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Monsieur Aulard arrived at the theater to make inquiries to see who could fill Topolain’s place for the evening performance. He sat at his desk and opened the bottom drawer, where he found a none-too-clean glass and a bottle of wine. He pulled out the cork and poured himself a drink. It tasted good. He closed his eyes, taking another sip. He opened his eyes with a start. There, sitting in the chair before him, was Count Kalliovski. It was as if the devil himself had appeared from nowhere. The shock made him choke on his wine: "Mort bleu, you gave me the fright of my life.I didn’t hear you, monsieur!”
“Where are they?” demanded the count.
“Where are who?” said Monsieur Aulard, hurriedly refilling his glass.
The count’s hand in its black leather glove moved effortlessly toward the stem. “You know very well who I am after. The boy and the dwarf.”
“I know no such thing,” said Monsieur Aulard, trying to summon up much-needed indignation. “Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me where Topolain is.”
“Topolain is dead. I’ll wager you’ve been told as much. It was I pulled the trigger. A most unfortunate accident,” said the count.
Monsieur Aulard felt an icy trickle of sweat creep down his back.
“You will tell me where they are hiding. I know you know where they are,” said the count, standing up.
“I assure you I do not.” said Monsieur Aulard. Each word sounded shakier than the last.
“You have until the curtain goes up at seven to tell me,” said the count. “If you fail”—here he gave a mean, thin-lipped smile—“I hope for your sake that you have made peace with your Maker.” The door closed behind him .poor Monsieur Aulard waited to make sure that he had gone. Then, grabbing hold of the bottle, he drank what was left.
The lights and smoky warmth of Moet’s Tavern seemed like a slice of heaven in this frozen city. As usual, it was full of hot-headed youths and men arguing over the state of the kingdom. Têtu and Yann found a table tucked away in the corner out of sight and ordered the dish of the day. Only when Têtu’s fingers finally felt that they belonged to him again did he begin to sew the sleeve back onto the boy’s coat. Yann felt not only that his coat had come apart but that his world had been torn to pieces. Everything had changed the minute the pistol had gone off, killing Topolain. What he knew about the past amounted to no more than a few facts, bright beads from an unthreaded necklace, reluctantly given to him by Têtu, who refused to join them together. Yann had no father that he knew of; his mother had been a dancer in a circus, and had died he was born; Margoza was the name of a village of which Têtu had fond memories. His survival had been due to Têtu, and Têtu alone. What he knew about the dwarf was not much more. He had once been a jester to a king; which king, he wouldn’t say. He had traveled the world with a dancing bear. All that had happened a long time before he had found himself with a baby to care for. Never once had he mentioned Count Kalliovski, or who he might be. So why had the count tampered with the pistol? What exactly was it that Topolain and Têtu knew? The more Yann thought about it, the more certain he was that there was one question which is answered truthfully, might string together all the beads on the necklace.
“Who is Count Kalliovski?”
Têtu shrugged his shoulders. “One day I will tell you,” he said finally, cutting the thread with his teeth. He shook out the coat and handed it back to Yann.
“I’m old enough to know right away.”
“Yannick, you know I love you as if you were my son. Don’t you trust me?”
“I do.”
“Then believe me, I will answer all your questions, but not now. Now is not the time. Now is not the place.”
剧院经理Aulard先生来到剧院，看看谁能替补已故的大魔术师Topolain的演出。他坐在书桌前，拉开抽屉，发现里面有一瓶酒和一盏不太干净的玻璃杯。他给自己斟了一杯酒，闭上眼睛抿了一口，味道还不错。当他睁开眼睛，在他眼前的椅子上，坐着Kalliovski伯爵。伯爵神出鬼没吓得经理呛了一口酒：“我的天啊！吓死我了！我压根没听见你的脚步声，先生。”
“他在哪儿？“伯爵问道
“谁？谁在哪里？” Aulard先生赶紧给酒杯添满酒，想要递给伯爵。伯爵用他带着黑皮手套的手阻止了：“你知道我问的谁，那个小男孩和那个矮人。” Aulard “我真的不知道。” 先生鼓起勇气愤慨的说，“或许你能告诉我Topolain在哪儿？”
“Topolain死了，我估计你已经听说了。是我扣动了扳机，真是一件不幸的意外。”伯爵说。Aulard感觉冷汗顺着他的背部慢慢的滑下。“你会告诉我他们藏在哪里了，我知道你知道他们在哪儿。”伯爵说着站了起来。
“告诉你，我不会。” Aulard说，但是他说出的每个字听起来都是那么虚弱无力。
“今天晚上七点开演前告诉我。“伯爵说，”如果没有……“伯爵抿起薄唇微笑：“我希望你能去见上帝。”
门重重的关上了，可怜的Aulard确定伯爵已经走远了，抓起桌上的酒瓶，把剩下的酒一饮而尽。
一个叫Moet的小酒馆内灯火通明、烟雾弥漫，像是这座寒冰之城的一小片天堂。和往常一样，一些热血的男男女女在争论着政治。Yann和Têtu在角落里找了一张不起眼的桌子，点了这天的第一顿餐。Têtu的手指渐渐恢复了知觉，他开始缝Yann撕裂的外套。而Yann，觉得不只是外套撕裂了，他的整个世界都支离破碎了。在手枪走火打死Topolain那刻起，一切都变了。他所知道的一切加起来不过是微乎其微的几件事，Têtu拒绝加入他们，极不情愿的给了他光滑项链的珠子。Yann没有父亲，他的母亲是马戏团的舞蹈演员，在他出生的时候她就过世了。他的姓氏Margoza是一个小村庄的名字，那里有他美好的回忆。他能活到现在完全因为Têtu的照顾，Têtu也是孤身一人。Yann对这位矮人知道的也不多，他知道Têtu曾经是一位国王的弄臣，至于是哪位国王，Têtu从没说起过。他曾经和一只会跳舞的小熊环游世界。当然，这些事情都发生在很久很久以前了。他从来没有提起过Kalliovski伯爵。所以，为什么伯爵会扣动扳机? Têtu和Topolain到底知道些什么？Yann越想越确定一个事实，穿起项链上的珠子可能会解开他的疑惑。” Kalliovski伯爵到底是谁？“
Têtu耸耸肩膀说：”有一天我会告诉你的。“他说完后，用牙齿咬断缝衣服的线。他抖抖衣服递给Yann。
“我已经到了该知道事实的年龄了。”
“孩子，你知道我像爱自己儿子一样爱你。你不相信我吗？”
“我当然相信了。“
“所以，如果你相信我，我以后会解开你的所有疑惑。但是现在不行。此时此刻此地，还不能说这些。”
【文本翻译均为电台英伦好声音读给你听所有，转载请联系播主并注明】
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