Chapter 6 CHAPTER IV The Shoulder of Athos, the Girdle of Porthos, and the Handkerchief of Aramis

D'Artagnan was so angry that he rushed out of the waiting room in three steps, rushed to the steps, and was about to rush down several steps.At that moment a musketeer came out from a side door of M. de Treville's office.D'Artagnan, running with his head down, bumped his head on the shoulder of the musketeer, causing him to cry out, or rather to howl. Excuse me, said d'Artagnan, wanting to run on, excuse me, I am in a hurry. He had just stepped down the first step when an iron hand grabbed his shoulder strap and stopped him. You are in a hurry!The musketeer turned pale, said sharply, and said he was sorry for running into me on the pretext of being in a hurry, do you think that would be enough?It's not that simple, young man.You heard M. de Treville speak unceremoniously about us today, and you think you can treat us like him?You're wrong, man, you're not M. Treville.

To tell the truth, replied d'Artagnan, who recognized him as Athos, who was returning to his lodgings after being bandaged by the doctor.To be honest, I didn't mean to.I said I'm sorry, I think that's enough.But I'll say it again to you now; perhaps it's superfluous this time.On my honor, I am in a real hurry, very urgent.Let me go, please, let me go about my business. Sir, said Athos, letting him go, You are not polite, and you evidently come from afar. D'Artagnan had already descended three or four steps, and when he heard Athos' accusation, he stopped immediately.

Enough, sir!He said, I tell you, no matter how far I come from, it is not up to you to teach me manners. Maybe.Athos said. snort!If I had not been in a hurry, cried D'Artagnan, if I had not been chasing a man Sir in a hurry, you don't need to run to find me, understand? Where is it please? Carmelite｜Beside the Barefoot Monastery. What time. at noon. At noon, Cheng, I will be there. Don't make me wait.I told you in advance that if I don't see you at a quarter past twelve, I'm going to find you and cut off your ears on the way. good!D'Artagnan replied, I arrived at ten minutes to twelve.

After all, he seemed to be driven by the devil, and ran again, hoping to find the stranger, because the stranger walked unhurriedly, and it is estimated that he would not go too far. But at the gate, Portos was chatting with the guard.Between two people chatting, there is only room for one person to pass through.D'Artagnan thought that there would be no problem in passing, so he rushed between the two of them like an arrow.Just as he was about to pass, the wind blew up Porthos's long cloak, which happened to cover d'Artagnan.Porthos probably had his own reason for not wanting to let the main garment on his body fall to the ground, so instead of letting go of his hands in front of him, he pulled towards him, so that dArtagnan was wrapped in it, and He pulled so hard, already in a stubborn temper, that d'Artagnan rolled over in his cloak.

D'Artagnan heard the musketeer cursing, and tried to get out from under the cloak, but being blind, he tried to find his way through the folds of the cloak.He's especially concerned about soiling that beautiful shoulder strap we've already seen.But when he timidly opened his eyes, he found himself with his nose pressed between Porthos's shoulders, that is to say, on the shoulder straps. well!Like most things in the world that are only about appearance, this shoulder strap was embroidered in gold on the front, but the back was just buffalo leather.No wonder Porthos is so pretentious: although he doesn't have a whole shoulder strap embroidered with gold, at least half of it is embroidered with gold.Now, however, we understand why he had a cold, and why he had to put on a cloak.

Hell!cried Porthos, trying to get rid of d'Artagnan, who was stalking behind him, are you crazy, hitting people like this! Excuse me, d'Artagnan slipped out from under the big man's shoulders, I'm in a hurry and I'm chasing someone, so Did you forget to bring your eyes when chasing people? That was not forgotten, dArtagnan was provoked, that was not forgotten.Because of my eyes, I see things that others cannot see. Whether Porthos understood this sentence is unknown, but he was always the same as before, unable to control his anger. I tell you, sir, that such a challenge to the Musketeers is asking for trouble.

Ask for trouble!Monsieur, said d'Artagnan, that is a harsh word. For those who have always dared to face the enemy squarely, these words are just right. ah!Needless to say!I know you don't turn your back on your enemies. The young man was very proud of his witty remark, he laughed and walked away. Porthos was furious, and was about to rush at D'Artagnan. Wait a little, wait a little, said d'Artagnan, until you don't have your cloak on. Well, one o'clock behind the Luxembourg Gardens. Very good, see you at one.D'Artagnan turned the corner of the street. However, neither the street he ran on nor the street he was searching now, did not see the shadow of the stranger.Even if the person walked slowly, he should have gone far, and he might have entered a certain house.D'Artagnan inquired of everyone he met if he had seen the man.He went down to the ferry, then up the Rue Seine and the Rue Rouge.I didn't see that person, not even a shadow.Still, the chase was good for him: he was sweating profusely, and gradually calmed down.

