World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 31 Treasure (2)
"The pope and Caesar immediately rushed to fight for the inheritance under the pretext of looking for the manuscripts of the deceased. But the inheritance was just a note. Spada wrote on it: 'The rest of the bookcase and books are bequeathed to my nephew, and the golden horn " A volume of the Book of Daily Classes, I hope my nephew will keep it in memory of Zhongfu.” In order to find the inheritance, everything in the family was searched, the scriptures were searched again and again, and the furniture was moved again and again. In the end, everyone couldn’t help being surprised. The rich man Spada Actually the poorest of the fathers, and as for the treasure, there was nothing but the scientific treasures of the study and the laboratory. All that could be found was found. Caesar and his father were also seeking, searching, and spying, but I got nothing, or very little, only a thousand crowns, maybe some gold and silverware, and some silver coins. However, my nephew rushed home before he died and said this sentence in time: "Carefully read in my uncle's book Find it in the manuscripts, there is the real will in it.'

"Unlike the two dignified searchers of the inheritance, the family searched more carefully, but also to no avail. All that remained were two houses and a vineyard behind the mansion, but in those days real estate It was not worth a lot of money, and the greedy Pope and his son looked down upon it, so the two houses and the vineyard were left for the family to use.

"The stars have changed, Alexander VI was poisoned to death, you know the self-defeating story here, Caesar was also poisoned at the same time, but he didn't die, he just shed a layer of skin like a snake, and the poison was on the new skin Spotted like a tiger's skin, at last he was forced to leave Rome, and was inexplicably killed in a night battle, though hardly mentioned in the history books. After the death of the Pope and the exile of his son, everyone It is expected that the Spada family will revive the glory of Cardinal Spada, but this is not the case. The Spada family is still barely getting by. This mystery has always been shrouded in a veil of mystery, but There are rumors in the society that Caesar's political skills are stronger than his father, and he robbed the property of the two cardinals. I say two cardinals because there is also the Cardinal Rospigliosi, He was unsuspecting beforehand, and his family property was completely taken away."

"Here's the story," said Faria at last, "you don't think it's too absurd, do you?"

"Oh, my friend," said Dantès, "on the contrary, it seems to me that I am reading a very interesting history book. Please go on."

"Okay, let me go on:

"The Spada family has become accustomed to this kind of obscurity, and as the years go by, some of the descendants are soldiers, some are diplomats, some become priests, some become bankers, some become rich, and some Completely defeated. Now I come to the last son of their family, the Count of Spada to whom I was secretary.

"I often heard him complain that his family property was not commensurate with his title, so I persuaded him to sell the little estate passed down from his ancestors and exchange it for a life annuity. It remained in the family, passed on from father to son, and finally passed on to Spada. There was such an obscure sentence in the will that could be found at that time, which made this "Sunday Book" a family treasure handed down from generation to generation. With a kind of superstitious reverence, the book has been preserved. It contains small paintings, printed in a beautiful Gothic script, and the corners are gold-covered, so the book is very heavy. A servant held the book before the portrait of the cardinal.

"The various manuscripts left by the cardinal after he was poisoned and died have been kept at home. Certificates, contracts, official documents, all kinds of documents are there. Before me, there were 20 servants, 20 housekeepers and 20 A secretary checked it, and I, like them, read through the piles of manuscripts. I searched very hard and meticulously, but there was still no result. I read the Buria family history I read it over, and wrote a minutes in a very detailed, almost chronological order. I have only one plan, which is to find out whether the Buria family has received additional property after the death of Cardinal Caesar Spada. , but I only found out that their family acquired the property of the family of Cardinal Rospigliosi who died at the same time as Spada.

