew his Horace so well.

因此，一六七二年八月二十日，如本章开头所描述的那样，全城的人都涌向布伊坦霍夫，他们要亲眼目睹科尔内留斯·德维特离狱被流放，要看看酷刑在这位熟谙贺拉斯的贵族身上留下了怎样的痕迹。

Yet all this multitude was not crowding to the Buytenhof with the innocent view of merely feasting their eyes with the spectacle; there were many who went there to play an active part in it, and to take upon themselves an office which they conceived had been badly filled,—that of the executioner.

然而不是所有涌向布伊坦霍夫的人单纯只是为了看看热闹，当中不少人极为活跃，他们想替那些他们认为失职的人履行职责——也就是行刑人的职责。

There were, indeed, others with less hostile intentions. All that they cared for was the spectacle, always so attractive to the mob, whose instinctive pride is flattered by it,—the sight of greatness hurled down into the dust.

当然，也有那么一些人是没什么敌意的。他们只关心场面是否宏大，这对民众来说是一贯都有吸引力的，看着曾经的大人物趴在尘土里，他们本能的自豪感得到了满足。

Has not," they would say, "this Cornelius de Witt been locked up and broken by the rack? Shall we not see him pale, streaming with blood, covered with shame?" And was not this a sweet triumph for the burghers of the Hague, whose envy even beat that of the common rabble; a triumph in which every honest citizen and townsman might be expected to share?

他们会说“这个科尔内留斯·德维特不是锒铛入狱，被酷刑折磨垮了吗？我们应该会看到他虚弱苍白、鲜血淋淋、满面羞愧吧？”这对海牙市民来说难道不是一次辉煌的胜利吗？要知道他们的忌妒心比一般民众更甚，恐怕每一个老实巴交的市民都期待着分享这一胜利吧？

Moreover," hinted the Orange agitators interspersed through the crowd, whom they hoped to manage like a sharp-edged and at the same time crushing instrument,—"moreover, will there not, from the Buytenhof to the gate of the town, a nice little opportunity present itself to throw some handfuls of dirt, or a few stones, at this Cornelius de Witt, who not only conferred the dignity of Stadtholder on the Prince of Orange merely vi coactus, but who also intended to have him assassinated?"

“另外，”那些混迹在人群中的奥兰治派的煽动者暗示着，“另外，在从布伊坦霍夫到城门口的这段路上，难道就没有朝科尔内留斯·德维特扔几把沙土或几个石子儿的好机会吗？他在被暴力所迫的情况下才授权给奥兰治亲王当总督，还打算派人暗杀他呢。”他们希望以此来操纵群众，就像掌控一件既锋利又夯实的器具一样。

Besides which," the fierce enemies of France chimed in, "if the work were done well and bravely at the Hague, Cornelius would certainly not be allowed to go into exile, where he will renew his intrigues with France, and live with his big scoundrel of a brother, John, on the gold of the Marquis de Louvois."

那些极端仇视法国的人也附和道，“那还用说，如果这事真在海牙办成了并且办得漂亮的话，科尔内留斯·德维特根本就不该被流放，一旦流放出去，他就会重新与法国勾结，跟他的无赖弟弟约翰靠着德卢瓦侯爵的接济过日子。”

Being in such a temper, people generally will run rather than walk; which was the reason why the inhabitants of the Hague were hurrying so fast towards the Buytenhof.

在这样的心情下，人们自然不会慢慢走，而是疾步跑了，这正是海牙居民急匆匆地赶往布伊坦霍夫的原因。

Honest Tyckelaer, with a heart full of spite and malice, and with no particular plan settled in his mind, was one of the foremost, being paraded about by the Orange party like a hero of probity, national honour, and Christian charity.

正直的第克莱尔就是跑得最匆忙的一个，这家伙一肚子坏主意，却没盘算好具体该干啥，奥兰治党人簇拥着他前行，就像拥戴一个诚实正直、具有民族荣誉感和基督徒博爱精神的英雄那样。

This daring miscreant detailed, with all the embellishments and flourishes suggested by his base mind and his ruffianly imagination, the attempts which he pretended Cornelius de Witt had made to corrupt him; the sums of money which were promised, and all the diabolical stratagems planned beforehand to smooth for him, Tyckelaer, all the difficulties in the path of murder.

