登陆注册
16285200000117

第117章 BOOK Ⅷ(3)

But M re Philippe Lheulier again interposed.'I would remind you,gentlemen,that in the deposition taken down at his beside the murdered officer,while stating that a vague suspicion had crossed his mind at the instant when the black man accosted him,that it might be the spectre-monk,added,that the phantom had eagerly urged him to go and meet the accused,and on his(the captain's)observing that he was without money,had given him the crown which the said officer paid to La Falourdel.Thus the crown is a coin of hell.'

This conclusive observation appeared to dissipate all doubts entertained by Gringoire or any other sceptics among the listeners.

'Gentlemen,you have the documents in hand,'added the advocate as he seated himself,'you can consult the deposition of P us de Chateaupers.'

At this name the accused started up.Her head was now above the crowd.Gringoire,aghast,recognised Esmeralda.

She was deadly pale;her hair,once so charmingly braided and spangled with sequins,fell about her in disorder;her lips were blue,her sunken eyes horrifying.Alas!

'P us!'she cried distraught,'where is he?Oh,my lords,before you kill me,in mercy tell me if he yet lives!'

'Silence,woman!'answered the President;'that is not our concern.'

'Oh,in pity,tell me if he lives!'she cried again,clasping her beautiful wasted hands;and her chains clanked as she moved.

'Well,then,'said the King's advocate dryly,'he is at the point of death.Does that satisfy you?'

The wretched girl fell back in her seat,speechless,tearless,white as a waxen image.

The President leaned down to a man at his feet who wore a gilded cap and a black gown,a chain round his neck,and a wand in his hand.

'Usher,bring in the second accused.'

All eyes were turned towards a little door which opened,and to Gringoire's great trepidation gave entrance to a pretty little goat with gilded horns and hoofs.The graceful creature stood a moment on the threshold stretching her neck exactly as if,poised on the summit of a rock,she had a vast expanse before her eyes.Suddenly she caught sight of the gipsy girl,and leaping over the table and the head of the clerk in two bounds,she was at her mistress's knee.She then crouched at Esmeralda's feet,begging for a word or a caress;but the prisoner remained motionless,even little Djali could not win a glance from her.

'Why—'tis my ugly brute,'said old Falourdel,'and now I recognise them both perfectly!'

'An it please you,gentlemen,we will proceed to the interrogation of the goat.'

This,in effect,was the second criminal.Nothing was more common in those days than a charge of witchcraft against an animal.For instance,in the Provostry account for 1466 there is a curious specification of the expenses of the action against Gillet Soulart and his sow,'executed for their demerits'at Corbeil.Everything is detailed—the cost of the pit to put the sow into;the five hundred bundles of wood from the wharf of Morsant;the three pints of wine and the bread,the victims'last meal,fraternally shared by the executioner;and even the eleven days'custody and keep of the sow at eight deniers parisis per day.At times they went beyond animals.The capitularies of Charlemagne and Louis le Debonnaire impose severe penalties on fiery phantoms who had the assurance to appear in the air.

Meanwhile the procurator of the Ecclesiastical Court exclaimed,'If the demon that possesses this goat,and which has resisted every exorcism,persist in his sorceries,if he terrify the court thereby,we forewarn him that we shall be constrained to proceed against him with the gibbet or the stake.'

Gringoire broke out in a cold sweat.

Charmolue then took from the table the gipsy's tambourine,and presenting it in a certain manner to the goat,he asked:'What is the time of day?'

The goat regarded him with a sagacious eye,lifted her gilded hoof,and struck seven strokes.It was in truth seven o'clock.A thrill of horror ran through the crowd.

Gringoire could contain himself no longer.'She will be her own ruin!'he exclaimed aloud.'You can see for yourself she has no knowledge of what she is doing.'

'Silence down there!'cried the usher sharply.

Jacques Charmolue,by means of the same ma vrings with the tambourine,made the goat perform several other tricks in connection with the date of the day,the month of the year,etc.,which the reader has already witnessed.And by an optical illusion peculiar to judicial proceedings,these same spectators,who doubtless had often applauded Djali's innocent performances in the public streets,were terrified by them under the roof of the Palais de Justice.The goat was indisputably the devil.

It was much worse,however,when the procurator,having emptied on the floor a certain little leather bag full of movable letters hanging from Djali's neck,the goat was seen to separate from the scattered alphabet the letters of the fatal name'P us.'The magic of which the captain had been a victim seemed incontrovertibly proven;and,in the eyes of all,the gipsy girl,the charming dancer who had so often dazzled the passer-by with her exquisite grace,was nothing more nor less than a horrible witch.

As for her,she gave no sign of life.Neither Djali's pretty tricks nor the menaces of the lawyers,nor the stifled imprecations of the spectators—nothing reached her apprehension any more.

