World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 156 The Thief (2)
At this moment the fellow over there heard no more sound, so he straightened up, and while Monte Cristo was changing, he went straight to the desk again, and the lock of the drawer creaked with his "Nightingale." It rang. "Okay!" said the count inwardly, obviously he was very sure about his lock with some kind of mechanism, and no matter how skilled the lockpickers were, they might not be able to grasp the secrets in this lock, "Okay Just work for a few more minutes!" As he said this, he came to the window and saw that the man who had just stepped on the cornerstone had jumped off and was slipping around on the street.But it is a strange thing, the man is not afraid to meet people coming from the Champs-Elysées, or from Saint-Honoré, but he seems to be very concerned about the Count's apartment, and his every move seems to want to know. Was there any movement in the bathroom.Monte Cristo slapped his forehead suddenly, and with his lips parted a little, he gave a silent smile.Then he turned to Ali and said softly, "You stay here, no matter what sounds you hear, no matter what movements you make, stay in the dark and don't move, only when you hear me call your name, you can come Show up." Ali nodded, indicating that he had understood and followed the earl's instructions completely.

Monte Cristo then took from the chest a lighted candle, and while the thief was engrossed in the lock, he gently opened the door, and purposely aimed the candle he held in his hand at his own face.The sound of opening the door was very soft, and the thief didn't hear it at all, but he suddenly saw the room light up and panicked.He turned around immediately.

"Oh! good evening, my dear Monsieur Cuderosse," said Monte Cristo, "what is your business here at this hour?"

"Elder Buzzoni!" Caderos exclaimed.

Cuderos couldn't figure out how it was possible for someone to appear beside him without anyone noticing that he had closed both doors.The bunch of fake keys in his hand fell to the ground with a thud, and he stood there in a daze, looking like he was out of his wits.The count went next, and taking his place between Caderousse and the window, cut off the only escape for the frightened thief.

"Elder Buzzoni!" continued Caderos, looking at the count in confusion.

"Yes! Indeed, I am the elder Buzzoni," said Monte Cristo. "I am glad that you still know me, my dear Monsieur Cudeross, since we both have good memories, because , if I remember correctly, we haven't seen each other for almost 10 years."

Such self-possession, such cynicism, and such aggressiveness terrified Cuderosse. "Elder! Elder!" He clenched his hands tightly, his teeth chattering, and said weakly.

"Are you trying to steal from the Count of Monte Cristo?" asked the so-called elder.

"Mr. Elder," Cuderos murmured, he wanted to retreat to the window, but the retreat was ruthlessly blocked by the count, "Mr. Elder, I don't know... Please believe me... I swear to you..."

"A piece of glass has been scratched in the window," said the count. "It is absolutely true that there is a lantern that can be shaded, a string of 'nightingales', and the writing desk has been pried open."

Cuderos only felt that the scarf around his neck made him breathless, and he really wanted to find a corner to hide, find a hole in the ground and crawl down.

"Needless to say," said the count, "I think you are hard-working, Mr. Assassin."

"Mr. Elder, since you know everything, you must know that I was not the one who did it. It was done by the 'Calconte'. That's how I was judged in the first trial, so I was only sentenced to hard labor. .”

"So you've served your sentence, and now I think you really want to send you there again?"

"No, Mr. Elder, I got out with the help of one person."

"This man has done society a great service."

"Ah!" said Caderos, "but I did promise..."

"So you're going to try again?" said Monte Cristo, interrupting Caderos.

"Hi! Yes." Caderos said nervously.

"A relapse... If I'm not mistaken, you're going to have to escort you to the place where Parisian executions are carried out in the Place de la Beach. Deserve, deserve, diavolo Italian: devil, villain. That's what our country says about people like you .”

"Mr. Elder, I was confused for a while..."

"That's what all criminals say."

"Because of being poor..."

"Shut up," Buzzoni said contemptuously. "People may ask for alms because they are poor, and they may sneak to the door of a bakery to steal a piece of bread, but they don't go in and pry a writing desk when they see no one in a building. When I I gave you the diamond, and the jeweler Joanes went to your house to buy it, and as soon as he paid you 4.5 francs, you killed him, and you took the money and the diamond. Is this also because Is it because of poverty?"

"Forgive me, Monsieur the Presbyterian," said Caderousse, "you have saved me once, and you will save me again."

"You can't just say that."

"Are you alone, Monsieur the Presbyterian?" asked Cuderos, clasping his hands. "Have you brought the gendarme to arrest me?"

"I am alone," said the elder, "I will take pity on you again, I am soft-hearted, and may cause new troubles in the future, I can ignore these, let you go this time, but you must tell me the truth .”

"Ah, Monsieur the Presbyterian!" cried Caderousse, clasping his hands on his breast, and taking a step towards Monte Cristo, "I say, you are my saviour!"

