World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 40
So he went down into the cave, with a suspicious smile on his lips, and murmured the most wonderful two words in the philosophy of life: Maybe! ... The cave was not as dark as Dantès expected, and the air was not thick. He saw a ray of light that made the cave slightly blue.Air and light came in not only through the hole he had just dug, but through a crack in the rock somewhere that exposed the ground, through which the blue sky and the green sky could be seen. The branches of the oak and the thorny briar that crawled on the ground swayed.The cave is warm but not humid.There is a scent that is not unpleasant, the temperature is slightly lower than on the island, and the light is slightly darker and bluer than the sun.We have said that Dantès has long been used to seeing things in the dark, and he could see every corner of the cave clearly within a few seconds after he went down into the cave.The walls of the cave are made of granite, and the surface glistens like diamonds. "Well," said Edmund with a smile, "this is probably all the treasure left by the cardinal. The good elder dreamed of these glorious rock walls and dreamed of it."

However, Dantès remembered the words in the will that he had memorized: "The treasure is hidden in the deep corner of the second cave." He only came to the first cave now, and he had to find out the entrance of the second cave.So he started looking.The second cave should naturally extend into the island. He checked from the rocks below and felt that there should be a hole on one of the rock walls, but just in case it was camouflaged again, he knocked on the rock wall.As soon as the pick was struck down, there was a clang of the pick, and the rock was struck with a muffled sound. Hearing such a muffled sound, Dantès was so anxious that sweat broke out on his brow.But he was not discouraged. After knocking and knocking, he finally felt that the sound from a section of the granite wall was relatively low. He hurried forward to examine it carefully, and with the unique feeling of a prisoner, he discovered something that ordinary people could not detect at all. The opening of the cave is likely to be on this rock wall.

However, in order to avoid futile foolishness, Dantès, like Caesar Bogia, also calculated the value of time. He went to other stone walls with a pickaxe, knocked the ground with the butt of his gun, and encountered suspicious people. He pushed aside the stones conveniently, but found nothing, found nothing, so he went back to the stone wall just now and listened to the sound that made him feel relieved.He tapped again, harder this time.At this time, things are very different.After a few strikes with the pickaxe, a layer of mortar on the rock wall was slightly rolled up, and then fell to the ground and broke into small pieces like fish scales, revealing a milky white soft stone, about the size of an ordinary ashlar. .At the beginning, the hole was blocked with stones of another texture, and the mortar just mentioned was spread on it, and finally the mortar was coated with a crystal-clear and shiny color imitating granite.Dantès hit the foot of the wall with the pointed end of a pickaxe, and penetrated one inch at a time, which is about 27.07 millimeters deep. If you want to dig, you should start here.

There is a strange and mysterious phenomenon in people, which shows that the more evidence that Faria is not wrong in his judgment, it should have made Dantès more at ease. At the point of discouragement, the exploration just now should have added new strength to him, but in the end it canceled out the last bit of strength left in him, and the dropped pickaxe almost fell out of his hand.He put the pick on the ground, wiped his forehead, and went back out of the cave. He also made an excuse for himself, saying that he came up to see if anyone was watching, but in fact it was because he felt that he was going to pass out, and he came up to see Breathe air.There is no one on the island, and the sun that rises to the top of the zenith seems to be staring directly at the island with its scorching fiery eyes. In the distance, several small fishing boats are galloping through the waves on the sapphire-like sea.

Dantès hadn't eaten anything yet, but it would take too much time to make food at this moment, so he took a sip of rum and went down into the cave again, feeling at ease.The pickaxe seemed very heavy just now, but now it was so light that he lifted it as if he was lifting a feather, and he continued to plan with all his strength.After a few diggings he found that the stones were not bricked, but piled together one by one, and covered with the paint we were talking about.He slipped the point of the pick into a crevice, and pressed down hard on the handle, and was delighted to see a stone pry free and fall to the ground.Now all he had to do was pick the stones with the iron teeth of the pickaxe, and one piece would fall down.The entrance of the cave has been initially opened, and Dantès can go in completely, but if you delay for a moment, the truth will be revealed a moment later, so it will be a moment longer for you to continue to hold on to hope.After another hesitation, Dantès finally came to the second cave from the first cave.The second hole was lower than the first, and the light was darker and more terrifying. The air only came in through the opening just opened, and there was a foul smell in the hole. Can't you smell it?He came out again, waited for the fresh air outside to drive away the stagnant stench inside, and then went inside again.

The corner to the left of the opening was dark and deep.However, as we have said, Dantès' eyes are not afraid of the dark, so he looked around the second cave, and it was empty like the first one.If there is indeed a treasure, it should be buried in that black corner.The moment of extreme uneasiness finally came. There were only two last steps left in the search, and it was known that Dantès was either extremely happy or extremely disappointed.He walked towards the corner and immediately began digging boldly.After digging five or six times with the pickaxe, I heard the sound of iron objects colliding.It sounded sadder than all death knells, more terrifying than all alarm bells.If Dantès hadn't heard anything, his face would not be so pale at this moment.He continued digging where he had just digged, and there was still something blocking the bottom, but the sound of the impact was different. "It's a wooden box with iron hoops," thought he.

