World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 71 The Guest (1)
In Rome, Albert Mocerf invited the Count of Monte Cristo to his mansion on the Via Erede on May 5. Early in the morning, the mansion was busy with preparations so that Albert could receive the guests with dignity.

Albert Mocerf himself lived in a small building at the corner of the courtyard, directly opposite the small building for the servants.Only two windows of Albert's small building faced the street, the other three windows faced the courtyard, and the two protruding from the corners faced the garden.Between the courtyard and the garden is the building where the Countess and Countess Messef lived. It is spacious and luxurious, but the architectural style is the vulgar style of the Empire period.The mansion is surrounded by a wall along the street, and on the top of the wall there are pots of blooming flowers at intervals. In the middle of the wall is a gold-plated iron gate, which is the main entrance for distinguished guests. There is a small door, which is a convenient door for servants, and the master also uses this small door when entering and leaving without a carriage.

The mother chose the small building on the corner for Albert to live in, which shows her painstaking efforts.She didn't want her son to leave, but she also understood that a young man like the Viscount very much wanted to be free.But on the other hand, we should also explain that this arrangement is also due to the fact that Albert is a smart and selfish young man. He is fascinated by the unrestrained and idle life of the children of the family, and hopes to give him life like a bird in a cage. Plated with a layer of gold.Through the two windows facing the street, Albert Mocerf can explore the world outside the mansion. For young people, the outside scene must be seen, even if it is a street, it is a kind of world for their young people, and Young people always see the world through their own world.After some exploration outside, if further investigation seemed necessary, Albert Mocerf would go out by a small door to conduct his investigation.That little door corresponds to the little door at the side of the porter just mentioned, and deserves a separate description.

This small door seems to have never been remembered since the day the mansion was completed. The door looks very inconspicuous and covered with dust. It seems that no one will open it at all. However, the lock and hinge on the door are all Carefully painted with oil, it shows that people often come in and out of this door mysteriously.This small door seemed to be there, but it wanted to compete with the other two doors, and because the porter couldn't see it or control it, it laughed at the porter instead. The great door of the cave in "Arabian Nights" can be opened by calling "sesame" according to Ali Baba's spell. Similarly, the small door here can only be opened by the sweetest voice in the world. , as long as the most slender finger in the world knocks a few times according to the signal, the door will open by itself.This small door opened into a wide and quiet corridor.The corridor is also used for the front hall. At the end of the corridor, on the right is Albert's dining room facing the courtyard, and on the left is Albert's small living room facing the garden.Both the dining room and the small living room are on the ground floor of the small building, and only these two houses can be seen on the ground floor with unwitting eyes, but the trees and the fan-shaped ivy beside the window cover these two houses, so from the courtyard Neither the house nor the garden can be seen clearly inside the house.

The rooms on the second floor are similar to the two downstairs, except that there is an extra room in the waiting room, so there are three rooms upstairs including the living room, bedroom and small living room.The living room downstairs is for smoking, surrounded by Algerian sofas.The small living room upstairs is connected to the bedroom, and there is a secret door leading to the stairs.It is not difficult to see that the layout here can be described as thoughtful and meticulous.

The first floor above the second floor is a spacious art studio. The original partition walls and partitions have been knocked down and converted into a large traditional room. The room is dazzling, and even a real artist would join this dandy for this. Local disputes are long and short.Albert's interests fluctuated, and the room was filled with heaps and heaps.There was a whole set of orchestral instruments, horns, euphoniums, flutes, everything, for Albert had been fascinated, if not really interested, in music for some time.There was also an easel, a palette, pastels, and now that his passion for music had passed, he had become pretentious in painting again.There were also fancy swords, boxing gloves, greatswords, and clubs of all kinds, for, according to the usual habits of fashionable youths of that time, Albert changed his attitude towards music and painting, and persevered in practicing fencing, boxing, and stick skills. , These are the last three skills to complete the cultivation of dudes, so his studio was changed into a gymnasium. Boxers and stickmen.came.

