Chapter 34 Five Bombardas

After walking in the Russian mountains, they thought about dinner. After all, they were a little tired. The elated Eight Immortals rested at the Pompadour restaurant, which was a branch of the famous restaurant owner Pombarda in the Elysée Square. Rue de Rivoli, next to the Passage de La Mer, saw its signboard. A room, large and ugly, with a side box and a bed at the bottom (a place like that had to be put up with because the restaurant was full on Sundays); The bright sun was shining directly at the window; two tables, one with mountains of flowers and men's and women's hats, and the other, were occupied by the four pairs of friends, sitting around a beaming pile of glasses and plates. Around the bottles and plates, beer cans and wine bottles were scattered, the table was not very orderly, and the table was a bit messy.

"They made a mess with their feet under the table," said Molière. This is how the outing from five o'clock in the morning ended at half past four in the afternoon.The sun was setting, and the mood was also fading. The Elysée Square, full of sunlight and crowds, sees only sunlight and dust, the two things that make up brilliance.A group of stone horses carved by Marly stand on their heels in the dust like gold powder, screaming.Gorgeous carriages flowed endlessly.A group of majestic cavalry guards walked down the Boulevard de Neuilly with trumpets, and a white flag with a reddish color in the setting sun fluttered on the dome of the Tuileries Palace.Place de la Concorde (the old name was restored at that time, called Place Louis XV) was crowded with people, all of them beaming.Many also wore a silver lily hanging from a white glittering ribbon in their buttons, a thing that had not quite died out by 1817.Here and there, groups of little girls danced the reunion dance to the applause of passers-by, and sang a kind of Bourbon dance music against the wind. The refrain is:

Uncle, Groups of suburbanites, dressed in festive finery, some imitating gentlemen and also wearing a lily, scattered in the Dafang Square and Marini Square, playing a game of 7 in a row or riding a wooden horse in circles, and the rest People were drinking; a few apprentices in the printing house, wearing paper caps, were talking and laughing.Everywhere is brilliant.It is undeniable that it was indeed an era when the country was prosperous and the people were safe, and the monarchy was consolidated.Anglers, the prefect of police, who had handed the king a private melody, talked about the situation in the suburbs of Paris. His last words were as follows: "Sire, according to careful observation from all sides, these people are not enough to They are lazy and docile, like cats. The people of the provinces are turbulent, but the people of Paris are not. These are all small people, Your Majesty, and it takes two of these small people to add up to one guard. Sergeant. As far as the people of the capital are concerned, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. It is worth noting that the people have shrunk again in fifty years. The people in the suburbs of Paris are smaller than they were before the revolution. They are not harmful. In a word, These are untouchables, gentle untouchables."

The prefects never believed that a cat could turn into a lion, but it was possible, and that was the miracle of the people of Paris.Take cats as an example. Angles despised cats like that, but cats were respected by the ancient republic. They believed that cats were the embodiment of freedom. In the public square of Corinth City, there was a huge copper cat, which seemed to be a cat. As if against the wingless statue of Minerva in Piraeus.The police in the Restoration era were too naive and regarded the people of Paris as "easy to deal with".On the contrary, they are by no means "genteel pariahs." The Parisian is to the French what the Athenian is to the Greek; He is more forgetful than him, but he must not be reliable for them. He can be lazy in every possible way, but once the glory is in sight, he will be desperate and do everything.Give him a spear and he'll do the 10th of August, give him a gun and he'll have another Austerlitz.He was Napoleon's pillar and Danton's backing.What's wrong with the country?He died in the army; what happened to liberty?He bleeds in the streets; watch out!His rage is unforgettable; his tunic is comparable to a Greek toga, and he will, as in the Rua Guerneta, compel the surrender of mighty enemies.beware!When the time comes, the suburbanites will grow up.The kid will stand up and glare at people, and his breath will be a hurricane, and from his weak chest will breathe enough wind to change the valleys of the Alps.The victory of the revolution in Europe was thanks to the inhabitants of the suburbs of Paris in the army.He sings, that is his joy.You make his songs fit his character, just watch!If he sings only "Carmagnola", of course he can only overthrow Louis XVI; but if you ask him to sing "Marseillaise", he can save the world.

After we have written this comment in the margin of the Angles notebook, we will return to our four lovers.As we said, dinner is done.