介绍:
（下拉有中英对照文本）
That evening the marquis, unaware that anything was wrong, sat down as usual to supper. Annoyed to find that it was late, he rang the bell angrily.
With a heavy heart, Sido opened the door to the dining chamber.
“It is quite intolerable to be kept waiting at my own table,” he snapped.
“Papa, all but two of your servants left this morning.”
“Did I give you permission to speak?” asked the marquis.
“No, Papa, but I think it might be wise to make plans just—”
“You think,” he interrupted sarcastically. “You think? And of what significance are your miserable thoughts? You are just about bearable when silent.
When you speak I find your presence quite insupportable.”
那天晚上，侯爵不知道出了什么事，像往常一样坐下来吃晚饭。发现已经很晚了，他生气地按响了铃。Sido怀着沉重的心情，打开门到餐室。
“在餐桌上等待，是非常让人难以忍受的，”他说。
“爸爸，但您的仆人今早离开了，现在就剩下两个仆人了。”
“我让你说话了吗？侯爵问道。
“不，爸爸，但是我认为我们应该提前制定下计划—”
“你认为，”他讽刺地打断了Sido的话。“你认为？你那些痛苦的想法有什么意义？你沉默的时候还能够忍受。而当你说话时，我发现我完全无法忍受你的存在。”
Sido could take it no longer. Tears welled up, and the color rushed to her face.
“What have I done that you should hate me so much?” she cried. The marquis looked up at an invisible point just above her head.
Sido忍不住了。眼泪涌出，冲到脸上。
“我做了什么让你这么恨我？“她哭了。侯爵从她头顶一个Sido看不见的角度看着她。
“Been born, and once born, been a mere girl.”
“Is that my only crime?”
“How dare you ask such impertinent questions, leave the room!”
The marquis got up and walked toward the door. “Tell my valet that I shall be dining in my apartment.”
Sido went back down to the kitchen to find Jean still sitting at the table.
“I take it he didn’t like what he was told?”
“He wouldn’t listen. He loathes me. He said it would have been better if I’d never been born.”
“If it is of any comfort, mademoiselle, I don’t think the marquis cares for anyone or anything, apart from his possessions.”
“But what can I do?” said Sido.
“Nothing. No matter how much you try to please him, he will never love you,
It would be best just to accept this, and let acceptance make you stronger. I am sorry to speak out of turn, mademoiselle, but that’s how I see it. Is there no other family you can turn to?”
“出生，一出生，就是一个微不足道的女孩。”
“这是我唯一的罪过吗？“
“你怎么敢提出这样无礼的问题，离开房间！“
侯爵站了起来，向门口走去。“告诉我的仆人，我将在我的公寓里吃饭。”
Sido回到厨房，发现Jean仍然坐在桌子上。
“我认为他不喜欢听到刚刚那些话？“
“他不会听的。他讨厌我。他说，倘若我从未出生过更好。”
“如果可以安慰你的话，小姐，我认为侯爵不关心任何人、任何事，只关心自己的财产。”
“但是我能做什么呢？”Sido说。
“什么也不能做。不管你如何请求他，他也不会爱你。你最好是接受这一点，这会让你更坚强。对不起，我多嘴了，小姐，但我是这么认为的。你没有其他亲戚可以投奔吗？“
“There’s my mother’s sister in London.”
“Well, then,” said Jean, “what’s the sad face for? At least you know there’s someone who will be pleased to see you.”
“Yes, but how would I ever get to England?” said Sido.
“Goodness knows, If it is of any comfort, Bernard and I have worked out an escape route from the château in case the mob should come. Shall I show you?”
He took a lantern from the dresser and guided her out of the kitchen and down the steps that led to the wine cellar, pushing back a small wooden door and lifting the lantern high to show her a long tunnel.
“Where does that go?” asked Sido with surprise.
“我母亲的妹妹在伦敦。”
“好吧，那么，”Jean说，“为什么要这么悲伤呢？至少你知道有人会很高兴见到你。”
“是的，但我怎么去英国呢？”Sido说。
“天知道，如果可以安慰你的话，Bernard和我曾为了躲避暴徒，找到了一条逃跑的路线，要我带你去吗？”
他从梳妆台上拿了一盏提灯，领着Sido走出厨房，走下通往酒窖的台阶，把一扇小木门推了回去，把灯笼举得高高的，给她看了一条长长的隧道。
“这通往哪里？”Sido惊奇地问。
“To the stables. It was built so that your father would not have to see any tradesmen unloading wagons. You never know, his vanity may yet save us.” Sido smiled.
“That’s better. Bernard is going to keep a carriage ready night and day. Does that make you feel a little less fearful?”
A week later, what Sido had been dreading finally happened. At two o’clock in the morning there was a sudden terrible sound that broke the stillness of the night. She looked into the garden and saw a small army of people advancing on the château, carrying torches and singing loudly, emboldened by wine.