This room is the favorite of its owner, and there are many other things besides the above, François I, King of France (1494-1547).The old cabinets of the era are filled with Chinese porcelain and Japanese vases, including pottery by Luga Robbia and Bernard Parisi, a famous French pottery maker (1510-1589).and antique chairs—probably Henry IV (King of France (1589-1610).), Sully (Minister of King Henry IV of France (1559-1641).), Louis XIII or Richet Liu sat there, for two of the chairs, with their coat of arms carved, three fleur-de-France fleur-de-lys on a sky-blue ground with a crown above them, probably came from the Louvre's furniture storeroom, Or at least something from a royal castle.The upholstery of these chairs is dark and prim, and the chairs are littered with ornate fabrics of bright colors, sun-dyed from Persia, Calcutta or Chandnagar.woman hand dyed.No one can tell what these fabrics are used for, and what they will be used for in the future, even the owner himself can't say. Now they are placed there for people to feast their eyes on, decorating the house colorfully and shining with gold. .

There is a piano in the most conspicuous place in the house, which is made of Brazilian fragrant wood by Rollei and Blanche. Although it is only the same size as the piano used in our Lilliputian living room, the sound box is narrow, but the sound is loud. , including a full set of timbres for orchestral instruments, used to play masterpieces of Beethoven, Weber, Mozart, Haydn, Gretley, and Scholabola, which can produce chants full of complaints.In addition, on the four walls of the house, above every door frame, and on the ceiling, there are swords, daggers, daggers, sledgehammers, battle axes everywhere, gilded, filigree or inlaid. A set of armor, as well as plant specimens, ore specimens, and a bird stuffed with horsehair, spreading fiery red wings for that static flight, and a bird that never closes its beak.Evidently, the house was Albert's favorite place.

On the day of the appointment, however, the young man was in civilian clothes and commanding from the drawing room on the ground floor.There is a table in the living room, and a big wide and soft sofa is placed not far from the table. On the table are various famous tobacco leaves, from the yellow tobacco leaves of Petersburg to the black tobacco leaves of Sinai, including Maryland, Puerto Rican, Latakia Syrian place names.Yes, there is everything, and the jars that hold these shiny tobacco leaves are the kind of cracked ceramic jars that the Dutch love.There is a row of fragrant wooden boxes next to the tobacco tins, and there are Purue cigars, Regalia cigars, Havana cigars and Manila cigars in order according to size and taste.In addition, there was an open cabinet in which there were pipes of all kinds, German pipes, Turkish long pipes (with coral-inlaid amber bite), and gold-encrusted Turkish hookahs (coiled like snakes on the The long straw at the same time is made of Moloch leather), just waiting for the gentleman to choose at will according to his own preferences or whims.This arrangement, or rather this messy and symmetrical arrangement, was arranged by Albert himself, so that the guests of the modernist luncheon could, after drinking their coffee, puff their clouds while passing through the air. Admire the decorations toward the long string of smoke rings on the ceiling.

At a quarter to ten a valet entered.This is a 10-year-old boy who can only speak English. Everyone calls him John, and Albert's own servant is the only one.Of course, the cook in the palace was also sent by Albert on ordinary days, and the count's servants in liveries also came to serve on occasions.The valet was named Germain, and he was the confidant of the young master.He came and put the stack of newspapers in his hand on the table, and handed Albert a stack of letters.Albert glanced casually at the letters, picked out two letters in handsome handwriting and perfumed envelopes, opened them, and read them with considerable attention. "How did these two letters come?" he asked.

"One was sent by the post office, and the other was delivered by Mrs. Tanglar's servant."

"Return to Mrs. Tangra, I accept her invitation, and I will go to her box... Wait a minute... You go to Rosa's place today and tell her that I am honored by her invitation, and I will go to her house after I come out of the opera house For supper, you will send her six bottles of different wines, paired with Cyprus wine, Zeres wine and Malaga wine, and a barrel of oysters from the Belgian port of Ostende... oysters to buy It's from Borel's, and you've got to make it clear to her that it's what I'm going to use."

