按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
excellentman！whileiwassendinghimtothedevilhewasputtinghimselfoutofhiswayforme！
thisthoughttouchedme；andipaidmyplimentsonhishavingbeemyneighborwithawarmthwhichopenedhisheart。
〃faith！youseemtometohavethelookofagoodchristian；〃saidheinavoiceofsoldierlikecordiality；andshakingmebythehand。〃idonotlikethosepeoplewholookonalanding…placeasafrontierline；andtreattheirneighborsasiftheywerecossacks。whenmensnuffthesameair；andspeakthesamelingo；theyarenotmeanttoturntheirbackstoeachother。sitdownthere；neighbor；idontmeantoorderyou；onlytakecareofthestool；ithasbutthreelegs；andwemustputgood…willinplaceofthefourth。〃
〃itseemsthatthatisatreasurewhichthereisnowantofhere；〃iobserved。
〃good…will！〃repeatedchaufour；〃thatisallmymotherleftme；anditakeitnosonhasreceivedabetterinheritance。thereforetheyusedtocallmemonsieurcontentinthebatteries。〃
〃youareasoldier；then？〃
〃iservedinthethirdartilleryundertherepublic；andafterwardintheguard；throughallthemotions。iwasatjemappesandatwaterloo；soiwasatthechristeningandattheburialofourglory；asonemaysay！〃
ilookedathimwithastonishment。
〃andhowoldwereyouthen；atjemappes？〃askedi。
〃somewhereaboutfifteen；〃saidhe。
〃howcameyoutothinkofbeingasoldiersoearly？〃
〃ididnotreallythinkaboutit。ithenworkedattoy…making；andneverdreamedthatfrancewouldaskmeforanythingelsethantomakeherdraught…boards；shuttlecocks；andcupsandballs。butihadanolduncleatvincenneswhomiwenttoseefromtimetotime鈥斺�攁fontenoyveteraninthesamerankoflifeasmyself；butwithabilityenoughtohaverisentothatofamarshal。unluckily；inthosedaystherewasnowayformonpeopletogeton。myuncle；whoseserviceswouldhavegothimmadeaprinceundertheother；hadthenretiredwiththemererankofsub…lieutenant。butyoushouldhaveseenhiminhisuniform；hiscrossofst。louis；hiswoodenleg；hiswhitemoustaches；andhisnoblecountenance。youwouldhavesaidhewasaportraitofoneofthoseoldheroesinpowderedhairwhichareatversailles！
〃everytimeivisitedhim；hesaidsomethingwhichremainedfixedinmymemory。butonedayifoundhimquitegrave。
〃jerome；saidhe；doyouknowwhatisgoingononthefrontier？
〃no；lieutenant；repliedi。
〃well；resumedhe；ourcountryisindanger！
〃ididnotwellunderstandhim；andyetitseemedsomethingtome。
〃perhapsyouhaveneverthoughtwhatyourcountrymeans；continuedhe；placinghishandonmyshoulder；‘itisallthatsurroundsyou；allthathasbroughtyouupandfedyou；allthatyouhaveloved！thisgroundthatyousee；thesehouses；thesetrees；thosegirlswhogoalongtherelaughing鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！thelawswhichprotectyou；thebreadwhichpaysforyourwork；thewordsyouinterchangewithothers；thejoyandgriefwhichetoyoufromthemenandthingsamongwhichyoulive鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！thelittleroomwhereyouusedtoseeyourmother；theremembrancesshehasleftyou；theearthwheresherests鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！youseeit；youbreatheit；everywhere！thinktoyourself；myson；ofyourrightsandyourduties；youraffectionsandyourwants；yourpastandyourpresentblessings；writethemallunderasinglename鈥斺�攁ndthatnamewillbeyourcountry！
〃iwastremblingwithemotion；andgreattearswereinmyeyes。
