World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 39
The sun has traveled almost one-third of its day's journey. The sun and warmth in May shone directly on the rocky cliffs of the island, and the rocks seemed to feel warm.Thousands of cicadas hid in the bushes, singing suddenly, monotonous and long.The leaves of the myrtle and olive trees trembled and rustled in the sea breeze, almost like the clatter of metal.Every step Edmund took on the sun-heated granite rocks, several emerald-like lizards scrambled from under his feet.In the distance, wild goats are jumping around, arousing the hunter's interest from time to time.In a word, the island, with its inhabitants, was full of life, but Edmund felt alone on it, completely under the covering of the hand of God.He felt an inexplicable feeling akin to fear, the distrust that we fear being peeped at in broad daylight, even in the middle of nowhere.

Edmond's feeling was so strong that he was about to start working, but stopped, put down the pickaxe in his hand, took up the musket again, and climbed for the last time to the highest rock cliff on the island, Stand there and look in all directions.However, we must make it clear that what he is concerned with is not the poetic island of Corsica, where houses can be seen at a glance, nor is it the nearby, but still almost unfamiliar Sardinia, nor is it the island with great historical lessons. Elba, or not that imperceptible line of the sky that only a sailor's good eye could distinguish, was the splendor of Genoa and the bustling shopping center of Livorno.His attention was on the brig leaving early in the morning and the dhow that had just departed.The brig was already in the Strait of Bonifacio, disappearing on the horizon; the dhow was on the opposite course, following the coast of Corsica, and was about to round it.Edmund was relieved to see this.

So, he looked around.He saw that his position was the highest point of the island, like a slender pillar standing on a huge base. There was no one under his feet, no boats around him, only the blue waves were always beating against the shore of the island, enveloping the island. Silvery white lace.He walked down quickly and carefully, for fear that the accident that he had cleverly pretended and acted very much like just now would really happen at this time.

As we have said above, Dantès turned back and followed the signs carved on the rock to search again.Following this route, he finally saw a small hidden water inlet, like a fairyland where fairies bathed in ancient times.The inlet of the inlet is very wide, and the middle part is relatively deep, enough for a flat-bottomed boat to enter and exit and conceal.At the beginning, he learned how to use clues to make inductive reasoning from Elder Faria's guidance, and skillfully guide his thinking in the maze of possible clues. Now he is inductively reasoning according to this kind of clues. He thought, Red Cardinal Spada, in order not to be discovered, had come to this little inlet, hid his boat here, followed the marked road to the end, and finally buried his treasure.According to this hypothesis, Dantès returned to the boulder.

But there was one question which perplexed Dantès, and disturbed again the train of thought which he had straightened out.This boulder may weigh five or six thousand catties. How could it be lifted to its current position without the help of huge strength?Suddenly a thought flashed through Dantès' mind, "It wasn't lifted up," he thought, "it was probably pushed down from above." He quickly jumped to the top of the boulder, wanting to see where it was originally. How about it.Sure enough, he saw a gentle slope created artificially on it. The boulder slid to its current position along the slope, and there was a stone on the side, which was about the same size as an ordinary ashlar, and it became a support for the boulder. On the side of the sliding pads, large and small stones and gravels were carefully piled up. The traces of artificial movement were all covered up. Finally, humus was laid on the small masonry, and grass grew later. , moss grew, and the seeds of myrtle and pistachio that fell on it also took root and grew into trees, and the boulders seemed to have always been attached to this land.

Dantès carefully scraped away the dirt, and finally saw through, or thought he saw through, this miraculous trick.So, he began to use a pickaxe to plan the partition wall that coexisted with the sun, moon and stars. After 10 minutes of planing, the wall was loosened and a hole that could be inserted into an arm was cracked.Dantès went to find a thick and strong olive tree and chopped it down, cut off the branches, inserted them into the hole, and used it as a lever to pry.But the rock is too heavy after all, and the plinth below has stuck it tightly. With the strength of one person alone, even Hercules, the hero in ancient Greek mythology, is extremely powerful.I can't pry it either.Dantès thought for a while, and felt that he should start with the stepping stone.But how to start?He looked around as if he was caught in a dilemma, and suddenly his eyes fell on the rock goat horns stuffed with gunpowder left by his good friend Jacopo, and he smiled slightly. This inhuman invention can Come in handy.

