Chapter 20 Chapter Six: The Struggle After Victory

The Marquis did go down to the grave. He was taken away. Under Simuldan's stern watch, Turg's dungeon was immediately opened.A lamp, a pot of water, and a piece of bread for the soldier were put into it, and a bundle of straw was thrown in.Less than a quarter of an hour after the marquis was recaptured by the gods, the door of the cell was closed behind Lantenac. Having done this, Simurdin went to find Govin, just as eleven o'clock was striking at the distant Parignier Church.Simurdan said to Govan: "I'm going to call a court-martial. You're not participating. You're from the Govan family, and Langtenac is from the Govan family.

You are close relatives, so you cannot be a judge.Equally voted for Capet's execution, which I do not think very much about. The court-martial will consist of three judges, an officer, Captain Gaishan, a junior officer, Sergeant Radu, and me, presided over by me.All this has nothing to do with you.We will abide by the decree of the National Convention and only verify the real identity of the former Marquis of Lantenac.Tomorrow is the court-martial, the day after tomorrow the guillotine.Vendée is dead. " ① That is, the Duke of Orleans (Philippe Equality), who is also a member of the royal family, agreed to execute Louis XVI.

Govan said nothing.Simuldan, preoccupied with his last business, walked away.He had to fix the time and pick the place.Like Leginio of Granville, Thalien of Bordeaux, Charlière of Lyon, and Saint-Just of Strasbourg, he is regarded as a model, and he must be present when the prisoner is executed, as a judge to observe The work of an executioner. The Terror of '93 borrowed these customs from the French Supreme Court and the Spanish Inquisition before the Revolution. Govan also has concerns. A cold wind blows from the forest.Govan asked Gaishan to issue the necessary orders, and he returned to the tent, which was located on the grass by the edge of the forest, at the foot of Turg.In the tent he took out his hooded cloak and wrapped himself up.The cloak was embroidered with a simple sash, the emblem of the Commander-in-Chief in the republic's spartan fashion.Govan began to pace the blood-stained grass from which the attack had taken place.He is alone.The fire continued to burn, but it was unnoticed.Radu stayed with the children and the mother, and seemed as loving as the mother.At last the castles on the bridge were all burned, and the sappers abandoned the castles to dig pits for the dead and rescue the wounded; they dismantled the fortifications, removed the bodies from the chambers and stairwells, cleaned the scene of the slaughter, and cleared away the terrible rubbish of victory.They cleaned the battlefield after the war with the rhythm of soldiers, just like cleaning a room.Govan didn't see all this.

He sank into his thoughts, and occasionally glanced at the sentinel by the gap.Simuldan has ordered the addition of double posts. In the darkness he could make out the outline of a gap about two hundred paces away from the meadow where he seemed to take refuge.He saw the mouth of the black hole.That's where the fight started three hours ago.It was from there that he, Govan, burst into the tower. The fortifications were on this floor, and the door to the Marquis' cell was opened on this floor.It was this cell that was guarded by the sentry by the gap. His eyes looked at this vague gap, and the two words kept ringing in his ears like a death knell: "Tomorrow is a court-martial, and the day after tomorrow is the guillotine."

The fire was under control, and the engineers poured all the water they could get on the fire, but the fire was not extinguished obediently, and flames spewed out from time to time.Ceilings sometimes cracked and floors collapsed rapidly one upon the other.Bursts of flames flew up, as if torches were being swung, and the distant sky could be seen in the flashes. Turg's black shadow suddenly became extremely huge, extending all the way to the forest. In this shadow, Govan paced slowly back and forth in front of the gap in the attack.Sometimes he clasped the back of his head in his military hood with his hands crossed.He is daydreaming.

Govan's reverie was unfathomable. He had just seen a change that he had never seen before. The Marquis de Lantenac changed his appearance. Govan has seen the change. It never occurred to him that any intricacies could produce such results.Even in his dreams he could not have imagined such things happening. This accident, this accident of arrogantly joking with people, shocked Govan so much that he could not let go of it for a long time. He is confronted with the reality made of the impossible, the obvious, the unmistakable, the inescapable, the unforgiving reality. Him, Govan, what should he think?

