World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 59 The Roman Bandit (4)
"The girl was very surprised, and she raised her head to ask for clarification, but Lu Ri's face was so gloomy and terrifying that the girl froze as soon as she reached her lips. After Lu Ri finished speaking, she turned her head and walked away. The girl revealed The night watched him leave until he was out of sight. After Lu Ri disappeared in the night, the girl walked into her room with a long sigh. There was a catastrophe that night. It must be that some servant was careless and did not turn off the light. , the house of the Count of St. Ferris caught fire. It was the row of rooms where the lovely Camilla's room was on fire. She was awakened in the middle of the night by the fire, jumped out of bed, wrapped her nightgown, and tried to escape through the door. But the corridor was already on fire, and this was the only place she could pass, so she had to retreat to the room and shout for help. Suddenly, a window 20 feet above the ground in her room was pushed open, and a young farmer jumped into it. room, picked her up, and carried her with extraordinary strength and agility to the lawn, where she passed out. When she came to, her father was beside her, The surroundings were full of servants who came to serve. The fire burned down a whole row of rooms in the mansion, but since Carmela was safe and sound, so what? Everyone looked for someone to save her, but the savior just didn’t Ken came out to show his face, and then asked around, but no one was found. As for Carmela herself, because she couldn't see who it was at the time, I felt very sorry. In addition, the count was extremely rich, and Carmela was in danger. , but the Count felt that it was a miracle that his daughter had escaped from danger. The fire was not a disaster, but a new favor from God, and the loss caused by the disaster was only a small matter to him.

"The next day, the two young men met at the edge of the woods on time as usual. Lu Ri arrived first, and he greeted the girl cheerfully, as if he had forgotten everything about last night. Teresa seemed very preoccupied. But seeing that Lu Ri was in such a good mood, she put on a carefree smile. If she didn't have any emotions, she would have such a temper. Lu Ri took Teresa's arm and led her to the The entrance of the dark cave. The girl saw that there might be something special, so she looked at him steadily.

"'Therese,' said Luge, 'you said last night that you would do anything to get a dress like the countess's.'

"'Yes,' replied Teresa in amazement, 'but I was thinking wildly.'

"'But I tell you, well, you'll have it.'

"'Yes,' said the girl, who was still more surprised by Lu Ri's words, 'but you must have said that only to please me.'

"'I always give you what I promise you.' Lu Ri said proudly, 'Go into the cave and put on your clothes.'

"As Lu Ri spoke, he pushed away the stones at the entrance of the dark cave, and told Teresa to look into the cave. There was a luxurious mirror in the cave, and a candle was lit on both sides of the mirror. There were pearl necklaces and diamond-encrusted hair pins on the table, and clothes on the chair next to it. Teresa yelled with joy, without asking where the clothes came from, and without caring. Go up to thank Lv Ri, and go into this dark hole that has been converted into a dressing room. After she entered the cave, Lv Ri covered the hole with stones, because he saw a passerby on a horse on the top of the hill ahead. It happened to block Palestrina in the distance. The passerby stood on the top of the hill for a while, as if he didn't know which way to go. Under the blue sky, he could clearly see his figure that only people in the far south had. He always Seeing Lu Ri, he galloped towards this direction. Lu Ri guessed right, the passerby came from Palestrina, and was going to Tivoli, but he didn't know the way here. Lu Ri gave He pointed the way, but two miles from here, the road divides into three small roads. At the three-fork intersection, the traveler might get lost again, so he asked Lu Ri to lead him for a while. Lu Ri took off his cloak He lowered himself to the ground, shouldered his carbine, and led the traveler ahead. Once his heavy cloak was off, he walked exactly like a mountain man, and a slow-moving horse could barely keep up. Go on. In 2 minutes, Lu Ri and the passer-by arrived at the three-forked road just mentioned. Once there, the young shepherd looked like an emperor, and stretched out his hand towards the one that the passer-by should take. Xiaolu pointed and said, "Go this way, Your Excellency, now you can't go wrong."

"'This is your reward,' said the traveler, taking out some coins and offering them to the young shepherd.

"'Thank you,' Lu Ri said, withdrawing his hand, 'I am helping, and there is no money for helping.'

"'Well,' said the traveler, who seemed to know the difference between a proud mountain man and a servile city man, 'you won't be paid, so you can accept a gift.'

"'Ah, yes, that's another thing.'

"'Well, then,' said the traveler, 'take these two Venetian Siquins, please, and give them to your fiancée, and let her buy a pair of earrings.'

"'Then, please take this dagger,' said the young shepherd, 'you will find no other carved dagger like this from Albano to Civita Castellana.'

"'I will accept it,' said the traveler, 'but I owe you this, and this dagger is more than two sikuns.'

"'To a merchant, perhaps, but to me, at most, a piastre, since I carved the flower myself.'

"'What's your name?' asked the traveler.

"'Luige Wampa,' replied the shepherd, with a look that seemed to say: 'I am Alexander, King of Macedon.' Then he asked the traveler: 'What about you?'

