World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 21 Madman and Madman (2)
The guard went over and opened the cell door, and the director looked curiously into the dark cell of the lunatic elder.In the prison, the prisoner in this cell is called the crazy elder.A large circle was drawn on the ground in the center of the cell, which was carved out of the wall and painted with plaster, and the people lying in the circle were ragged and almost naked.He was lying in the circle and drawing very clear geometric graph lines one after another, concentrating on calculating geometry problems, just like the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes (287-212 BC).In Marcellus, the Roman general (268-208 BC).When the soldiers killed him, they were still calculating his problems in their minds.The cell door clanged open, but he didn't move.It seemed that he came to his senses only when the wet ground where he was doing calculations was suddenly illuminated by the rare torch light.He turned around and was surprised to see so many people in the prison.He got up immediately, grabbed the sheet from the foot of the pitiful bed, and wrapped himself up in a hurry, looking more or less decent in front of the visitors.

"What do you want?" The director's question is always like this, invariable.

"Ask me, sir?" said the elder in astonishment, "I have no request."

"You may not know," the superintendent continued, "I was sent by the government to go to various prisons to listen to the demands of the prisoners."

"Oh, sir, that means it's another thing," cried the Elder. "I hope we can get on with each other."

"You see," whispered the commander, "as I told you, his scene is about to begin."

"Sir," continued the prisoner, "I am the Elder Faria, born in Rome, and for twenty years I was secretary to Cardinal Rospigliosi. I was arrested at the beginning of 20, and for what reason did I No idea. Since my arrest I have been asking the Italian and French authorities for my release."

"Why also ask the French authorities?" asked the commander.

"Because I was arrested in Piombino, I expected that, like Milan and Florence, Piombino is already the capital of a certain French province."

The director and commander looked at each other with a smile. "Hey, man, your news about Italy is not news," said the director.

"This is the news on the day I was arrested, sir." Elder Faria said, "Since His Majesty the Emperor named his son who had just landed as King of Rome, I guessed that he must have achieved Machiavelli's mission by fighting north and south. Italian statesman (1469-1527). And Caesar, Roman commander and statesman (100-44 BC). The dream of unifying the Italian states into a single kingdom."

"Sir," said the Superintendent, "good God has made some changes to this project which you also seem to ardently support."

"This is the only way to make Italy an independent, prosperous and powerful country."

"That may be the case," replied the director, "but I'm not here to listen to your Italian politics class, but to ask you, and I have already asked, do you have any requirements for board and lodging?"

"The food is the same as in other prisons," the elder replied, "that is to say, it is terrible. As for the accommodation, you have seen it too, it is damp and unsanitary, but since it is a black prison, it is passable. However, I want to report to the government It is not about these things, but about revealing a secret, which is not only very important, but also has great benefits."

"The show has begun." The commander whispered to the director.

"So, although you have messed up a very important calculation problem of mine, I am really very happy to see you. If that problem is solved, it may have to rewrite Newton's theory. I can honor you alone Tell me?"

"Ah, what do I say?" said the commander to the superintendent.

"You know your people well!" said the superintendent with a smile, then turned to Faria and said, "Sir, your request cannot be fulfilled."

"But, sir," continued the elder, "it is a matter of whether the government wants a large sum of money, let's say five million!"

"It's not easy, you can even guess the number accurately." The director turned around and said to the commander.

"Well," the elder saw that the director wanted to leave, so he said, "It doesn't have to be just you and me talking, Mr. Commander can attend and observe."

"My dear sir," said the commander, "unfortunately, we already know what you are going to say, and have already recited it. You want to talk about your treasure, don't you?"

Faria glanced at the cynic commander. As long as he was detached, it was not difficult to see the reason and reason in his eyes. "That's right," he said, "but what do you want me to say?"

"Mr. Superintendent," continued the Commander, "I can tell the story exactly like the Elder, and I've been tired of hearing it for four or five years."

"This proves," said the elder, "Mr. Commander, that you are like those people in the Bible, who have eyes but cannot see, and ears but cannot hear."

"My dear sir," said the superintendent, "the government is very rich. Thank God, it doesn't need your money yet. Save it for yourself when you get out of prison."

The elder stared wide-eyed, grabbed the director's hand and said, "If they keep me here forever, I won't be able to get out of prison. If I can't tell anyone this secret until I die, this treasure will be ruined." Wouldn’t it be better if the government would share a little and I would also have a share? I can give up to 600 million, sir, yes, as long as I am free, I can give up 600 million and only take the rest willingly. "

"To be honest," the director said in a low voice, "he said it with such certainty, if he hadn't known in advance that he was a lunatic, he would really have believed what he said."

"I'm not crazy, sir, what I'm telling is the truth." Faria said, relying on the prisoner's unique sense of hearing, he heard the director's whispers word by word, "The treasure I told you is indeed true. As a matter of fact, I can set up a written note for you, clearly stating that I have to tell the location, and you will charge me to find it, and you will dig in front of everyone. If I am talking nonsense, you can’t find anything. If I really What you said is crazy, well, you take me back to this dark prison, and I will live here forever, no matter to you or anyone else, I will not make any demands until I die."

The commander laughed, and asked, "Is your treasure far away?"