Don't prevaricate, draw conclusions. A question was posed to him and he could not avoid it. Who proposed it? is the event. And not just events. Events are ever-changing, and when they pose us questions, immutable justice commands us to answer them. The clouds cast shadows on us, and behind the clouds there are stars, which cast light on us. We can neither avoid the shadow nor the light. Govan is under interrogation. He's being interrogated by someone. someone terrible. his conscience. Govan felt that everything in his heart was shaken.His firmest resolutions, his most earnest promises, his most irrevocable decisions, all were shaken in the depths of his will.

This is the shock of the soul. The more he thought about what he had just witnessed, the more disturbed he became. Govan is a republican. He believes in absoluteness and practices it personally. However, a higher absoluteness has just appeared. Above the absoluteness of revolution lies the absoluteness of human nature. There's no getting away from what's happening, it's serious and Govan is involved, he's a part of it, he can't escape it.Although Simurdan told him, "It's none of your business," he felt like a tree about to be cut off by the roots. Everyone has roots.Once the foundation is shaken, there will be deep confusion.Gowan felt this panic.

He clasped his head in both hands, as if trying to squeeze the truth out of his mind.It is not easy to make clear the situation at hand, and it is not easy to make the intricacies simple.He had before him some terrible numbers from which he had to find the sum.Addition to fate is dizzying!He was trying to give himself an account, to gather his thoughts, to sort out the resistance he felt, to review events. He explained events to himself. Who has not had this experience?In critical moments, make self-examination, self-inquiry, in order to move forward, maybe in order to retreat, which way to go!

Govan has just witnessed a miracle. Simultaneously with the struggle on earth is the struggle in heaven. The struggle between good and evil. A hideous heart was conquered. Since people have all kinds of vices: rage, fallacy, blindness, stubbornness, arrogance, and selfishness, what Govan just saw was a miracle. The triumph of humanity over man. Humanity triumphs over inhumanity. By what means?in what way?How did humanity defeat the giants of anger and hatred?What weapon did it use?What war machine?cradle! Govan felt dizzy.This is a total social war, all hatred, all vengeance is a mass struggle, unrest is in its darkest and most violent hour, crime is rampant, hatred is blinding all, everything is a cannonball of struggle, chaos reaches its limit, so that people don't know what Justice, what is integrity, what is truth, at this moment, the unknown that reveals the mystery of the soul suddenly appears, and makes the eternal light beyond the light and darkness of the world shine brilliantly.

