MEASLES and Mumps are very catching. S are Revlutins.
Just a little later than the Revlutinf the thirteen clnies， the peple in France had a Revlutin， t. They saw hw successful the Americans had been in their fight against the kingf England， and s they rebelled against theirwn king and queen in France. This was called the French Revlutin.
The reasn the French peple rebelled against their king was that they had very little， and the king and his ryal family and nbles seemed t have everything. Bth the Americans and the French rebelled against paying taxes. Althugh the English taxes were nt very high， the Americans thught them unjust. The French taxes， hwever， ntnly were unjust but they tk almst everything away frm the peple.
I have already tld yu hw bad things were under Luis XIV， and they gt wrse until the peple culd stand it n lnger.
At this time the kingf France was Luis XVI， and his queen was named Marie Antinette. The peple were s pr that they had hardly anything t eat except a very carse and bad-tasting kindf bread called black bread. They were cmpelled t pay the king and the nbles mney s the king and nbles culd live in fine style and have parties； and they had t d all srtsf wrk fr nthingr next t nthing. If anyne cmplained， he was put in a great prisn in Paris called the Bastille and left there t die. In spitef the fact that all the peple were s terribly pr， the king and the queen and their friends lived in luxury and extravagance with everything in the wrld they wanted， all paid fr by the pr peple.
Neither the king nr his wife was really wicked. They were simply yung and thughtless. They meant well， but like a great many well-meaning peple they lacked cmmn sense and did nt knw hwthers lived. They didn"t seem t understand that peple culd be pr， fr they had s much themselves. Marie Antinette was tld that her subjects had n bread t eat. "Let them eat cake，" she said.
To right the wrngsf the peple， a bdyf manyf the best men frm all France gathered tgether and， calling themselves the Natinal Assembly， tried t wrkut sme plan t d away with all the injustice the peple had beensuffering. They wanted t make everyne free and equal and give everybdy a say in the gvernment. Their slgan was， Liberté， égalité， fraternité. In English this means， Liberty， equality， brtherhd.
The pr had becme s furiusly angry at the way they had been treated by the rich that they wuld stand things n lnger， and a wild and angry mbf them attacked theld prisnf the Bastille. They battered dwn the walls and freed the prisners and killed the guardsf the Bastille simply because they were servantsf the king. Then they cutff the headsf the guards and stuck themn ples and， carrying them alft， paraded thrugh the streetsf Paris. There werenly seven prisners in theld jail， s that freeing them didn"t matter much， but this attack was t shw that the peple wuld n lnger allw the king t imprisn them.
The Bastille was strmedn July 14， 1789. This was the beginningf what is called the French Revlutin， and this day is celebrated in France in almst the same way thatur Furthf July is， fr it was the French Declaratinf Independence against their kings.
Lafayette， wh was nw back in France， the same Lafayette wh had helped the Americans fight their king， sent the keyf the Bastillever t Gerge Washingtn as a suvenir that hiswn cuntry had nwverthrwn its king and declared its independence.
The king and queen were living in the beautiful palace at Versailles， the palace that Luis XIV had built. Manyf the king"s nbles， when they heard what was taking place in Paris， became frightened and， deserting their king and queen， tk t their heels and left the cuntry. They knew pretty well what was ging t happen， and they didn"t wait t see.
Meanwhile the Natinal Assembly drew up what was called a Declaratinf the Rightsf Man， which was smething likeur Declaratinf Independence. It said that all men were brn free and equal， that the peple shuld make the laws， and that the laws shuld be the same fr all.
Sn after the Declaratinf Rights had been made， the angry mb frm Paris， ragged and wild-lking， carrying sticks and stnes， and crying， "Bread， bread！" marched the thirteen miles t Versailles， where Luis and Marie Antinette were still living. Up the beautiful grand staircasef the palace they rushed. The few guards remaining rund the king were unable t hld them back. They captured the king and queen and tk them prisners t Paris. There they kept Luis and Marie Antinette prisners.nce the king and queen tried t escape in disguise but were caught befre they culd getutf the cuntry， and they were brught back.
Then it was that the Natinal Assembly drew up a cnstitutin-a setf rules bywhich the cuntry shuld be justly gverned. This the king agreed t and signed.
That still wasn"t enugh. The peple wanted n king at all t rulever them. S abut a year later they started a real republic likeurwn， and the king was sentenced t death. A Frenchman had invented a kindf machine with a big knife fr chppingff heads. This was called the guilltine， and it was used insteadf an ax， fr it was quicker and surer. The king was taken t the guilltine， and his head was cutff.
But the peple did nt settle dwn quiet and cntented when they had gt ridf their king. They were afraid that thse wh were in favrf kings might start anther kingdm. The peple chse red， white， and blue as their clrs and the Marseillaise as their natinal sng； and everywhere they marched they carried the triclr， as they called the three-clred flag， and as they marched they sang the Marseillaise.