"Therefore, I am almost certain that neither the Buria family nor the Spada family have received any inheritance. The family property is still a treasure without an owner, like a treasure in an Arabian myth, still under the protection of ghosts and gods, on the earth. Sleeping in my arms. I continued to search carefully, and calculated the income and expenditure of their family for 300 years. It was still useless to calculate thousands of times. I was still so clueless. And Count Spada was still like that. At last the earl also died. Apart from the life annuity, all he had were the family manuscripts, the collection of 5000 volumes, and the unusual Book of Hours. All this he bequeathed to me, and his I was also given 1000 Roman crowns in cash, and asked me to hold Mass every year on the anniversary of his death, compile a genealogy and write a family history for their family. I did all of this meticulously.

"Don't worry, my dear Edmond, the story will be over soon.

"In 1807, a month before my arrest, and 15 days after the Count of Spada's death, that is, December 12th - after a while you will understand why I remember the date of this day so clearly, as I sort out the manuscript, While re-reading these things that have been read thousands of times, because this mansion has since belonged to a foreigner, I am leaving Rome to settle in Florence, and I am going to take away about 25 livres I own, all books and The unusual "Sunday". I was tired from reading, and I had a greasy lunch, which felt a little out of place, and I fell asleep with my head in my hands. It was 12 p.m. One o'clock, when I woke up, the clock was striking 3 o'clock. I looked up, the room was dark, I rang the bell to ask someone to bring the lamp, but no one came. I was going to light the lamp myself, such an open-minded This habit was exactly what I had to develop at that time. I took a candle that was ready and placed in one hand, and felt for a piece of paper with the other. Light the fire first on the flickering embers. But I was afraid to use a precious piece of paper as a waste paper in the dark, so I hesitated for a while. At this time, I remembered the unusual book " There is a piece of yellow-haired paper in the book, which seems to be used as a bookmark. It was handed down from several centuries ago, but it is only out of reverence that posterity has been sandwiching it in the book. So After groping for a while, I found this useless piece of paper, rolled it into a long strip, and set it on the dying fire.

"However, as if by some magic, as the flames gradually went up, pale yellow writing appeared on the blank paper on my finger. I was terrified, and quickly squeezed the paper with both hands to extinguish the fire. I put the candle directly I lit it on the fire in the fireplace, and spread out the crumpled paper with indescribable excitement, only to find that the words were written in a mysterious invisible ink, which would only be revealed when it was baked on the fire. Three A little more than one-third of the paper has been burned by the fire, and this morning you read the rest of the paper. Read it again, Dantès, and I will fill in the sentences and connect the meanings when you are finished. .”

At this point Faria stopped and handed the paper to Dantès.At this moment, Dantès was eager to reread the rusty words written in orange ink:
It is the 25th of April, [-]

Call of His Majesty the Emperor Alexander VI

Contribute to the title of cardinal, but fear
There is a plan to inherit Yu's family property, set up
and Bantiyoglio II Cardinal poisoned
Therefore, the only heir to the Yu family property

The statement is as follows: there is an island, nephew should know,

You, the island is called Monte Cristo, and the caves on the island hide

coins, gemstones, diamonds and jewelry

Produced, as far as I know, its price is about two hundred

Go to No.20 on the right side of Xiaowan Island East

There are two mouths, and the treasure is hidden deep in the second cave
I will bequeath this treasure to my nephew, and declare it together.
sole heir.

恺

April 25, [-]
"Now read this one again." The elder continued, and at the same time handed Dantès another piece of paper, which also contained some incomplete sentences.Dantès took the paper and read it:

day, teach
to dinner.Yu Zengwei

His lack of heart, another
Klapala
death

Heir, nephew Guido Spada

, and with the remainder

There are gold ingots, gold
Everything is Yu's House

Ten thousand Roman crowns.

