# ■ 1 The road to Paris—1775

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of sadness. It was the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy－five.

In France there was a King and a Queen, and in England there was a King and a Queen. They believed that nothing would ever change. But in France things were bad, and getting worse. The people were poor, hungry and unhappy. The King made paper money and spent it, and the people had nothing to eat. Behind closed doors in the homes of the people, voices spoke in whispers against the King and his noblemen；they were only whispers, but they were the angry whispers of desperate people.

Late one November night, in that same year 1775, a coach going from London to Dover, stopped at the top of a long hill. The horses were tired, but as they rested, the driver heard an other horse coming fast up the hill behind them. The rider stopped his horse beside the coach and shouted：

I want a passenger, Mr Jarvis Lorry, from Tellson's Bank in London.'

I am Mr Jarvis Lorry, ' said one of the passengers, putting his head out of the window.'What do you want?'

It's me！Jerry, Jerry Cruncher, from Tellson's Bank, sir, ' cried the man on the horse.

What's the matter, Jerry?' called Mr Lorry.

A message for you, Mr Lorry. You've got to wait at Dover for a young lady.'

Very well, Jerry, ' said Mr Lorry.'Tell them my answer is CAME BACK TO LIFE'.

It was a strange message, and a stranger answer. No one in the coach understood what they meant.

The next day Mr Lorry was sitting in his hotel in Dover when a young lady arrived. She was pretty, with golden hair and blue eyes, and Mr Lorry remembered a small child, almost a baby. He had carried her in his arms when he came from Calais to Dover, from France to England, many years ago. Mr Lorry asked the young lady to sit down.

Miss Manette, ' he said.'I have a strange story to tell you, about one of the customers of Tellson's Bank. That's where I work.'

Yes, but I don't quite understand, Mr Lorry, ' said the young lady.'I received a message from Tellson's Bank, asking me to come here to meet you. I understood there was some news about my poor father's money. He died so long ago—before I was born. What is this story you want to tell me?'

About twenty years ago, Miss Manette, a French doctor married an English lady. They had a daughter, but just before she was born, her father disappeared. Nobody knew what had happened to him. Not long afterwards his unhappy wife died, and their daughter was brought back to England.'

But this is like my father's story, Mr Lorry. And wasn't it you who brought me back to England?'

Yes, that's true, Miss Manette. Many years ago I brought you from France to England, and Tellson's Bank has taken care of you since then. You were told that your father had died. But think, Miss Manette. Perhaps your father wasn't dead. Perhaps he was in prison. Not because he had done something wrong！ But just because he had a powerful enemy—an enemy with the power to send him to prison and to keep him there, hidden and forgotten, for eighteen years！'

Can it be true? Is it possible that my father is still alive?' Lucie Manette stared at Mr Lorry. Her face was white and her hands trembled.'It will be his ghost—not him！'

No, Miss Manette, ' said Mr Lorry gently.'He is alive, but he has changed very much. Even his name had been forgotten！And we must ask no questions about the past, no questions at all. It would be too dangerous. He has been taken to the house of an old servant in Paris, and we are going there to bring him back to life.'

■ 1 去巴黎的路—1775年

那是最好的年代，也是最糟的年代。那是光明的時節，也是黑暗的時節。那是希望的春季，也是悲傷的冬日。那是公元1775年。

那時的法國有國王和王后，英國也有國王和王后，他們相信什麼事情都不會改變。但是法國的境況很糟糕，而且是每況愈下。人民在貧艇、飢餓和不幸中生活。國王發行紙幣進行揮霍，而百姓卻要忍飢挨餓。在門戶緊閉的家中，人們悄聲地談論著反對國王和他的貴族們的話題。它們只是低聲的密談，但卻是絕望中的人們憤怒的聲音。

就在那1775年11月的一個深夜，一輛從倫敦趕往多佛的馬車停在了一條綿延的山丘的頂部。馬匹都已經很累了，但在它們休息時，趕車人聽到後面有另一匹馬正急速地朝他們趕來。騎馬人把馬停在馬車的旁邊並喊道：

“我要找倫敦臺爾森銀行來的賈維斯·勞裡先生。”

“我就是賈維斯·勞裡先生，”車內的一位乘客從車窗探出頭來說道。“有什麼事嗎?”

“是我！傑裡，傑裡·克拉徹，從臺爾森銀行來的，先生，”馬上的人喊道。

“什麼事，傑裡?”勞裡先生問道。

“捎個信兒給您，勞裡先生，您得在多佛等候一位年輕女士。”

“好吧，傑裡，”勞裡先生說。“告訴他們，就說我的答覆是'活過來'”。

口信兒是奇特的，而答覆就更奇特了。馬車上的人都不明白他們在說什麼。

第二天，勞裡先生在多佛的旅館裡坐著時，來了一位年輕的女士。她很美，有一頭金黃的頭髮和藍色的眼睛，這讓勞裡先生想起了一個小孩兒，幾乎是個嬰兒。那是在很多年前，在從法國加萊去英國多佛的路上，他曾把她抱在懷裡。勞裡先生讓這位年輕女士坐下來。

“馬內特小姐，”他說道。“我有個離奇的故事要告訴你，是關於臺爾森銀行的一位顧客的。臺爾森銀行是我工作的地方。”

“好吧，但是我不太明白，勞裡先生，”年輕的女士說。“我從臺爾森銀行接到口信，要我到這兒來見您。我知道一些有關我可憐的父親的錢的事。他很早就已死了——還在我出生之前。您要告訴我的是什麼故事呢?”

“大約20年前，馬內特小姐，有位法國醫生娶了一位英國女士。他們有了一個女兒，但是還在他們的女兒出生之前，這位父親卻失蹤了。沒有人知道他出了什麼事。不久，他那位傷心的妻子也死了，他們的女兒被帶回了英國。”

“但這像是我父親的故事呀，勞裡先生。況且不正是您把我帶回英國的嗎?”

“是的，是這樣的，馬內特小姐。很多年前我把你從法國帶到了英國，並且自那以後臺爾森銀行就開始照料你。人家告訴你說你的父親已經死了。但是設想一下，馬內特小姐，或許你的父親那時並沒有死，或許他在監獄裡呢。那並不是因為他犯了什麼罪！而只是因為他有一個強大的敵人——這個敵人擁有權勢將他投進監獄，而且讓他在那裡與世隔絕、被人遺忘地關了18年！”

“這是真的嗎?我父親可能還活著嗎?”路茜·馬內特緊盯著勞裡先生。她的臉色蒼白，雙手顫抖著。“那會是他的靈魂，而不是他本人！”

“不，馬內特小姐，”勞裡先生溫和地說。“他還活著，只是有了很大的變化，就連他自己的名字也記不得了！我們絕對不可以問起從前的事，一點都不能問。那樣的話就太危險了。他已經被帶到巴黎的一箇舊日的僕人的家裡，我們就是要去那裡讓他回到日常生活中來。”