it is the peculiarity of certain persons and certain professions, notably priests and nuns, to wear a grave and agitated air on critical occasions. at the moment when fauchelevent entered, this double form of preoccupation was imprinted on the countenance of the prioress, who was that wise and charming mademoiselle de blemeur, mother innocente, who was ordinarily cheerful.
the gardener made a timid bow, and remained!at the door of?àhe cell. the prioress, who was telling her beads, raised her eyes and said:--
"ah! it is you, father fauvent."
this abbreviation had been adopted in the convent.
fauchelevent bowed a``in.
"father fauvent, i have sent for you."
"here i am, reverend mother."
"i have something to say to you."
"and so have i," said fauchelevent with a boldness which caused him inward terror, "i have something to say to the very reverend mother."
the prioress stared at him.
"ah! you have a communication to make to me."
"a request."
"very well, speak."
goodman fauchelevent, the ex-notary, belonged to the category of peasants who have assurance. a certain clever ignorance constitutes a force; you do not distrust it, and you are caug`` by it. fauched!vent had been a success during the something more than two years which he had passed in the convent. always solitary and busied about his gardening, he had nothing else to do than to indulge his curiosity. as he was at a distance from all those veiled women passing to and fro, he saw before him only an agitation of shadows. by dint of attention and sharpness he had succeeded in clothing all those phantoms with flesh, and those corpses were alive for him. he was like a deaf man whose sight grows keener, and like a blind man whose hearing becomes more acute. he had applied himself to riddling out the significance of the different peals, and he had succeeded, so that this taciturn and enigmatical cloister possessed no secrets for him; the sphinx babbled all her secrets in his ear. fauchelevent knew all and concealed all; that constituted his art. the whole convent thought him stupid. a great merit in religion. the vocal mothers made much of fauchelevent. he was a curious mute. he inspired confidence. moreover, he was regular, and never went out except for well-demonstrated requirements of the orchard and vegetable garden. this discretion of conduct had inured to his credit. none the less, he had set two men to chattering: the porter, in the convent, and he knew the singularities of their parlor, and the grave-digger, at the cemetery, and he was acquainted with the peculiarities of their sepulture; in this way, he possessed a double light on the subject of these nuns, one as to their life, the other as to their death. but he did not abuse his knowledge. the congregation thought a great deal of him. old, lame, blind to everything, probably a little deaf into the bargain,--what qualities! they would have found it difficult to replace him.
the goodman, with the assurance of a person who feels that he is appreciated, entered into a rather diffuse and very deep rustic harangue to the reverend prioress. he talked a long time about his age, his infirmities, the surcharge of years counting double for him henceforth, of the increasing demands of his work, of the great size of the garden, of nights which must be passed, like the last, for instance, when he had been obliged to put straw mats over the melon beds, because of the moon, and he wound up as follows: "that he had a brother"--(the prioress made a movement),--"a brother no longer young"--(a second movement on the part of the prioress, but one expressive of reassurance),--"that, if he might be permitted, this brother would come and live with him and help him, that he was an excellent gardener, that the community would receive from him good service, better than his own; that, otherwise, if his brother were not admitted, as he, the elder, felt that his health was broken and that he was insufficient for the work, he should be obliged, greatly to his regret, to go away; and that his brother had a little daughter whom he would bring with him, who might be reared for god in the house, and who might, who knows, become a nun some day."
when he had finished speaking, the prioress stayed the slipping of her rosary between her fingers, and said to him:--
"could you procure a stout iron bar between now and this evening?"
"for what purpose?"
"to serve as a lever."
"yes, reverend mother," replied fauchelevent.
the prioress, without adding a word, rose and entered the adjoining room, which was the hall of the chapter, and where the vocal mothers were probably assembled. fauchelevent was left alone.
