World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 53 Sailor Samba (3)
"Very good! Master Aladdin," said the miraculous host, "you have heard that dinner is ready, haven't you? Now please go to the dining room, and I would like to lead the way for the master." Said, Samba teased He opened the curtain and led Franz inside.Franz felt more and more amazed, and saw that the table was filled with piles of gold and jade.After seeing this crucial dining table, he looked around again.The dining room is as magnificent as the living room he just left. The walls are all made of marble, carved with antique and priceless reliefs. The dining room is rectangular, with two exquisite stone statues standing at both ends. The stone man is holding a fruit basket above his head. The baskets are piled high with delicious fruits, including pineapples from Sicily, pomegranates from Malaga, and the Spanish archipelago of the Balearic Islands.oranges from France, peaches from France and dates from Tunisia.For dinner, there were five courses: roast pheasant surrounded by a ring of Corsican blackbirds and wild boar's whole marinated leg in jelly sauce, goat kid quartered with mustard mayonnaise, a huge fresh fish and a huge lobster , Between the main dishes, there are various delicacies served in small plates one after another.The plate is an Isshiki silver plate, and the plates are all Japanese fine porcelain.Franz couldn't help rubbing his eyes, he really didn't know if he was dreaming.Ali was alone at the table, but with such thoroughness that the guests were very appreciative of his host.

"Yes," said the handsome host with hospitality. "Yes, this man is very poor. He is extremely loyal to me and does his best. He can't forget that I saved his life. It seems that he has a lot of respect for himself." Heads are very precious, so I am always grateful to me for keeping his head." At this time Ali walked up to his master, took his hand and kissed it.

"Master Samba," said Franz, "I would like to ask, under what circumstances did you perform such a feat, if it was abrupt?"

"Oh, my God, it's very simple," replied the master, "this guy seems to be hanging around the harem of the Sultan of Tunisia. Tongue, cut off his hand and finally cut off his head, and cut off his tongue on the first day, his hands on the second day, and his head on the third day. I have always wanted to find a mute to serve me, so when his tongue is cut off, I will go Find the sultan and ask him to give this to me, and I will give him a beautiful double-barreled long gun, because just the day before, the sultan expressed his desire to have such a gun. The sultan hesitated for a while, He wanted to end this guy with all his heart. So I added a British hunting knife to the gun. I chopped off the Sultan's Turkish machete with one shot. So the Sultan finally agreed to spare this guy hands and head, but on the condition that this fellow never go to Tunisia again. In fact, this order is completely superfluous, because now this fellow immediately flees to the bilge and hides when he sees Africa, no matter how far or near. He can only be called out when he is out of sight on the third continent of the world."

Franz meditated for a while in silence, wondering how he should feel when his host made the matter so light and impersonal. "You have nicknamed yourself the Honorable Sailor," he said, changing the subject. "Have you, as your name suggests, spent your life traveling?"

"Yes, I made this wish when I still felt that it seemed to be wishful thinking." The stranger smiled and said, "I also made several similar vows, and I hope to fulfill them one by one. When he said these few words, although Samba was still very calm, the look in his eyes was unusually cold.

"Have you suffered much, sir?" asked Franz.

Samba was taken aback for a moment, his eyes fixed on Franz. "Where did you get that idea?" he asked.

"In every way," said Franz, "in your voice, in your eyes, in your pallor, even in the life you have lived."

"Me! I've lived a life, the happiest I've ever known, a veritable viceroy's life. I'm the king of all things, I like a place, I live there, I live I'm gone. I'm as free as a bird, and I have wings like a bird. I only need to make a slight gesture, and the people around me obey immediately. Sometimes I take pleasure in mocking the laws of the world, and I will snatch what it wants from the law. Robber, the criminal it hunts. And I have my law, power of general case, power of life and death, no reprieve, no appeal, punishment or pardon, nothing to anybody. Ah, if You have tasted the joys of my life, and you will disdain any other life, and you will never want to return to the world of mortals, unless you have something important to do in this world."

