World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 120 The Scene Between the Five Couples (2)
"So when I was in these two houses, I never learned how to cut the bank. When I came here, these words made my ears hurt all day long. I was upset when I heard the sound of counting the crowns again and again Not to mention your voice, which is more annoying than any other voice."

"To tell the truth," Tangla said, "this is strange! I always thought you were very interested in my business!"

"Me! Who told you such inexplicable words?"

"It's you."

"Ah! How unreasonable!"

"It's you."

"I beg you to speak clearly. What is the matter?"

"Oh, my God! It's not hard to explain. In February you took the initiative to tell me about Haitian bonds, that you dreamed that a ship entered the port of Le Havre, and that according to the news that the ship brought, Everyone thought that the repayment of the public debt was a long way off, but this time it was really about to be fulfilled. I know that you are still awake even if you are sleeping and dreaming, so I sent someone to secretly eat all the Haitian bonds that I could find Come on, I made 2 francs, of which 40 was handed over to you in a serious manner. You used the money, you have your considerations, and it's none of my business. In March, a railway will sell the construction rights , there are three companies bidding, and the guarantee conditions are all the same. You told me your instinctive feelings. Although you claim to be ignorant of speculation, I think your instincts are very strong in certain things. You Tell me that based on your instinct, you think that the construction right will be sold to that southern company. So I immediately subscribed for two-thirds of the company's shares. Later, the construction right was indeed given to this company. The company's stock was exactly as you expected, and its price tripled, and I made another million, of which 10 was given to you as private money. How did you use the 3 francs?"

"What are you trying to say, sir?" cried the baroness, trembling with impatience and vexation.

"Be patient, ma'am, I'm getting to the point."

"very good."

"In April, you went to the minister's residence for dinner, and the Spanish issue was discussed at the dinner table. You heard a confidential statement that Mr. Carlos would be expelled, so I bought some Spanish bonds. Later, Mr. Carlos was expelled. I earned 4 francs the day he re-crossed the Budasoa, the 12-kilometer section of the river that borders France and Spain. Of the 60 francs, you took 60 ecu It's your money, and you've used it as you like, and I'm not going to settle it with you. But it's always true that you got half a million livres this year."

"Very well, what happened next, sir?"

"Oh, that's a good question, and what happened later! Well, it was later that things went wrong."

"You can really talk...in fact..."

"I know people don't speak dark words, I am like this... Then, this later thing happened three days ago. I talked about politics with Mr. Debray three days ago. You think you can hear Carlos from his words The husband returned to Spain again, so I sold all the Spanish bonds in my hand. As soon as the news spread, the market panicked. I didn’t sell the bonds, and I gave them away for nothing. The next day, I said that the news was false , but this false news cost me 70 francs."

"so what?"

"So what! Since I give you a quarter of my winnings, you have to give me a quarter of my losses. A quarter of 70 francs is 17.5 Ten thousand francs."

"It is absurd of you to say such things to me, and I do not understand how you associate Mr. Debray's name with this nonsense."

"Because if you don't have the 17.5 francs I want, you can borrow it from your friends. Mr. Debray is your friend."

"Pooh!" cried the baroness.

"Oh, don't move, don't yell, don't act, Madame, or you're forcing me to tell you the truth: I've seen M. It seemed to him that he had found a way of betting that the shrewdest gamblers never dreamed of, that he could win without placing a bet at the roulette wheel, and lose without losing money."

The baroness was really going to have a fit. "Despicable!" she said, "Do you dare to say that you dare to scold me like this today, and you don't know what nonsense you are talking about?"

"I don't say I know, I don't say I don't know, I just tell you that you have not been my wife for four years, and I am not your husband, but you can see how my behavior is, and then you can see See if I'm consistent. Some time before we broke up, you said you wanted to learn music from that famous baritone who had just hit the Italian opera house, and I just wanted to learn music from that famous dancer who was making a big splash in London. Miss Xing learned to dance, for you and for myself, it cost me about 10 francs in total. For the sake of family harmony, I didn’t say anything. Spend 10 francs to teach the husband to dance and the wife to be proficient in music. Not expensive. After a while, you got tired of singing, and you had the idea to learn diplomacy from a minister secretary, and I let you learn it too. You know in your heart that since you pay the tuition yourself, it is not the same as What am I involved? But today I see that you are taking out my wallet, and that your tuition fees are likely to cost me 70 francs a month. Let it go, madam. Things cannot go on like this .This diplomat can give you lessons... but it must be free, and I can tolerate that, otherwise, he will never set foot on the threshold of my house again. Do you understand, madam?"

"Oh, this is too much, sir!" cried Elmina, choking with sobs. "You are now more than shameless."

