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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Chapter 6. The Deputy Procureur du Roi (2)

Chapter 6. The Deputy Procureur du Roi (2)

"They had, however, what supplied the place of those fine qualities," replied the young man, "and that was fanaticism. Napoleon is the Mahomet of the West, and is worshipped by his commonplace but ambitions followers, not only as a leader and lawgiver, but also as the personification of equality." "He!" cried the marquise: "Napoleon the type of equality! For mercy's sake, then, what would you call Robespierre? Come, come, do not strip the latter of his just rights to bestow them on the Corsican, who, to my mind, has usurped quite enough." "Nay, madame; I would place each of these heroes on his right pedestal--that of Robespierre on his scaffold in the Place Louis Quinze; that of Napoleon on the column of the Place Vendome. The only difference consists in the opposite character of the equality advocated by these two men; one is the equality that elevates, the other is the equality that degrades; one brings a king within reach of the guillotine, the other elevates the people to a level with the throne. Observe," said Villefort, smiling, "I do not mean to deny that both these men were revolutionary scoundrels, and that the 9th Thermidor and the 4th of April, in the year 1814, were lucky days for France, worthy of being gratefully remembered by every friend to monarchy and civil order; and that explains how it comes to pass that, fallen, as I trust he is forever, Napoleon has still retained a train of parasitical satellites. Still, marquise, it has been so with other usurpers--Cromwell, for instance, who was not half so bad as Napoleon, had his partisans and advocates." "Do you know, Villefort, that you are talking in a most dreadfully revolutionary strain? But I excuse it, it is impossible to expect the son of a Girondin to be free from a small spice of the old leaven." A deep crimson suffused the countenance of Villefort.

" 'Tis true, madame," answered he, "that my father was a Girondin, but he was not among the number of those who voted for the king's death; he was an equal sufferer with yourself during the Reign of Terror, and had well-nigh lost his head on the same scaffold on which your father perished." "True," replied the marquise, without wincing in the slightest degree at the tragic remembrance thus called up; "but bear in mind, if you please, that our respective parents underwent persecution and proscription from diametrically opposite principles; in proof of which I may remark, that while my family remained among the stanchest adherents of the exiled princes, your father lost no time in joining the new government; and that while the Citizen Noirtier was a Girondin, the Count Noirtier became a senator." "Dear mother," interposed Renee, "you know very well it was agreed that all these disagreeable reminiscences should forever be laid aside." "Suffer me, also, madame," replied Villefort, "to add my earnest request to Mademoiselle de Saint-Meran's, that you will kindly allow the veil of oblivion to cover and conceal the past. What avails recrimination over matters wholly past recall? For my own part, I have laid aside even the name of my father, and altogether disown his political principles. He was--nay, probably may still be--a Bonapartist, and is called Noirtier; I, on the contrary, am a stanch royalist, and style myself de Villefort. Let what may remain of revolutionary sap exhaust itself and die away with the old trunk, and condescend only to regard the young shoot which has started up at a distance from the parent tree, without having the power, any more than the wish, to separate entirely from the stock from which it sprung." "Bravo, Villefort!" cried the marquis; "excellently well said! Come, now, I have hopes of obtaining what I have been for years endeavoring to persuade the marquise to promise; namely, a perfect amnesty and forgetfulness of the past." "With all my heart," replied the marquise; "let the past be forever forgotten. I promise you it affords me as little pleasure to revive it as it does you. All I ask is, that Villefort will be firm and inflexible for the future in his political principles. Remember, also, Villefort, that we have pledged ourselves to his majesty for your fealty and strict loyalty, and that at our recommendation the king consented to forget the past, as I do" (and here she extended to him her hand)--"as I now do at your entreaty. But bear in mind, that should there fall in your way any one guilty of conspiring against the government, you will be so much the more bound to visit the offence with rigorous punishment, as it is known you belong to a suspected family." "Alas, madame," returned Villefort, "my profession, as well as the times in which we live, compels me to be severe. I have already successfully conducted several public prosecutions, and brought the offenders to merited punishment. But we have not done with the thing yet."