"About 800 miles," Faria said.

"That's a good idea," said the commander. "If all the prisoners play tricks like this, let the guards walk for thousands of miles, and if the guards also agree to walk back and forth in this way, the prisoners' luck will come." Now, run away when you get the chance, and chances will always be found along the way."

"Everyone knows this kind of method," said the director, "the reputation of the invention is not on the head of the master." Then he turned to the elder and said, "I have already asked you, is the food good?"

"Monsieur," replied Faria, "swear to me by Christ, if what I say is true, and if there are treasures in the place I have told you, you will release me."

"Are you eating well?" the director asked again.

"Sir, there is absolutely no risk for you. You can see that I have no intention of creating a chance of escape, because you go your way, and I am waiting in prison."

"You didn't answer my question," said the director impatiently.

"You, too, did not answer my request," cried the elder. "You, like those who have lost their minds, refuse to believe my words, and you will die! You don't want my gold. I keep it for myself. You don’t want to return my freedom, God will give it to me, let’s go, I have nothing more to say.” So the elder threw down the sheet wrapped around his body, picked up the plaster block, returned to the center of the circle and sat down, Started drawing his geometric lines and doing his calculations again.

"What is he doing there?" asked the Superintendent as he emerged from the cell.

"Calculate his treasure," replied the Commander.

To this sarcasm, Faria only cast an extremely contemptuous glance.The superintendent and commander left the cell, and the guards immediately closed the cell door.

"Maybe he really had some treasure." The director said when he came up from the cell.

"Maybe I made a fortune in a dream," said the commander, "but I woke up crazy the next day."

"That's true. If he was really rich, he wouldn't be in prison." The director said, his voice clearly revealed the meaning of corruption and bribery.

That was the end of Elder Faria's adventures. He was still his prisoner, but after the chief inspector inspected him, his reputation as a madman became bigger and bigger.

Both Galigula and Nero were tyrants in ancient Rome.They are all keen to find treasures, and they are all dreamy.Had they listened carefully to the poor prisoner, they would have given him what he desired, and the sky and the earth, which he demanded so dearly, would have given him the liberty to pay dearly.But contemporary kings are all ignorant and have no courage to think. They are afraid that someone will eavesdrop on their orders, and they are also afraid that others will spy on their actions. They no longer feel that they have a divinity that is superior to everyone. ordinary people.The kings of yesteryear considered themselves, or at least proclaimed themselves, the chief god of Jupiter's Roman mythology.He is the son of his son, and more or less has the demeanor of their father who is a god. The things above the clouds are not easily controlled by ordinary people.Today's king is easy to reach, so he is not happy that the despotic government has made public the consequences of prisons and torture.The victims under torture were all bruised and blood-stained, and it was rare for anyone to see the light of day again.As for the lunatics, they are sores cultivated in the filthy black prisons of mental torture, and where there are lunatics, they are usually locked up there.If anyone came out, it was transferred to a gloomy and dark hospital.The guards worked very hard to deliver, but it was just a unkempt living dead. The doctors couldn't tell if it was a human being or if it had any thoughts.

Elder Faria went mad in prison, and because of his madness, he could only live in prison for a while.

To Dantès, the director kept his promise.Returning from the cell to the commander's office, he ordered the prisoner list to be called out to him. The description of the prisoner Dantès reads as follows:
Edmond Dantès, a fanatical member of the Napoleonic party, took an active part in the counterattack on Elba Island.

He should be held in solitary confinement and strictly guarded.

The handwriting and ink of this statement are different from the rest of the words on the roster, and the statement was added after Dantès was imprisoned.The accusation is very certain, and it is impossible to overthrow it.In this way, the director just added a sentence under the explanation: "The case cannot be reversed."

This inspection by the director aroused new hopes in Dantès.He did not think of counting days after he was in prison, but the superintendent told him the new date, and he remembered it, and wrote July 1816, 7 on the wall behind him with a piece of plaster that fell from the cell roof.From this day on, he engraved one every day, so as not to forget the date again.

Days passed by, and then weeks and weeks, and then months and months.Dantès was always looking forward to it, and at first he thought it would be released in two weeks.Two weeks passed, he said to himself, and he was too stupid to think that the director had taken charge of his case before he returned to Paris. The director could only return to Paris after his inspection, which took a day or two months, so Dantès changed the time from two weeks to three months.Three months passed, and he justified himself again, setting the time at six months.However, six months had passed, and after adding up all the days, he realized that he had waited for 10 and a half months. In the past 10 months, the prison regulations have not changed at all, and there is no reassuring news to tell him. When he asked the guards, the guards did not answer a word as usual.Dantès began to doubt his sanity, and felt that the memories of the past were just hallucinations in his mind, and the angel who had come to the cell to comfort him fluttered away with dreamy wings.

A year later, the commander was transferred to Amburg as commander. He took away several subordinates, and the guard of Dantès' cell followed.When the new commander arrived, he found it too troublesome to remember the names of all the prisoners, so he only called them by numbers.There are a total of 50 cells in this big class, and prisoners are called by cell number.Thus, the unfortunate young man was called neither Dantès nor Edmond, but only "No. 34".

(End of this chapter)