在紧急关头露出紧张和沉郁的神情，这对某些性格和某些职业的人，尤其是对神甫和教徒们来说，是特别的。院长纯贞嬷嬷，原是那位有才有貌的德·勃勒麦尔小姐，她平日素来轻松活泼，可是当割风走进屋子时，她脸上却露出那两种显示心神不定的神情。
园丁小心翼翼地行了个礼，立在屋门口。院长正拨动着手里的念珠，抬起眼睛说道：
“啊，是您，割爷。”
这个简称是在那修院里用惯了的。
割风又行了个礼。
“割爷，是我叫人把您找来的。”
“我来了，崇高的嬷嬷。”
“我有话要和您谈。”
“我也，在我这方面，也有件事想和极崇高的嬷嬷谈谈。”
割风壮着胆子说，内心却先在害怕。
院长睁眼望着他。
“啊！您有事要向我反映。”
“要向您请求。”
“那好，您说吧。”
割风这老头，以前当过公证人，是一个那种坚定有把握的乡下人。某种圆滑而又显得无知的表情是占便宜的，人往往在不提防的情况下已经被俘。割风在那修院里已住了两年多，和大家也相处得很好。他终年过着孤独的生活，除忙于园艺之外几乎没有旁的事可做，于是也滋长了好奇心。他从远处望着那些头上蒙着黑纱的妇女，在他眼前时来时往，起初他见到的几乎只是些幢幢黑影，久之，由于不时注意和深入观察，后来他也渐渐能恢复那些鬼影的肉身，那些死人在他看来也就成为活人了。他仿佛是个视觉日明的哑巴，听觉日聪的瞎子。他细心分辨各种钟声所表示的意义，于是那座葫芦似的不闻人声的修院没有什么事能瞒得过他的了，哑谜神早已把它的全部秘密在他的耳朵里倾吐。割风知道一切，却什么也不说，那是他的乖巧处。全院的人都以为他是个白痴。这在教会里是一大优点。参议嬷嬷们非常器重割风。他是个不可多得的哑人，他获得了大家的信任。此外，他能守规矩。除了果园菜地上有非办不可的事之外他从不出大门。这种谨慎的作风是为人重视的，他却并不因此而不去找人聊天，他常找的两个人，在修院里，是门房，他因而知道会客室里的一些特别情形；在坟场里，是埋葬工人，因而他知道墓地里的一些独特之处，正好象他有两盏灯在替他照着那些修女们，一盏照着生的一面，一盏照着死的一面。但是他一点也不胡来。修院里的人都重视他。年老，腿瘸，眼花，也许耳朵还有点聋，数不尽的长处！谁也替代不了他。
老头子自己也知道已获得人家的重视，因而在那崇高的院长面前，满怀信心，夸夸其谈地说了一通相当乱而又非常深刻的乡下人的话。他大谈特谈自己的年纪、身体上的缺陷、往后年龄对他的威胁会越来越重、工作的要求也不断增加、园地真够大，有时还得在园里过夜，例如昨晚，月亮上来了，就得到瓜田里去铺上草荐，最后他转到这一点上，他有个兄弟（院长动了一下），兄弟的年纪也不怎么轻了（院长又动了一下，但这是表示安心的），假如院长允许，他这兄弟可以来和他住在一起，帮他工作，那是个出色的园艺工人，他会替修院作出良好的贡献，比他本人所作的还会更好些；要是，假如修院不允许他兄弟来，那么，他，做大哥的，觉得身体已经垮了，完成不了任务，就只好说句对不起人的话，请求退职了；他兄弟还有个小姑娘，他想把她带来，求天主保佑，让她在修院里成长起来，谁知道，也许她还会有出家修行的一天呢。
他谈完的时候，院长手指中间的念珠也停止转动了，她对他说：
“您能在今晚以前找到一根粗铁杠吗？”
“干什么用？”
“当撬棍用。”
“行，崇高的嬷嬷。”割风回答。
院长没有再说别的话，她起身走到隔壁屋子里去了，隔壁的那间屋子便是会议室，参议嬷嬷们也许正在那里开会。割风独自留下。