这个无耻之徒运用他卑劣的聪明才智和想象力，添枝加叶地描述着当初科尔内留斯·德维特如何收买他，贿赂他的金额有多少，以及为他第克莱尔谋杀亲王扫除障碍而事先设下的所有阴谋诡计。

And every phase of his speech, eagerly listened to by the populace, called forth enthusiastic cheers for the Prince of Orange, and groans and imprecations of blind fury against the brothers De Witt.

百姓们热切地听着他的演讲，他的每一句话都激起民众拥护奥兰治亲王的热情欢呼和盲目憎恨德维特兄弟的不满和诅咒。

The mob even began to vent its rage by inveighing against the iniquitous judges, who had allowed such a detestable criminal as the villain Cornelius to get off so cheaply.

民众甚至开始把怒气撒到法官身上，他们痛骂法官不公平，让坏人科尔内留斯这样一个恶贯满盈的罪犯就这么走了，太便宜他了。

Some of the agitators whispered, "He will be off, he will escape from us!"

一些煽动者窃窃私语道：“他会走的，他会从我们手里逃走的！”

Others replied, "A vessel is waiting for him at Schevening, a French craft. Tyckelaer has seen her."

又有人接过话说：“一艘船在什文宁根等着他咧，一艘法国船。第克莱尔还看见那船了。”

Honest Tyckelaer! Hurrah for Tyckelaer!" the mob cried in chorus.

“正直的第克莱尔！第克莱尔，好样的！”民众齐声喊道。

And let us not forget," a voice exclaimed from the crowd, "that at the same time with Cornelius his brother John, who is as rascally a traitor as himself, will likewise make his escape."

“我们别忘了，”人群里一个声音喊道，“同时和科尔内留斯一块儿逃走的还有他的兄弟约翰，这两个无耻的卖国贼。”

And the two rogues will in France make merry with our money, with the money for our vessels, our arsenals, and our dockyards, which they have sold to Louis XIV."

“这两个混蛋在法国会花我们的钱寻欢作乐，他们是把我们的船、兵工厂和造船厂卖给了路易十四换来的钱。”

Well, then, don't let us allow them to depart!" advised one of the patriots who had gained the start of the others.

“那咱们就别让他们走！”一个比其他人更激动的爱国者建议道。

Forward to the prison, to the prison!" echoed the crowd.

“上监狱去，去监狱！”人群重复道。

Amid these cries, the citizens ran along faster and faster, cocking their muskets, brandishing their hatchets, and looking death and defiance in all directions.

叫喊声中，市民从四面八方汇集，越跑越快，架着火枪，挥舞着斧头，一副天不怕地不怕的模样。

No violence, however, had as yet been committed; and the file of horsemen who were guarding the approaches of the Buytenhof remained cool, unmoved, silent, much more threatening in their impassibility than all this crowd of burghers, with their cries, their agitation, and their threats. The men on their horses, indeed, stood like so many statues, under the eye of their chief, Count Tilly, the captain of the mounted troops of the Hague, who had his sword drawn, but held it with its point downwards, in a line with the straps of his stirrup.

然而，目前尚未引发任何暴力事件，一列骑兵按兵不动，沉着冷静地守护着布伊坦霍夫的入口，他们的镇静比民众的叫嚷、煽动和威胁更有威慑力。马背上的士兵们在他们长官的注视下如雕塑般纹丝不动，这个海牙骑兵队队长蒂莉伯爵拔剑出鞘，却剑锋朝下，抵着马镫。

This troop, the only defence of the prison, overawed by its firm attitude not only the disorderly riotous mass of the populace, but also the detachment of the burgher guard, which, being placed opposite the Buytenhof to support the soldiers in keeping order, gave to the rioters the example of seditious cries, shouting,—

不仅乱哄哄的暴民被这支部队——监狱唯一的防御力量——给震住了，它的那种镇静把派遣到监狱对面帮助士兵维持秩序的民兵护卫队都慑服了，他们继而带领着那群暴民煽动性地呼喊：

Hurrah for Orange! Down with the traitors!"