He began to think about what had just happened.A lot of things just happened, and all of them are unlucky.It was only eleven o'clock in the morning, but the morning had cost him the confidence of M. de Treville, for he had left him in a manner which must have struck M. de Treville as a little rude. Next, he had set himself up for two real duels, and those two opponents could kill three d'Artagnan each.In short, both opponents were musketeers, that is to say, men whom he respected very much.In his mind, they are people above the average person. The situation is not good.The young man was sure that he would be killed by Athos, but he didn't take Porthos very seriously, which is not difficult to understand.Hope, however, is the last thing that goes out in the human heart.D'Artagnan still hoped that he would survive the two duels, terribly wounded of course.Thinking of surviving, he blamed himself for the future:

How rash, how reckless I am!The honest and unfortunate Athos had a wounded shoulder, and I bumped right into his shoulder, bumping my head like a goat.The only thing that surprised me was that he didn't just say he killed me.He's entitled to that, but he must have been in so much pain when I hit him with the head.As for Porthos!Well!As for Porthos, to be honest, the situation is more comical. The boy couldn't help laughing.However, remembering that laughing like that alone would baffle anyone who saw him laughing, so he looked around to see if his smile might hurt anyone passing by.

As for Porthos, the situation was more comical, but I was also pathetically reckless.Is there such a thing as jumping on someone without even saying hello?No!Is there that way of getting under a man's cloak to see what he doesn't want others to see?Surely he could have forgiven me, he would have forgiven me, if I hadn't mentioned that obnoxious shoulder strap to him, yes, only insinuated; yes, ingenious insinuations!cough!I am a poor Gascon, always fond of joking, and I will inevitably ask for trouble in the future.Well, d'Artagnan, old fellow, he went on saying to himself, with the politeness which he thought was due, it is very unlikely that you will escape with your life this time, and you will be very kind to everyone in the future. polite.To make the world admire you and take you as a role model.Being nice and polite is not cowardice.Look at how gentle and elegant Aramis is.So, did some say that Aramis was a coward?Certainly not.No matter in which respect, I will follow him as an example.ha!Speaking of Aramis, Aramis happened to be here.

