第一百二十二章 第四章 嬉闹
第四章 嬉闹
但是，这些小姑娘们给这座阴沉的房子留下了不少迷人的回忆。
在某些时刻，童年会给那修院带来灿烂的光辉。休息的钟声响了。一扇门在门轴上转动。鸟儿说："好了！孩子们来了！"一群青年人象一片彩云涌进那被十字架拦腰切断的花园，活象寿衣。无数光艳的面容、白皙的额头、晶莹而流露欢乐光明的眼睛，种种的曙光都在那阴森森的花园里缤纷四射。在唱诗、钟声、铃声、报时、诵经之后，孩子们的声音突然爆发，比群蜂嗡嗡的噪声更为悦耳。欢乐的蜂箱打开了，每一只都带着自己的蜜。大家玩耍，相互呼唤，三五成群地奔跑；在角落里，美丽的白齿在叽叽喳喳地说话；那些面纱，从远处，看守着笑声，阴影看护着阳光，但是有什么关系呢？大家仍然尽情欢笑。那四道凄清的墙也目眩神驰。它们也暂时在那一片喜气洋洋的蜂声中，若明若暗地显得有点活跃。那仿佛是落在这悲苦之家的一场玫瑰花雨。小姑娘们尽兴在修女们的眼前嬉闹；对无瑕可指的人来说，天真烂漫的目光是并不会使她们感到为难的。多亏了这些孩子，在许许多多严肃的时辰中，也有了一个纯真的时辰。那些小姑娘跳跳蹦蹦；那些大姑娘跳舞。在那个修院里，嬉戏和苍天是融为一体的。没有什么比所有这些新鲜的心灵在开放时，显得那么天真，那么崇高。荷马也会来这里和贝洛①同乐，在这座黑花园里有着青春、健康、热闹、欢乐、幸福，足以使所有的老奶奶们，从史诗里的直到童话里的，从安花台的到老妈子太的肝气痛都得到平息。
①贝洛（Charles Perrault，1628-1703），法国作家，有《鹅妈妈的故事》作品传世。
"哎哟"一词，可能是在那个屋子里说出的，比在别的地方也许更多些。听见一个老圣徒说："我老啦！"一个四五岁的小姑娘也马上会说："哎哟，我老啦！"
下面是一个十一岁的小姑娘和另一个十三岁的大姑娘的对话：
"你想的是什么呢？"
"我在想。"
"那还不是一样的吗？"
还有一段这样的对话，使听到的人都会笑起来：
"那天，我对我说真话。""你对我说了真话吗？""我对你说真话，说得多有意思，你知道吗？""你又来了！""我告诉你说，是很有意思的。我说：'小姐，我长得很丑。'小姐说：'小姐，你长得也够那意思。'"
在一个壁炉上，有一首小孩子写的抑扬格诗：
"我最爱食雀鹰，
因为它生在法国。
母鸡在北方生蛋，
雏鸡吃蛋后就万事大吉了。"
那花园里有一张苔藓地的凳子，上面放着一根满是结子的手杖，修女们要坐在那上面消遣。有人在那上面还发现过这样的四行诗：
"我在这里高兴地吃着我那甜面包，
雅克家的男人和阿利斯家的男人都发了狂，
这多稀奇哟！
什么也不会叫他们快乐。"
有一个小坏蛋被开除了——为了笑了一次，在笑的地方大家看见了一个字，也许是她叫喊出来的。其实也没有什么了不起的。这个字是"牛"。
有个小姑娘在花园里溜达时，踩了她的棉鞋上一根带子，她旁边的一个姑娘便对她说："啊呀！这小姑娘的脚筋给扯断了。"也许也就是因为这一事实，才会产生那个全修士寄宿生都这么说的文雅的称呼"瘸鞋底"。
有个姑娘，她的义名，是专门修女把她从小带大的，是个可怜的弃儿，她听见别人谈起她们的母亲，心里很难过，她在背地里唱：
"我呀，我妈妈，她不在，
我呀，我爸爸，他没有。
啊呀！我真算倒了霉。
我没有爹妈。"
有一个胖看门的，老见她拿着一串钥匙，匆匆忙忙地在走廊里跑，修女们亲切地称呼她"阿加特大妈"。那些"大大小姐"（十岁以上的）都叫她"阿加托克利斯"①。
①阿加托克利斯（Agathoclès，公元前361-289），西西里的暴君。
饭厅是间长方形的大厅，阳光只从和花园同一水平面的拱廊处透进去，里面又暗又潮，照孩子们的说法，满处是虫。周围的一切地方都为它提供昆虫。于是四个角落各自从学生那里得到了一个既形象又生动的名称。有"蜘蛛角落"、"毛虫角落"、"草鞋虫角落"和"蛐蛐角落"。蛐蛐角落靠近厨房，是很受重视的。那儿比别处要暖和一些。饭厅的这些名字后来又沿用到寄宿学校，就象从前马萨林②中学那样，用来区别四个"民族"。每个学生属于一个"民族"，是根据她吃饭时所在的角落确定的。有一个主教大人来巡视时，看见走过一个漂亮的小姑娘，她满头的金发，他问另一个美丽的小姑娘，她脸上泛着桃红、站在旁边：
"这孩子是谁？"
"她是蜘蛛，主教大人。"
"哦！那个呢？"
"是蛐蛐。"
"还有那个呢？"
"是毛虫。"
"真的！你自己呢？"
"我是草鞋虫，主教大人。"
在每一所这样的房子里，也都有其自己的特色。在本世纪初，艾古安③就是这样一个地方，那里的小姑娘们在一个几乎令人肃然起敬的阴影里，度过她们天真无邪的童年。
在艾古安，参加圣体游行的行列是有区别的：有所谓"处女"和"鲜花"之分。"处女"是指捧着圣体匣的帐幔的绦子的人，"鲜花"是指在圣体前面撒花的人。其余的就跟在后面。四个"处女"走在最前面。圣体瞻礼的早晨，在寝室里，常听见有人这样问：
"谁是处女？"
有个叫康庞夫人④的，引用过一个七岁的小姑娘对十六岁的大姑娘说的话，那大姑娘走在队伍的最前面，那小家伙却落在后头，她望着那大姑娘说道："你是处女，你，我不是。"
②马萨林（Jules Mazarin，1602-1661），法国红衣主教，国王路易十三和路易十四的首相。
③艾古安（Ecouen），在巴黎北面，附近有著名修院。
④康庞夫人（Madame Campan，1752-1822），拿破仑一世时曾管理过一所学校。
Nonetheless, these young girls filled this grave house with charming
souvenirs.
At certain hours childhood sparkled in that cloister. The recreation
hour struck. A door swung on its hinges. The birds said, “Good; here
come the children!” An irruption of youth inundated that garden
intersected with a cross like a shroud. Radiant faces, white foreheads,