"'I,' said the traveler, 'I am Samba the Sailor.'"

At this Franz Epinet exclaimed, "Samba the Sailor!" he said.

"That's right," said Prosper Pastrini, who was telling the story, "the traveler told Wampa that was his name."

"Well, what can you say about the name?" Albert interrupted them. "It's a very pretty name, and the adventures of this gentleman told by the boss, I must say, sounded like a good one to me when I was a child." .”

Franz said no more.The reader must have noticed that "Samba the Sailor" had awakened all sorts of memories in Franz, and when he heard the name of the Count of Monte Cristo the night before, he was also in his imagination. "Go on," he said to Boss Pastrini.

"Wampa put the two Venetian siquins in his pocket nonchalantly, and then walked slowly back along the original road. When he was two or three hundred steps away from the dark cave, he heard someone shouting, so he stopped Hearing carefully where the shout came from, it turned out that someone was calling his name loudly. The shout was in the direction of the dark cave, and he ran forward like an antelope, loading his carbine while running. Bullets. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived at the top of a hill, which was facing away from the hill where he had just spotted the traveler. As soon as he got there, the voice calling for help became clearer. He stared down the hill and searched in all directions. It was found that a man, like the half-man, half-horse Nessus who kidnapped Diani, was carrying Teresa towards the woods, and he had already walked more than half of the way from the dark cave to the woods. Wampa estimated the distance, and the man was at least two hundred paces ahead of him, and before he could catch up with him, he slipped into the woods. Then the young shepherd stood firm as if his feet had been rooted in the ground, and put The butt of the carbine rested on the shoulder, and slowly raised the gun to aim at the robber, aimed for a second, and then fired. The robber stopped suddenly, bent his knees, and fell down with himself and Teresa. but Teresa scrambled to her feet, while the creature was still lying on the ground, writhing in agony. Wampa ran towards Teresa, for the girl had lost her legs just ten paces from the dying man. Unable to support himself, he knelt down. The young man was always worried whether the bullet that knocked down his enemy would also hurt his lover. Fortunately, it was not at all what he was worried about. Teresa was just paralyzed by fright. Lu Ri saw She was fine, so she turned around and looked at the injured guy. The man clenched his fists, just died, his mouth twisted from the pain, his hair stood on end, and there was still a drop hanging from it. Di was sweating coldly when he was dying, but his eyes were still open fiercely. Wampa approached the corpse and saw that it was Gugumeto.

"That day the young man and woman rescued the robber, but he has taken a fancy to Teresa since then, and vowed to get the girl. So he has been watching, taking Wampa to lead the way for the traveler, and only When Teresa was alone, he came to snatch her, and he thought he had got the girl. Unexpectedly, the young shepherd's marksmanship was perfect, and a bullet pierced his heart. Wampa looked at the dead man without moving. But Teresa, on the contrary, trembling from head to toe, approached the body slowly with small steps, only casting a terrified glance at the dead man over her lover's shoulder. After a while, Wampa turned Said to the girl: "Ah, ah, you are dressed, very well, now it is my turn to dress up." It turned out that Teresa was dressed from head to toe in the dress of the daughter of Count Saint Felice. Wampa picked up Gugumeto's body and moved it into the dark cave, leaving Teresa alone outside.

"At this time, if any passer-by passes by here again, he will see a strange thing. A shepherdess is watching the flock, but she is wearing a cashmere skirt, pearl earrings and necklaces, and diamonds. hair pins, and buttons of sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. The traveler must have thought he was back in the time of Florian, the French fabler and playwright (1755-1794). As soon as he returned to Paris, he would say , he saw an Alpine shepherdess sitting at the foot of the mountain of the ancient Italian nation of the Sabines. A quarter of an hour later, Wampa came out of the dark cave. At this time, he was dressed in the same clothes as Teresa. He He was wearing a garnet red velvet jacket with gold buttons on it, an embroidered silk vest, a Roman scarf around his neck, and a red and green silk braided bullet box inlaid with gold on his waist. Sky blue velvet shorts, one diamond after another pinned to the trousers below the knee, a pair of colorful suede boots with arabesques painted on the feet, and a colorful ribbon floating on the hat on the head. In addition, There were two watches hanging on the belt, and a magnificent dagger stuck behind the bullet box. Teresa couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration, Wampa was dressed like the Swiss painter Leopold Robert (1755 -1794). Or Sneez French painter (1787-1870). Figure in the oil painting. He put on all the clothes of Gugumeto. The young man saw that his body had played a role on his fiancée, so he said A smug smile flashed across.

"'Now,' he said to Teresa, 'will you share my blessings and my sorrows?'

"'Oh yes!' exclaimed the girl joyfully.

"'Do you follow me wherever I go?'

"'I'll go to the ends of the earth.'

"'Well, then, take my arm, and let us go, we must delay no longer.'