Quickly she dressed and ran to the marquis’s bedchamber, just as Jean burst through the door. The marquis was standing by the window in his robe, looking in disbelief at the crowd down below.
“Who let them in?”
“No one did, Papa. They stormed the wall.”
“Impossible.”
“去马厩。因为你父亲不想看到任何商人的卸货车，才建成这样。你永远都不会知道，他的虚荣心也许能拯救我们。”Sido笑了。
“那更好。Bernard打算每天准备一辆马车。这会让你感到不那么害怕吗？”
一周后，Sido一直担心的事情终于发生了。凌晨二点，突然有可怕的声音打破了夜晚的寂静。她看着花园里，一小队人行进在城堡里，携带着手电筒，大声唱歌，喝酒壮胆。
她迅速地穿好衣服，跑到侯爵的房间， 这时Jean也破门而入。侯爵穿着长袍站在窗前，难以置信地看着下面的人群。
“谁让他们进来的？”“
“没有人，爸爸。他们冲破了墙。”
“这不可能。”
At that moment the window broke. A burning torch landed on the floor and rolled toward the four-poster bed, setting the drapery alight.
Downstairs they could hear the sound of breaking glass and hammering on the front door.
“We must leave,” said Jean. “They’ll be in the house at any moment.”
“Not without my buckles,” said the marquis. “I won’t leave without them.”
He pushed open the door to the antechamber. The room was ablaze and he staggered back from the billowing smoke.
“Hurry!” shouted Jean as the marquis desperately tried to beat out the flames to get to his beloved buckles. “If you don’t come now, we’re leaving you.”
这时，窗户被打破了。燃烧的火把落在地上滚向四张床，点燃了帷幕。
他们听到了楼下打碎玻璃的声音和前门的敲击声。
“我们必须离开，”Jean说。“他们随时都会冲进屋子里。”
“我没带我的搭扣，”侯爵说。“我不会离开它们。”他推开通向前厅的门。房间着火了，他在滚滚浓烟中蹒跚前行。
“快点！”侯爵绝望地试图扑灭他心爱搭扣上的火焰，Jean喊道。“如果你再不来，我们就要走了。”
The front door gave way and a sound like a wave came crashing into the hall.
In desperation, the marquis grabbed a red-hot buckle and let out a piercing scream as the burning silver branded his hand. Like a wounded child he
allowed Jean to lead him down the secret passages, while all around them they could hear the sounds of furniture being broken, ornaments destroyed, and the
roar of the fire about to engulf the château.
They rushed down to the cellar, closing the door behind them and stacking baskets of bottles against it in the hope of delaying the mob. Jean went ahead as they groped their way along the dark musty corridor that led to the stables.
Bernard was waiting, trying to calm the two terrified horses that he had harnessed to a carriage. The other horses he had let run wild.
The marquis, on seeing that it was not his finest carriage, demanded that the horses be unharnessed immediately and his gilded coach used instead.
前门没有了，一个声音像波浪一样冲进大厅。
绝望中，侯爵抓起一个红色的搭扣，燃烧的银烙在他的手上，他发出了刺耳的尖叫声。侯爵就像一个受伤的孩子，允许Jean带着他进入秘密通道，而在他们周围，可以听到破碎的家具的声音，破坏装饰物的声音，以及吞没城堡的火焰的咆哮声。
他们冲进地窖，关上身后的门，把瓶子装在篮子里，希望以此来拖住暴民。Jean在阴暗发霉的走廊上摸索着，继续往前走，走向马厩。
Bernard在等着，试图让他驾驭的两匹受惊的马平静下来。其他马已经跑走了。
侯爵看到后说这不是他最好的马车，要求要立刻卸下马具，用他阔气的马车。
“Surely you don’t expect me to travel in a carriage intended for the use of servants?”
“Please, Papa,” implored Sido, who was already inside. She looked back and saw the château lit red against the sky as the mob began to move toward the stables.
With great presence of mind, Bernard and Jean pushed the marquis into the carriage and set off at full speed.
There was no choice as to direction. An angry crowd of peasants was waiting, blocking the road leading to Versailles and Normandy.
The marquis, stunned, sat looked back at his beloved château, now consumed
by flames.
“你不会指望我坐仆人驾驶的马车吧？”
“拜托了，爸爸，”Sido哀求道，她已经坐在马车里了。Sido回头一看，城堡已经被火焰染红了，暴民们开始走向马厩。
Bernard和Jean心情却很好，把侯爵推上马车，全速出发。
没有指引的方向。一群愤怒的农民在等待，封锁了通往Versailles和诺曼底的路。
侯爵惊呆了，坐着看着他心爱的城堡，被熊熊火焰燃烧殆尽。
----每周一/三/五晚更----
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