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“A nswer me, without lying, if you can, you miserable bookworm ; how do you come to know Madame de Renal? When have you spoken to her?”
“I have never spoken to her,” replied Julien, “I have never seen the lady except in church.”
“There is something behind this, all the same,” replied the suspicious peasant, “The fact is, I'm going to be rid of you, and my wood-cutting mill will run all the better without you. You have made a friend of the priest or someone, and he's got you a fine job. Go and pack, and I'll take you to Mr. de Renal's where you're to be tutor to the children.”
“I do not wish to be a servant.”
“Animal, who ever spoke of your being a servant? Would I allow my son to be a servant?”
“But, with whom shall I have my meals?”
This question left old Sorel at a loss; he felt that if he spoke he might be guilty of some imprudence ; he flew into a rage with Julien, upon whom he showered abuse, accusing him of greed ,and left him to go and consult his other sons.
Presently Julien thought to himself, “I must give up all that, rather than let myself be brought down to feeding with the servants. My father will try to force me; I would sooner die. I have saved fifteen francs. I shall run away tonight; in two days,by keeping to side-roads where I need not fear the police, I can enlist as a soldier, and, if necessary, cross the border into Switzerland. But then, good-bye to everything, good-bye to that fine priestly profession which is a stepping-stone to everything.”
With his fiery nature, Julien had one of those astonishing memories so often found in foolish people. To win over the old priest Chelan, upon whom he saw quite clearly that his own future depended, he had learned by heart the entire Bible in Latin.
Early on the following day, Mr. de Renal sent for old Sorel,who, after keeping him waiting for an hour or two, finally appeared. Sorel succeeded in gathering that his son was to take his meals with the master and mistress of the house, and on days when they had company in a room by himself with the children. He at once asked with assurance to see the coat which would be given to his son. Mr. de Renal opened his desk and took out a hundred francs.
“With this money, your son can go to Mr. Durand, the tailor, and get himself a suit of black.”
“Very well” said Sorel. “Then there's only one thing for us still to settle, the money you're to give him?”
“What!” Mr. de Renal indignantly exclaimed, “we agreed upon that yesterday: I give three hundred francs; I consider that plenty, if not too much.”
“That was your offer, I do not deny it,” said old Sorel. Then looking Mr. de Renal steadily in the face, “We can do better elsewhere.”
At these words, the Mayor was thrown into confusion. He recovered himself, however and after a conversation lasting fully two hours, Julien's new existence was finally settled; not only was his salary fixed at four hundred francs, but it was to be paid in advance on the first day of each month.
In the end, seeing that there was nothing more to be gained, Sorel withdrew. His final words being “I shall send my son up to the house.”
Returning to his mill, Sorel looked in vain for his son.Doubtful as to what might be in store for him, Julien had left home in the dead of night. He had been anxious to find a safe hiding-place for his books. He had removed the whole of his treasures to the house of a young timber-merchant, a friend of his, by the name of Fouque, who lived on the side of the high mountain overlooking Verrieres.
When he reappeared , “Pack up your rubbish, and off with you to the Mayor's,” his father yelled.
Julien, astonished not to receive a beating, made haste to set off. But no sooner was he out of sight of his terrible father than he slackened his pace. He decided that it would serve the ends of his insincerity to pay a visit to the church.
All his life, Julien had wanted to be a soldier. Napoleon Bonaparte was his absolute hero. As a youth, he used to watch with amazement as the French soldiers walked wearily past,returning from Italy. He used to listen closely to the stories of historic battles when recounted by the Surgeon-Major. He held the highest degree of respect for the old man, for he bore a military medal for his services.
Then a church was built in town, which raised up a great fight between the local priest and the local judge. Eventually,out of anger and frustration, the judge began to punish people unnecessarily for small, insignif cant crimes. One of these people was the Surgeon-Major. He made the mistake of crying out against the judge and soon he was dead. In his will he left all of his books and his military medal to Julien.
All at once, Julien ceased to speak of Napoleon, whose name was quite dangerous to speak, announced his intention of becoming a priest, and was constantly to be seen, in his father's mill, engaged in learning by heart a Latin Bible which the priest had lent him. The good old man, amazed at his progress,devoted whole evenings to instructing him in religion. Who could have supposed that that girlish face of Julien's, so pale and gentle, hid the unshakeable determination to expose himself to the risk of a thousand deaths rather than fail to make his fortune?
