第一百五十八章 第十二章 人民的未来潜藏于底层
第十二章 人民的未来潜藏于底层
就巴黎平民而言，即便到了成年，也始终带着街头顽童的影子；描绘孩童便是描绘这座城市；正因如此，我们才在这只十足麻雀般的生灵身上研究着这只雄鹰。我们坚持认为，巴黎人的种族尤其体现在近郊：那里流淌着纯正的血脉；那里展现着真实的面貌；那里的人民劳作受苦，而苦难与劳作恰是人类的双重面孔。那里存在着数不清的未知生灵，其中聚集着最奇特的人物类型——从拉佩河畔的看门人到蒙福孔的屠马夫。《城市之渣》，西塞罗如是说；"暴民"，伯克愤然补充道：乌合之众、群氓、贱民。这些词语脱口而出。但随它去吧。这有何妨？即便是赤足行走，与我何干？他们不识字，那更糟糕。难道因此就要抛弃他们？难道要将他们的苦难化作诅咒？难道光明无法穿透这些民众？让我们回到那声呐喊：光明！并执拗地坚持下去！光明！光明！谁知道这些晦暗是否终将变得透明？革命不正是一场蜕变吗？来吧，哲人们，教导、启迪、照亮、高声思考、放声言说，欢快地向伟大的太阳奔去，与广场结为兄弟，宣告福音，慷慨地挥洒你们的字母，宣示权利，高唱《马赛曲》，播撒热情，从橡树上折下青枝。让思想掀起旋风。这群氓或许能变得崇高。让我们学会运用那原则与美德的浩瀚烈焰——它在某些时刻闪烁、迸发与战栗。这些赤足、这些裸臂、这些褴褛衣衫、这些无知、这些卑贱、这些黑暗，都能用于征服理想。穿过平民的目光，你将瞥见真理。让你脚下践踏的卑劣沙砾投入熔炉，让它熔解沸腾，它将化作璀璨的水晶——正是凭借它，伽利略与牛顿才得以发现星辰。
As for the Parisian populace, even when a man grown, it is always the
street Arab; to paint the child is to paint the city; and it is for
that reason that we have studied this eagle in this arrant sparrow. It
is in the faubourgs, above all, we maintain, that the Parisian race
appears; there is the pure blood; there is the true physiognomy; there
this people toils and suffers, and suffering and toil are the two faces
of man. There exist there immense numbers of unknown beings, among whom
swarm types of the strangest, from the porter of la Râpée to the
knacker of Montfaucon. _Fex urbis_, exclaims Cicero; _mob_, adds Burke,
indignantly; rabble, multitude, populace. These are words and quickly
uttered. But so be it. What does it matter? What is it to me if they do
go barefoot! They do not know how to read; so much the worse. Would you
abandon them for that? Would you turn their distress into a
malediction? Cannot the light penetrate these masses? Let us return to
that cry: Light! and let us obstinately persist therein! Light! Light!
Who knows whether these opacities will not become transparent? Are not
revolutions transfigurations? Come, philosophers, teach, enlighten,
light up, think aloud, speak aloud, hasten joyously to the great sun,
fraternize with the public place, announce the good news, spend your
alphabets lavishly, proclaim rights, sing the Marseillaises, sow
enthusiasms, tear green boughs from the oaks. Make a whirlwind of the
idea. This crowd may be rendered sublime. Let us learn how to make use
of that vast conflagration of principles and virtues, which sparkles,
bursts forth and quivers at certain hours. These bare feet, these bare
arms, these rags, these ignorances, these abjectnesses, these
darknesses, may be employed in the conquest of the ideal. Gaze past the
people, and you will perceive truth. Let that vile sand which you
trample under foot be cast into the furnace, let it melt and seethe
there, it will become a splendid crystal, and it is thanks to it that
Galileo and Newton will discover stars.