"Revenge, for example!" said Franz.

The unknown master stared closely at the young man, as if trying to penetrate his heart and mind. "Why revenge?" he asked.

"Because," replied Franz, "from your expression, I feel that you have been persecuted by society, and are now ruthless, and want to settle accounts with society."

"Oh!" said Samba, laughing strangely, showing his sharp white teeth, "you are not right. As you can see now, I should be a philanthropist, and perhaps someday I will go to Paris , with Appel, French industrialist (1749-1841). Sir and the man in the blue coat seem to allude to the then French King Louis Philippe (1775-1850). Compete."

"Is this your first visit to Paris?"

"Oh, my God, yes. I seem uncurious, don't I? But I can assure you that it's not my fault I've been late, but it's going to happen."

"Are you planning to go soon?"

"I don't know, it depends on the situation, but the situation is so unpredictable."

"I hope I will be there when you go, and I will do my best to repay you for your hospitality at Monte Cristo."

"I'd be more than happy to ask you to help me, but, if I go there, I may be anonymous."

They ate dinner as they talked, but it seemed that the dinner was only for Franz, because the unknown host only slightly changed a course or two in this lavish feast, and his unexpected guest was Mei Mei. thoroughly enjoyed it.At last Ali served the last food, or to be more precise, he took the fruit basket from the hand of the stone statue and brought it to the table.Between the two baskets he placed a gilt silver cup with a gilt silver lid, and the manner in which Ali served it aroused Franz's curiosity.Franz then lifted the lid and saw a dark green paste in the glass, somewhat like angelica sauce, but he could not recognize what it was at all.He put the lid back on, and when he opened the lid, it was the same as if he hadn't opened the lid. He didn't know anything about the contents of the cup, so he turned his eyes to his host, only to see that the host was doing it for him. Smiling with a frustrated and dazed look.

"You don't know what the sweets are in this cup," said the host, "so it's a novelty, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I admit it."

"Well, this green jam is out and out, a divine syrup offered by Hebe, the goddess of youth, to the main god Jupiter."

"But," said Franz, "this nectar, having fallen into mortal hands, has undoubtedly lost its celestial appellation, and now deserves an earthly name. It is a potion, as the saying goes, I don't find it very interesting, but what's it called?"

"Ah, that just goes to show that we are all mortals at the root," Samba said aloud, "we often miss happiness, but we neither see it nor pay attention to it, or, although we see Arrived, noticed it, but still don't know what happiness is. Are you a materialistic person? Do you worship gold as your god? Try this, so Peru, Guzarat and Gorcon The gold mines of virtue are all opened up for you. Are you an imaginative person? Are you a poet? Try this, and then the boundaries between what can and what cannot be can disappear, and the infinite is opened to you. Are you an ambitious person? Do you want all the glory in the world? Try this, and in an hour, you will be a king, and your kingdom is not a kingdom hidden somewhere in Europe. Some little kingdom in every corner, such as France, Spain, or England, you are the king of the world, the king of the universe, the king of all things. Your throne stands on the mountain where Satan took Jesus captive, and you don't have to ask Satan surrenders, and he will not be forced to kiss his claws, but you are the king of the world. Isn't what I want to offer you very attractive? What do you think? Isn't it easy and easy to reach out for? ?Because as long as you do this, please see..." As he spoke, he lifted the lid of the gold-plated silver cup containing the food he praised so much, scooped a spoonful of the syrup with a coffee spoon, and lifted it to his lips. Then he squinted his eyes, tilted his head back, and swallowed carefully.Franz watched him in silence enjoying his darling;

"Have you ever heard of the 'old man on the mountain'?" the host asked him, "that is, the old man who ordered the assassination of Philip Augustus, King of France (1165-1223)?"

"Of course I've heard of it."

(End of this chapter)