Hypocrisy wrestles with relativity tragically, and high above it suddenly appears the face of truth. Three poor children were seen, young, ignorant, neglected, fatherless, helpless, babbling and smiling, but threatened by various demons: civil war, tit for tat, terrible The logic of repression, murder, massacre, brother-killing, rage, hatred; one sees a shameful conflagration of murder aborted and failed; one sees a cruel plot disrupted and thwarted; , deep-rooted, merciless arrogance, the so-called need for war, the prejudices of the ruthless old man, the national interest, etc., all disappear before the blue eyes of the newcomer, which is actually very simple. He is justice, he is truth, he is purity; the great angel of heaven is in the child. The sight is salutary, both admonishment and lesson.The fanatical warriors of a ruthless war suddenly behold, before all crime, assault, fanaticism, murder, before the act of vengeance at the stake and death with the torch, above a multitude of crimes, rises this omnipotent power— -simple and naive. Innocence triumphed. One can say: No, there is no civil war, no barbarism, no hatred, no crime, no darkness; only the dawn of children will drive these ghosts away. Never before in any battle has Evacuation been so obvious, nor has God been so obvious. The arena of this battle is conscience. Longtenac's conscience. Now the fight resumed, perhaps more violently and more decisively, the battlefield was another conscience. Govan's conscience. What a strange battlefield man is! These gods, demons, giants -- our minds -- manipulate us. These fearsome belligerents often trample our hearts. Govan was thinking. The Marquis de Lantenac was besieged, barricaded, put to death, without the protection of the law; he was like a caged beast, nailed, imprisoned in his den, surrounded by iron and fire The high walls locked it from all sides, yet he escaped.He accomplished the miracle of escape.Fleeing was the most difficult feat in this war, and he succeeded.He won the forest again to use it as cover, he won ground to fight in, and he won the darkness to hide himself.Once again he is the feared erratic, the menacing wanderer, the commander of the shadow forces, the chief of the subterranean army, and the master of the woods.Govan won the battle, but Longtenac won his freedom.Henceforth, Lantenac could move about in safety and security, and choose shelters at will.He would be gone, nowhere to be found, unapproachable.The lion fell into a trap once, but ran away again. However, he came back again. The Count de Lantenac left the forest, the darkness, the safety, the freedom voluntarily, willingly, and willingly, and bravely returned to the terrible danger; Govan first saw him rushing into the fire despite the danger of being swallowed up. , and then saw him walking down the long ladder facing the enemy. This ladder was a life-saving ladder for others, but it was a life-saving ladder for him. Why did he do this? To save three children. And now, what will people do with him? Send him to the guillotine. So, this man did it to save three children?His own children?No; children of his family?No; a child of his class?no.For these three poor children who met by chance, the picked-up child, the beggar in rags who had never met, he, the nobleman, the prince, he, the old man who was rescued, escaped from danger, and victorious-for escape is victory- Willing to take all kinds of risks, disregarding all kinds of interests, regardless of all kinds of gains and losses, and, while returning the child, he also nobly offered his own head, which was terrifying and terrible in the past but is now awe-inspiring. What should I do? accept it. The Marquis de Lantenac had chosen between his own life and the lives of others.In this magnificent choice, he chose his own death. And people will give him death. People will kill him. What a reward for heroism! Complaints for virtue! This is putting the revolution at a disadvantage! It is to belittle the Republic! The man who advocated prejudice and slavery is suddenly turned back to humanity, while they who strive for emancipation and liberation will remain in the stage of civil war, in bloody stereotypes and brother killings! And he who respects the highest divine law—forgiveness, selflessness, atonement, sacrifice—will not be a fighter for truth, but a fighter for falsehood! how!Don't win with magnanimity!Willing to admit defeat?The strong are willing to be weak, the victors are murderers, and let it be said that the supporters of the monarchy save the children, and the supporters of the republic slaughter the old people. People will see this great soldier, strong octogenarian, disarmed warrior go to the guillotine as if on the throne of honour, because he was not captured but stolen, lost for good Freedom, he was willing to be bound, with the sweat of noble devotion still on his brow.His head will be placed under the guillotine, around which the spirits of the three rescued cherubs will dance and pray.And, in the face of this execution, which humiliated the Besseiko, this man will smile, and the Republic will blush! And all this will be done in front of the leader Govan! He could have prevented it, but he avoided it!He will be content with a haughty absence -- "It's