As he waited in front of the new invention, Danton said, “The verb to guillotine (this brand-new verb of ours) is limited in the tenses and persons of its conjugation: for example, I shall not have a chance to say I was guillotined.” Acute and poignant, that sentence, but naive. Here am I (and I’m nobody special), I was beheaded I was hanged I was burned I was shot I was massacred. I was forgotten.

中文翻译：

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La mort qu'il faut：Semprun 和死后写作

在新发明前等待时，丹东说：“断头台的动词（我们这个全新的动词）的时态和人称是有限的：例如，我将没有机会说我被断头台了。” 尖锐而凄美，那句话，却天真。我在这里（我没什么特别的），我被斩首我被绞死我被烧死我被枪杀我被屠杀。我被遗忘了。