World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 25 An Italian Scholar (1)
Dantès embraced his long-desired new friend, and drew him under the transom, so that he might be seen clearly in the little sunlight that penetrated the cell.He is not tall, and it is not so much the years, but the misery that has dyed his hair white. Under the thick and long gray eyebrows, there are a pair of deep and divine eyes, and the still black beard hangs down to his chest.The thin face was covered with deep wrinkles, and the bold and unrestrained lines outlined the contours of the face full of personality. At a glance, it was obvious that this was an elder who was good at deep thinking and not known for his labor.Beads of sweat hung on his forehead, and as for his clothes, it was impossible to tell what it was like before, because there were pieces here and there that were torn to pieces.He appeared to be at least sixty-five years old, but there was a certain virility in his movements that suggested that his long incarceration had made him look older than he really was.

The young man was full of enthusiasm, and the elder was happy to see him. His cold heart seemed to be warmed up in an instant, and melted by touching another fiery heart.He thought he would be able to welcome freedom, but now he came to a dark prison. He couldn't help feeling very disappointed, but he still warmly thanked Dantès for his kindness to him.

"Let's take a look," he said, "Is there any way to make your guards not see the slightest trace of my coming here? Only when they don't know at all, can we do our business quietly." He bent down towards the entrance of the cave, held a heavy stone with both hands, lifted it up easily, and stuffed it into the entrance of the cave. "This rock was taken down too carelessly," he said, shaking his head. "You probably don't have any tools?"

"And you," asked Dantès in amazement, "do you have tools?"

"I made a few things myself. Except for the file, I have everything I should have. There are chisels, pliers, and crowbars."

"Ah! I should like to see what you have produced with patience and skill," said Dantès.

"Look at this chisel first." He said, and he took out a sharp and hard iron piece with a section of beech wood on it.

"What did you make of it?" asked Dantès.

"Made it out of a peg on my bed. That's the tool I used to dig the tunnel down here. It's about 50 feet long."

"Fifty feet!" said Dantès, as if startled.

"Speak softly, young man, speak softly. Prisoners are often overheard outside the door."

"They knew I was the only one."

"That also needs to be paid attention to."

"You said you dug a full fifty feet here, didn't you?"

"That's right, it's almost the distance between your cell and mine. Unfortunately, my curve was not calculated accurately, because I don't have a geometric instrument, and the proportions on my diagram are not easy to calculate. Originally, I only needed to dig a 40-foot arc, but the result Digged 50 feet. As I told you, I thought I could dig to the outside wall and through the wall to get to the sea. But I dug along the corridor opposite your room, not under the corridor, I ended up doing it for nothing, because the corridor only leads to the yard, and the yard is full of sentries."

"True," said Dantès, "but of the four walls of my room, only one faces the corridor."

"You are absolutely right, but look at this side first. The wall is a pile of cliffs. Even if 10 demolition workers bring all kinds of tools with them, it will take ten years to break through the cliffs. This side is attached to the Next to the foundation of the commander's suite, we dug into what must have been a locked cellar, so we had nothing to do with it. The other side, wait a minute, where does this side face?"

This side is the wall with a small transom window for light transmission. The transom window is wide inside and narrow outside. Even a child can't get through the opening on the outside, and it is nailed with three rows of iron bars. The most suspicious guards can rest assured, because never Transom run is simply not possible.The old man who just arrived asked, moved the table under the window, and said to Dantès: "You go up first."

Dantès went to the table as he said, but he was trying to figure out what the fellow sufferer meant, and then he leaned his back against the wall and stretched out his hands to the fellow sufferer.Dantès did not know his name, for he only gave the number of his cell.Judging from his age, such agility is absolutely unexpected. I saw him stepping on the table with the agility of a cat or a lizard, stepping from the table to the hand held by Don Testo, and from the hand to the shoulder. , and then bent down, because the roof of the dark prison blocked him, he couldn't straighten up, and he put his head through the first row of iron bars, so he could look out of the window from above.After looking at it for a while, he hurriedly retracted his head, and then said: "Ah, ah, I really expected it." After speaking, he went down to the table along Dantès' body, and jumped back from the table to the ground.