"When is the meal, sir?"

"What time is it now?"

"A quarter to ten."

"Well, it's 10:5 to serve dinner. Debray may have to go to work in his ministry... Besides," Albert flipped through the notebook, "this happens to be the time I agreed with the count. May 21:10 a.m. on the [-]st. I don't take much care of his promise, but I hope to be on time. By the way, do you know that the Countess is up?"

"If Mr. Viscount wants to know, I will ask."

"You can... Ask Madam for a case of liqueurs. My case is not complete. Tell Madam, I want to see her around 3 o'clock, and I hope she will allow me to introduce someone to meet her."

After the footman retreated, Albert leaned back on the couch, opened two or three newspapers, looked at the play preview, saw that it was an opera instead of a ballet, so he pouted, and then looked for the advertisement in the cosmetics column. He was told about a toothpaste, but he couldn't find it, so he threw aside one by one the three most subscribed newspapers in Paris, and yawned a long time, talking to himself. Said: "Seriously, these newspapers are getting less and less interesting."

At this moment a chaise stopped at the door, and after a while a footman came in to announce Lucien Debray's visit.This is a tall, light-haired young man with a fair complexion, slightly dark eyes, but very confident, and thin and indifferent lips. He wears a blue jacket with gold buttons, a white tie, and a ribbon on his chest. He wore a tortoiseshell-rimmed monocle, and now and then he clamped the lens over his right eye socket, though the nerves in his eyebrows and cheekbones had to tense to clamp the lens.He came into the drawing room, neither smiling nor speaking, with the air of a semi-official man.

"Good day, Lucien... good day!" said Albert. "Ah, I cannot help being surprised at your punctuality, my dear friend. What do I say? Punctual! I suppose you were the last to arrive, 10:5 is the last time for our appointment, but you came at 10 minutes to [-] o'clock, what a miracle! Did it happen that your ministry was overthrown?"

"No, dear friend," said Lucien, sitting down on the big sofa, "don't worry, we are always on the verge of falling, but if we don't fall, I think we should just implement life tenure, let alone The peninsula incident refers to the war between Spanish Prince Carlos and his niece Isabel II for the throne from 1833 to 1839. It will completely stabilize our position."

"Oh, it's true, you threw Don Carlos out of Spain."

"No, my dear friend, make no mistake, we are asking him to come across the frontier to the French side, and treat him like a king at Bourges."

"In Bourges?"

"Yes, he has nothing to complain about, does he! Bourges was the capital of Charles VII, King of France (1403-1461). What, don't you know about it? All Paris knew yesterday, Bourse de la Bourse I got wind of it the day before yesterday, because Mr. Tangla made a long position once and made 100 million yuan. I really don’t know how this person got the news as quickly as us.”

"As for you, you seem to have received another medal, for I saw an extra blue ribbon on the chain of your coat."

"Well, they sent me a Charles III King of France (879-929). Medal." Debray said lightly.

"Forget it, don't be so indifferent, and tell me honestly, are you happy to get this thing?"

"Of course it is. There is one more decoration. A medal is hung on the button-breasted black clothes, which is very elegant."

"There's something like Prince of Galle, the title of eldest son of the British Monarch. Or Duke of Lexta, Napoleon II," Moserf said.

"So you saw me so early, my dear friend."

"You have come to tell me the good news because you have won the Order of Charles III?"

"No, I've been writing all night. I've written twenty-five diplomatic letters. I didn't come home until dawn. I wanted to sleep, but I got a headache, so I got up and rode another hour. To Blow When I was in a park west of Paris, I was bored and hungry. It is rare for these two annoying things to go hand in hand, but they came together to haunt me. It can be said that Carlos has allied with the Republicans. At this time, I remembered today You have a banquet here in the morning, so I came here. I’m hungry, get me something to eat, and I’m bored again, so please accompany me to relieve boredom.”

