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雨果 悲惨世界 英文版2-第17章

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   '18' Chicken:
  slang allusion to the noise made in calling poultry。
   Bestow on an individual the useless and deprive him of the necessary; and you have the gamin。
  The gamin is not devoid of literary intuition。
  His tendency; and we say it with the proper amount of regret; would not constitute classic taste。
  He is not very academic by nature。
  Thus; to give an example; the popularity of Mademoiselle Mars among that little audience of stormy children was seasoned with a touch of irony。 The gamin called her Mademoiselle Muche〃hide yourself。〃
  This being bawls and scoffs and ridicules and fights; has rags like a baby and tatters like a philosopher; fishes in the sewer; hunts in the cesspool; extracts mirth from foulness; whips up the squares with his wit; grins and bites; whistles and sings; shouts; and shrieks; tempers Alleluia with Matantur…lurette; chants every rhythm from the De Profundis to the Jack…pudding; finds without seeking; knows what he is ignorant of; is a Spartan to the point of thieving; is mad to wisdom; is lyrical to filth; would crouch down on Olympus; wallows in the dunghill and emerges from it covered with stars。 The gamin of Paris is Rabelais in this youth。
  He is not content with his trousers unless they have a watch…pocket。
  He is not easily astonished; he is still less easily terrified; he makes songs on superstitions; he takes the wind out of exaggerations; he twits mysteries; he thrusts out his tongue at ghosts; he takes the poetry out of stilted things; he introduces caricature into epic extravaganzas。
  It is not that he is prosaic; far from that; but he replaces the solemn vision by the farcical phantasmagoria。 If Adamastor were to appear to him; the street Arab would say: 〃Hi there!
  The bugaboo!〃


BOOK FIRST。PARIS STUDIED IN ITS ATOM
CHAPTER IV 
  HE MAY BE OF USE
   Paris begins with the lounger and ends with the street Arab; two beings of which no other city is capable; the passive acceptance; which contents itself with gazing; and the inexhaustible initiative; Prudhomme and Fouillou。
  Paris alone has this in its natural history。 The whole of the monarchy is contained in the lounger; the whole of anarchy in the gamin。
  This pale child of the Parisian faubourgs lives and develops; makes connections; 〃grows supple〃 in suffering; in the presence of social realities and of human things; a thoughtful witness。 He thinks himself heedless; and he is not。
  He looks and is on the verge of laughter; he is on the verge of something else also。 Whoever you may be; if your name is Prejudice; Abuse; Ignorance; Oppression; Iniquity; Despotism; Injustice; Fanaticism; Tyranny; beware of the gaping gamin。
  The little fellow will grow up。
  Of what clay is he made?
  Of the first mud that es to hand。 A handful of dirt; a breath; and behold Adam。
  It suffices for a God to pass by。
  A God has always passed over the street Arab。 Fortune labors at this tiny being。
  By the word 〃fortune〃 we mean chance; to some extent。
  That pigmy kneaded out of mon earth; ignorant; unlettered; giddy; vulgar; low。
  Will that bee an Ionian or a Boeotian?
  Wait; currit rota; the Spirit of Paris; that demon which creates the children of chance and the men of destiny; reversing the process of the Latin potter; makes of a jug an amphora。


BOOK FIRST。PARIS STUDIED IN ITS ATOM
CHAPTER V 
  HIS FRONTIERS
   The gamin loves the city; he also loves solitude; since he has something of the sage in him。
  Urbis amator; like Fuscus; ruris amator; like Flaccus。
  To roam thoughtfully about; that is to say; to lounge; is a fine employment of time in the eyes of the philosopher; particularly in that rather illegitimate species of campaign; which is tolerably ugly but odd and posed of two natures; which surrounds certain great cities; notably Paris。
  To study the suburbs is to study the amphibious animal。
  End of the trees; beginning of the roofs; end of the grass; beginning of the pavements; end of the furrows; beginning of the shops; end of the wheel…ruts; beginning of the passions; end of the divine murmur; beginning of the human uproar; hence an extraordinary interest。
  Hence; in these not very attractive places; indelibly stamped by the passing stroller with the epithet:
  melancholy; the apparently objectless promenades of the dreamer。
  He who writes these lines has long been a prowler about the barriers of Paris; and it is for him a source of profound souvenirs。 That close…shaven turf; those pebbly paths; that chalk; those pools; those harsh monotonies of waste and fallow lands; the plants of early market…garden suddenly springing into sight in a bottom; that mixture of the savage and the citizen; those vast desert nooks where the garrison drums practise noisily; and produce a sort of lisping of battle; those hermits by day and cut…throats by night; that clumsy mill which turns in the wind; the hoisting…wheels of the quarries; the tea…gardens at the corners of the cemeteries; the mysterious charm of great; sombre walls squarely intersecting immense; vague stretches of land inundated with sunshine and full of butterflies;all this attracted him。
  There is hardly any one on earth who is not acquainted with those singular spots; the Glaciere; the Cunette; the hideous wall of Grenelle all speckled with balls; Mont…Parnasse; the Fosse…aux…Loups; Aubiers on the bank of the Marne; Mont…Souris; the Tombe…Issoire; the Pierre…Plate de Chatillon; where there is an old; exhausted quarry which no longer serves any purpose except to raise mushrooms; and which is closed; on a level with the ground; by a trap…door of rotten planks。 The campagna of Rome is one idea; the banlieue of Paris is another; to behold nothing but fields; houses; or trees in what a stretch of country offers us; is to remain on the surface; all aspects of things are thoughts of God。
  The spot where a plain effects its junction with a city is always stamped with a certain piercing melancholy。 Nature and humanity both appeal to you at the same time there。 Local originalities there make their appearance。
  Any one who; like ourselves; has wandered about in these solitudes contiguous to our faubourgs; which may be designated as the limbos of Paris; has seen here and there; in the most desert spot; at the most unexpected moment; behind a meagre hedge; or in the corner of a lugubrious wall; children grouped tumultuously; fetid; muddy; dusty; ragged; dishevelled; playing hide…and…seek; and crowned with corn…flowers。 All of them are little ones who have made their escape from poor families。
  The outer boulevard is their breathing space; the suburbs belong to them。
  There they are eternally playing truant。 There they innocently sing their repertory of dirty songs。 There they are; or rather; there they exist; far from every eye; in the sweet light of May or June; kneeling round a hole in the ground; snapping marbles with their thumbs; quarrelling over half…farthings; irresponsible; volatile; free and happy; and; no sooner do they catch sight of you than they recollect that they have an industry; and that they must earn their living; and they offer t
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