"You said just now that you were rescued from a convict prison?"

"Oh! It's true, I, Cuderos, can swear it, Mr Elder."

"Who was the one who saved you?"

"An Englishman."

"What's his name?"

"Lord Waymar."

"I know him, and I will know in the future if you are lying now."

"Mr. Elder, what I say is the truth."

"So the Englishman protected you?"

"It's not me he's trying to protect, but a young Corsican with whom I'm chained."

"What is the name of this young Corsican?"

"Benededo."

"Is that a Christian name?"

"He has no other name. He is an outcast."

"So that young man escaped with you?"

"Yes."

"How did you escape?"

"We were doing penal labor at St. Mandriere, near Toulon. You know St. Mandriere, don't you?"

"I know this place."

"Uh, from 12:1 noon to [-]:[-] noon when everyone is sleeping..."

"The convicts take a nap! So, I really care about these guys!" said the elder.

"Of course!" said Caderousse. "Man is not a dog, and cannot work all the time."

"I wish it was a dog," said Monte Cristo.

"When others were taking a nap, the two of us moved a little to the side. The British sent someone to bring us a file. We used this file to open the shackles and then swam out."

"How is this Benedetto now?"

"I don't know at all."

"But you should know."

"I really don't know. As soon as we arrived in Hyères, we went our separate ways." Caderos said, and took another step towards the elder, as if he wanted to give more weight to this remark, but the elder stood still. He didn't move an inch, and remained so calm, as if he was trying to judge a case.

"You lied!" Elder Buzzoni said, the majesty of his tone was like thunder, unstoppable.

"Mr. Elder..."

"You're lying! That person is still your accomplice, maybe you are pulling him into a conspiracy to commit this crime, right?"

"Oh! Mister Elder!"

"How have you lived since your escape from Toulon? Answer!"

"Let's make do with it."

"You lied!" said the elder for the third time, his tone becoming more and more severe.

Caderousse, frightened and panicked, looked at the count blankly.

"You can live," continued the count, "because he gives you money."

"Well, yes," said Cuderos, "Benededo became the son of a very rich man."

"How can he be the son of a rich man?"

"He's an illegitimate child."

"So, what's the name of that rich man?"

"Count of Monte Cristo, the house in which we are staying belongs to him."

"Is Benedetto the count's son?" asked Monte Cristo, wondering.

"Of course, it's absolutely correct, because the count found him a false father and gave him 4000 francs a month, and the count also bequeathed him 50 francs in his will."

"Ah! ah!" said the False Elder, who was beginning to understand what was going on. "What is the young man's name now?"

"Andra Cavallecanti."

"So, is this young man my friend the Count of Monte Cristo entertaining at his apartment? Is this young man that Miss Tanglar is going to marry?"

"Not bad."

"You clearly know his life experience and his misdeeds, why do you hide and don't talk about it, you bastard?"

"Why do you want me to stop my companion who is on his way to greatness?" said Caderos.

"That's true. You don't need to tell Mr. Tanglar about this kind of thing. I should tell it."

"You can't say that, Mr. Elder!"

"why?"

"Because if you say so, we shall have no bread to eat."

"Do you think that in order for you shameless people to leave a mouthful of bread to eat, I have to allow you to cheat and commit crimes with you?"

"Mister Elder!" said Caderos, taking another step forward.

"I have to make these things clear."

"To whom?"

"Speak to Mr. Tanglar."

"Fuck you!" cried Cudeross, drawing a knife with an open blade from his waistcoat, and stabbing the Count in the chest. "You can say nothing, sir!" But It never occurred to Caderos that instead of plunging into the count's chest, the knife bounced back and the blade curled.At this moment, the count grabbed the murderer's wrist with his left hand and twisted it hard. The murderer's five fingers straightened suddenly, the knife fell, and Caderos yelled in pain.But the count ignored Cuderos' shouts, and continued to wring the wrist until the rogue dislocated his arms, dropped to his knees, and fell at last to the floor.

The count put his foot on the thief's head, and said, "I don't know why I don't crush your head off, you scoundrel!"

"Ah! Spare me!" cried Caderos.

The count let go of his foot. "Get up!" he said.

Caderos got up. "My God, what a strong wrist you have, Monsieur the Presbyterian!" said Cudeross, rubbing his arm, swollen from the pincer-like hand. "My God, what a wrist!"

"Stop talking nonsense! God gave me the strength to subdue a beast like you. I act in the name of God. Remember it well, dog. Sparing your life now is also to fulfill God's will."

"Oh!" Caderos could only hum in pain.

"Take this pen and this paper, and write whatever I say."

"I can't write, Mr. Elder."

"You lied. Grab your pen and write!"

