Twenty Years After

" As he spoke he dismounted, gave the bridle of his horse to the musketeer and placing himself by the side of the prisoner said, in a voice perfectly composed, "To the Palais Royal, at full trot."

    The carriage drove on and D'Artagnan, availing himself of the darkness in the archway under which they were passing, threw himself into the arms of the prisoner.

    "Rochefort!" he exclaimed; "you! is it you, indeed? I am not mistaken?"

    "D'Artagnan!" cried Rochefort.

    "Ah! my poor friend!" resumed D'Artagnan, "not having seen you for four or five years I concluded you were dead."

    "I'faith," said Rochefort, "there's no great difference, I think, between a dead man and one who has been buried alive; now I have been buried alive, or very nearly so."

    "And for what crime are you imprisoned in the Bastile."

    "Do you wish me to speak the truth?"

    "Yes."

    "Well, then, I don't know."

    "Have you any suspicion of me, Rochefort?"

    "No! on the honor of a gentleman; but I cannot be imprisoned for the reason alleged; it is impossible."

    "What reason?" asked D'Artagnan.

    "For stealing."

    "For stealing! you, Rochefort! you are laughing at me."

    "I understand. You mean that this demands explanation, do you not?"

    "I admit it."

    "Well, this is what actually took place: One evening after an orgy in Reinard's apartment at the Tuileries with the Duc d'Harcourt, Fontrailles, De Rieux and others, the Duc d'Harcourt proposed that we should go and pull cloaks on the Pont Neuf; that is, you know, a diversion which the Duc d'Orleans made quite the fashion."

    "Were you crazy, Rochefort? at your age!"

    "No, I was drunk. And yet, since the amusement seemed to me rather tame, I proposed to Chevalier de Rieux that we should be spectators instead of actors, and, in order to see to advantage, that we should mount the bronze horse. No sooner said than done. Thanks to the spurs, which served as stirrups, in a moment we were perched upon the croupe; we were well placed and saw everything. Four or five cloaks had already been lifted, with a dexterity without parallel, and not one of the victims had dared to say a word, when some fool of a fellow, less patient than the others, took it into his head to cry out, `Guard!' and drew upon us a patrol of archers. Duc d'Harcourt, Fontrailles, and the others escaped; De Rieux was inclined to do likewise, but I told him they wouldn't look for us where we were.

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Шагает, длинный, слегка гнутый, склонив голову, одиноко не спящий во всей
этой дикой горной глуши в столь поздний час, обреченный прожить в ней всю
свою жизнь, -- шагает куда, зачем?
Площадь, фонтан, грустный фонарь, словно единственный во всем мире и
неизвестно для чего светящий всю долгую осеннюю ночь...

Бунин Иван Алексеевич   
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