To Julien, making a fortune meant, in the first place,leaving Verrieres; he hated his native place. From his earliest boyhood , he dreamed that one day he would be introduced to the beautiful ladies of Paris; he would manage to attract their attention by some brilliant action. For many years now, perhaps not an hour of Julien's life had passed without his reminding himself that Bonaparte, an obscure with no fortune, had made himself master of the world with his sword.
The building of the church and the sentences passed by the Justice brought Julien sudden enlightenment; an idea which occurred to him drove him almost out of his senses for some weeks. “The days of military might and respect are gone.Priests in these times make more than the average military man. I must become a priest.”
As he was entering the magnificent church of Verrieres, he found it dark and deserted. Being alone in the church, he took his seat on the bench. On the desk in front, Julien observed a scrap of printed paper, spread out there as though to be read.He looked at it closely and saw:
“Details of the execution and of the last moments of Louis Jenrel, executed at Besancon, on the...”
The paper was torn. On the other side he read the opening words of a line, which were “The first step.”
“Who can have put this paper here?” said Julien. “Poor man!” He added with a sigh, “his name has the same ending as mine.” And he crumpled up the paper.
On his way out, Julien thought he saw blood by the holy water bowl; it was some of the water that had been spilt: the light from the red curtains which hung over the windows made it appear like blood.
He was nervous about going to the Renal's, and felt ashamed of his secret terror. “Should I prove coward ?” he said to himself. “To arms!” He rose and walked rapidly to Mr. de Renal's house.
Despite these brave resolutions, as soon as he caught sight of the house twenty yards away, he was overcome by an unconquerable shyness.
Julien was not the only person whose heart was troubled by his arrival in this household. Madame de Renal's extreme timidity was upset by the idea of this stranger who, in the performance of his duty, would be constantly coming between her and her children.
bookworm /ˈbʊkwɜ:m/ n. 书呆子；蛀书虫
suspicious /səsˈpɪʃəs/ adj. 可疑的，怀疑的
imprudence /ɪmˈpru:dəns/ n. 轻率，鲁莽；轻率行为
greed /ɡri:d/ n. 贪欲，贪婪
enlist /ɪnˈlɪst/ vi. 入伍；征募
priestly /ˈpri:stlɪ/ adj. 神职人员的
fi ery /ˈfaɪərɪ/ adj. 暴躁的；炽热的；热烈的
assurance /əˈʃʊərəns/ n. 确信，断言；保证，担保
indignantly /ɪnˈdɪɡnəntlɪ/ adv. 愤怒地
reappear /ˌri:əˈpɪə/ vi. 再出现
slacken /ˈslækən/ vt. 放慢，减缓
insincerity /ˌɪnsɪnˈserətɪ/ n. 伪善，不真诚，无诚意
wearily /ˈwɪərɪlɪ/ adv. 疲倦地；无聊地
recount /rɪˈkaʊnt/ vt. 详细讲，叙述，描述
unnecessarily / ˌ ʌnnesəsərɪ ˈ l ɪ / a dv. 不必要地；未必
insignif cant / ˌ ɪnsɪɡnɪ ˈ f ɪ k ə n t / a dj. 无关紧要的；可忽略的；无意义的
girlish /ˈɡɜ:lɪʃ/ adj. 少女的，像女孩子的
unshakeable /ˌʌnˈʃeɪkəbl/ adj. 不可动摇的，坚定不移的
boyhood /ˈbɔɪhʊd/ n. 少年时代
obscure / ɒ b ˈ s k j ʊ ə / a dj. 鲜为人知的；黑暗的；朦胧的；不引人注目的
crumple /ˈkrʌmpl/ vi. 压皱，弄皱
coward /ˈkaʊəd/ n. 懦夫，胆小鬼
unconquerable / ʌ n ˈkɒŋkərəbl/ a dj. 不可征服的，克服不了的，压制不了的
timidity /tɪˈmɪdətɪ/ n. 胆怯