Chapter 182 Expansion of five horizons

One of the delightful things about the intercourse of youth is that in it neither sparks nor lightning can be foreseen.What will explode in a moment?No one knows.Gentle conversations often elicit bursts of wild laughter.When people are joking, they often suddenly turn to serious topics.Occasionally a word can make people impulsive.Everyone is ruled by passion.A joke is enough to open an unexpected scene.This is a kind of outing with mountain loops and scenery changing rapidly.Chance is the man behind this conversation. That day, Grantaire, Bahoret, Prouvier, Bossuet, Combeferre, and Courfeyrac were chatting enthusiastically, and the scuffle was raging when you spoke and I spoke, but they suddenly appeared A strange serious thought passed through the din of voices.

How can a sentence suddenly appear in speech?How can it suddenly attract the attention of the listener?As we said just now, no one knows this.At that moment, amidst the uproar, Bossuet suddenly spoke the date casually to Combeferre: "June 18, 1815: Waterloo." Marius was sitting on the edge of a table with his chin resting on his hand, facing a glass of water. When he heard the word "Waterloo", he took his wrist away from his chin and began to look at the people present. "God knows," cried Courfeyrac ("God knows" was hardly spoken at that time), "the number eighteen is a strange number, which made a deep impression on me. It was the fate of Bonaparte." You put Louis in front of it, and Brumaire behind it, and the whole fate of this man will be revealed to you. There is another intriguing feature here, that is, the opening is followed by the ending. followed."

Enjolras hadn't said a word all this time, and then he opened his mouth and said this to Courfeyrac: "You mean to say that the crime is followed by punishment." Marius, who had been nervous when he suddenly heard "Waterloo" was mentioned, now heard the word "crime" more than he could accept. He stood up and walked calmly to the map of France hanging on the wall. At the bottom of the map, there was a separate square with an island in it. He pressed his finger on the square and said: "Corsica. A little island that made France quite great." It's an icy wind.Everyone stopped talking.Everyone felt that something was going to happen.

Bahoret was confronting Bossuet in the upright posture which he was fond of, and which he gave up in order to listen to the following. Enjolras, whose blue eyes were not looking at anyone, as if they were looking at space, replied, without looking at Marius: "France doesn't need Corsica to be great. France is great because it is France. 'Because my name is Lion.'" Marius had no intention of retreating. He turned to Enjolras, and his visceral and passionate voice broke out: "God punish me if I meant to belittle France, but combining it with Napoleon doesn't belittle it one iota. Weird, let's talk. I'm a newcomer among you, but honestly , you really amaze me. Where are we? Who are we? Who are you? Who am I? Let us discuss our views on the Emperor. I have often heard you say Buwanaba, Like those royalists, emphasizing that 'U' sound. To tell you the truth, my grandfather pronounced it better: he said Buwana Batui. I always thought you were all young people. Where is your enthusiasm? Where is it? What are you going to use your enthusiasm for? Who do you admire, if you don't admire the emperor? What else do you want? If you don't want such a great person, what kind of great people do you want? Character? He is an all-rounder. He is a perfect man. His brain contains the three vehicles of human intelligence. He made laws like Justinian, and managed everything like Caesar. His speech has both Pascal's lightning and Tacitus' thunder, he made history and wrote history, his battle reports are poems, he combined Newton's numbers with Mohammed's metaphors, he left in the east as tall as a pyramid He taught the court rituals to the emperors at Tilsit, he argued with Laplace in the Academy of Sciences, he debated with Merlin in the Council of State, he carefully ordered discipline, and tried his best to overcome difficulties He knows the law like a prosecutor, he knows astronomy like an astronomer; like Cromwell blowing out one of the two candles, he also went to the temple to bargain for a curtain bead; he saw Everything, he knows everything, and this does not prevent him from lying on his youngest son's cradle and smiling like an innocent; suddenly, the terrified Europe listened with bated breath, the army began to roll out, the artillery teams rolled, the Yangtze River A pontoon bridge was built on the great river, cavalry galloped all over the mountains and plains in the strong wind, shouts, horns sounded, all the thrones shook, all the borders of the kingdoms shook on the map, and people heard a superman's sword With the sound of unsheathing, people saw him standing on the edge of the sky, with flames flying in his hands, his eyes shining brightly, and with a thunderclap, he spread his wings, the great army and the old Habayashi army, the mighty gods are nothing more than this!"

Everyone was silent, Enjolras lowered his head.Silence always has something of acquiescence or silence.Marius, hardly out of breath, continued with still greater emotion: "My friends, be just! What a splendid fate is the fate of a nation to have such an emperor in the empire, and this nation is none other than France, and can attach its genius to this man's genius! To a country Just rule a country, win every battle you fight, use the capital of another country as a military station, designate your own soldiers as kings, announce the demise of the dynasty again and again, and change the face of Europe with the pace of charge. Once you show your power, people will feel Thy hand has grasped the hilt of God's sword; follow Hannibal, Caesar, and Charlemagne in one; be a people who makes the day's dawn bring you resounding front-line success; The sound of cannons is an alarm clock, throwing into the bright sky some magical words that have been shining through the ages, Marengo, Arcola, Austerlitz, Jena, Wagram! List some victorious stars at any time. The zenith of the century made the Roman Empire unable to focus on the former because of the French Empire. It established a great country and bred a large army. Controlling, suppressing, becoming a nation in Europe that is golden because of its great achievements, playing the triumphant music of heaven and man in history, conquering the world twice, relying on martial arts, and relying on dazzling light, this is really outstanding, what can be compared with What is greater?"

"Freedom," said Combeferre. At this moment, Marius also lowered his head.This simple and cold word was inserted into his passionate confession like a steel knife, and immediately made him half cold.When he raised his eyes, Combeferre was no longer there.Satisfied, perhaps, to be able to pour cold water on the flattery, he went away quietly, and everyone followed him, leaving Enjolras alone.The hall became empty.Enjolras was alone with Marius, looking at him sullenly.At this moment Marius had calmed down his thoughts a little, but he still had no intention of admitting defeat. There was still an unfinished stream of enthusiasm in his heart, and he was waiting to start an argument with Enjolras slowly, when suddenly he heard I saw someone singing as they descended the stairs, and it was Combeferre's voice, and he sang:

Combeferre's voice, both soft and rough, gave the refrain a majestic air.Marius stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, and sang along almost mechanically: "My mother!" Then he felt Enjolras' hand on his shoulder. "Citizen," Enjolras said to him, "my mother is the Republic."