"However," said Tangla, "I'm glad to see that you are nothing more than that. You are willing to follow the old saying: Husbands sing and wives follow."

"You insult people!"

"That's right, it's been done, let's stop here, let's think about it calmly. I never ask about your business except for your own good, and you should do the same with mine. You are not Are you not interested in my silver cabinet? Very well, you take care of your silver cabinet, but mine doesn't need you to fill it in, and you don't need you to dig it out. Besides, who knows if this hand is trying to harm me Unprepared political tricks? Could it be that the minister, seeing that I am an oppositionist, is so angry, and seeing that I am popular and jealous, that he conspires with Mr. Debray to make me bankrupt?"

"is it possible?"

"It's very possible. Who has ever seen such a thing... It is impossible, or almost impossible, that the news sent by the telegram is false, and the content of the two telegrams will be completely different!... In fact, this They are trying to trick me."

"Sir," said the baroness, changing her tone, "I don't think you are unaware that the operator has been dismissed, that he is even being prosecuted, and that a warrant has been issued for his arrest, without waiting for a search for him." When the people arrived, he had already fled and hid, so he was not arrested. His escape just proved that he was either a fool or a criminal... This time something went wrong."

"Yes, what a mistake, which made those fools smile, caused the ministers to sleep all night, and caused the secretaries of state to scribble out sheet after sheet, but it cost me 70 francs. "

"But, sir," said Hermina suddenly, "since you think all this is the work of Mr. Debray, why don't you speak to him directly, instead of coming to me to chatter? Taking it out on a woman?"

"Do I know Mr. Debray?" said Tangra. "Do I want to know him? Do I want to know his advice? Do I want to follow his advice? Am I betting? No, all of this." You did it, why me?"

"However, I think that since you have benefited..."

Tangra shrugged. "Really, these women are all fools. They think they are geniuses after they have played once and ten times without attracting the attention of the whole city of Paris. But think about it, you think your irregular Behavior concealed from your husband is really just the simplest little trick, yours is just a very poor imitation. Half of your girlfriends in the world play this trick, just do Husbands don't bother to look most of the time. But I don't. I watch and I always watch. For almost 16 years, you may have kept something from me, but every time you try, every activity, every mistake You can't hide it from me. You thought you were very clever, so you clapped your hands, you thought you had me completely in the dark, but what happened? It turned out that, because of my pretended confusion, from M. de Villefort to M. Debray , there is none of your friends who does not tremble in front of me, and none of them does not regard me as the head of the family. This is the only thing I ask of you, and today I tell you how I am, but among those people No one dares to talk about me like I do in front of you. I allow you to call me hateful, but I forbid you to ridicule me, and most importantly, I will do whatever it takes to absolutely forbid you to make me bankruptcy."

Before the name of Villefort was uttered, the baroness was quite composed, but when she heard the name, her face turned pale, and she jumped to her feet as if on a spring.She stretched out her arms, as if trying to drive away some hallucination, and then moved three steps closer to her husband, as if she wanted to get the secret out of his mouth.The husband may not know this secret, but it may also be out of some kind of insidious scheme - in fact, Tang Gula's schemes are all sinister and vicious, and he doesn't want to tell the whole secret.

"Monsieur de Villefort! What do you mean? What do you want to say?"

"It means, Madame, that your ex-husband, Mr. Nargona, was neither a philosopher nor a banker, or possibly both. He found it impossible for him to get any good results from the prosecutor. , and die with resentment or resentment, because he found out you were six months pregnant after nine months away from home. I'm a rude man, and I not only know it myself, but boast about it, it's still me in business One of the capitals upon which he succeeds. Why did he not kill others but himself? For he had no coffers to keep, but I, my life belongs to my coffers. Mr. Debray is my partner , I lost 70 francs because of him, and he will pay his part, and our business will continue. Otherwise, let him tell me that he can't afford the 17.5 francs. Broke, and he's got to get out of his way like all bankrupts. Oh, my God, I know he's a lovely young man when his news is solid, but if his news isn't , then there are 50 people in the world who are more useful than him.”

Madame Tangra was so frightened that she wanted to struggle desperately to fight back the last attack, but she collapsed on a chair and couldn't help thinking of Villefort, the scene of the dinner party, and how many times she had thought about it. A series of inconceivable misfortunes hit her home one after another, making her warm and peaceful home full of bad words and turmoil.She tried her best to look like she was about to faint, but Tangra didn't even look at her, didn't say a word, just opened the door and went back to his own room.Mrs. Tangla woke up from her semi-comatose state, only to feel that she was having a nightmare.

(End of this chapter)