Frightened by this extraordinary power, Caderos sat down obediently and wrote:

Sir: The person you entertained at your house and promised by your daughter was originally a convict. He escaped from Toulon convict prison together with me. He was No. 59 in the prison, and I was No. 58 ( According to the above (Chapter 64), Carderos should be No. 106.).The man's name was Benedetto, but he never knew who his biological parents were, so he didn't know his real name.

"Signed!" continued the count.

"Aren't you trying to kill me?"

"If I really wanted to kill you, idiot, I could send you to the nearest police box. Besides, by the time this letter is received, you probably have nothing more to fear. You just Sign it."

Carderos signed.

"Now write the address and name of the recipient: Mr. Baron Danglars, Banker, Angtan Road."

Caderos wrote the address and the name of the recipient.The elder picked up the letter, "Okay," said the elder, "now you go."

"From where?"

"Wherever you come in, you go out."

"You mean I climbed out of the window?"

"You came in through the window."

"Are you trying to plot against me, Mr. Elder?"

"Idiot, what do you want me to plot against?"

"Why don't you open the door and let me go?"

"What's the use of waking the porter?"

"Mr. Elder, I want a word from you, you don't want my life?"

"God's will is my will."

"But you must swear to me that you will not harm me when I come down here."

"You're such a dizzy bastard!"

"What are you going to do with me?"

"I want to ask you, I wanted you to live a good life, but you committed murder!"

"Mister Elder!" said Caderos, "give me one last chance."

"Well," said the count, "listen, I am a man of my word, do you know that?"

"I know," Caderos said.

"If you can return safely to the place where you live..."

"What else should I worry about but you?"

"If you can come back safely to where you live, you will leave Paris, leave France, and wherever you go, if you are a good man, I will send you a small pension, because if you If you can return to the place where you live safely, then..."

"What's the matter?" Caderos asked tremblingly.

"Then I think God has forgiven you, and so I will forgive you."

"I'm a sincere Christian," stammered Cuderos, drawing back, "you're scaring me to death."

"Okay, let's go!" The count pointed to the window with his hand and pointed to Caderos.

Cuderos, still half-believing in the elder's words, stepped over the window, put his feet on the ladder, and stopped there trembling.

"Now you can go down." The elder said with his arms folded on his chest.

Caderos realized then that he had nothing to worry about on the elder's side, and began to step down the ladder.At this moment the Count went to the window with a candle, so that from the Champs-Elysées he could clearly see a man descending a ladder from the window, while another was illuminating him.

"What are you doing, Monsieur the Presbyterian?" said Cuderos, "in case a policeman passes by..." He blew out the candle, and continued to climb down, and when he stepped on the muddy ground of the garden, He was completely at ease.

Monte Cristo returned to his bedroom, and cast a quick glance outside the garden as far as the avenue.He first saw that Cuderosse, having descended the ladder, made a wide circle of the garden, and brought the ladder to the top of the fence, so that he could climb over the wall from another place than he had entered.When the count moved his eyes from the garden to the street, he immediately saw the man who seemed to be waiting outside hurried down the street, stopped behind the corner where Cuderosse was about to climb over the wall, and waited. .

Cudeross climbed the ladder slowly, and when he reached the last few steps, he put his head over the top of the wall to see if anyone was in the street.There was no one in the street, and no sound could be heard.The great clock at the Invalides struck one o'clock at midnight.Now Cuderos straddled the top of the fence, put the ladder back on the top of the wall, turned over to lean against the outside of the wall, and climbed up the ladder to go down, or rather, to follow the two sides of the ladder. The strips slipped down.At this time, his movements were very sensitive, and it seemed that he was really familiar with this kind of work.But as soon as he slid down the leaning ladder, he couldn't hold it back.Halfway through the slide, he watched a man jump out of the shadows; just as his feet were about to touch the ground, he watched the man raise his arms.Before he had time to stand up and defend himself, the raised arm stabbed him severely in the back. He let go of the ladder and shouted: "Help!" With one stab, he fell down, shouting: "Killer!" Finally, while he was rolling on the ground in pain, the pair grabbed his hair and stabbed him a third time in the chest.This time Caderos tried to cry out, but he only groaned, and then he groaned, three streams of blood bubbling from three wounds on his body.

Seeing that he had lost his voice, the murderer grabbed his hair and lifted his head. Cuderosse's eyes were closed and his mouth was tilted to one side.The murderer felt that he had died, so he let go of his head and ran away without a trace.At this time, Caderos felt that the murderer had gone far, raised his body with his elbows, and shouted with all his strength in a dying voice: "Catch the murderer! I am dying, save me! Mr. Elder, save me!"

This mournful cry pierced the darkness, and the little door of the secret staircase was opened, and then the little door of the garden, and Ali and his master came hurrying with their lamps.

(End of this chapter)