"It is my business, for I am the host and give a dinner, my dear friend," said Albert, ringing the bell for the servant, and Lucien picked up the gold-tipped cane with the turquoise inlaid. A few newspapers were spread out, "Germain, bring a glass of Xerez wine and a biscuit. But, my dear Lucien, first look at these cigars, of course they are smuggled. Not only do I invite you to taste Taste it, and please suggest to your minister that you should sell us this kind of cigars instead of walnut leaves, which he forced the obedient citizens of France to smoke."

"Oh, I don't do that kind of thing! Because it's sold by the government, you don't like it, you think it's inferior. Besides, this has nothing to do with the Ministry of the Interior. It's a matter for the Ministry of Finance. You can go to Yu Mr. Mang, he is from the Indirect Tax Section, No. 26, the first corridor of the Ministry of Finance building."

"To tell you the truth," said Albert, "I am amazed at the breadth of your acquaintance. But first, smoke a cigar."

"Ah, my dear Viscount," said Lucien, lighting a manila cigar by a rose-coloured candle in a gilded silver tray, and leaning back on the couch, "ah, my dear Viscount, like How happy you are to do nothing like this! To be honest, you don’t know your blessings when you are in the blessing!”

"If you have nothing to do, my dear General of Suiguo," Mosef went on, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, "what should you do? Good fellow! You, the minister's private secretary, have devoted yourself to the European maneuvers, And meddling in all the machinations of Paris; the king wants your protection, and what's more, the queen wants your protection; parties want you to mediate, elections want you to manipulate; you can do more in office with pen and telegraph than Napoleon in battle. As far as the sword and the battle can achieve; you have twenty-five thousand livres a year besides your salary, and you still refuse to sell your horse, Chateau-Renaud, at four hundred louis in gold; your tailor from Haven't I ever ruined a pair of trousers for you, and you go to the Opera, the Knights Club, and the Fairgrounds, and all this, don't you think that's not enough entertainment? Well, then, I'll let you relax."

"What's the best way?"

"To introduce you to a new acquaintance."

"Is it a man or a woman?"

"Men."

"Well, I know enough men already."

"But you have never seen the one I am going to tell you about."

"Where did he come from? The end of the world?"

"Probably farther."

"Hell, if only he didn't bring our lunch?"

"That's not true, don't worry, our lunch is being cooked in the kitchen of the humble house. Aren't you hungry?"

"To tell you the truth, I am hungry, and I am ashamed to say that I dined yesterday at M. de Villefort's. I wonder if you have noticed, my dear fellow, that the food is not good at the house of these inspectors, and they always say These guys are self-pitying guys."

"Of course! You can degrade the meals at other people's homes. In this way, you can eat well with your ministers."

"Yes, but at least we don't dine with respectable people. We have to dine with a few country folks, because they think rightly, and as for voting, it's more respectable. If they don't have to be." , we avoid eating at home as if we were avoiding the plague. Take my word for it."

"Well then, my dear friend, have another glass of Zereth and another biscuit."

"Yes, your Spanish wine is very good. You see, we were right to appease the country."

"Yes, but what about Mr. Carlos?"

"Hey, Mister Carlos can drink Bordeaux, and in another 10 years we can have his son marry the little queen."

"If you are still in the Ministry, you can get the 'Order of the Golden Fleece', which was originally the French Nobility Medal, and was later adopted by Spain."

"I think, Albert, that you have a plan this morning to fill me up with smoke."

"Oh, this is the best appetizer, you should admit it? Listen, I heard Beauchamp talking in the waiting room. You can have a debate and you won't feel upset."

"Debate what?"

"Debating newspapers."

"Oh, my dear friend," said Lucien with the utmost contempt, "am I a newspaper reader?"

"That's all the more reason. You will definitely have a very exciting debate."

"Mr. Boshang is here!" the attendant reported.

(End of this chapter)