World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 35 Tiburon Island (1)
Dantès was dizzy and almost suffocated, but he was able to hold his breath consciously.We have already said that he kept the open knife in his right hand in case of emergency, and at this moment he quickly cut the sack, stretched out first his arms, then his head, and then struggled to lift the iron ball. He got up, but he only felt that he was falling, so he arched his body and touched the rope tied to his feet, and when he was about to lose his breath, he cut the rope with a knife, and he floated to the surface of the sea, while the iron ball carried The crude sack that had nearly become his shroud sank into the unfathomable depths of the sea.

Dantès took a breath and dived again, for he had to take the utmost care not to be seen at this time.When he floated up again, he was at least 50 paces away from where he fell into the sea.He saw the sky above his head was black, the wind was blowing, the clouds were rushing, and now and then a corner of the blue sky and a lone star shone.Looking forward, there is a gloomy and roaring sea, the waves are rolling, it seems that a storm is coming.Behind him rose a gigantic granite rock, blacker than the sea and the sky, like a ferocious troll, its eerie headlands like arms outstretched to catch prey, and on the highest rock a lamp The wind lantern was flickering, and beside it were two groups of black shadows. Dantès seemed to see the two black shadows leaning towards the sea in a panic.The two rare gravediggers probably heard his scream as he was thrown into the air.Dantès dived again and swam a long way underwater.He was already a master snorkeler, and when he used to snorkel in the Bay of Faro outside Marseilles, he always attracted a lot of people, and he was usually agreed to be the best swimmer in Marseilles.When he surfaced again, the lantern had disappeared.

Now you have to decide where to swim.Among the islands near the Château d'If, Ratoneau and Pomerge are the two nearest islands, but both of them are inhabited.The island of Dom is small and inhabited.The safest ones are the two islands of Tiburon and Le Maire, both of which are one nautical mile away from the Château d'If.Dantès immediately decided to swim to one of the islands, but all around him was the dark night, which was getting heavier and heavier. How could he find these two islands?Then he saw the lighthouse of Planier twinkling like a lone star.As long as he faces the lighthouse, a little to the left is Tiburon Island, so now he swims a little to the left, and he will definitely be able to swim to this island.But we have already said that there is at least one nautical mile from the Château d'If to the island.

When he was in prison, Faria often said to him, "Danttès, you can't always be so listless. If you don't exercise your strength, you will drown even if you escape. "Under the heavy beating of the bitter waves, Dantès heard these words again, so he tried his best to cut through the waves, and swam forward quickly against the countercurrent. He wanted to see if he still had enough physical strength.He was glad, because he saw that, although no activity was possible in prison, he was still strong and agile, and he felt that he could cope as well as he had played in the sea in his childhood.Moreover, fear forced people not to be unhappy, and Dantès' physical strength doubled at this time.Whenever he was lifted by the crest of the wave, he listened for the sound of oars, and whenever he was swept to the top of the crest of the wave, he quickly looked to the sea as far as he could see, and tried his best to stay in the dark night. Search in.Every higher wave seemed to be a boat chasing him, so he swam forward with redoubled efforts, and sure enough he swam far away to avoid it, but after repeating this many times, it didn't take long for his physical strength to be exhausted.But he kept swimming, and the dreadful Chateau d'If had become blurred in the vast night. He couldn't see clearly with his eyes, but he always felt that the Chateau d'If was nearby.

An hour passed, and Dantès, who felt free all over his body during this hour, was very excited, and continued to break through the waves in the direction he had determined. "Well," thought he, "I've been swimming for nearly an hour, but it's headwind, and the pace is a quarter of an hour slower, but if I'm not mistaken, I shouldn't be far from Tiburon now... But, If I make a mistake..." He shuddered all over, and then wanted to rest on his back, but the waves were getting bigger and bigger, and he immediately knew that it was impossible to rest in this way. "Okay," he said, "I'll just swim to the bottom, until I can't move my arms, I've got cramps all over my body, and then I'll sink to the bottom." Then, driven by desperation, he swam harder.

Suddenly, he felt that the already dark sky became more gloomy, and dense clouds pressed down on him. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his knee.Perhaps because he was swimming too fast, he thought for a moment that he had been hit by a bullet, and he would hear the gunshot immediately, but there was no sound of a gunshot.He stretched out his hand and felt that there was something in front of him. He retracted his other leg, and he touched the land, and he saw clearly what he thought was a cloud just now.Twenty paces ahead of him, like a hardened hearth after a raging fire, rose a mass of grotesquely shaped rocks.This is Tiburon Island.

Dantès got up, took a few steps forward, and lay down on the granite, thankful to God, which at this moment was more comfortable than the softest bed he had ever lain on in his life.Although the island was windy and windy, he was so exhausted that he fell into a sweet dreamland. Although his body was numb, his heart was still watching the unexpected happiness soberly.Edmund slept for an hour, when a thunderclap woke him up.At this time, the wind was strong, covering the sky and covering the earth, and lightning flashes descended from the sky like fiery snakes from time to time, illuminating the turbulent and chaotic waves and dark clouds.