“奥兰治万岁！打倒卖国贼！”

The presence of Tilly and his horsemen, indeed, exercised a salutary check on these civic warriors; but by degrees they waxed more and more angry by their own shouts, and as they were not able to understand how any one could have courage without showing it by cries, they attributed the silence of the dragoons to pusillanimity, and advanced one step towards the prison, with all the turbulent mob following in their wake.

蒂莉和他的骑兵在场有益于抑制那些民兵的情绪，但那些民兵却逐渐在自己的叫喊声中变得越来越愤怒，因为他们没法理解一个人如果不喊不叫怎么彰显自己的勇气，他们认为骑兵沉默是懦弱的表现，于是他们领着骚乱的人群向监狱逼近了一步。

In this moment, Count Tilly rode forth towards them single-handed, merely lifting his sword and contracting his brow whilst he addressed them:—

这时，蒂莉伯爵单枪匹马地迎向人群，他举起剑，紧锁眉头，问道：

Well, gentlemen of the burgher guard, what are you advancing for, and what do you wish?"

“那么，民兵护卫队的先生们，你们冲上前是为了什么，你们想要什么？”

The burghers shook their muskets, repeating their cry,—

市民们挥着他们的火枪，重复着他们的口号：

Hurrah for Orange! Death to the traitors!"

“奥兰治万岁！处死卖国贼！”

"'Hurrah for Orange!' all well and good!" replied Tilly, "although I certainly am more partial to happy faces than to gloomy ones. 'Death to the traitors!' as much of it as you like, as long as you show your wishes only by cries. But, as to putting them to death in good earnest, I am here to prevent that, and I shall prevent it."

“‘奥兰治万岁！’，这没错！”蒂莉回答道，“大家开心当然好了，我可不想看到有人哭丧着脸。‘处死卖国贼！’，如果你们喊这口号只是想表达你们的愿望，那就随你们喊吧。但是如果你们真的要杀死他们，我会阻止你们的，我一定会阻止的。”

Then, turning round to his men, he gave the word of command,—

他说罢，回过头去，对手下的士兵下达了命令：

Soldiers, ready!"

“弟兄们，准备射击！”

The troopers obeyed orders with a precision which immediately caused the burgher guard and the people to fall back, in a degree of confusion which excited the smile of the cavalry officer.

骑兵们精准地执行命令，吓得民兵护卫队和群众立刻慌乱地向后退，看到这一幕，骑兵长官的嘴角浮现了微笑。

Holloa!" he exclaimed, with that bantering tone which is peculiar to men of his profession; "be easy, gentlemen, my soldiers will not fire a shot; but, on the other hand, you will not advance by one step towards the prison."

“听着！”他用他那一行人特有的嘲弄语气喊道，“先生们，放轻松些，我的士兵们不会开枪的，但是，你们也甭想向监狱踏近一步。”

And do you know, sir, that we have muskets?" roared the commandant of the burghers.

“先生，你可知道我们是有火枪的！”民兵护卫队的指挥官不满地喊道。

I must know it, by Jove, you have made them glitter enough before my eyes; but I beg you to observe also that we on our side have pistols, that the pistol carries admirably to a distance of fifty yards, and that you are only twenty-five from us."

“我当然知道了，你们拿着枪在我眼前晃得够多了。不过拜托你们瞧仔细了，我们这边使的可是手枪，手枪的射程可是惊人的五十码，你们离我们却只有二十五码。”

Death to the traitors!" cried the exasperated burghers.

“处死卖国贼！”被激怒的市民喊道。

Go along with you," growled the officer, "you always cry the same thing over again. It is very tiresome."

“得了吧，”军官咆哮道，“喊来喊去总是那一套。真烦人。”

With this, he took his post at the head of his troops, whilst the tumult grew fiercer and fiercer about the Buytenhof.