"The girl stretched out her arms for Wampa, without asking where she was to be led, because at this moment, in her eyes, Wampa was as handsome, proud, and mighty as a god. Together they walked towards the woods. Walked and walked into the woods within a few minutes. Needless to say, Wampa knew every path on the mountain, and he walked straight forward in the woods without hesitation. He had only to look at the trees and bushes to know where to go. In this way, they walked for about an hour and a half. At this time they had come to the place where the trees were thickest, and there was a dry stream leading directly to a deep one ahead. Wampa walked along this unusual road, with pine trees on both sides and opaque hillsides. What kind of mountain road is this? It looks like the passage to hell that the poet Virgil said. Taylor Seeing this deserted scene, Sha felt horrified, and hugged Wampa tightly, unable to speak out in fright. However, she saw that Wampa's footsteps were always calm, and the expression on her face was always the same. So calm, she tried her best to restrain her emotions. Suddenly, ten steps away from them, a person flashed from behind a tree, and then aimed his gun at Wampa.

"'Stop!' cried the man, 'one more step and I will kill you.'

"'Come, come,' said Wampa, raising his hand and waving it contemptuously, but Teresa, unable to restrain her fright, clung to him, 'how can a wolf eat a wolf?'

"'Who are you?' asked the sentinel.

"'I am Luge Wampa, the shepherd of Saint Felice.'

"'What are you doing here?'

"'I have something to say to your companions. Aren't they in the clearing at Roca Bianca?'

"'Follow me, then,' said the sentry, 'no, you know the way, and you must go ahead.'

"Wangpa just smiled contemptuously at this precaution against robbers, and then pulled Teresa to the front, walking his way with consistent firm and calm steps. After walking for 5 minutes, the grass robbers beckoned to them When they stopped, they also stopped. The grass thief imitated three crow calls, and the other side responded with a crow call. "Okay," said the grass thief, "now you go your way." Lu Ri and Teresa Then move forward. Teresa trembled as she walked, and clung to her lover. No wonder she was timid, for all kinds of weapons were exposed behind the trees, and the guns and guns were shining. Rocabion The glade was on the top of a hill which must have been a volcano in former times, but where Remis and Romilus were twin brothers, said to be the founders of the city of Rome. Escape from Arles Bo, before coming here to build the city of Rome, this volcano has long been extinguished. Teresa and Luge went up to the top of the mountain, and found that there were about twenty robbers in front of them.

"'The lad came to you and said he had something to say to you,' said the sentinel.

"'What is he going to say to us?' asked one of the thieves, acting temporarily as the leader because the leader was away.

"'I mean, I'm tired of this shepherd's business,' said Wampa.

"'Ah, I see,' said the head of the agency, 'you come to join us?'

"'He is welcome!' said several robbers in unison. They were Ferruccino, Pampinara, and Anagni, and they all knew Luge Wampa.

"'Yes, but I'm not here to join.'

"'Then what do you want?' asked the robbers in amazement.

"'I will be your chief,' said Wampa.

"The thieves burst out laughing. 'What merit do you have to deserve this honor?' asked the interim leader.

"'I killed your chief, Gugumeto, and I wear his clothes,' said Luge, 'and I set fire to the residence of the count of Saint-Ferris, and got a wedding dress for my betrothed. .'

"An hour later, Luge Wampa was elected chief to replace Gugumetto."

"Well, my dear Albert," asked Franz, turning to his friend, "how do you feel now about this citizen of Luge Wampa?"

"I think it is a myth," replied Albert, "that it is entirely invented."

"What's a myth?" Pastrini asked.

"That's a long story, my dear master," replied Franz. "You said just now that King Wampa is at present doing his business near Rome?"

"And they are brave and powerful. They are really unprecedented among their robbers."

"So it's not that the police don't want to arrest him, but they just can't?"

"How can it be so easy? He has good friendship with the shepherds in the country, the fishermen off the coast of Rome, and the smugglers along the coast. Go into the mountains to search for him, but he is on the river. Chase him on the river. He went out to sea again, thinking that He fled to Zhiglio, Canuti, or the small island of Monte Cristo, and then he popped up again in Albano, Tivoli, or Lycia."

"How did he deal with passers-by?"

"Ah, my God, his method is very simple. According to the distance from the city, he will send the ransom within 8 hours, 12 hours, or one day. After this time, he will allow another hour. In the 60th minute, if the money has not been delivered, he will shoot the culprit's head, or stab him in the heart, and the matter will end here."

"Well, Albert," Franz asked his companion, "do you still want to drive from the ring road to the Arena?"

"Of courseⅢ," said Albert, "as long as the scenery on this road is good, I will not take another road."

At this moment the clock struck nine o'clock, the door opened, and the coachman was at the door. "Your Excellency," said he, "the carriage is waiting below."

"Very well," said Franz, "that's all, let's go to the arena."

"Your Excellency, do you take the Popolo Gate or the main street?"

"The High Street! Of course the High Street!" cried Franz.

"Hey, my dear friend," said Albert, standing up and lighting his third cigar, "to tell you the truth, I thought you were full of courage." Saying this, the two young men walked away. Descend the stairs and get into the carriage.

(End of this chapter)