Chapter 65 Nine places to patch up the crimes

He took a step forward, mechanically pulled the door behind him, and stood to assess his current situation. It was a rotunda, dimly lit, of considerable size, sometimes noisy and sometimes silent, and a whole set of machinery for handling criminal cases was moving among the crowd with a vulgar and melancholy grandeur. At one end of the hall, at his end, were languid jurors in rags who were gnawing their fingernails or closing their eyelids; Fierce soldiers; stained old siding, dirty ceiling, tables covered with serge, which was more yellow than green; black hand stains on several doors.A few vegetable oil lamps of the kind commonly used in cafes with less light and more smoke hung on nails on the wainscot, and a few candles were stuck in copper candlesticks on the table. It was dark, ugly, and dull here; It gave an impression of majesty and seriousness, because here, everyone felt the power of the world and the power of God, which is the so-called law and justice.

In this group of people, no one has ever paid attention to him.All eyes were fixed on one single point, and that was the wooden bench to the left of the President, along the wall against a small door.The bench was lit by candles, and between the two bailiffs sat a man. This person is that person. Madeleine did not seek him, but saw him at once.His eyes looked there unexpectedly, as if he knew where the man was beforehand. He thought he saw himself, but he was older. Of course, his face was not exactly the same, but his expression and appearance were exactly the same, with messy hair, a pair of wild and bewildered eyes, and a cloth shirt, just as he entered the city of Digne. On that day, his face was full of resentment, as if he wanted to suppress all the resentment he had spent nineteen years accumulating on the paving stones of the prison in his heart.

He shivered and said to himself: "My God! Am I going to be like this again?" The man looked to be at least sixty years old.There was something indescribably rude, obstinate, and frightened about him. As soon as the door slammed, everyone drew close to make way for him. The president turned his head, saw that the person who had just entered was the Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, and saluted him.The prosecutor, who had been to Montreuil-sur-Mer many times in the past on business, knew M. Madeleine for a long time, and he also bowed to him.He didn't pay much attention, he was dazed and just stared.

Several judges, a recorder, some bailiffs, a group of gloating faces, all these he had seen once twenty-seven years ago.These demons, now that he had met them again, were moving, and they were there.This is no longer the scene in his memory, not the phantom in his mind, but some real bailiffs, real judges, real audience, some flesh and blood people.Matters had come to such a point that he saw the old horrors, with all the horrors that actual things could arouse, reappearing and moving again around him. All these things are threatening to show their teeth and claws in front of him. Heartbroken, he closed his eyes and shouted from the deepest part of his heart, "Never!"

Creation made fun of man, acted in tragedy, made him terrified, disturbed, and the person sitting there was just his own incarnation!The man on trial, everyone called him Jean Valjean! It was unheard of for his shadow to play before his eyes the most terrible pages of his life. Everything appeared here, the same arrangement, the same lighting, the faces of the judges, bailiffs and spectators were more or less the same.But above the president, there is a crucifix, something that was missing in the courthouse in the time when he was sentenced.It shows that God was not present when he was judged.

There was a chair behind him, and he slumped down, sitting on pins and needles, for fear that others would see him.After sitting down, he used the stack of files on the judge's case to cover his face so that no one in the hall could see him.Now he can see others, and others can't see him.He gradually settled down, and he has completely returned to the feeling of reality, and the calmness of his mood has made him able to hear. Mr Bamadapo was one of the jurors. He was looking for Javert but could not see him.The witness stand was covered by the recorder's desk.And, as we said earlier, the lighting in the hall was dim.