innocent eyes, full of merry light, all sorts of auroras, were
scattered about amid these shadows. After the psalmodies, the bells,
the peals, and knells and offices, the sound of these little girls
burst forth on a sudden more sweetly than the noise of bees. The hive
of joy was opened, and each one brought her honey. They played, they
called to each other, they formed into groups, they ran about; pretty
little white teeth chattered in the corners; the veils superintended
the laughs from a distance, shades kept watch of the sunbeams, but what
mattered it? Still they beamed and laughed. Those four lugubrious walls
had their moment of dazzling brilliancy. They looked on, vaguely
blanched with the reflection of so much joy at this sweet swarming of
the hives. It was like a shower of roses falling athwart this house of
mourning. The young girls frolicked beneath the eyes of the nuns; the
gaze of impeccability does not embarrass innocence. Thanks to these
children, there was, among so many austere hours, one hour of
ingenuousness. The little ones skipped about; the elder ones danced. In
this cloister play was mingled with heaven. Nothing is so delightful
and so august as all these fresh, expanding young souls. Homer would
have come thither to laugh with Perrault; and there was in that black
garden, youth, health, noise, cries, giddiness, pleasure, happiness
enough to smooth out the wrinkles of all their ancestresses, those of
the epic as well as those of the fairy-tale, those of the throne as
well as those of the thatched cottage from Hecuba to la Mère-Grand.
In that house more than anywhere else, perhaps, arise those children’s
sayings which are so graceful and which evoke a smile that is full of
thoughtfulness. It was between those four gloomy walls that a child of
five years exclaimed one day: “Mother! one of the big girls has just
told me that I have only nine years and ten months longer to remain
here. What happiness!”
It was here, too, that this memorable dialogue took place:—
_A Vocal Mother_. Why are you weeping, my child?
_The child_ (aged six). I told Alix that I knew my French history. She
says that I do not know it, but I do.
_Alix_, the big girl (aged nine). No; she does not know it.
_The Mother_. How is that, my child?
_Alix_. She told me to open the book at random and to ask her any
question in the book, and she would answer it.
“Well?”
“She did not answer it.”
“Let us see about it. What did you ask her?”
“I opened the book at random, as she proposed, and I put the first
question that I came across.”
“And what was the question?”