〃ah！iunderstand；criedi；itisourhomeinlarge；itisthatpartoftheworldwheregodhasplacedourbodyandoursoul。
〃youareright；jerome；continuedtheoldsoldier；soyouprehendalsowhatweoweit。
〃truly；resumedi；weoweitallthatweare；itisaquestionoflove。
〃andofhonesty；myson；concludedhe。thememberofafamilywhodoesnotcontributehisshareofworkandofhappinessfailsinhisduty；andisabadkinsman；thememberofapartnershipwhodoesnotenrichitwithallhismight；withallhiscourage；andwithallhisheart；defraudsitofwhatbelongstoit；andisadishonestman。itisthesamewithhimwhoenjoystheadvantagesofhavingacountry；anddoesnotaccepttheburdensofit；heforfeitshishonor；andisabadcitizen！
〃andwhatmustonedo；lieutenant；tobeagoodcitizen？askedi。
〃doforyourcountrywhatyouwoulddoforyourfatherandmother；saidhe。
〃ididnotansweratthemoment；myheartwasswelling；andthebloodboilinginmyveins；butonreturningalongtheroad；myuncleswordswere；sotospeak；writtenupbeforemyeyes。irepeated；doforyourcountrywhatyouwoulddoforyourfatherandmother。andmycountryisindanger；anenemyattacksit；whilei鈥斺�攊turncupsandballs！
〃thisthoughttormentedmesomuchallnightthatthenextdayireturnedtovincennestoannouncetothelieutenantthatihadjustenlisted；andwasgoingofftothefrontier。thebravemanpresseduponmehiscrossofst。louis；andiwentawayasproudasanambassador。
〃thatishow；neighbor；ibecameavolunteerundertherepublicbeforeihadcutmywisdomteeth。〃
allthiswastoldquietly；andinthecheerfulspiritofhimwholooksuponanacplisheddutyneitherasameritnoragrievance。
whilehespoke；fatherchaufourgrewanimated；notonaccountofhimself；butofthegeneralsubject。evidentlythatwhichoccupiedhiminthedramaoflifewasnothisownpart；butthedramaitself。
thissortofdisinterestednesstouchedme。iprolongedmyvisit；andshowedmyselfasfrankaspossible；inordertowinhisconfidenceinreturn。inanhourstimeheknewmypositionandmyhabits；iwasonthefootingofanoldacquaintance。
ievenconfessedtheill…humorthelightofhislampputmeintoashorttimebefore。hetookwhatisaidwiththetouchingcheerfulnesswhichesfromaheartintherightplace；andwhichlooksuponeverythingonthegoodside。heneitherspoketomeofthenecessitywhichobligedhimtoworkwhileicouldsleep；norofthedeprivationsoftheoldsoldierparedtotheluxuryoftheyoungclerk；heonlystruckhisforehead；accusedhimselfofthoughtlessness；andpromisedtoputlistroundhisdoor！
ogreatandbeautifulsoul！withwhomnothingturnstobitterness；andwhoartperemptoryonlyindutyandbenevolence！
october15th鈥斺�攖hismorningiwaslookingatalittleengravingihadframedmyself；andhungovermywriting…table；itisadesignofgavarnis；inwhich；inagravemood；hehasrepresentedaveteranandaconscript。
byoftencontemplatingthesetwofigures；sodifferentinexpression；andsotruetolife；bothhavebeelivinginmyeyes；ihaveseenthemmove；ihaveheardthemspeak；thepicturehasbeearealscene；atwhichiampresentasspectator。
theveteranadvancesslowly；hishandleaningontheshoulderoftheyoungsoldier。hiseyes；closedforever；nolongerperceivethesunshiningthroughthefloweringchestnut…trees。intheplaceofhisrightarmhangsanemptysleeve；andhewalkswithawoodenleg；thesoundofwhichonthepavementmakesthosewhopassturntolook。
atthesightofthisancientwreckfromourpatrioticwars；thegreaternumbershaketheirheadsinpity；andiseemtohearas