World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 144 The Governor's Daughter (2)
"What did you tell her?" Mosef asked in a low voice.

"I told her again that you are a friend of mine, and told her to keep nothing from you."

"Then," said Albert, "you are the first to remember the collection of donations for the convicts. Do you remember anything else?"

"Other things? I can still see the rows of fig trees by the lake, and I seem to be able to see the rippling, silver mirror-like lake through the branches and leaves of the fig trees. Under the shade of the tree, my father leaned against a The oldest and most densely branched fig tree, sitting on the ground with cushions, and I was there too-when I was a child, my mother snuggled up at my father's feet, and I watched my father's hanging The white beard on his chest and the handle of his diamond-encrusted scimitar stuck in his waist. From time to time, an Albanian came to report to his father. Say in a tone: 'Kill!' Or say: 'Forgive!'"

"It is incredible," said Albert, "that I heard these words not from the stage, but from the mouth of a young girl, and said to myself: 'This is not a dream.' Then," Albert continued, "you lived in such a poetic world at that time, and this distant past was so magical, how do you feel about France now?"

"I think it's a beautiful country," said Eddie, "but I see France as it is, because I see France now through the eyes of a grown woman, while my country is the opposite, I am I look at it with the eyes of a child, so I always feel that my motherland seems to be shrouded in thick fog. Sometimes it is bright and sometimes gloomy. It depends on whether my eyes touch the pleasing place or the bitter suffering. .”

"You are so young, madame," asked Albert, involuntarily, in a worldly sense, "have you ever suffered any accident?"

Ede turned her eyes to Monte Cristo, who made a silent gesture, and then said softly in Greek: "Speak."

"The memories deep in my heart are all the past events of my childhood. Except for the past events I told you just now, the rest of my childhood memories are all painful."

"Speak, please, madame," said Albert, "I swear to you that it gives me an inexpressible pleasure to hear you."

Eddie smiled sadly. "Then you would like to hear me reminisce about other things?"

"I beg you to condescend," said Albert.

"Well! I was only 4 years old, and my mother woke me up suddenly one night. We were all sleeping in the Ioannina Palace, and my mother picked me up from the bed. When I opened my eyes, I saw my mother Tears welled up in my eyes. My mother hugged me silently, and I saw her tears welling up, and I started to cry too. 'Shut up, child.' My mother said. Normally, no matter how much my mother coaxed me to scare me I, like other wayward children, cannot stop crying, but that night, when my poor mother spoke, I was so frightened that I stopped crying at once.

"Mother was hurrying along with me in her arms. Only then did I see that we were descending a wide staircase, ahead of us were my mother's maids, carrying boxes, parcels, expensive clothes, jewelry and bags of Gold coins, they also went down the stairs, or rather, they all rushed down the stairs. Behind the maid and us mother and daughter was a guard of twenty men, with muskets and pistols on their backs, wearing The uniform is the kind of military uniform that you French people have been familiar with after the independence of Greece. To be honest, the scene at that time was really miserable." Edai shook her head and continued, whenever she thought of this past, her face turned pale. Turning white, "This long line of slaves and women seems to be dazed and half awake, at least I think so. Maybe it's because I haven't fully woke up myself, and I feel that everyone else seems to be still asleep The flaming fir branch torches illuminated the stairs, and the faintly discernible crowd hurried down, and on the dome of the hall, huge figures were swaying to and fro.”

"'Go, go!' came a voice at the end of the corridor. At the sound, everyone bowed and lowered their heads, as if a gust of wind blows across the fields, and the ears of wheat in the fields drop. I also shuddered at the sound. Get up. This is the voice of my father. He is the last one, wearing a magnificent robe, holding the carbine that your emperor gave him in his hand. With one hand on the shoulder of his favorite Selim, from behind Drive us on like a shepherd driving his rambling cattle.” Edeon said, raising his head, “My father, who is famous all over the world, is called Ali-Tabran in Europe, and he is the feared man in all Turkey. Governor of Ioannina."

When Eddie said this, her tone was full of indescribable pride and dignity, and Albert couldn't help but shuddered when he heard it. Those divination girls who could summon ghosts in ancient Greece recalled the present and the past, recalling the hero who had been stained red with blood. In the eyes of Europeans at that time, this hero died heroically, and he was the giant who stood upright.

"Soon," went on Eddie, "we came down the stairs to the lake, and we had to stop. Mother held me tight in her arms, and I could hear her heart beating , I saw my father two steps behind us, looking anxiously around. In front of us there were four marble steps to the lake, and below the steps was a swaying boat. From where we stood From there, we can see a shadowy black figure standing in the middle of the lake, that is the water pavilion we are going to. Perhaps because of the darkness of night, I think this water pavilion is far away from us.”

"We all boarded the boat. I still remember that the oars on the boat were paddling in the water, but there was no sound. I looked sideways at the oars. It turned out that the oars were wrapped around the belts of our guards. Except for the oarsmen There were only father, mother, Selim and I, and a few maids. The guards remained by the lake, and they knelt on one knee on the bottom marble step, so that in case the pursuers should come, they could rely on the three and our boat moved forward like a breeze. 'Why is the boat going so fast?' I asked my mother. 'Oh! my child,' said my mother, 'we are running for our lives.' But I don't understand, why is my father running for his life? He is omnipotent. Usually, when people see my father, they run away, and the famous saying that often hangs on my father's mouth is: "Hate me Those who fear me will be afraid of me.' But this time my father was indeed running for his life by rowing on the lake. Ever since the defenders of Ioannina were tired from fighting for a long time, my father once said to me..."