none of your business!" He won't say to himself, in which case abstention is complicity!He will not see, in an act of so great importance, that between the man who acts and the man who leaves himself to act, the latter is worse, for he is a coward! Yet had he not promised to execute Lantenac?Didn't he, the generous Govan, announce that Langtenac was not to be spared and that he would be handed over to Simurdan? He owes Simurdan the head, and he pays the debt.That's all. However, is this really the same head? Before that, what Govan saw in Langtenac was only a barbaric warrior, a fanatical supporter of monarchy and feudalism, an executioner who slaughtered captives, and a rampant war murderer. , blood-stained people.For this kind of person, Govan is not afraid.He will exile the exile, he will treat the heartless with no mercy.Nothing could be simpler, the way is already marked, and it is easy to follow the path of pessimism; everything is foreseen: killing the murderer is the right way of the horrors of war.Unexpectedly, however, the straight line is suddenly broken, and a sudden turn reveals a new vision and deformation.A surprising Langtenac took to the stage.Out of the devil came the hero; not just a hero, but a man; not just a soul, but a heart.Govan is no longer facing a murderer, but a savior.Gowan is struck down by the intense light of the sky, and Langtenak's kindness hits him like a thunderbolt. The new-looking Langtenac couldn't change Govan's appearance!how!This beam of strong light can't even arouse any response!Those who belong to the past will advance, while those who belong to the future will retreat.The man of barbarism and superstition will suddenly take flight, while the man of ideals crawls beneath him in darkness and muck.Govan will crawl in the pitiless old ruts, while Lantenac will rise to the sublime to chase adventure. There is another thing. family! He will bleed—for tolerating another's blood is tantamount to causing another's to bleed; and is not that blood his Govan's blood? His grandfather is dead, but his uncle is still alive.This uncle was the Marquis de Lantenac.Won't the older brother in the grave stand up and prevent the younger brother from going in?Wouldn't he have commanded his grandson to respect the crown of white hair, his own sisterly halo?Was there not the angry look of this ghost between Govan and Longtenac? Is the purpose of the revolution to distort people?Is the revolution aimed at smashing families and strangling humanity?Absolutely not. The year 1789 arose precisely to affirm—not deny—these most sublime realities.To overthrow the castle is precisely to liberate humanity.The abolition of feudalism is precisely for the establishment of families.Since ancestors are the source of authority, and ancestors have authority, there is no other authority than patriarchy.The queen of the bee is therefore justified, since she created her people; and since she is the mother, she is of course the queen.Therefore the king of men is absurd, since he is not a father, he cannot be a master.So the king must be abolished and a republic established.What is all this?It's family, humanity, revolution.A revolution is the power of the people, and the people, after all, are people. The question now is: Langtenac has returned to his humanity, and whether he, Govan, will return to his family. The question now is whether the grandparent and grandson can reach a consensus, or whether the uncle's progress only causes the nephew to retreat. That's the question posed in this moving debate about Govan and his conscience, and the answer seems self-evident: Save Lantenac. Yes, but what about France? Here, the dizzying question suddenly changes face. how!France is at stake!Its gates are wide open, betrayed, dismembered!It has no more ditches, and Germany has crossed the Rhine; it has no more walls, and Italy has crossed the Alps, and Spain has crossed the Pyrenees.There is only one great abyss left in France - the Atlantic Ocean.It has only this abyss to defend itself from.It is a giant that relies on the abyss, relies on the entire ocean to compete with the entire land.It is, after all, impenetrable, but it will lose that status.This Atlantic no longer belongs to it, and there are British people in the Atlantic.Of course the English don't know how to cross the ocean, but someone will build them a bridge, reach out to them, and shout to Pete, Craig, Cornwallis, Dundas, to the pirates, "Come on!" Someone will cry: "British, take France!" and that person will be the Marquis de Lantenac. The man is now caught.After three months of capturing, chasing, and dealing, people finally caught him.The revolution has just captured this devil.The iron fist of 1993 had just grabbed the royalist murderer by the collar.Mysterious providence intervened in human affairs, and the conspirator awaited punishment in his cell.The feudal guards were actually imprisoned in the feudal dungeon. The stone bricks of his own castle turned against him, imprisoning him.Those who wanted to betray their country were betrayed by their own houses.Apparently God arranged it all.The hour of justice has come.The Revolution has imprisoned this public enemy, who can no longer fight, can no longer fight, can no longer do evil.The Vendée had no