Dantès dug a hole between the boulder and the pad below with the pick, as is customary to the engineers in order to save manpower.Then fill the hole with gunpowder, then roll the handkerchief into a long strip, roll it in saltpeter powder, and the fuse will be there.Dantès ignited the fuse and immediately dodged, and then a cannon rang out, and the big boulder above was shaken by incalculable force for a moment, and the bottom stone was blown into pieces, flying around, from Dantès A large group of worms crawled out of the hole dug at the beginning, and a large snake that acted as the patron saint of this mysterious road swam out. The light green snake body disappeared after a few twists and turns.Dantès approached the big boulder, and the rocks underneath had been blown away, and the whole rock was slightly slanted to the side of the sea.The intrepid treasure hunter walked around the boulder, chose the most wobbly place, inserted his lever from a stone edge to the bottom of the rock, and then, like Sisipher, To be punished for a crime, the boulder must be pushed from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain, but every time the boulder is about to reach the top of the mountain, it rolls down again.As if holding his breath, he pried the rock with all his strength.The rock, already shaken loose, swayed a bit.Dantès doubled his efforts. In ancient times, there were a family of Titans. There were 12 people in total, 6 men and 6 women.Raising the mountain against the main god among the gods, Dantès at this time is simply a member of the Titan tribe.The boulder finally swayed, rolled, jumped, and finally rolled faster and faster, and sank in the sea.

Under the boulder was originally a circular flat ground, on which a square stone slab was laid, with an iron ring in the middle of the stone slab.Dantès was overjoyed and startled, and couldn't help crying out. He didn't expect the first attempt to be successful. He wanted to continue, but his legs were trembling, his heart was beating violently, and his eyes were burning and blurred. He had to stop.However, the thought of stopping and resting was fleeting. Edmund inserted the bar into the iron ring and pried it hard. The stone slab was lifted by prying. Blackened cave.Had it been someone else, he would have yelled with joy and rushed to the cave.But Dantès stopped abruptly, his face turned pale, and he hesitated instead.

"Hey," he said to himself, "be a man, I am used to adversity, and I must not be overwhelmed by disappointment. Otherwise, I have suffered so much! If my heart is too swollen from hope , but the panting is still so calm, the heart will be broken, and it will return and be trapped in the cold reality forever. Faria is just a dream, and Cardinal Spada has no treasure hidden in this cave at all , perhaps he never came here at all, and even if he had, Caesar Polya, the daring adventurer, the insatiable, pathetic thief, would surely have followed and found Spada's trail, Find here as I did, lift this slab as I did, but go down into the cave before me, and leave me nothing."

For a moment he remained motionless, meditating, his eyes fixed on the gloomy, unfathomable entrance of the stone cave. "Since I can no longer expect anything, and now that I have figured it out, it would be madness to hope for anything, and it would be mere curiosity for me to venture again."

He remained motionless, still lost in thought. "Yes, yes, it was an adventure, and it had its place in the merits and demerits of the robber king's life, and it had its share in this chain of strange events. The king's life was full of tricks and complexities, And it all came out of this adventure, and such a thing, though unbelievable, must be entwined with something else. Yes, Boria came here one night with a torch in one hand , with a sword in one hand, and twenty paces from him, perhaps under this rock, stood two eerie guards. As he would go down, he descended into the cave already, and drove the darkness with the torch held in his terrible arm."

"Caesar Polya let the two guards know his secret, how did he deal with them afterwards?" Dantès asked himself.

"How to deal with it?" He smiled slightly and replied to himself, "It's like burying King Alaric Sichet (390-410), who ordered him to be buried under the river bed for fear of being stolen after death. Give them the same sent to the funeral."

"But if he had come," thought Dantès again, "he would have found the treasure and carried it away. Since Bogia compared Italy to cabbages and wanted to eat them raw, leaf by leaf, he would have I know how to use my time very well, and of course I won’t waste my own time moving that big rock back to its original place.”

"Let's go down."

(End of this chapter)