At last,in order to rouse her,a sergeant had to shake her pitilessly by the arm,and the President solemnly raised his voice:

'Girl,you are of the race of Bohemians,and given to sorcery.In company with your accomplice,the bewitched goat,also implicated in this charge,you did,on the night of the twenty-ninth of March last,in concert with the powers of darkness,and by the aid of charms and spells,wound and poniard a captain of the King's archers,P us de Chateaupers by name.Do you persist in your denial?'

'Horrors!'cried the girl,covering her face with her hands.'My P us!Oh,this is hell!'

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 困窘的潇洒:民国文人的日常生活

    困窘的潇洒:民国文人的日常生活

    本书的写作受到赫勒“日常生活”理论启发,主要关注20世纪中国知识分子群体的日常生活,透过他们在私人日记、书信和回忆录等中的记述,揭露其在历史变换中的真实心理状况,研究其人际交往、经济生活、师承关系、思想轨迹等情况,展现他们的痛苦与欢乐、喜悦与悲伤。借由对文人日常生活的个案解读,作者也尝试为读者提供一个理解20世纪中国文化史的全新视角。
  • 遗论九事

    遗论九事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 可以说不爱

    可以说不爱

    她有天真浪漫过吗?她究竟是一个怎样的女生?她显得孤傲,在没有人的夜,也许有人在窥视着她。。。。。。想发掘她的秘密,她的世界,好奇她的眼泪。。。。。。
  • 新编兽药安全使用手册

    新编兽药安全使用手册

    本系列图书涵盖了种植业、养殖业、加工和服务业, 门类齐全, 技术方法先进, 专业知识权威, 既有种植、养殖新技术, 又有致富新门路、职业技能训练等方方面面, 科学性与实用性相结合, 可操作性强, 图文并茂, 让农民朋友们轻轻松松地奔向致富路; 同时培养造就有文化、懂技术、会经营的新型农民, 增加农民收入, 提升农民综合素质, 推进社会主义新农村建设。
  • 清朝宫女

    清朝宫女

    托尔佳氏·素月,一个大清皇室的包衣奴才,拥有二十一世纪的灵魂。大清制,年满十二的八旗包衣赫赫都需要经内务府甄选,入宫劳役,年满二十五或被特赦即可出宫。素月从进宫的第一天就开始数日子,盼望着年满二十五离开紫禁城。然而皇宫的一切并非想象中的那么简单,即便你不招惹别人,也有别人招惹你,何况素月被保护太好,遗留在骨子里的二十一世纪脾性还在,一步步的终究走上了一条坎坷之路。与康熙相遇是素月招惹的。与胤禛的相遇是素月的不忍和前世今生的太过相似。与胤禩相遇,是素月的破罐子破摔。权利的中心总是黑暗的,而素月却在黑暗的最中间。爱与不爱,已经不重要了。只盼做个白头宫娥,幻想自己还能圆了当年的出宫梦。
  • Meno

    Meno

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 为君解罗裳:妖女倾天下

    为君解罗裳:妖女倾天下

    这东南国,谁人不知,谁人不晓,这要嫁的王爷,是传说中的暴君,杀人不眨眼,嗜血成狂的一个魔君的?圣旨一下,要千家的女儿嫁给东南国国的这个平南王爷,千家一听,仿佛是立马炸开了锅一样的,你不愿意去,我不愿意去,自然,就是由这个痴儿傻儿嫁过去了?
  • 《末日之死生契阔》

    《末日之死生契阔》

    陆小北,纵使全天下人都说你狼心狗肺,无理取闹,我还是爱你,直到世界的尽头。——陆哲也陆哲也,爱上这样的我你曾后悔过吗?若有来生,定不负你。——路小北
  • 宠宠美男

    宠宠美男

    “啥?你们想让我去穿越?”忌落躺上沙发,轻蠕朱唇,“不要!”“徒弟啊!那里有好多好吃的哦,”忌落撇了他们一眼,不语,“那里有很多好玩的哦,”继续不语,“去那里你就是名人了哦,”还是不语,“那里有很多美男,”不语,……等等!美男?忌落立即从沙发上站起来,坚定地说道:“我去!”________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________由于是比赛作品,时间仓促,所以匆匆完结了,虽然字数有点少,但是还是希望亲们能继续支持!
  • 仙途渺渺

    仙途渺渺

    一个名叫王尚的小学生,因为上厕所太急,而被莫名旋涡吸入到一个奇怪的大陆,而且居然成了别人的宠物。在这个光怪陆离的大陆上,人族是弱小的宠物族,而主宰这个大陆的,竟然是各种庞然大鸟。这个大陆,除了大鸟,还有各种各样的种族。在这个弱肉强食的世界,王尚是如何生存下去,并一步步成长成为大陆强者,带领人族摆脱宠物命运……