Stone, you can see the hole when you lift it
horn.Imari

Ming, nephew is Yu

Sarah + Spada

Faria looked at Dantès excitedly. "Now," said he, when he saw Dantès read the last line, "put the two scraps together, and judge for yourself." The meaning is complete:
On this day, April 25/[-], Fengjiao
Invited by His Majesty Emperor Alexander VI/At the banquet, I have served as

Contribute to the title of cardinal, but fear/the heart is not enough, otherwise

There is a plan to inherit Yu's family property, and the design/design ordered Yu to be killed by Klapala

and Cardinal Bantiyoglio II poisoned/dead,
Therefore, the sole heir to the Yu family property, nephew Guido Spada

The statement is as follows: There is an island, the nephew should know /, and follow the rest
You, the island is called Monte Cristo, there are caves on the island / there are gold ingots, gold
Coins, gems, diamonds and jewelry, etc., are all Yu’s family

As far as I know, its price is about [-]/[-] Roman ecu.

Walk to No.20/stone on the right side of the small bay in the east of the island, and you will see the cave when you lift it
There are two mouths, and the treasure is hidden in the depth/corner of the second cave.Imari

I asked to bequeath this treasure to my nephew, and announced it together, so my nephew is Yu
sole heir.

Caesar + Spada

April 25, [-]
"Well, you understand at last?" said Faria.

"This is Cardinal Spada's statement. Is it the will that I have been looking for for so long?" Dantès said with doubts.

"Yes, it is absolutely true."

"Who made it up?"

"It's me. Based on the remaining part, I calculated the length of each line according to the width of the paper, and deduced the meaning of the unseen characters from the meanings I saw, and guessed the meaning of the other part. It's the same as finding your way in a dark passage with a little peripheral light coming in from above."

"After you feel sure, what do you do?"

"I wanted to look for it, and set off at once, taking with me the beginning of a long treatise on the United Kingdom of Italy that I planned to write. But the Reich Ministry of Public Security had already been watching me, when Napoleon had a son, The idea of ​​the Ministry of Public Security is completely opposite to what Napoleon advocated after he had a son. They want the provinces of Italy to be divided, so they have been watching me. I left in a hurry, and they couldn't figure out why, so they became suspicious. When I was on Piombino Arrested me while on board." Here Faria looked at Dantès with an almost paternal look, and then continued, "Now, my friend, you know as well as I do. If we can escape from prison together, half of my treasure will be yours, but if I die here and you escape alone, the whole treasure will be yours."

"But," asked Dantès hesitantly, "is there no one in the world who is a more legitimate owner of this treasure than you and me?"

"No, no, don't worry, their family has completely cut off their heirs, and the last generation of Earl Spada designated me as his heir. He bequeathed the symbolic "Daily Class" to me, Just give me everything in the book. There will be no more people, no, don’t worry. If we can get this wealth, we can have a clear conscience.”

"You said this treasure is worth..."

"Two million Roman crowns, combined with our money, is almost 200 million."

"Impossible!" said Dantès, startled at hearing such a large figure.

"Impossible! Why?" The old man continued, "The Spada family is one of the oldest and most powerful families in the 15th century. Moreover, financial speculation and industry did not rise in that era. Gold, silver and jewels are not uncommon. Even today there are families in Rome where people are starving to death, but there are still millions of diamonds and jewels in the family, because this is the hereditary property of the eldest son of the noble family, and they cannot use it.”

It seemed to Edmund that he was dreaming, and he was happy, but he could not believe it was real.

"I have kept this secret from you for so long," continued Faria, "to see how you are, and then I decided not to tell you so as to surprise you later. If I had been ill before we had I will take you with me to Monte Cristo. But now," he went on with a sigh, "it is your duty to take me. Why, Dantès, do you not mean to thank me?"

"This treasure belongs to you, my friend," said Dantes. "It belongs to you alone, and I have no right to it, because I have no relation to you."

"You are my son, Dantès!" cried the old man, "you are my son in prison. My occupation is to be celibate for life, but God sent you to comfort me who can neither be a father nor be a father. Those who have lost their freedom within the Great Wall."

Faria stretched out his movable arm to the young man, and the young man, with tears in his eyes, threw himself on the old man and hugged him tightly around his neck.

(End of this chapter)