World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 212 Forgiveness
Tangla was hungry again the next day, and the air in the cave could increase his appetite more than anything else.But Tang La felt that he didn't need to spend any more on this day, because he was a frugal person, and had already secretly hidden half a chicken and half a piece of bread in a corner of the dungeon.However, he had just finished eating and was thirsty again, which was something he hadn't thought of.He endured it, and finally felt that his tongue was dry and stuck to the roof of his mouth.Again he felt burning all over his body and could not bear it any longer, so he cried out.The prison door was opened by the robber on guard outside, a face he had never seen before.He thought it best to deal with some old acquaintance, so he called Pepino.

"Come on, Your Excellency," the robber hurried over and said, Tang La thought it was a good omen, "What's the matter?"

"I want to drink something." Tangla said.

"Your Excellency," said Pepino, "you know that wine in the suburbs of Rome is extremely expensive."

"Then give me some water." Tang La said, he thought he couldn't be choked on a single sentence.

"Oh! Your Excellency, water is rarer than wine. Now is the time of severe drought."

"Forget it," Tang La said, "It looks like yesterday's play has started again." The unfortunate man pretended to be joking with a smile on his lips, but he was so anxious that he knew that his forehead was sweating. "Oh, my friend," Tangra said, seeing that Pepino always seemed so unreasonable, "I asked you for a glass of wine, but you still refused to give me?"

"I told you, sir," said Pepino solemnly, "that we do not sell goods here."

"That's good! That's it, you get me a bottle."

"What wine?"

"cheapest."

"There are two kinds of wine, and the price is the same."

"how much is it?"

"2.5 francs a bottle."

"Just say it," Tangla couldn't help shouting, and the only person who shouted this tone was probably only the miser, the protagonist in the comedy "The Miser" by the French playwright Molière.Only then can you taste the bitterness in it, "You just say that you are going to peel my skin, which is more enjoyable than tearing my flesh piece by piece."

"Possible," said Pepino, "that's what our boss intends."

"Boss? Who is he?"

"The man who took you to meet the night before yesterday."

"Where is he now?"

"here."

"I have to see him."

"It's easy to do."

After a while, Luri Wangpa came to Tang Gela.

"Are you looking for me?" asked Wampa.

"Sir, are you the leader of those who brought me here?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"How much ransom do you want me to pay, please tell me."

"As long as you bring the 500 million with you."

Tang La only felt that a terrible convulsion would tear his heart to pieces. "That's all I have in the world, sir, and it's the only thing left of a great estate. If you take my money, it's my life."

"We have orders not to kill you, sir."

"Whose order is this?"

"An order from the man we must obey."

"So you have to obey someone too?"

"Yes, that's the leader."

"I thought you were the leader."

"I am the leader of these people, but I still have my leader."

"This leader has to obey someone, right?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"God."

Tang La thought for a while in silence. "I do not understand what you were saying."

"this is possible."

"Is it the chief who ordered you to treat me like this?"

"Yes."

"What is his purpose?"

"I do not know."

"But my wallet is about to be emptied."

"maybe."

"Look," Tang La said, "How about giving you 100 million?"

"No."

"200?"

"No."

"300 million? 400 million? How about it, 400 million? As long as you let me go, all 400 million will be yours."

"Why did you only give us four million when it was five million?"

"Take them all away! Take them all away! That's all!" Tang Gela shouted, "Kill me again!"

"Okay, okay, you have to calm down, sir, otherwise you will speed up your blood circulation and stimulate your appetite, eating a million a day. You'd better save some money, really!"

"But, I don't have any money to pay you, so what?" Tang La shouted, he was really anxious.

"Then you will starve."

"Hungry?" Tangra said, his face turned completely pale.

"Probably so." Wampa replied coldly.

"But you said you didn't want to kill me?"

"Yes."

"You want to starve me to death?"

"It's not the same thing."

"Okay! It's so despicable!" Tangra shouted, "I will definitely make your shameful plan come to naught. If you die, you will die, and I would rather die immediately. You can torture me, torture me, kill me. Me, but you will never get my signature!"

"You figure it out, sir," said Wampa.

Wampa came out of the dungeon.Tangla let out a wild roar, and threw himself on his goatskin bed.Who are these guys?Who is the leader hiding behind the scenes?What exactly are they planning on him?Why can other people leave after paying the ransom, but why not him?oh!These enemies are very ferocious, and they seem to be taking some kind of inexplicable revenge on him. Now it is a good way to disrupt their positions, and death is a good way. If you want to die, you have to die quickly, and die simply.Yes, dead is fine!In his long career, it was probably the first time that Tangla thought about death because he wanted to die and was afraid of death.And at this moment, he should also take a good look at the ruthless ghost in his heart. As long as he is a person, there will be such a ghost in his heart. Every time his heart beats, the ghost will say to him: "Death is undoubtedly"!Tangra is like a wild beast being hunted down, at first he becomes manic and restless, then despairs, but sometimes he escapes death even in despair.Tangra thought of the idea of ​​running away.But the surrounding stone walls were originally rocks, and there was only one passage out of the dungeon, but there was a person watching there, and behind that person were figures with guns on their backs dangling vaguely.He insisted on it for two full days without signing. After the two days passed, he wanted to eat again, so he had to agree to pay 100 million.The robber entertained him with a beautiful dinner and charged him 100 million.