Ede cast a meaningful glance at Monte Cristo at this point, and Monte Cristo looked into her eyes intently.The girl went on, but she spoke slowly, as if she was adding or skipping some plots casually.

"You said, Madame," said Albert, who was listening intently, "that the defenders of Ioannina are tired from the long battle..."

"They negotiated with Kurshi, who was the commander of the Turkish army sent by the sultan to arrest my father. At this time, my father sent a European officer whom he trusted very much to see the sultan, and my father finally made up his mind. Prepare to retreat to the place he has already arranged, which he called 'Katafiron', which means his refuge."

"The officer," asked Albert, "do you remember his name, madame?"

Monte Cristo and the girl exchanged a glance as quick as lightning, and Mocerf did not notice anything.

"No," said the girl, "I don't remember it, and maybe I will, and I'll tell you when I do."

Albert would have liked to speak his father's name, but Monte Cristo raised his finger unhurriedly to signal silence, and Albert, remembering his oath, fell silent.

"At this time we were paddling towards the waterside pavilion. Looking from our boat, we could see two floors of the waterside pavilion. The lower floor is decorated in Arabic style. The surrounding terraces are close to the lake, and the upper floor is just shaded by the lake. In fact, there is a basement built under a small island under the bottom of the water pavilion. This is a big cave. My mother and I, as well as a few maids who followed us, were led here. There are 6 cats in the cave. The money bag and 200 wooden barrels, the money bag and the wooden barrel are piled up together, there are 2500 million gold coins in the money bag, and 3 catties of explosives are contained in the wooden barrel.

"Watched by the barrel was Selim, my father's favourite, as I have just said. He stood there day and night with a spear, with a matchlock always on the point, and he was ordered to body, and at my father's signal, he would blow up the waterside pavilion, the guards, the governor, all the women, and all the gold coins.

"I can still remember the slaves we took, knowing they were in danger, praying and crying and moaning all day and all night. Every moment I saw the young warrior, his face pale , with dark eyes, if the god of death came to me from the sky, I believe I would be able to recognize it at a glance, it was Selim.

"I can't tell you how long we've been like this, because I didn't know time at the time. Sometimes—but these were the only times—my father sent for my mother and me to I was very happy at this time, because in the basement, all I saw were the weeping figures and Selim's lighted spear. Father sat in front of a wide opening. , looking gloomily at the distant horizon, inspecting every black spot that appeared on the lake, mother resting her head on father's shoulder, clinging close to father's side, I played at father's feet. Like all Like a child of my own, the real thing seemed bigger to me than it really was, and I gazed in wonder at the steep hills of Pindus towering majestically on the horizon, the white, angular Fort Ioannina, as well as the verdant and verdant hillside, look like a layer of green moss growing on the rocks from a distance, but when you look closer, it turns out to be patches of tall and straight fir trees and endless myrtle trees.

"One morning my father sent for us and we found him calm but paler than usual.

"'Wait patiently, Vaziliki, today we shall know the final decision. Today the sultan's decree shall come, and my fate will be decided. If I am pardoned, and no conditions are imposed, we may rejoice return to Ioannina with joy, and if the news it brings is not good for us, we shall flee this evening.'

"'But what if they don't let us escape?' asked my mother.

"'Ah, don't worry,' said Ali-Tuberan with a slight smile, 'what will happen to these people, Selim and his arquebus will tell me, they want me dead, But they dare not die with me.'

"Father's comforting words were not from his sincerity. Mother didn't say anything after hearing this, but just sighed again and again. She prepared ice water for father, because since he was evacuated to the water pavilion, father has been suffering from a high fever and needs to drink ice water at any time. My mother perfumed my father's white beard, lit him a long Turkish pipe, and sometimes, for hours at a time, my father would watch the rising smoke of the pipe slowly drifting in the air. It startled me. Then he fixed his eyes on the black spot that caught his attention, and asked for the telescope to be handed to him. The mother's face suddenly became whiter than the marble column she leaned on behind her. I handed the binoculars to my father. I saw my father's hands trembling.

"'One!...Two!...Three!...' whispered my father, 'Four!' And he stood up and took his weapon. Gunpowder was stuffed into the pool. 'Vaziliki,' he said, trembling, to my mother, 'the time has come to decide my fate, and in half an hour we shall know the answer of the Sultan, now you take Eddie with you Go back to the basement.'

"'I do not want to leave you,' said Vaziliki, 'and if you die, my lord, I will die with you.'

"'Go to Selim,' cried my father.

"'Farewell, sir!' murmured the mother, and bowed her head meekly, and stooped deeply, as if death had come upon her.

"'Take Vaziliki away,' my father ordered to his guards.

"As for me, everyone didn't pay attention to me at this time. I ran to my father and stretched out my arms to hug him. When my father saw me, he immediately bent over to me and kissed my forehead with his lips. Oh, this It was the last kiss my father gave me, and it is still deeply imprinted on my forehead. On the way to the basement, we saw the shadow of the boat on the lake gradually getting bigger through the grape shed shelf on the terrace, which was just a blur A few small black dots, now like birds flying over the waves. At this time, 20 guards came to the water pavilion and sat around my father's feet. With bloodshot eyes watching the boats approaching the waterfront, their beaded silver guns in their hands, the floor strewn with bullets, my father staring at his watch, pacing up and down anxiously I left my father after he gave me his last kiss, and everything I saw on the way to the basement was etched in my memory.

(End of this chapter)