At this moment, a black shadow suddenly appeared, blocking the light from the hole.Dantès immediately dropped the pickaxe in his hand, took the musket, passed through the second hole, and hurried out of the hole.It turned out that a wild goat had just jumped over the first opening and was standing a few paces away grazing.If Dantès wants to have a good meal, this is a good opportunity, but he is afraid that the sound of the gun will attract someone.After a moment's consideration, he cut down a tallow tree, made lunch with the smugglers, lit it on a smoking fire, and descended into the cave again with the torch.He wanted to see everything in front of him clearly, and with a torch, he came to the half-dug hole just now, and saw that he was not mistaken. Just now, the pickaxe touched the iron sheet a few times, and it hit the iron sheet a few times. board.He stuck the torch in the ground, and then went back to planing.After a short while of digging a space three feet long and two wide, Dantès saw a silver chest made of oak, surrounded by carved iron hoops.There is a silver medal inlaid in the middle of the lid of the box. Although it has been buried in the soil for so long, it has not lost its luster, and it still shines silver in the firelight. You can see the coat of arms of the Spada family engraved on it.This is a small oval shield commonly seen in Italian heraldry, with a sword on it, and a cardinal's crown on the sword.Dantès recognized it immediately, because Elder Faria had described it to him countless times.Now there is nothing to doubt or disbelieve, the rare treasure is here, because no one would go to such lengths to come here just to bury an empty box.

The area around the silver box was immediately cleaned up. Dantès gradually saw the lock in the middle of the box and the padlocks on both sides. He also saw the handles on both sides of the box. These things were carved with various patterns according to the fashion of that era.In that era, the least valuable metal products would have some artistic processing and become treasures.Dantès seized the two handles and tried to lift the trunk, but could not.So he wanted to open the box first, but the middle lock and the padlocks on both sides were tightly locked. It seems that these iron generals were loyal to their duties and refused to hand over the treasure.He inserted the sharp corner of the pickaxe into the crack of the box cover, and then pressed down on the handle of the pick with all his strength, only to hear a click, the box cover was pried open, a large crack was cracked in the wooden board, and the iron hoop was useless and scattered on the ground , with a few pried wooden boards hanging on it, the silver box was finally opened.

Tang Taston was dizzy with excitement, he immediately picked up the gun, loaded it, and put the gun beside him.Then, like a child looking at the starry night sky, he closed his eyes tightly for a while, so that he could see more stars in the starry sky he imagined.It took him a while to open his eyes, and he was completely dumbfounded.There are three compartments in the silver box. The first compartment is full of dazzling red and orange gold coins; the second compartment is neatly stacked gold ingots. Although the surface is not polished, they are all heavy real gold; The grid was only half full, and Edmund seized handfuls of diamonds, pearls, and rubies.Jewels fell from their hands in glittering cascades, hitting each other with a sound like hailstones on glass.Edmund felt and patted the gold and jewels with trembling hands, and sank his hands deep into them.Then he stood up and rushed out of the hole, panting, almost insane.He jumped on a rock and looked out to see the sea, but found nothing. He was alone on the island, indeed alone, but the wealth that belonged to him was innumerable, unheard of, and unbelievable.Is he dreaming or awake?Is this a fleeting dream, or a tangible and visible reality?

He longed to have another look at his gold and treasures, but felt he had no energy left to look any further.He clasped his head tightly with both hands, as if trying to block the sanity that was about to be lost.After a while he started running wildly on this small island, not because there was no road on Monte Cristo Island, but because he himself didn't know how to get there.As he ran, he shouted loudly and waved his arms, frightening the wild goats to scurry about and the seabirds to fly away.Then, coming round and round, he came back, still half-believing, and hurried through the first hole to the second, and came once more to the treasury of gold and jewels.Then he fell on his knees, pressed his twitching hands to his chest, and began to pray, a prayer that only God could hear.It was not long before he regained his composure that he could better appreciate happiness, and it was only then that he truly believed in happiness.

Dantès began to calculate his fortune.There are a total of 1000 gold ingots, each of which weighs two or three catties. The gold coins are counted in piles, and a total of 2.5 ecu is counted. According to our current currency, one ecu is equal to 80 francs. Alexander is engraved on the gold coins. The portraits of Pope VI and his predecessor Pope, he only counted half a square when he saw it.Finally, count the pearls, gemstones and diamonds with your hands. There are 10 handfuls in total. Many of them have been inlaid with gold and silver after being processed by the best craftsmen at that time. It is very expensive.

Dantès saw that it was getting late and getting dark, fearing that he might be attacked if he stayed in the cave, he took his gun and walked out of the cave.A little biscuit and a few sips of rum were his supper, and he filled the hole with stones, and lay down on it, and slept for hours, but kept the hole with his body.It was a night of sweetness and horror, for Dantès was a very emotional man.He had had two or three nights like this in his life.

(End of this chapter)