Then began what is called the Reignf Terrr， and that is a talef bld. A man named Rbespierre and twf his friends were leaders in the Reignf Terrr. Anyne whm the peple suspectedf being in favrf kings they caught and beheaded. The queen wasnef the first t have her head cutff. If anyne even whispered that there was a man，r a wman，r even a child wh was in favrf kings， that man， wman，r child wuld be rushed t the guilltine. If anyne hated anther and wished t get ridf him， all he had tFrench revlutin crwd and guilltine（法国大革命的民众和断头台）d was t pint himut as in favrf kings， andff he wuld be taken t the guilltine. Nne was suref his life fr a day. He never knew what mment sme persnal enemy might accuse him. Hundreds， then thusands，f suspected peple were beheaded， and a special sewer had t be built t carryff the bld. The guilltine， fast as it was， was t slw fr the terrrists. It culd cutff butne head at a time， and s prisners were lined up and sht dwn with cannn.
Peple seemed t have gne wild， crazy， mad！ They insulted Christ and the Christian religin. They put a pretty wman called the Gddessf Reasnn the altarf the beautiful Churchf Ntre Dame and wrshiped her insteadf the Lrd. They pulled dwn statues and picturesf Christ and the Virgin Mary. In their places they put statues and picturesf theirwn leaders. The guilltine was put up in placef the crss. They did away with Sundays. They made a week ten days lng， and every tenth day they made a hliday insteadf Sunday. They stpped cunting time frm Christ"s birth， because they didn"t want anything that had t d with Christ， and they began t call the year when the republic was started in 1792 the Year 1.
But Rbespierre wished t rule alne， and he pltted against his tw friends.nef these he had beheaded， and thether was killed in his bathtub by a girl named Charltte Crday， wh was in a rage at what he had dne. S Rbespierre was left alne. At last the peple， in fearf this man wh was such a mnstrus and inhuman tyrant， rse up against him. When he fund that he t， was t be put t death， he tried t cmmit suicide， but befre he culd d s， he was caught and taken t the guilltine， where he went t the same death t which he had sent cuntlessthers， and the Reignf Terrr was ended.
【中文阅读】
麻疹和腮腺炎有很强的传染性。 革命也一样。
在美国十三个殖民地革命后不久，法国人民也发动了一场革命。他们看到美国 人在与英国国王的斗争中取得了巨大的胜利，于是他们在法国起来反抗自己的国王 和王后。这次革命被称为"法国大革命"。