说着，他归位回到队伍前面，布伊坦霍夫周围越来越混乱。

And yet the fuming crowd did not know that, at that very moment when they were tracking the scent of one of their victims, the other, as if hurrying to meet his fate, passed, at a distance of not more than a hundred yards, behind the groups of people and the dragoons, to betake himself to the Buytenhof.

然而，愤怒的群众不知道，就在他们嗅着其中一只猎物的气息赶到监狱的时候，另一只猎物在人群和骑兵身后不到一百码远的地方经过，来到了布伊坦霍夫监狱，像是迫不及待地要自投罗网。

John de Witt, indeed, had alighted from his coach with his servant, and quietly walked across the courtyard of the prison.

事实上约翰·德维特已经带着他的随从下了马车，悄悄穿过了监狱的庭院。

Mentioning his name to the turnkey, who however knew him, he said,—

虽然监狱看守认识他，他还是通报了自己的身份，他说：

Good morning, Gryphus; I am coming to take away my brother, who, as you know, is condemned to exile, and to carry him out of the town."

“早上好，格里弗斯。我是来接我哥哥的，你知道的，他被流放了，我来把他带出城。”

Whereupon the jailer, a sort of bear, trained to lock and unlock the gates of the prison, had greeted him and admitted him into the building, the doors of which were immediately closed again.

于是，看守跟约翰打了声招呼便让他进去了，随手又把门锁上，他就像马戏团的熊，是被训练来开关监狱大门的。

Ten yards farther on, John de Witt met a lovely young girl, of about seventeen or eighteen, dressed in the national costume of the Frisian women, who, with pretty demureness, dropped a courtesy to him. Chucking her under the chin, he said to her,—

朝前走了十码，约翰·德维特碰见一个年轻漂亮的姑娘，十七八岁的样子，穿着弗里斯兰妇女的民族服饰，端庄地行了一个屈膝礼。他抚弄着她的下巴，对她说：

Good morning, my good and fair Rosa; how is my brother?"

“早上好，我美丽的好罗莎，我哥哥好吗？”

Oh, Mynheer John!" the young girl replied, "I am not afraid of the harm which has been done to him. That's all over now."

“啊，约翰先生，”姑娘答道，“我倒不担心他已经遭受的伤害。这一切现在都结束了。”

But what is it you are afraid of?"

“那你担心什么呢？”

I am afraid of the harm which they are going to do to him."

“我担心他们即将给他的伤害。”

Oh, yes," said De Witt, "you mean to speak of the people down below, don't you?"

“是啊，”德维特说，“你指下面那群人，对吧？”

Do you hear them?"

“你听见他们的话了吗？”

They are indeed in a state of great excitement; but when they see us perhaps they will grow calmer, as we have never done them anything but good."

“他们现在是很激动，不过，他们看见我们时也许会平静些，毕竟我们为他们办的都是好事。”

That's unfortunately no reason, except for the contrary," muttered the girl, as, on an imperative sign from her father, she withdrew.

“遗憾的是，这不是理由，事实恰好相反。”姑娘低声说，看见她父亲的命令手势，她走开了。

Indeed, child, what you say is only too true."

“是的，孩子，你说得挺对。”

Then, in pursuing his way, he said to himself,—

随后，他边走边自言自语：

Here is a damsel who very likely does not know how to read, who consequently has never read anything, and yet with one word she has just told the whole history of the world."

“这个小姑娘很可能不识字，因此她肯定也没读过书，但她却用一句话概括了世界的整个历史。”

And with the same calm mien, but more melancholy than he had been on entering the prison, the Grand Pensionary proceeded towards the cell of his brother.

同刚刚踏进监狱的那一刻一样，前议长约翰还是那么镇定自若，只是脸上多了些忧伤；他径直朝他哥哥的牢房走去。 rvTAG7iBj8AKcqfjYSBLbfDEup8iJTai46nS4K2Ub0eriAWTCZPZvEgFdmr0TEFG