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The War of Women. Volume 1
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"Because I was arrested just when I was least expecting it, to be taken I don't know where."
"Oh! yes, monsieur, you do know, for you were told."
"So I was. We are going to Île Saint-Georges, aren't we?"
"Precisely."
"Do you think I shall remain there long?"
"I have no idea, monsieur; but from the way in which you were recommended, I think it's likely."
"Oho! Is it a very forbidding place, this Île Saint-Georges?"
"Don't you know the fortress?"
"On the inside, no; I have never been inside."
"It's not very attractive, monsieur; and, aside from the governor's apartments, which have been newly furnished and are very pleasant, as I am informed, it's rather a gloomy abode."
"Very good. Do you suppose they will question me?"
"It's the custom."
"And suppose I don't answer?"
"Suppose you don't answer?"
"Yes."
"The devil! in that case there's the torture, you know."
"Ordinary?"
"Ordinary or extraordinary, according to the charge. What is the charge against you, monsieur?"
"Why," said Canolles, "I am much afraid that I am accused of offences against the State."
"Oho! in that case you will enjoy the extraordinary torture. Ten pots – "
"What's that? ten pots?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you will have the ten pots of water poured down your throat."
"So the torture by water is in vogue at Île Saint-Georges, is it?"
"Dame! monsieur, you understand that on the Garonne – "
"To be sure, where the water is right at hand. How many pailfuls in the ten pots?"
"Three to three and a half."
"I shall swell up in that case."
"A little. But if you take the precaution to arrange matters with the jailer – "
"What then?"
"You will have an easy time of it."
"In what does the service that the jailer has it in his power to render me consist, I beg to know?"
"He can give you oil to drink."
"Is oil a specific?"
"Of sovereign efficacy."
"Do you think so?"
"I speak from experience. I have drunk (bu) – "
"You have drunk?"
"Pardon me; I meant to say, I have seen (vu). The habit of talking with Gascons makes me pronounce v like b sometimes, and vice versa."
"You were saying," said Canolles, unable to repress a smile, notwithstanding the gravity of the conversation, – "you were saying that you had seen – ?"
"Yes, monsieur, I have seen a man drink the ten pots of water with great facility, thanks to the oil which he had taken to put the canals in proper condition. To be sure, he swelled up, as they all do; but with a good fire they disinflated him without much damage. That is the essential thing in the second part of the operation. Be sure and remember these words: to heat without burning."
"I understand," said Canolles. "Mayhap monsieur was the executioner?"
"No, monsieur," replied his interlocutor, with courtesy seasoned with modesty.
"His assistant, perhaps?"
"No, monsieur; an onlooker, simply."
"Ah! and monsieur's name is – ?"
"Barrabas."
"A fine name, an old name, too; made famous in the Scriptures."
"In the Passion, monsieur."
"Oh! yes, monsieur, you do know, for you were told."
"So I was. We are going to Île Saint-Georges, aren't we?"
"Precisely."
"Do you think I shall remain there long?"
"I have no idea, monsieur; but from the way in which you were recommended, I think it's likely."
"Oho! Is it a very forbidding place, this Île Saint-Georges?"
"Don't you know the fortress?"
"On the inside, no; I have never been inside."
"It's not very attractive, monsieur; and, aside from the governor's apartments, which have been newly furnished and are very pleasant, as I am informed, it's rather a gloomy abode."
"Very good. Do you suppose they will question me?"
"It's the custom."
"And suppose I don't answer?"
"Suppose you don't answer?"
"Yes."
"The devil! in that case there's the torture, you know."
"Ordinary?"
"Ordinary or extraordinary, according to the charge. What is the charge against you, monsieur?"
"Why," said Canolles, "I am much afraid that I am accused of offences against the State."
"Oho! in that case you will enjoy the extraordinary torture. Ten pots – "
"What's that? ten pots?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you will have the ten pots of water poured down your throat."
"So the torture by water is in vogue at Île Saint-Georges, is it?"
"Dame! monsieur, you understand that on the Garonne – "
"To be sure, where the water is right at hand. How many pailfuls in the ten pots?"
"Three to three and a half."
"I shall swell up in that case."
"A little. But if you take the precaution to arrange matters with the jailer – "
"What then?"
"You will have an easy time of it."
"In what does the service that the jailer has it in his power to render me consist, I beg to know?"
"He can give you oil to drink."
"Is oil a specific?"
"Of sovereign efficacy."
"Do you think so?"
"I speak from experience. I have drunk (bu) – "
"You have drunk?"
"Pardon me; I meant to say, I have seen (vu). The habit of talking with Gascons makes me pronounce v like b sometimes, and vice versa."
"You were saying," said Canolles, unable to repress a smile, notwithstanding the gravity of the conversation, – "you were saying that you had seen – ?"
"Yes, monsieur, I have seen a man drink the ten pots of water with great facility, thanks to the oil which he had taken to put the canals in proper condition. To be sure, he swelled up, as they all do; but with a good fire they disinflated him without much damage. That is the essential thing in the second part of the operation. Be sure and remember these words: to heat without burning."
"I understand," said Canolles. "Mayhap monsieur was the executioner?"
"No, monsieur," replied his interlocutor, with courtesy seasoned with modesty.
"His assistant, perhaps?"
"No, monsieur; an onlooker, simply."
"Ah! and monsieur's name is – ?"
"Barrabas."
"A fine name, an old name, too; made famous in the Scriptures."
"In the Passion, monsieur."
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Последний отзыв
Классная книга. Очень многое объясняет, что скрытое реально происходит в человеке