第二十三章 九 新添的风波
九 新添的风波
当他离开苦役牢的时刻到来，当冉阿让耳边响起那句陌生的话：“你得自由了！”那一刻仿佛难以置信、前所未有；一束明亮的光芒，一束来自活人的真实光芒，突然射入他的内心。但这光芒不久便暗淡了。冉阿让曾被自由的念头所眩惑。他相信了一种新生活。但他很快便看清了，那种配上黄色通行证的所谓自由究竟是怎么一回事。
这其中包含了多少辛酸啊。他曾计算过，自己在苦役牢期间应得的工钱应有一百七十一法郎。不过还得补充说明，他忘记把十九年中星期天和节假日的强制休息日计算在内，这便减少了大约八十法郎。尽管如此，他的储蓄还是因各种地方性的扣除而缩减到一百零九法郎十五苏，在他释放那天便如数付给了他。他对这一切丝毫不能理解，只觉得自己受了亏待。干脆说吧——被抢了。
获得自由后的第二天，他在格拉斯，在一家橘花精炼厂门前，看见一些人在卸货。他便主动提出帮工。活儿催得紧，工头接受了他。他干了起来。他聪明、强壮、灵巧；他竭尽全力；老板似乎很满意。正当他干活时，一个宪兵路过，注意到了他，要查他的证件。他只好出示那张黄色通行证。事毕，冉阿让继续干活。此前他曾向一个工人打听过，干这种活一天能挣多少；人家告诉他三十苏。到了傍晚，因为他第二天就得继续赶路，便到精炼厂老板那儿去领工钱。老板一声不吭，递给他十五苏。他提出异议。人家对他说：“给你这个数就够了。”他坚持要按说定的数目给。老板直视着他的眼睛，对他说：“当心坐牢。”
他再次认为自己被抢了。
社会、国家，通过克扣他的储蓄，已经对他进行了大规模的抢劫。现在，则是个人在对他进行小规模的抢劫。
释放不等于解放。离开苦役牢容易，摆脱罪名的束缚却难。
他在格拉斯的遭遇便是如此。至于他在迪涅受到怎样的接待，我们之前已经看到了。
When the hour came for him to take his departure from the galleys, when
Jean Valjean heard in his ear the strange words, _Thou art free!_ the
moment seemed improbable and unprecedented; a ray of vivid light, a ray
of the true light of the living, suddenly penetrated within him. But it
was not long before this ray paled. Jean Valjean had been dazzled by
the idea of liberty. He had believed in a new life. He very speedily
perceived what sort of liberty it is to which a yellow passport is
provided.
And this was encompassed with much bitterness. He had calculated that
his earnings, during his sojourn in the galleys, ought to amount to a
hundred and seventy-one francs. It is but just to add that he had
forgotten to include in his calculations the forced repose of Sundays
and festival days during nineteen years, which entailed a diminution of
about eighty francs. At all events, his hoard had been reduced by
various local levies to the sum of one hundred and nine francs fifteen
sous, which had been counted out to him on his departure. He had
understood nothing of this, and had thought himself wronged. Let us say
the word—robbed.
On the day following his liberation, he saw, at Grasse, in front of an
orange-flower distillery, some men engaged in unloading bales. He
offered his services. Business was pressing; they were accepted. He set
to work. He was intelligent, robust, adroit; he did his best; the
master seemed pleased. While he was at work, a gendarme passed,
observed him, and demanded his papers. It was necessary to show him the
yellow passport. That done, Jean Valjean resumed his labor. A little
while before he had questioned one of the workmen as to the amount
which they earned each day at this occupation; he had been told _thirty
sous_. When evening arrived, as he was forced to set out again on the
following day, he presented himself to the owner of the distillery and
requested to be paid. The owner did not utter a word, but handed him
fifteen sous. He objected. He was told, _“That is enough for thee.”_ He
persisted. The master looked him straight between the eyes, and said to
him _“Beware of the prison.”_
There, again, he considered that he had been robbed.
Society, the State, by diminishing his hoard, had robbed him wholesale.
Now it was the individual who was robbing him at retail.
Liberation is not deliverance. One gets free from the galleys, but not
from the sentence.
That is what happened to him at Grasse. We have seen in what manner he
was received at D——