From then on, the hapless captive lived in a daze.He has been tortured enough, so he doesn't want to suffer any more, and he accepts any harsh conditions. One afternoon 12 days later, he ate a big meal like he did when he was in the sky, and calculated his money after eating, and found that he had written too many checks, and he had 5 francs left.At this time, his reaction was very strange. He had already thrown away 500 million, but now he tried to keep the last remaining 5 francs.The 5 francs must not be thrown out again, so he decided to survive without eating or drinking. He saw a few ray of hope in a trance, but in fact, this hope was almost like madness.He had forgotten God long ago, but now he thought of God, and said to himself that there was a time when God performed miracles, and now this cave may collapse, and the gendarme of the Holy See may find this hidden ghost place , will come to save his life.In this way, after all, he still has 5 francs, and with these 5 francs he will not be reduced to starvation.So he begged God to keep his last 5 francs, and he wept and prayed.

Three days passed like this.During these three days, his heart may not have really thought about God, but at least he kept thinking about it.He also fell into a coma several times intermittently, and vaguely saw an old man lying dying on a broken bed in a shabby room behind the window. This old man was also dying of hunger.By the fourth day, he was no longer human, just a living zombie.He had picked up and eaten the leftovers from the previous meals, and now he had to start chewing on the straw mat on the floor.So he begged Pepino, as if begging some patron saint, to give him something to eat, and he would give him 1000 francs for a bite of bread.But Pepino ignored him.On the fifth day he crawled to the door of the dungeon. "Aren't you a Christian?" he said, kneeling up, "do you want to kill a man who is your brother before God?" Then he said to himself, "Oh! Where are those friends? Where are those friends?" He fell with a thud, his face on the ground.Then he got up again, and cried out in despair, "Where is the chief? Where is the chief?" "Here I am!" said Wampa, and he came at once. "What more do you want?"

"I'll give you the rest of the money," Tangla stammered, handing his wallet in front of him, "you just let me live here, in this cave, I don't ask for anything To be free, just to live."

"So you are in great pain?" asked Wampa.

"Oh! Yes, I am in pain, very much!"

"But there are people who suffer more than you!"

"I don't think so."

"Yes, some people starved to death."

Tangra thought of the old man. When he was in a trance, he seemed to see through the window that the old man was lying on the bed in his room with no walls, moaning in pain.Tang La kowtowed as he lay down on the ground and knocked his forehead to the ground. "Yes, it is true. Some people suffer more than I do, but at least they suffer for the sake of martyrdom!"

"You should at least repent, right?" said a deep and solemn voice, which made Tang Gela's hair stand on end in fright.

His eyes were dim, but still wide open to see what was in front of him, he saw behind the robber, in the shadow of a stone pillar, stood a man wrapped in a cloak. "What do I have to confess?" Tang Ge stammered.

"Repent for your own evil deeds," said the same voice.

"Oh! Yes, I repent! I repent!" Tangra shouted.His thinned hands clenched into fists, beating his chest one after another.

"Well, then, I can forgive you," said the man, throwing off his cloak, and took a step forward to where there was light.

"The Count of Monte Cristo!" Tangra said.His face, which had been ashen from hunger and pain just now, was even more pale from fright.

"You are mistaken. I am not the Count of Monte Cristo."

"Then who are you?"

"I was the one who was betrayed by you, framed by you, and falsely accused by you of injustice. I was the one who you stepped on and climbed up for your own prosperity. Your fiancée was forced to endure humiliation by you, The old father was starved to death by you. He should have starved you, but he forgave you, because he needed forgiveness himself. I am Edmond Dantès!"

Tang La yelled and fell to the ground.

"Stand up," said the count, "and I will spare you your life. Your two accomplices are not as lucky as you, one is mad and the other is dead! The remaining fifty thousand francs will be left to you, I gave it to you. As for the 5 million you cheated from the workhouse, someone has already taken it and returned it to the workhouse. Now you can eat and drink, you are my guest tonight. Wangpa, this man is full From now on, let him go."

The count is gone.Tang Gela was still prostrate on the ground. When he raised his head again, he saw only a figure walking away and disappearing in the corridor. When the shadow passed by, the robbers bowed down one after another.Wampa, as the count ordered, treated Tangra to a meal, gave him the best wine in Italy, and ate the best fruit in Italy. Just get out of the car and lean against a tree and forget about it.He stayed there until dawn, not knowing where he was.

After daybreak, he found a stream beside it.He felt thirsty, so he climbed to the edge of the stream.As he leaned over to drink, he saw his hair had completely turned white.

(End of this chapter)