法国人民奋起反抗国王是因为他们拥有的太少，而国王、王室和贵族似乎拥有一 切。美国人和法国人都反对缴税。尽管英国的税额不是太高，但是美国人觉得向他们 征税就是不公平。然而法国的税收不仅不公平，还要把人们的一切几乎都要搜刮光。 我已经介绍过在路易十四的统治下情况有多么糟糕，后来变得越来越糟，直到人们再也无法忍受。
此时法国国王是路易十六，他的王后名叫玛丽 安托瓦内特。人民非常贫困，除了一种非常粗糙、难吃的称为黑面包的面包，几乎没有什么吃的。他们被迫付钱给国 王和贵族们，让国王和贵族们生活奢靡，聚会狂欢；他们不得不做各种苦工，却什么 报酬也没有，或者报酬少得可怜，和没有差不多。如果有人抱怨，就会被关进巴黎的 一座大监狱，叫做"巴士底狱"，然后待在那里等死。尽管人民赤贫如洗，但是国王、 王后和他们的朋友们却过着奢侈无度的生活，应有尽有，而这一切都是由穷人支付。
国王和他的妻子都不是真正的邪恶之徒。他们只不过年轻、糊涂。他们心存善 意，但是和许多好心好意的人一样，他们缺少常识，不知道其他人是怎样生活的。 他们似乎不懂人也会穷的，因为他们自己是这么富有。有人告诉玛丽 安托瓦内特她 的臣民没有面包吃。"让他们吃蛋糕吧，"她说。
为了纠正社会的种种不公正，一群来自法国各地最优秀的人聚集到一起，自称 "国民议会"，要制定一个方案结束人们长期以来遭受的所有不公。他们希望让每一 个人都得到自由、平等，让每一个人对国家的治理都有发表意见的权利。他们的口 号是"Liberte， egalite， fraternite"，意思就是"自由、平等、博爱"。
穷人对富人的虐待和压迫满腔怒火，到了再也无法忍受的地步，一群疯狂愤怒的下层民众袭击了巴士底狱这座古老的监狱。他们砸烂了狱墙，放出犯人，还杀死了看 巴士底狱的卫兵，就因为他们是国王的仆人。然后他们砍下卫兵的脑袋，把头颅插在 杆子上，高高地举着，在巴黎的街头游行。在这座古老的监狱只有七名犯人，所以放 了他们没有什么大的影响，但是这次进攻意在表明人民不再允许国王监禁他们。
1789 年 7 月 14 日，巴士底狱被攻占。这就是被称为法国革命的开始，在法国，人们庆祝这一天和美国庆祝 7 月 4 日一样隆重，因为这次事件相当于法国人民反对 他们国王的"独立宣言"。
那时拉斐德回到了法国，就是曾帮助美国人反抗英国国王的那个拉斐德，派人 把巴士底狱的钥匙送到美国，交给乔治 华盛顿，作为纪念品表明自己国家现在已经 推翻了国王，宣布独立了。
国王和王后此时还住在凡尔赛美丽的宫殿里，这座宫殿还是当初路易十四建造 的。当国王的许多贵族听说了巴黎发生的暴动，惊恐万分，他们抛下国王和王后， 逃之夭夭，离开了这个国家。他们很清楚马上会发生什么，就不等待观望了。
与此同时，国民议会起草了一份叫做《人权宣言》的文件，类似美国的《独立 宣言》。宣言说，人人生而自由平等，法律应由人民制定，在法律面前人人平等。
《人权宣言》通过后不久，从巴黎来的愤怒的下层民众，衣衫褴褛，神情激昂， 手持棍棒和石块，喊着"面包！面包！"行走十三英里，来到凡尔赛宫，路易和玛 丽 安托瓦内特依然住在那里。他们冲上华丽堂皇的楼梯。留在国王身边的几个卫 士阻挡不了他们。他们抓住了国王和王后，把他们押往巴黎，并把他们囚禁在那里。 一次国王和王后企图化了装逃跑，但是还没有逃出国就被抓了回来。
就在这时国民议会起草了一部宪法--公正管理国家所依据的一套的规则。国 王同意并签署了宪法。
这还不够。人们希望压根就没有国王来统治他们。所以大约一年后，他们建立 了和美国一样的真正的共和国，国王被判处死刑。一个法国人发明了一种器械，上架一把刀专门用来斩首。这个器械被称作"断头台"，它取代了斧子，因为它砍起头 来更快、更准。国王被送上断头台，头被砍掉了。
但是除掉国王之后人们并没有安定下来，感到满足。他们担心那些支持国王的 人可能要复辟。人们选红、白、蓝三种颜色作为国旗，选《马赛曲》作为国歌；无 论他们行进到哪里，他们都扛着三色旗，一边走，一边还唱着《马赛曲》。
接着所谓的"恐怖统治"时期开始了，那是一段血淋淋的历史。一个名叫罗伯 斯庇尔的人和他的两个朋友是恐怖统治时期的领导人。任何被怀疑支持国王的人， 都被捉起来斩首。王后就是第一批被斩首的人之一。如果有人哪怕是私下悄悄说某 人是支持国王的，不管这个人是男人、女人还是孩子都会立刻被拖上断头台。要是 有人恨另一个人，希望除掉他，他只需指认对方支持国王就可以把他送上断头台。 没有人确信自己能活到第二天。他绝不知道什么时候某个与自己有私仇的人就会指 控到自己头上。成百上千、成千上万有嫌疑的人被斩首，以致不得不专门建一条下 水道排走血污。断头台，尽管斩首速度很快，但是这些对恐怖分子来说还是太慢了。 它一次只能砍一个头，于是犯人们被排成一行，直接用火炮轰。
人们似乎变得越来越疯狂！他们侮辱基督和基督教。他们把一个叫做"理性女 神"的漂亮女人供奉在美丽的巴黎圣母院的祭坛上，向她膜拜，而不再敬拜上帝。 他们拆除基督和圣母马利亚的雕像和画像，然后放上自己领袖的雕像和画像。断头 台被挂起来取代了十字架。他们废除了星期日。他们把一个星期定为十天，每个第 十天他们作为节日，取代了礼拜天。他们不再实行耶稣诞生纪年，因为他们不要任 何与基督有关的东西，他们开始把共和国成立的 1792 年称为"元年"。
但是罗伯斯庇尔希望自己一个人统治，于是他密谋陷害他的两个朋友。其中一个被他斩首，另一个在浴缸里被一个名叫夏洛特 科黛的女孩杀死，这个女孩当时对 他的所作所为怒不可遏。这样只剩罗伯斯庇尔一个人。最后人们因为害怕这样一个 如此残暴、没有人性的暴君，就起来反抗他。当他发现自己也要被处死时，就想要 自杀，但是还没有来得及这样做，就被抓住了，并被押到了断头台上，在那里他曾 让无数人掉了脑袋，现在他也同样被砍了头，恐怖统治结束了。
公元 1789 年