Early in the morning, homes and shops are closed, and men and women flock to three designated places from all directions. Some people go to see the bonfire, or enjoy the Maytree, or watch the miracle play. Most people go to see the bonfire because it is in season; Or go to see the miracle play, because it is performed in the hall of the judicial palace, where it can shelter from the wind and rain. They knew that the Flemish mission that arrived two days ago would come to the theatre and watch the campaign to elect the ugly king held in the same hall.
There are thousands of citizens with kind faces, who are densely packed, staring at the Palace of Justice.
In the center of the lobby at the main entrance, there is a stand covered with gold thread tapestry against the wall, and its special entrance is the window of the splendid dormitory, especially for receiving the Flemish envoy and other important people invited to watch the miracle play.
The miracle stills will be performed on that marble case. To this end, the stone case was properly arranged early in the morning, and the major case surface was covered with the heels of the judicial palace secretaries. A fairly high wooden cage was built on it, and the roof was used as a stage, which was visible to the whole lobby. The wooden cage was surrounded by curtains and served as an actor's locker room.
Four police officers under the courtiers of the Judicial Palace guard the four corners of the marble case. On festivals or execution days, they are always sent to the scene to monitor people's entertainment activities.
The play won't start until noon when the clock of the Justice Palace strikes twelve. It's too late for a play, of course, but you have to accommodate the time of foreign missions.
The audience was so busy that they arrived early in the morning, and now they have to wait. Many of these honest people, who were busy, came to the big steps of the judicial palace at dawn and were shivering with cold. Several people even claimed that they stayed up all night in the gate hole to rush in for the first batch. People gathered more and more, as if the water overflowed beyond the boundary, and began to overflow the walls and flooded the columns, all the way up to the top of the columns, the eaves of the walls and the windowsills, all the prominent parts of the building and all the raised reliefs. So many people were shut up in the lobby, one by one, and some of them were trampled on, and they could hardly breathe, and there was a noise of resentment. However, the foreign mission arrived late, and everyone was tired and tired of waiting, and felt miserable. What's more, on this day, we can make mischief at will and make a fuss. Therefore, whoever poked his elbow and stepped on his shoe with an iron palm just found fault and quarreled. Complaints and curses rang out, cursing the Flemish people, the prefect, the Cardinal Bourbon, the officials of the judicial palace, Princess Margaret Of Austria, the police officers who enforced the law, the bad weather, the Bishop of Paris, the ugly king, the big column, the statue and the closed door. And a group of students and servants mixed in the crowd kept mocking and adding fuel to the fire, which aroused everyone's anger and impatience.
at this moment, the noon bell rang.
"ha! ..... "All cried with one voice.
the students also fell silent. Then, the whole audience was in chaos, shaking their heads, stretching their legs, coughing and blowing their noses, like an explosion, ringing into one. Everyone wants to find a good position, and they gather in groups and stand on tiptoe. Then, the whole audience was silent again, with their necks stretched out and their mouths opened wide, and all eyes turned to the marble case. However, nothing appeared. Four police officers always stood there, stiff and motionless, like four painted sculptures. Then, the eyes of the audience moved to the special seat of the Flemish mission. The door over there is still closed, and the stands are still empty. There are so many people in the lobby, and three things that have been waiting since early in the morning: noon, the Flemish mission and the miracle play. Now, only noon comes on time.
this is too much.
I waited for another minute, two minutes, three minutes, five minutes and a quarter, but nothing happened. The stands are still empty, and the stage is still quiet. At this time, people's anxiety turned to anger. Angry words began to spread in the stadium, and a storm hovered over people's heads. John the Mill first triggered a flash of lightning:
"Miracle drama, let the Flemish go to hell!" Hold your breath and yell.
the audience applauded. Everyone also shouted:
"Miracle drama, let the Flemish people see the GREAT GHOST kid!"
"We demand that the miracle play begin at once." John the Mill roared, "Otherwise, we'll hang the judge on the spot, and count it as a comedy and a moral drama!"
"well said!" They shouted again, "Let's hang some of his guards first!"
the whole audience cheered immediately. The four poor bastards looked at each other in utter amazement. The crowd crowded past, and the four guys saw that the thin wooden fence was bent and was about to be broken. The situation is extremely urgent.