Dantès, with his seaman's eyes, was not mistaken, and the island he was now standing on was the first of two neighboring islands, Tiburon Island.He knew that there was no vegetation on this island and that there was nowhere to hide, but, when the storm died down, he could swim again by sea to Lemaire Island, which was also barren but larger and easier to hide in.A suspended rock became his temporary shelter at this time.Almost as soon as he got under the rock, the storm swept in with fury.It seemed to Edmund that the rocks above his head were shaken too, and the waves smashed to pieces at the foot of the gigantic rocks, splashing all the way to him.He was safe and sound under the boulder, but after all, he was in the midst of the wind, thunder, and lightning. He felt dizzy and felt the island under his feet shaking. At any moment, like a anchored ship, the cable would be torn, and he would be rolled away. into the vortex.He remembered that he hadn't eaten anything all day and night, and felt hungry and thirsty, so he stretched out his head and hands together, and went to the cave to drink the rainwater.

He drank the water and stood up, when a bolt of lightning tore the sky, revealing the glorious throne of God, illuminating the entire space.By the flickering light, Dantès saw a fishing boat a quarter of a mile away between Lemaire and Cape Croisy, drifting in the storm and rough seas, looking like a Like a ghost, it slipped from the top of the towering waves into the abyss.A second later, the phantom was lifted by the second wave crest again, and rushed toward the island like lightning.Dantès really wanted to call them, and wanted to find a piece of cloth to wave at them, telling them that they were about to be smashed to pieces, but it seemed that the people on board had already seen the danger.Another flash of lightning flashed, and Dantès saw four men on the ship clinging to the mast or stays, and another clinging to the splintered rudder.Dantès saw the five men on board, and was sure they saw him too, for he heard their desperate cries through the howling wind.The sails on the mast were broken into pieces, twisted together like bent reeds, and the wind whistled.Suddenly the sail and the rope broke, and the sail, like a white bird flying above a dark cloud, floated into the gloomy sky, and finally disappeared.At this moment, there was a terrible crash, and Dantès heard the cry of death again.Like a statue carved out of stone, Dantès clings to the rock, looking down at the abyss below, and with the light of the lightning, he sees the crashed fishing boat, the desperate face among the wreckage, and the arms stretched to the sky.This terrible sight is like lightning, fleeting, and then everything is covered by night.

Dantès, not thinking of the danger of being rolled into the waves, hurried forward on the smooth and steep rocks. He listened and watched carefully, but he heard no sound, saw no movement, neither shout nor sound. No one is struggling, but the violent wind and waves are still raging in order to reflect the divine power of God, and the wind is constantly roaring, setting off waves of turbulent waves.

The strong wind gradually subsided, and the thick gray clouds that seemed to be washed away by the heavy rain rolled towards the west, and the blue sky was exposed again, dotted with more brilliant stars.After a while, a long red ribbon floated on the blue water waves of the eastern horizon. The waves were tumbling, and a ray of light suddenly sprinted among the waves, and the rolling waves suddenly turned into thousands of strands of gold.Its daybreak.

As if seeing such a magnificent scenery for the first time, Dantès suddenly turned into a clay sculpture and wood sculpture.Indeed, since he was brought into the Château d'If, he had forgotten the grandeur.He turned towards the Château d'If, looking at the sea and land for a long time with scrutinizing eyes.The building stands between the waves, with an unstoppable and majestic appearance, it seems that it is always watching the eagles and giving orders.It was probably 5 o'clock in the morning, and the sea seemed to be getting calmer and calmer.

"In two or three hours," thought Edmund, "the warden will come to my cell, and he will recognize my poor friend's body when he sees it, and he will look for me, and of course he cannot find me, so he goes to Report. In this way, they will find dark holes and tunnels, and they will ask the two people who threw me into the sea. These two guys will definitely hear my shout. Then they will send several boats full of soldiers To chase the poor fugitive, who knows he can't get very far. Cannons will send warnings along the coast that nowhere should be taken in a half-clothed, hungry and cold vagabond. Marseilles spies and police officers will be ordered to Search on the shore, while the commander of Chateau d'If will patrol the sea. There are people chasing at sea and rounding up on shore. Any peasant would have given me up for 20 francs, and I had nothing to do with it. I have neither strength, nor will, nor will I. Oh, my God, my God, look, can't I Haven't I suffered enough? I'm at the end of my rope, can't you give me a hand?"

At this time Edmond was really exhausted, his head was numb, he faced the Château d'If, his heart was full of anxiety, and he prayed desperately like a raving.It was also when he was praying that he saw a seagull flying against the waves at the end of Pomeroy Island. It was a triangular sail, and only the sailor's eyes could recognize it as looming. A Genoese sloop sails on the horizon.The ship sailed from the port of Marseille to the deep sea. The sharp bow split the glistening waves, and the bulging hull moved lightly on the water.

"Oh!" exclaimed Edmond, "if I don't fear being interrogated, if they will recognize me as a fugitive and turn me away to Marseilles, I will be able to board the boat in half an hour. What to do? What to say? What kind of story can I make up to deceive them? These people are smugglers, half pirates. They say they are coastal trade goods, but they are actually coastal robbers. These people will only betray me, and they cannot do good things for nothing. First We shall wait and see. But I cannot wait like this, people are starving to death, and in a few hours the little strength left now will be exhausted. Besides, the time for cell inspection is coming, and now they are still blinded. In the dark, there may not be any doubts. I can pretend to be the sailor who sank the boat last night. There will be no flaws in the story, and no one will break my story. Everyone on the boat has died Buried in the belly of a fish. Do it!"

(End of this chapter)