D'Artagnan walked, talking to himself, and when he reached the place a few steps away from the Aegion mansion, he saw Aramis chatting happily with some gentlemen of the royal guard in front of the mansion.Aramis also saw d'Artagnan, but he did not forget that it was in the very presence of this young man that M. de Treville had raged this morning; So he pretended not to see d'Artagnan.D'Artagnan, on the contrary, bent on reconciliation and civility, approached the four young men, and bowed deeply to them with a broad smile.Aramis only nodded slightly, without a smile on his face.The four of them immediately stopped chatting. D'Artagnan was not stupid, and naturally saw that he was superfluous.However, he was also inexperienced, didn't understand the way of dealing with things in the upper class, and didn't know how to avoid the embarrassing situation before him, that is, meeting a few people he didn't know very well and talking about things that had nothing to do with him.He was thinking of a way of retreating without looking clumsy, when he saw Aramis drop the handkerchief, apparently without realizing it, and step on it.D'Artagnan felt that the time had come to redeem his misbehavior, stooped, and with the greatest gallantry drew the handkerchief from Aramis's feet, and put it in his hand, saying: I don't think you would like to throw away this handkerchief, sir. The handkerchief was exquisitely embroidered, with a wreath and a coat of arms in one corner.Aramis blushed instantly, and snatched the handkerchief from d'Artagnan like a snatch. Ha ha!One of the guards called out, Aramis, who is always cautious, do you still say this time that you and Madame Boistrassie cannot get along?This charming lady has even kindly lent you her handkerchief! Aramis gave d'Artagnan a savage look.This glance is enough to make people understand that he has just made a deadly enemy.Then, returning to his mild manner, he said: You have misunderstood, gentlemen, this handkerchief is not mine.I don't know what kind of strange idea this gentleman pushed into my hand instead of handing it over to any of you.My handkerchief is in my pocket, and that proves what I say. Aramis said and took out his handkerchief.The handkerchief was also very handsome, made of fine linen, though linen was expensive in those days.However, there is no embroidery on it, and no badge of honor, only the initials of the owner's name. This time d'Artagnan was silent, knowing that he had done something stupid again.However, Aramis' friends did not believe Aramis' denial at all, and one of them pretended to be serious and asked: If what you say is true, dear Aramis, then please give me the handkerchief, because, as you know, Mr. Boistrassie is my friend, and I would not let anyone take his wife's Things for souvenirs. Your request is inappropriate.Aramis replied, Although I admit that your request is correct in substance, but in terms of the way it is handled, I refuse to hand it over to you. In fact.dArtagnan put in timidly, I did not see the handkerchief fall from the pocket of M. Aramis.His foot caught it, that's all.I thought that since the handkerchief was under his feet, it must belong to him. You are mistaken, my dear sir.Aramis said coldly, indifferent to D'Artagnan's efforts to make amends. Then he turned to the guard who claimed to be Bois Tracy's friend and said: "Besides, I think, my dear, you are Bois Tracy's close friend, and I am his friend, and I am as close to him as you are, so Strictly speaking, this handkerchief may have fallen out of your pocket, or it may have fallen out of my pocket. It didn't fall out of my pocket, on my honor.His Majesty's guard said. On your honor, and on my swear, it is evident, then, that one of us is lying.Well, Montalan, we'd better each get half. How about half of this handkerchief? good. Great, the other two guards cried out, it really can be called King Solomon's judgment In order to save the life of the child, the real mother of the child would rather give up, so Solomon awarded the child to her. This is called the trial of King Solomon.).Aramis, you are indeed very wise. Several young people laughed.Of course you can imagine that there will be no other context.After a while, the chat ended, the three guards shook hands with the musketeer and said goodbye warmly, and walked in opposite directions with Aramis. Well, the time has come to make peace with this mild-mannered man.said d'Artagnan to himself.When Aramis chatted with those few people for the last time, he stepped back a little and stood aside.Now, with this kind thought in mind, he approached Aramis.Aramis was leaving, not noticing him at all. Sir, he said to Aramis, I hope you will forgive me. ah!Sir, interrupted Aramis, I would like to point out to you that you do not behave like a polite person on this occasion. What!Monsieur, exclaimed D'Artagnan, would you like Sir, I think you are not a fool, even if you come from Gascony, you will understand that a person never steps on a handkerchief for no reason.hell!Linen was not everywhere in Paris. Sir, you are mistaken in trying to insult me ​​in this way.said d'Artagnan.In the depths of his heart, the quarrelsome nature was overcoming the determination to make up.Yes, I am from Gascony; and since you know that, I need not tell you that the Gascons have little patience.Even if they do a stupid thing, after a single apology, they think that they have done half of what should be done. I do not say this to you, sir, to quarrel with you.Thank goodness I'm not much of a swordsman, and being a musketeer is only an expedient, and I only fight duels when I have to, and I'm always very disgusted.But this time, the matter is serious, and you have damaged the reputation of a noble lady. What I want to say is damaged by you and me.cried d'Artagnan. Why do you clumsily give me back the handkerchief? Why did you drop your handkerchief so clumsily? I have said it and I will repeat it, sir: that handkerchief did not fall out of my pocket. Well, you lied twice, sir.I saw the handkerchief fall out of your pocket with my own eyes. snort!You speak in such a tone, Monsieur Gascony, I will teach you how to behave. I'm sending you back to your Mass, Monsieur Priest!Please draw your sword immediately. Please don't, pretty friend, not here at least.Don't you see that opposite us is the mansion of Aegion, full of the cardinal's people?Who can tell me that you were not sent by the bishop to ask for my head?However, I cherish my head very much, because it seems to be very suitable on my shoulders.So, I'd like to kill you, but don't panic, I'll kill you slowly, and somewhere out of the way, so you won't have to brag about how you died. I am willing to accompany you, but don't be too confident, and take your handkerchief, whether it is yours or not, you may need it. Monsieur is from Gascon?asked Aramis. good.Sir wouldn't put off an appointment out of prudence, would he? Sir, prudence is a virtue of little use to a musketeer, I know, but to a priest it is an essential one.I was a musketeer for a while, so I insisted on playing it safe.At two o'clock I shall be waiting for you at M. de Treville's house, and I shall tell you the suitable place then. The two young people bid farewell.Aramis walked along the street leading to the Luxembourg Gardens; dArtagnan, seeing that it was getting late, walked towards the Carmelite Monastery of the Barefoot, saying to himself as he went: I will never come back from this trip, but if I die, at least I will die at the hands of a musketeer.