The defendant's lawyer was finishing his case when he entered.The atmosphere in the audience has reached the most tense level. The trial of this case has been going on for three hours.During these three hours they watched as a human being, a stranger, something utterly boring, ignorant, or cunning, succumbed step by step under the weight of an appalling truth.The man, as we have seen, was a tramp, who had been found in a field with a branch bearing ripe apples, which had been broken from an apple tree in a nearby walled garden called Beer's Red.Who is this person?An investigation has been made, and the witnesses have all spoken just now, and they all agree, and the truth has become clear during the discussion.The indictment said: "We arrested not only a fruit thief, not only a thief, but also a gangster, a recidivist who violated the original sentence and left the designated address without permission, an ex-convict, and the most dangerous The mob, a traitor named Jean Valjean who had been wanted for a long time, when he came out of Toulon prison eight years ago, had armed with a murder weapon and robbed a chimney boy named Little Rielville on the road. Article 383 of the Penal Code, as soon as the criminal is duly certified to be Jean Valjean, he shall be prosecuted separately according to the above-mentioned provisions. He has recently committed a crime again. This is a repeat crime. Please punish him for the new crime first, We will bring up the old case later." The defendant was dumbfounded before this kind of accusation and the unanimous opinion of the witnesses, not knowing what to say.He shook his head in denial, or turned his eyes skyward.He stuttered and had difficulty answering, but his whole being, from head to toe, expressed dissatisfaction.He was a fool, a savage in a tight siege, in front of the rows of smart people who were laying out to challenge him.But now is the critical juncture that threatens his future life, and his suspicion is getting bigger and bigger. The whole audience is more worried than himself when they look at this verdict that is framing and gradually pressing on him.There is another worry, if he is proved to be Jean Valjean, and the case of the little Rielwei will also be convicted in the future, then, in addition to imprisonment, there is also the possibility of execution.Who is this?What was the nature of his obstinate expression?Is it stupid or cunning?Do you understand it clearly or do you not understand it at all?The audience was divided on these issues, and the jury seemed to be divided.This mysterious case is astonishing and teasing, not only ambiguous, but also clueless.

The lawyer spoke quite well, and his provincial language, whether in Paris, Romorantin or Montbrison, was used by all lawyers in the past, and it has long been a vocabulary of lawyers, but today This kind of expression has become classic, and its solemn tone and solemn style are just suitable for those public speakers in the court, so now only they occasionally use it; for example, calling the husband "beloved" and the wife "Internal help", Paris is "the center of art and culture", the king is the "head of state", the bishop is "Yuan Sheng", the prosecutor is "the eloquent master of rape", the lawyer's defense said that "I have just listened carefully The High Theory of the Great Era", the century of Louis XIV is the "Great Century", the theater is the "Merpomene Hall", the royal family is "The Holy Blood of My Forefather", the concert is "Yonghe Grand Ceremony", and the ruling The general of the province is "a well-known strong man", the young apprentice in the priest training institute is a "delicate monk", and the mistake that a certain newspaper is ordered to be responsible for is "spreading poisonous rhetoric in the pages of the publication", etc.The lawyer's first opinion on the matter of stealing apples is a difficult one to express politely; but Bernigne Bossuet, in one of his sacrificial rites, also speaks of a hen, And he was able to speak eloquently without being troubled.The lawyer determined that there was no concrete factual proof of the apple theft.As a defender, he insisted that his client was Shangmadi. He said that no one saw him jumping over the wall or breaking branches.He had the branch (the lawyer preferred to call it a twig) in his hand when he was caught, but he said he picked it up when he saw it lying on the ground.Where is the counter-evidence?The branch was apparently broken by someone. After the thief climbed outside the wall, he threw it on the ground because of his guilty conscience.The thief apparently has one.But who can prove that the thief is Shangmadi?Only one thing, he was a former convict.The lawyer does not deny the fact, which seems to have unfortunately been proved, that the defendant lived in Favelolères, where he worked as a tree-pruner, and that it is probable that the name Château des Martie derives from Jean Martie, which Everything is true, and there are four witnesses, who all recognized at a glance that Shangmadi was the convict Jean Valjean.To these clues, to these testimonies, the lawyer could only prevaricate his client's denial, a purposeful denial; but even if he were found to be Jean Valjean, a convict, would that prove that he was the thief of the apples?At best, this is speculation rather than evidence.The defendant did employ "a poor method of self-defense," and his defenders "in good conscience" should admit this.He vehemently denied everything, denying theft, and denying being a convict.If he would admit to the second point, no doubt, it would be better, and he might win the pardon of the jurors; the lawyer had also made this point to him, but the defendant refused, and he thought it was impossible. Admitting it saves everything.This is a mistake, but shouldn't we take into account his mental weakness?The man was clearly an idiot.The long-term suffering in prison and the long-term poverty after he was released from prison have turned him into a neurotic person. The lawyer kept saying that he was not good at defending himself. Could this be a reason for conviction?As for the matter of Little Rui Erwei, the lawyer does not need to discuss it, it does not belong to the scope of this case.Finally, the lawyer begged the jury and the court that, if they were sure that the man was Jean Valjean, they could punish him only with a police order for leaving his assigned residence, and not with the severe punishments imposed on recidivist convicts.