"set them up! Set it up! " There were shouts in all directions.
Just then, the curtain of the dressing room described above suddenly opened and a man emerged from it. When they saw him, it was as if they were enchanted, and their anger turned into curiosity.
"Silence! Silence! "
The man looked flustered and trembled all over. He bowed as he walked, and the closer he got, the more he bowed down, until he reached the edge of the marble case.
this time, the venue gradually quieted down.
"Citizens and gentlemen," the man said, "Citizens and ladies, we are extremely honored to recite and perform a wonderful moral drama in front of the Cardinal, called" The Judgment of the Virgin Mary ". Jupiter, the god, is played by me. At the moment, the cardinal is accompanying the distinguished envoy sent by the Austrian Grand Duke to listen to the speech of the president of the university in Bodemen, so there is a slight delay. As soon as the Cardinal Fajia arrives, we will start. "
As a result, his voice was drowned in a thunderous hiss.
"Let's start right away! Miracle drama! The miracle drama will start immediately! " The audience roared.
"Let's start at once!" John the Mill screamed above all the voices.
"Down with Jupiter! Down with Cardinal Bourbon! " Robin Pushpan and other students standing on the windowsill are also shouting.
"Show the moral drama at once!" The audience echoed, "Right away! Play at once! Otherwise, prepare bags and ropes for actors and cardinals! "
poor Jupiter was frightened out of his wits and stood there, his face flushed with rouge and pale, and the thunderbolt was lost. He took off his helmet, bowed repeatedly, trembled and stammered, "Your Honor … the mission … Princess Margaret of Flanders …" He was incoherent, and after all, he was afraid of being hanged.
He is in a dilemma: wait, he will be hanged by the people, don't wait, and he will be hanged by the cardinal. There is no choice but to see the abyss and gallows on both sides.
Fortunately, someone stepped forward and relieved him.
It turned out that this man was thin and long, completely covered by the column against which he was leaning, and no one saw him. He is tall, thin, pale and blond, and he is still young, but his forehead and face are wrinkled, his eyes are radiant, his mouth is smiling, and he is worn out in an old robe. At this time, he went to the marble case and waved to the poor guy. However, the guy was so scared that he saw nothing.
The newcomer took another step forward and said, "Jupiter! Dear Jupiter! "
Jupiter heard nothing.
The tall blond man was impatient and shouted under his nose:
"Michelle Gibona!" "
"who is calling me?" Jupiter spoke, as if awakened from a dream.
"it's me." The man dressed in black replied.
"oh!" Jupiter exclaimed.
"Let's start at once!" The man said, "Let's satisfy the people first. I'll ask the judge to calm down, and then the judge will ask the cardinal to calm down."
Jupiter came to his senses.
"Citizens," he shouted with all his strength, "The performance will begin at once."
"ok! Ok! " The audience shouted.
At this time, the stranger who "calmed the storm" returned to the shadow of the pillar.
"mage." One of the women called him over.
"shut up! Kate "
" Sir. " So Lenard cried again.
The stranger walked up to the railing and asked politely,
"Miss, what did you call me for?"
"mmm! You must know the soldier who plays the virgin in the miracle play? "
"Do you mean to play the role of Jupiter? That's Michelle Gibona, "replied the stranger." Yes, miss. "
"His beard is so proud!" Lenard praised.
"Will the play they are going to perform be wonderful?" Kate asked timidly.
"very wonderful, miss." The stranger answered without hesitation.
"What's on?" Lenard asked again.
"The Judgment of the Virgin Mary", a moral drama, is not bad, miss? "
"This is your guarantee. Today's miracle play is very good, isn't it?" Kate said.
"no doubt." The man replied. Then, with some reserve, he added, "Ladies, I am the playwright."
"really?" The two girls were very surprised and asked in unison.
"really!" There are two of us. The other one, John marchand, saws boards and sets up a stage. Carpenters do all the work, while I write a script. Next name is Pierre Gringoire. "
The high-pitched and low-pitched instruments immediately play music in the wooden frame of the stage. At this time, the curtain also lifted, and four people came out, one by one dressed in colorful clothes and wearing powder makeup on their faces. They climbed onto the stage from the steep ladder, lined up and bowed deeply to the audience. Then the band stopped playing, and the miracle play began.
when the author saw the audience holding their breath, his thoughts were full of words and words, and he spit them out from the actor's mouth, naturally he would be drunk. Admirable Pierre Gringoire!
unexpectedly, it is really sad to say that this intoxicated state was quickly disturbed.
