第二〇三章 四封信札
**第三章 四封信札**
当晚他脱衣就寝时，手在衣袋里触到他在大街上捡到的那个纸包。他早已忘了此事。心想该把它打开，这包东西若是那几位姑娘的，可能里面有地址；即便不是，也总该有些信息，好物归原主。
他拆开信封。
信封并未封口，里面装着四封信，也都没有封口。
每封信都写着地址。
四封信都散发着一股呛人的烟草味。
第一封信的收信人是：“格吕什雷侯爵夫人，众议院对面，某号。”
马吕斯心想，这封信里大概能找到他要的线索，况且信也没封口，读一读想必不算失礼。
信的内容如下：
侯爵夫人：
仁慈与虔诚之德，最能维系社会。恳请您以基督徒的胸怀，垂怜这位不幸的西班牙人——他因效忠正统王权神圣事业，流血牺牲，倾尽家财，如今陷入赤贫。深信您这样尊贵的夫人定会施以援手，保全一位满身伤痕、有教养有荣誉的军人的性命——这日子实在难熬。谨此预先致谢，感念您的仁德，并望侯爵夫人垂怜我等不幸民族。祈祷必不落空，感恩之情将永铭心中。
谨此，夫人，请接受我最崇高的敬意。
堂·阿尔瓦雷斯，
西班牙骑兵上尉，保王党人，
流亡法国，因故旅行，盘缠告罄。
信末没有附地址。马吕斯希望第二封信里能找到地址。第二封信的信封上写着：“蒙韦尔内伯爵夫人，卡塞特街九号。”马吕斯读道：
伯爵夫人：
我是一个不幸的母亲，有六个孩子，最小的才八个月。上次生产后我便染病，五个月前又被丈夫抛弃，如今一无所有，陷入最可怕的贫困。
仰仗伯爵夫人垂怜，谨此致上最深敬意。
巴利扎尔夫人。
马吕斯拿起第三封信，内容与前封相似，是封求助信：
帕布尔若先生，
选区选民，袜子批发商，
圣德尼街，与铁器街转角处。
斗胆致函，恳请您惠赐同情，垂怜一位文人。此人刚向法兰西剧院投了一部历史剧，故事发生在帝国时期的奥弗涅。窃以为文笔自然简洁，尚可一观。剧中穿插四段可唱的小曲。喜剧、正剧、意外情节交织，人物性格各异，浪漫色彩淡淡点缀于整个神秘展开的剧情之中，经过惊人的变故，最终在一片精彩场景的绚丽光彩中落幕。
我之主要目的，在于满足本世纪人物——亦即时尚——那变幻无常、几乎随每一阵新风而转向的奇特风向标。
虽有这些优点，我仍担心同行相嫉，特权作家们会把我排斥在剧院之外。我深知新来者所受到的羞辱。
帕布尔热先生，您作为开明文学保护者的美名，激励我让小女登门，向您说明我们目前的窘境——在这冬季里，我们缺粮少柴。我之所以告诉您我愿将这部剧本——以及将来所有剧本——献给您，是想向您证明，我多么渴望能有幸得到您的庇护，并以您的名字为作品增光。倘若您肯赐予哪怕最微薄的资助，我立即着手写一首诗，以表感激之情。这首诗我将尽力雕琢，在剧本扉页刊印并搬上舞台之前，定先呈您过目。
致帕布尔热先生暨夫人，
最敬礼！
让弗洛，文人。
又及：即便只有四十苏也好。
请原谅我让小女登门，本人未能亲自拜访——唉，衣着上的种种难言之隐，令我无法出门。
马吕斯最后打开第四封信。地址是：“致圣雅克-上帕教堂的善心先生”。信内写道：
善心人：
若蒙您陪小女同来，您将目睹一场悲惨的灾难，届时我自会呈上证书。
见到这些文字，您慷慨的胸怀定会涌起明显的慈悲——真正的哲人总是情感充沛。
请您承认，可怜的人啊，遭受最残酷的匮乏，为了得到一点点救济，还得让当局出具证明，仿佛连受苦和等着饿死都不自由，这是何等痛苦！命运对某些人极为残酷，对另一些人却过于慷慨，过于庇护。
我在等待您的光临或布施——若蒙您垂怜。请接受我最崇高的敬意。
此致
真正宽宏大量的人，
您最谦卑、
最恭顺的仆人，
法邦图，
戏剧艺术家。
读完这四封信，马吕斯并未比先前了解更多。
首先，没有一位署名者写了地址。
其次，这些信似乎出自四个不同的人：堂·阿尔瓦雷斯、巴利扎尔夫人、诗人让弗洛、戏剧艺术家法邦图。但奇怪的是，这四封信的笔迹竟出自同一人之手。
除了认为它们均出自一人之手，还能得出什么结论呢？
而且，这使上述推测更加可信：四封信用的都是同样粗糙泛黄的纸，同样的烟草味，虽然写信人试图变换风格，但同样的拼写错误却安然自若地重复出现——文人让弗洛的错别字不比西班牙上尉少。
要解开这个小谜团纯属徒劳。若非偶然拾得，这简直像一场恶作剧。马吕斯心情太过忧郁，无法对偶然的玩笑欣然接受，也不愿参与这场似乎是由人行道主动发起的小把戏。他觉得自己像是被这四封信蒙住眼睛玩捉迷藏的盲人，它们正在捉弄他。
然而，没有任何迹象表明这些信属于马吕斯在大街上遇到的那两位姑娘。说到底，这显然是无用的废纸。马吕斯把它们放回信封，扔到一个角落里，便上床睡觉了。
早上七点左右，他刚起床吃过早餐，正想坐下来工作，忽然传来轻轻的敲门声。
他一无所有，从不锁门——除非偶尔（极少）有急事要赶工。即便出门，他也把钥匙留在锁孔里。“你会被偷的，”布贡大妈常说。“偷什么？”马吕斯反问。不过，他确实有一次丢了一双旧靴子，令布贡大妈大为得意。
第二声敲门传来，和第一声同样轻柔。
“请进。”马吕斯说。
门开了。
“布贡大妈，您有什么事？”马吕斯问，眼睛仍盯着桌上的书本和手稿。
回答他的不是布贡大妈的声音：
“对不起，先生——”
那声音沙哑、破碎、嘶哑、窒息，像是老人的嗓音，被烧酒和烈酒侵蚀过。
马吕斯猛地转过身，看见一个年轻姑娘。
That evening, as he was undressing preparatory to going to bed, his
hand came in contact, in the pocket of his coat, with the packet which
he had picked up on the boulevard. He had forgotten it. He thought that
it would be well to open it, and that this package might possibly
contain the address of the young girls, if it really belonged to them,
and, in any case, the information necessary to a restitution to the
person who had lost it.
He opened the envelope.
It was not sealed and contained four letters, also unsealed.
They bore addresses.
All four exhaled a horrible odor of tobacco.
The first was addressed: _“To Madame, Madame la Marquise de Grucheray,