Chapter 6. The Deputy Procureur du Roi (2) Capítulo 6. El Subprocurador del Rey (2)

"They had, however, what supplied the place of those fine qualities," replied the young man, "and that was fanaticism. Napoleon is the Mahomet of the West, and is worshipped by his commonplace but ambitions followers, not only as a leader and lawgiver, but also as the personification of equality." Napoléon est le Mahomet de l'Occident, et est vénéré par ses partisans ordinaires mais ambitieux, non seulement en tant que chef et législateur, mais aussi en tant que personnification de l'égalité." "He!" cried the marquise: "Napoleon the type of equality! For mercy's sake, then, what would you call Robespierre? Par pitié, alors, comment appelleriez-vous Robespierre ? Come, come, do not strip the latter of his just rights to bestow them on the Corsican, who, to my mind, has usurped quite enough." Allons, allons, ne dépouillez pas ce dernier de ses justes droits pour les accorder au Corse, qui, à mon sens, a bien assez usurpé. » "Nay, madame; I would place each of these heroes on his right pedestal--that of Robespierre on his scaffold in the Place Louis Quinze; that of Napoleon on the column of the Place Vendome. – Non, madame ; je placerais chacun de ces héros sur son piédestal droit, celui de Robespierre sur son échafaud de la place Louis Quinze ; celui de Napoléon sur la colonne de la place Vendôme. The only difference consists in the opposite character of the equality advocated by these two men; one is the equality that elevates, the other is the equality that degrades; one brings a king within reach of the guillotine, the other elevates the people to a level with the throne. La seule différence consiste dans le caractère opposé de l'égalité prônée par ces deux hommes ; l'une est l'égalité qui élève, l'autre est l'égalité qui dégrade ; l'un met un roi à portée de la guillotine, l'autre élève le peuple au niveau du trône. Observe," said Villefort, smiling, "I do not mean to deny that both these men were revolutionary scoundrels, and that the 9th Thermidor and the 4th of April, in the year 1814, were lucky days for France, worthy of being gratefully remembered by every friend to monarchy and civil order; and that explains how it comes to pass that, fallen, as I trust he is forever, Napoleon has still retained a train of parasitical satellites. Remarquez, dit Villefort en souriant, je ne veux pas nier que ces deux hommes étaient des scélérats révolutionnaires, et que le 9 thermidor et le 4 avril de l'année 1814 furent des jours heureux pour la France, dignes d'être remerciés. par tout ami de la monarchie et de l'ordre civil ; et cela explique comment il se fait que, déchu, comme je l'espère pour toujours, Napoléon a conservé une suite de satellites parasites. Still, marquise, it has been so with other usurpers--Cromwell, for instance, who was not half so bad as Napoleon, had his partisans and advocates." Pourtant, marquise, il en a été ainsi avec d'autres usurpateurs, Cromwell, par exemple, qui n'était pas à moitié aussi mauvais que Napoléon, avait ses partisans et ses avocats. "Do you know, Villefort, that you are talking in a most dreadfully revolutionary strain? « Savez-vous, Villefort, que vous parlez d'un ton terriblement révolutionnaire ? But I excuse it, it is impossible to expect the son of a Girondin to be free from a small spice of the old leaven." Mais je m'en excuse, il est impossible d'attendre d'un fils de Girondin qu'il soit exempt d'une petite épice de vieux levain." A deep crimson suffused the countenance of Villefort.