shortage of men, but he was the only brain; as soon as he was over, the Civil War was over.He was caught, which was a tragic, happy ending.After many massacres and killings, the murderer was finally imprisoned here to die. However, someone will come to his rescue! Cimurdan, representing Ninety-Three, has captured Lantenac, representing the Monarchy, but someone will free the prey from the iron claws.In Lantenac all the evils that are called "the past" are concentrated, and now the marquis is in the tomb, and the heavy door is closed forever on his head, but someone will pull the bolt from outside!The villain in this society is dead, and rebellion, brother killing, and beastly war will die with him, but someone will bring him back from the dead! Ah!This skull will laugh out loud! The ghost will say, "Fine, I'm alive, fools!" So he will do all kinds of evil again!He will plunge again, mercilessly and joyously, into the abyss of hatred and war! From the next day people will see houses burned, captives slaughtered, wounded executed, women shot! And, after all, was Govan overemphasizing the act of kindness that fascinated him? Three children are in dire straits; Lantenac rescues them. However, who put them in a desperate situation? Isn't it Lantenac? Who put the three cradles in the fire? Isn't it Immanus? Who is Immanus? Assistant to the Marquis. The chief should be held accountable. Lantenac, therefore, was the arsonist and the murderer. So what did he do that deserves praise? He didn't make a single mistake, that's all. He devised the crime, then backed away.He is disgusted with himself.His mother's cry awakened in his heart the ancient compassion of mankind, a deposit of universal life which is common to all, even the most obstinate.He heard the call and came back.He retreated from darkness to light.He planned the crime and he destroyed it.His whole merit lies in this: not being a devil from beginning to end. And for this trivial matter, return everything to him!Space, fields, plains, air, sunshine!Give him back the forest so he can plunder, give him back his freedom so he can be enslaved as he pleases, give him his life back so he can make death! Try to come to an understanding with him, talk to this arrogant man, offer him conditional release, and ask him to take no part in hostilities and rebellions after his release; Seeing his contempt, his answer will be to slap you in the face, and he will say, "Shame yourselves! Kill me!" There is nothing to do with this kind of person, either kill him or let him go.This is an uncompromising man.He can take off or die at any time.For himself, he is both an eagle and a cliff.weirdo. kill him?Uneasy!Let him go?heavy responsibility! Once Lantenac is released, all the struggle with Vendée will have to start again, because Vendée will be like a snake whose head has not been beheaded.The fire that was extinguished by the disappearance of Lantenac will be rekindled like a shooting star in an instant.Lantenac will not rest until he carries out his evil design, that the monarchy lies like a tombstone on the republic, and England like a bedrock on France.To save Lantenac is to sacrifice France.Lantenac lives to mean that many innocents, men, women, and children, died in the Civil War, means that the British landed, the Revolution retreated, the cities were sacked, the people were divided, Brittany was shed with blood, and victims fell again. into the claws.Among all kinds of vague and contradictory thoughts, Govan, who was in deep thought, vaguely saw the problem: let the tiger go back to the mountain. Then the problem reappears in its original guise, and the Sisyphus stone - which is really only man's self-struggle - rolls down again.So, is Longtenac a tiger? ①The king in Greek mythology was condemned to push a stone up a mountain in hell, and the stone rolled down before reaching the top of the mountain, so he pushed it again, and so on. Maybe he was a tiger once, and is he still a tiger now?Govan's thoughts kept repeating, twisting and turning like a snake, making him dizzy.Lantenac's dedication, stoic selflessness, and noble selflessness are undeniable, even under strict scrutiny.how!He was able to show his humanity in the civil war with his teeth and mouth cracked!how!How could he proclaim the higher principles in the conflict of the lower principles!how!He can prove that above all monarchies, all revolutions, and all problems in the world, there is infinite human compassion: the strong should protect the weak, the rescued should rescue the dying, the old should love the children!To prove that there are such good things, and at the cost of his head!how! As a general, he can give up strategy, battle and revenge!how!As a Royalist, he was able to take a scale and put on one end the king of France, fifteen hundred years of monarchy, laws to be restored, an ancient society to be rebuilt, and three ordinary peasant boys on the other. , and, after weighing, these three innocent children weighed more than the king, the throne, the scepter, and the monarchy of fifteen hundred years.how!Is it all for nothing?how! Are people who do this still tigers and should be treated like tigers?No!No!No!The man who just lit up the abyss of the Civil War with the brilliance of a miraculous act