the place opposite the Chamber of Deputies, No.—”_
Marius said to himself, that he should probably find in it the
information which he sought, and that, moreover, the letter being open,
it was probable that it could be read without impropriety.
It was conceived as follows:—
Madame la Marquise: The virtue of clemency and piety is that which most
closely unites sosiety. Turn your Christian spirit and cast a look of
compassion on this unfortunate Spanish victim of loyalty and attachment
to the sacred cause of legitimacy, who has given with his blood,
consecrated his fortune, evverything, to defend that cause, and to-day
finds himself in the greatest missery. He doubts not that your
honorable person will grant succor to preserve an existence exteremely
painful for a military man of education and honor full of wounds,
counts in advance on the humanity which animates you and on the
interest which Madame la Marquise bears to a nation so unfortunate.
Their prayer will not be in vain, and their gratitude will preserve
theirs charming souvenir.
My respectful sentiments, with which I have the honor to be
Madame,
DON ALVARÈS, Spanish Captain of Cavalry, a royalist who has take
refuge in France, who finds himself on travells for his country,
and the resources are lacking him to continue his travells.
No address was joined to the signature. Marius hoped to find the
address in the second letter, whose superscription read: _À Madame,
Madame la Comtesse de Montvernet, Rue Cassette, No. 9_. This is what
Marius read in it:—
MADAME LA COMTESSE: It is an unhappy mother of a family of six
children the last of which is only eight months old. I sick since
my last confinement, abandoned by my husband five months ago,
haveing no resources in the world the most frightful indigance.
In the hope of Madame la Comtesse, she has the honor to be, Madame,
with profound respect,
MISTRESS BALIZARD.
Marius turned to the third letter, which was a petition like the
preceding; he read:—
Monsieur PABOURGEOT, Elector, wholesale stocking merchant, Rue
Saint-Denis on the corner of the Rue aux Fers.
I permit myself to address you this letter to beg you to grant me
the pretious favor of your simpaties and to interest yourself in a
man of letters who has just sent a drama to the Théâtre-Français.
The subject is historical, and the action takes place in Auvergne
in the time of the Empire; the style, I think, is natural, laconic,
and may have some merit. There are couplets to be sung in four
places. The comic, the serious, the unexpected, are mingled in a
variety of characters, and a tinge of romanticism lightly spread
through all the intrigue which proceeds misteriously, and ends,
after striking altarations, in the midst of many beautiful strokes
of brilliant scenes.