" 'Tis true, madame," answered he, "that my father was a Girondin, but he was not among the number of those who voted for the king's death; he was an equal sufferer with yourself during the Reign of Terror, and had well-nigh lost his head on the same scaffold on which your father perished." "True," replied the marquise, without wincing in the slightest degree at the tragic remembrance thus called up; "but bear in mind, if you please, that our respective parents underwent persecution and proscription from diametrically opposite principles; in proof of which I may remark, that while my family remained among the stanchest adherents of the exiled princes, your father lost no time in joining the new government; and that while the Citizen Noirtier was a Girondin, the Count Noirtier became a senator." — C'est vrai, répondit la marquise sans grimacer le moins du monde au souvenir tragique ainsi évoqué ; "mais gardez à l'esprit, s'il vous plaît, que nos parents respectifs ont subi la persécution et la proscription de principes diamétralement opposés; pour preuve, je peux remarquer que tandis que ma famille est restée parmi les plus fervents partisans des princes exilés, votre père n'a pas perdu de temps en rejoignant le nouveau gouvernement ; et que tandis que le citoyen Noirtier était girondin, le comte Noirtier devenait sénateur. » "Dear mother," interposed Renee, "you know very well it was agreed that all these disagreeable reminiscences should forever be laid aside." "Suffer me, also, madame," replied Villefort, "to add my earnest request to Mademoiselle de Saint-Meran's, that you will kindly allow the veil of oblivion to cover and conceal the past. -Souffrez-moi aussi, madame, répondit Villefort, d'ajouter à celle de mademoiselle de Saint-Méran ma prière de bien vouloir laisser le voile de l'oubli couvrir et cacher le passé. What avails recrimination over matters wholly past recall? A quoi sert la récrimination sur des questions entièrement passées en mémoire ? For my own part, I have laid aside even the name of my father, and altogether disown his political principles. He was--nay, probably may still be--a Bonapartist, and is called Noirtier; I, on the contrary, am a stanch royalist, and style myself de Villefort. Il était, non, peut-être encore, un bonapartiste, et s'appelle Noirtier ; Moi, au contraire, je suis un royaliste convaincu, et je m'appelle de Villefort. Let what may remain of revolutionary sap exhaust itself and die away with the old trunk, and condescend only to regard the young shoot which has started up at a distance from the parent tree, without having the power, any more than the wish, to separate entirely from the stock from which it sprung." Que ce qui peut rester de sève révolutionnaire s'épuise et s'éteigne avec le vieux tronc, et daigne ne regarder que la jeune pousse qui a germé à distance de l'arbre-mère, sans avoir le pouvoir, pas plus que le désir, de séparer entièrement de la souche dont il est issu. "Bravo, Villefort!" cried the marquis; "excellently well said! Come, now, I have hopes of obtaining what I have been for years endeavoring to persuade the marquise to promise; namely, a perfect amnesty and forgetfulness of the past." Voyons, j'espère obtenir ce que j'essaye depuis des années de persuader la marquise de promettre ; à savoir, une amnistie parfaite et un oubli du passé." "With all my heart," replied the marquise; "let the past be forever forgotten. I promise you it affords me as little pleasure to revive it as it does you. All I ask is, that Villefort will be firm and inflexible for the future in his political principles. Remember, also, Villefort, that we have pledged ourselves to his majesty for your fealty and strict loyalty, and that at our recommendation the king consented to forget the past, as I do" (and here she extended to him her hand)--"as I now do at your entreaty. Souvenez-vous aussi, Villefort, que nous nous sommes engagés auprès de Sa Majesté pour votre fidélité et votre stricte loyauté, et que sur notre recommandation le roi a consenti à oublier le passé, comme moi » (et ici elle lui tendit la main)-- "comme je le fais maintenant à votre prière. But bear in mind, that should there fall in your way any one guilty of conspiring against the government, you will be so much the more bound to visit the offence with rigorous punishment, as it is known you belong to a suspected family." Mais gardez à l'esprit que s'il tombait sur votre chemin quelqu'un coupable de complot contre le gouvernement, vous serez d'autant plus tenu de sanctionner l'infraction avec une punition rigoureuse, qu'il est connu que vous appartenez à une famille suspecte. » "Alas, madame," returned Villefort, "my profession, as well as the times in which we live, compels me to be severe. I have already successfully conducted several public prosecutions, and brought the offenders to merited punishment. J'ai déjà mené avec succès plusieurs poursuites publiques et amené les contrevenants à des peines méritées. But we have not done with the thing yet." Mais nous n'en avons pas encore fini avec la chose."