Part 3 Book 1 Chapter 12 The Future Latent in the People

As for the Parisian populace, even when a man grown, it is always the street Arab; to paint the child is to paint the city; and it is for that reason that we have studied this eagle in this arrant sparrow. It is in the faubourgs, above all, we maintain, that the Parisian race appears; there is the pure blood; there is the true physiognomy; there this people toils and suffers, and suffering and toil are the two faces of man. There exist there immense numbers of unknown beings, among whom swarm types of the strangest, from the porter of la Rapee to the knacker of Montfaucon. Fex urbis, exclaims Cicero; mob, adds Burke, indignantly; rabble, multitude, populace. These are words and quickly uttered. But so be it. What does it matter? What is it to me if they do go barefoot! They do not know how to read; so much the worse. Would you abandon them for that? Would you turn their distress into a malediction? Cannot the light penetrate these masses? Let us return to that cry: Light! and let us obstinately persist therein! Light! Light! Who knows whether these opacities will not become transparent? Are not revolutions transfigurations? Come, philosophers, teach, enlighten, light up, think aloud, speak aloud, hasten joyously to the great sun, fraternize with the public place, announce the good news, spend your alphabets lavishly, proclaim rights, sing the Marseillaises, sow enthusiasms, tear green boughs from the oaks. Make a whirlwind of the idea. This crowd may be rendered sublime. Let us learn how to make use of that vast conflagration of principles and virtues, which sparkles, bursts forth and quivers at certain hours. These bare feet, these bare arms, these rags, these ignorances, these abjectnesses, these darknesses, may be employed in the conquest of the ideal. Gaze past the people, and you will perceive truth. Let that vile sand which you trample under foot be cast into the furnace, let it melt and seethe there, it will become a splendid crystal, and it is thanks to it that Galileo and Newton will discover stars.

至于巴黎的人民，即使是成人，也还是野孩；刻画这孩子，便是刻画这城市，正因为这个缘故我们才借了这天真的麻雀来研究这雄鹰。

正是在各个郊区才能出现巴黎种，这一点是应当着重指出的。在那些地方的才是纯种，在那些地方的才是真面目，人民在那些地方劳动吃苦，而吃苦和劳动是人生的两个方面。在那些地方的芸芸众生多到不可胜数，也不为人们所知，在他们中各种形象的人在躜动着，从拉白河沿的装卸工人直到隼山的屠宰工人，无奇不有。“都市的渣滓”，西塞罗①喊着说；“乱党”，声色俱厉的伯克②加以补充；贱民，下民，小民，这些字眼说来全不费事，不妨听其自然。那有什么关系？他们光着脚板走路关我什么事？他们不识字，活该。你为了这点就要放弃他们吗？你要借他们的苦难来咒骂他们吗？难道光不能照透人群吗？让我们再次呼吁：“光！我们坚持要有光！光！光！”谁知道有朝一日黑暗不会通明透亮呢？革命不就是改变面貌的行动吗？努力吧，哲学家们，要教导，要发射光，要燃烧，要想得远，要说得响，要欢欣鼓舞地奔向伟大的太阳，到群众中去交结兄弟，传播好消息，不惜唇焦舌敝，宣布人权，唱《马赛曲》，散布热情，采摘古柏的青枝条。想想那扶摇直上的旋风。群众会飞扬振奋的。我们应当善于运用在某些时刻劈啪爆裂抖颤的主义和美德的熊熊烈火。那些赤着的脚、光着的胳臂、破烂的衣服以及蒙昧、卑劣、黑暗的状态是可以用来达到理想的。你深入细察人民，就能发现真理。砂砾任人践踏，没有多大价值，你如把它放在炉里，让它熔化，让它沸腾，它便会变成灿烂夺目的水晶，并且正是靠着它，伽利略和牛顿才能发现行星。

①西塞罗（Cicéron），公元前一世纪的罗马执政官。

②伯克（Burke，1729-1797），以诋毁法国革命闻名的英国演说家。