Prosecutors pushed back against defense attorneys.He was as impassioned and brilliant as any other prosecutor in normal times. He congratulated the defense lawyers on their "loyalty" and used it smartly.He attacked the defendant on points where the lawyer had conceded.The lawyer seemed to have agreed that the accused was Jean Valjean.He recorded this sentence.The man, then, was Jean Valjean.In the accusation, this has been affirmed and cannot be denied.To achieve this, the Chief Prosecutor traced the root and cause of this crime with a skillful method of accusations, and angrily denounced the immorality of the Romantics. Critics of The News called it "Satanism"!The prosecutor attributed the crimes of Shangmardi (and Jean Valjean would be more appropriate) to the influence of this extravagant literature, and said that it was quite serious.Having done his best, he turned to Jean Valjean himself.What is Jean Valjean?He portrays Jean Valjean as a monster like a dog, and so on.An example of this description can be seen in Drammen's Quotations, which are of no use to tragedy, but which do brighten the courtroom battles every day.Both the audience and the jury "shuddered."After the prosecutor finished the description, in order to get high praise from the "Provincial Gazette" tomorrow, he continued to point fingers: "And he is this kind of person, wait, wait, wait, hooligan, bachelor, incapable of living, Wait, wait, he has been used to committing crimes all his life, and he has never changed much in prison. The robbery of little Rielwei is enough to prove that, wait, wait, he is such a person who has stolen and been killed by others. Captured on the spot on the road, just a few steps away from a wall that was climbed, still holding stolen goods, everyone has stolen goods, and they have to deny, steal and climb the wall, deny everything, even deny their own name, their identity The origin is also denied! We have inexhaustible evidence, and there is no need to mention this. In addition to this, there are four witnesses who knew him, Javert, the scout Javert, and his three former friends of the thief, the convict. Brevet, Sjönij, and Ghoshbai. They testify unanimously. What will he do against this thundering force? Denial. How obstinate! Justice, gentlemen of the jury, wait, wait, wait." When the prosecutor spoke, the defendant listened with his mouth open, not without admiration in surprise.Of course he was astonished to see a man so eloquent.When the indictment was at its most "successful", the man was eloquent, unable to control himself, and slandered endlessly, as if the defendant was trapped in a storm. From time to time, the prisoner slowly shook his head, moving from right to Left, and from left to right, this is a kind of protest he expressed during the debate.The few observers closest to him heard him whisper two or three times, "It's all because Mr. Baroo was not asked!" Not that he was stupid, but that he was cunning, treacherous, and his consistent practice of deceiving the judge, which fully exposed the "bad nature" of this man.In the end, he stated that he would keep the issue of Jr. Rui Erwei and demanded a severe sentence.

That is, we remember, temporarily sentenced to hard labor for life. The defendant's lawyer got up, first congratulated "Mr. Prosecutor" on his "high argument", and then tried his best to argue, but he was discouraged.His heels were evidently unsteady.