Suddenly, the door of the VIP stand opened-this door was closed all the time, which was disgraceful, and it was even more disgraceful to open it at this moment. -The door official suddenly announced: "Cardinal Bourbon is here!"
his worst fears really happened. As soon as the Cardinal entered the arena, the whole hall was stirred up, all heads turned to the stands, and all mouths kept repeating: "Cardinal! Cardinal! " It was deafening, and the unfortunate prelude was suddenly interrupted again.
The cardinal stopped at the gate of the stands for a moment. His eyes were rather cold and he scanned the whole room, so the whole room boiled. Everyone is scrambling to stick their heads out from the shoulders of people on both sides to see him clearly.
he is really a big shot!
At this moment, the door official clear voice announced: "The special envoys of His Royal Highness the Austrian Grand Duke have arrived!" The cardinal looked back at the door with a very warm smile on his face (you should know that he is well trained). Needless to say, all the audience turned away.
a play was ruined. The beauty of the play is that the audience has no feelings or understanding. Since the cardinal appeared on the stage, it seems that there is an invisible Moline, and all eyes are suddenly drawn from the marble case to the stands, from the southern end of the lobby to the west side. No one can get rid of the magic in the audience. All eyes are fixed on it, always distracted by the newcomers, their fucking names, their looks and clothes, which is really sad. Glen ancient tile from time to time to pull the sleeves of Kate and Lenard, but, in addition to the two girls and a patient fat man, who also have no go to the opera, don't even really look at it. The poor allegorical drama was despised.
The monologue of the door official's ghost calling God's howl has finally stopped. The distinguished guests have all arrived, and Granguwa just heaved a sigh of relief. The actors struggled to carry on. Unexpectedly, the boss of Coponole, the sock seller, rose to his feet again and delivered a heinous speech when the audience was absorbed:
"Parisian citizens and gentlemen, I don't know what all of us are doing here. I did see that corner. On that table, there seemed to be some people about to start a fight. I don't know if it's what you call a mystery play or a miracle play, but it doesn't seem interesting. They are just bickering, and they can't play any tricks anymore. I waited here for a quarter of an hour to see which of them would start first, but there was no chance. They are all cowards, and they only curse! If you want to watch the excitement, you should invite gladiators from London or Rotterdam. That will be fun! The bang of boxing can be heard in the square. But these guys really don't look like it. Even if you jump on a moor
, Granguwa really wants to refute him. However, he became angry from embarrassment and was speechless for a moment. What's more, when the citizens heard that they were called "gentlemen", all of them were be in heaven, who immediately enthusiastically supported the popular sock dealer's initiative. Whoever came out to oppose it was in vain and had to obey the big stream. Glen ancient tile with his hands over his face, hate can't like Timontes
suddenly, everything is ready, can be carried out according to the method of Coponole. Those citizens, students and small documents began to work. The small church opposite the marble case was quite suitable, so it was chosen as the stage for performing strange looks. There is a beautiful petal lattice window above the lintel. Simply break a piece of glass, and the stone carving round frame will pass inside and outside. People who take part in the competition stick their heads out of the round hole as required. I don't know where I got two big barrels, but they were piled up so that the racer could reach the window when he boarded it. It is also a rule that all the contestants, whether male or female (or an ugly king may be elected), must first cover their faces, hide in a small church, and then suddenly appear when it is their turn, so as to make a strange face, which can give people a brand-new feeling. In a short time, the small church was crowded with competitors, and the door closed immediately.
Coponole gave orders from his seat, unified command and unified arrangement. The grimace performance begins. The first face peeped out from the window, with red eyelids turned out, mouth wide to the ears, and forehead wrinkles overlapping.
This carnival is becoming more and more Flemish. In a variety of ways.
"alas hey! Damn it! "
"look at that face!"
"that's not worth a penny."
"next!"
"Ji Ye Matt Mojapi, look at that bull's head. It's just a horn. Don't look for him as a husband! "
"next!"
"the pope's big belly.