"What did you expect?" the young man asked anxiously, and then he also jumped off the table and stood beside the old man.The elderly prisoner is brooding.

"Yes," said he, "that is the case. Behind the fourth wall of your cell is a verandah, like a passage for patrols, with sentries on guard."

"You read it right?"

"I saw a soldier's cap and the barrel of his musket, so I pulled my head back lest he see me."

"How?" asked Edmund.

"You see, it is absolutely impossible to escape from your cell."

"So..." the young man continued in a questioning tone.

"That means," said the old prisoner, "you have to obey the will of God." The old man's face was full of resignation.Dantès looked at the old man, he was so open-minded, and the hope that he had been unforgettable for so many days and nights was given up. Dantès could not help being surprised and admiring.

"Now will you tell me who you are?" asked Dantès.

"Oh, my God, it's time I told you. I'm no longer of any use to you to care for you."

"You can comfort me and encourage me. I think you are the strongest among the strong."

The elder smiled sadly. "I am Abbe Faria," said he, "I was imprisoned in the Château d'If in 1811, as you already know. But first I was imprisoned in the Château Finestrelle for three years, and in 1811 I was imprisoned in the Château d'If. I went from Piedmont to France. At this time I learned that Napoleon was really lucky in that period. God gave him a son. Napoleon made the son who was still in the cradle King of Rome. I never thought that what you told me last time would happen, that the giant was defeated four years later, so who is in power in France now? Is it Napoleon II?"

"No, it's Louis XVIII."

"Louis XVIII, that is the younger brother of Louis XVI. God's will is really unpredictable. Those who are promoted are degraded, and those who are degraded are promoted. What is the intention of heaven?"

Dantès kept looking at the old man, and for a moment the old man forgot his own fate and worried about the future of the world.

"Yes, yes," the old man continued, "the same is true in England. After Charles I, Cromwell, and after Cromwell, Charles II. It is also possible that after Jacques II, there will be some son-in-law, some relatives." , the Prince of Orange and the like, and then some government, the Viceroy's enthronement, new concessions to the people, the promulgation of the constitution, and freedom! You will see all this, young man." said At this point, he turned his face towards Dantès, his glowing and deep eyes looked straight at Dantès like a prophet, "You will see it at your age, you will see it."

"Yes, if I can get out."

"Ah, that's true," said Elder Faria, "we are all prisoners, and sometimes I forget, because at such moments I can see through the walls of my prison, and I think I am a free man. .”

"But for what reason are you imprisoned?"

"Me? Because I dreamed of realizing Napoleon in 1807 and didn't think of realizing it until 1811; because, like Machiavelli, I advocate the abolition of these small monarchs, and they cannot let them weaken Italy and divide Italy into one despotism after another. Small kingdom, I advocate the establishment of an empire, not only broad in territory, but also unified, prosperous and powerful; because I regard a fool wearing a crown as a Caesar who realizes my ambition, and he pretends to accept my proposal. , actually betrayed me very meanly. This is the plan of Pope Alexander VI 1492-1503. and Pope Clement VII 1523-1534. It will never work because they planned it. Even if it is futile, and Napoleon failed to realize it, Italy is completely hopeless." Speaking of this, the old man lowered his head.Dantès couldn't understand, how could a person think about these things regardless of his own life? It is true that he knew Napoleon, because he had met Napoleon once and had a conversation with Napoleon. As for Alexander VI and Clement VII, He was at a loss.He began to believe what his guards said, and what was said in the Château d'If prison, and he said:
"Are you the priest who everyone thinks is... sick?"

"Everyone thinks I'm crazy, is that what you mean?"

"Don't dare." Dantès said with a smile.

"Yes, yes," Faria continued with a wry smile, "yes, I was the one who was treated as a lunatic. Over the years, I have been the one entertained by everyone in this prison. If there is someone in this dark place Boy, I can even amuse the little ones."

Dantès was silent for a while, then asked: "Don't you want to escape from prison?"

"I don't think it's possible to break out of prison. If you insist on doing what God doesn't want to do, it's an offense against God."

"What is there for you to be discouraged? Just trying to hope for success is an extravagant hope for God. If this direction doesn't work, why can't we start digging again from another direction?"

(End of this chapter)