is not the devil!The swordsman becomes the revelator.Satan in hell is reduced to Lucifer in heaven.Lantenac atoned for all his barbarism by sacrifice.He ruined himself physically, but saved himself morally.He was innocent again, signing a pardon for himself.Is one not entitled to self-forgiveness?Since then, he has been awe-inspiring. ②Satan was originally the angel Lucifer before his fall. Langtenak had just made a remarkable move, and now it was Govan's turn. Govan had to react. The passions of good and evil are fighting each other, leaving the world in chaos, and Langtenac was able to rise above the chaos to draw humanity from it, and now it's up to Govan to draw family from it. What should he do? Will he betray God's trust? No.His heart murmured, "Save Lantenac." That's fine.Come on, do the Brits a favor.desertion!Surrender to the enemy.Save Lantenac, betray France. He shuddered. Your answer is no answer, O dreamer!Govan saw the Sphinx smiling ominously in the shadows. He is at a formidable crossroads, where truths struggle and confront each other, where three of the most sublime human concepts confront each other: humanity, family, and homeland. The three voices spoke in turn, each with a point.How to choose?Every voice seemed to find the juncture of wisdom and justice, saying, "Do it this way." Should it be done this way?Yes.no.Reasoning is one thing, emotion is another, and the two kinds of work run counter to each other.Reason is only reason, emotion is often conscience.The former comes from man, while the latter comes from heaven. Feelings are therefore vaguer, but more powerful. But how powerful is strict reason! Govan hesitated. This is unbearable confusion. Govan faces two abysses.Destroy the Marquis or save the Marquis?Either this abyss or that abyss. Which abyss is his responsibility? People do face responsibility. Responsibility stands there, grim to Simurdan and immense to Govan. The responsibility of the former is simple and clear, while the responsibility of the latter is intricate and circuitous. The clock tower struck twelve midnight, and then one o'clock in the morning. Unknowingly, Govan slowly approached the gap. The fire, with only a diffuse reflection, was dying out. The plateau on the other side of the round tower was now visible in the reflection, and then the smoke covered the light of the fire and the plateau disappeared. Objects appeared disproportionate in the flickering twilight, and the sentinels of the camp looked like larvae.Govan watched the alternation of smoke and fire absently in thought.The flickering fire before his eyes seemed to have some resemblance to the flickering truth in his mind. Suddenly, in two clouds of smoke, a spark from the fading fire lit up the top of the plateau, and a cart appeared in the red light.Govan stared at the car, surrounded by cavalrymen in cavalry caps.When the sun set a few hours ago, Govan probably saw this car in the distance with Gaishan's binoculars.There were people in the car, and they seemed busy unloading.The things they lifted from the car looked heavy and sometimes rattled.It's hard to say what it is.It seems to be a roof truss.Two people lifted a box from the car and put it on the ground. Judging from the shape of the box, the contents inside should be triangular.The spark goes out and everything returns to darkness.Govan stared blankly at the things in the darkness and meditated. People lit the lamps and came and went on the plateau, but the moving figures were indistinct. What's more, Govan was standing on the side of the ravine, and the terrain was low, so he could only see things on the edge of the plateau. Voices were speaking, but I couldn't make out what was being said.Here and there came the sound of knocking on wood, and a metallic creak, as if someone were sharpening a scythe. It struck two o'clock. Govan walked slowly towards the gap, as if he wanted to take two steps forward and three steps back.The sentry saw him approach, recognized the commander's embroidered cloak and hood in the gloom, and saluted him with his gun.Govan walked into the lobby on the first floor, which is now the guard room.A lamp hung under the dome, and the light was dim enough to allow him to pass through the hall without stepping on people, for the guards were lying there on the grass, most of them asleep. Here they lie, where they fought hours ago.The bullets had not been swept away, and the iron and lead pellets were pressed against them, making them uncomfortable to sleep in, but they were tired and resting.This hall is a terrible place, where men have attacked, where they have roared, gnashed their teeth, killed and died.Many of their companions had fallen upon the paving stones where they were now drowsy; the hay on which they lay was soaked with the blood of their companions.And now it was all over, the blood had stopped, the knife had been dried, the dead were dead, and they were sleeping peacefully.This is war.Tomorrow, all will sleep equally. Among the drowsy people, a few stood up when they saw Govan enter, and among them were the officers in charge of the guard. Govan pointed to the cell door and said to him: "Open it for me." The deadbolt was pulled and the door opened. Govan walked into the cell. The cell door closed behind him.