World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 84 Blood Rain (2)
"Two months have passed. I should say a good word for my judge, who was indeed looking for the man I proposed to him. I have given up hope, and Cuderos has never been caught. I was waiting for the first trial when, on September 9, that is to say, three months and five days after the incident, Elder Buzzoni, whom I had no hope of seeing, came to the prison himself and said that he had learned that A prisoner wanted to say something to him, and he said he knew about it in Marseilles, so he hurried from Marseilles to fulfill my wish.

"You will understand how anxious I was when I saw the elder. I told him everything I saw and heard at the time. When I talked about the diamond, I was a little flustered, but I didn't expect it. It was completely true, and to my surprise, he believed everything I told him. At this time, I was moved by his kindness, and thanked him for his understanding of our local customs, so I thought that the only sin I had committed might be forgiven by his kind lips, so I confessed to him and told him everything about Auteuil. I It was impulsive, but the result was as if carefully calculated in advance. I confessed the first murder, and I didn't have to explain to him at all, but proved to him that the second murder was true. I didn't do it. Before he left, he told me to have faith and promised to try my best to prove my innocence to the judge.

"I think the elders really took care of my business, because I saw that the prison was gradually relaxing towards me, and I also learned that my case will be tried after the trial of the ongoing case is over. At this time, God has eyes , Caderos, who had fled to a foreign country, was captured and taken back to France. He confessed, but he also said that it was his woman who premeditated and instigated it. In the end, he was sentenced to lifelong hard labor, and I was released."

"It was at this time," said Monte Cristo, "that you came to me with a letter from the abbot Buzzoni?"

"Yes, sir. He obviously cared about me. 'Your smuggling will ruin you sooner or later,' he said to me. 'When you get out of prison, you'll quit.'

"'But, Father,' said I, 'how do you say I support myself, and my poor sister-in-law?'

"'A man who made a confession to me,' replied he, 'who respects me too, entrusts me with finding out for him a man whom he can trust. Would you like to go? I can recommend him.'

"'Oh, Father,' cried I, 'how wonderful that is!'

"'But you must swear to me lest I regret it later.' So I raised my hand to swear, 'No,' said he, 'I know and like Corsicans, and I will write to you A letter of recommendation.' He wrote a few lines, which is the letter I handed to you later. After you saw the letter, you left me to stay on your errand. Now I can proudly ask you if you have ever treated me When you are unhappy?"

"No," answered the count, "and I am glad to tell you that you are a competent servant, Beticio, but you are not honest enough."

"I'm dishonest, Monsieur Count!"

"Indeed, since you have a sister-in-law and adopted a son, why don't you ever mention them to me?"

"Well, sir, I want to tell you that this is the saddest thing in my life. I left for Corsica. You understand very well that I was anxious to see my sister-in-law and comfort her. But, I When I arrived in Logriano, I saw that the family's house was in a state of despondency. It turned out that a terrible thing had happened, and the neighbors still remember it. There was some money in the family, and Benedetto always wanted to take it all. Come on, my poor sister-in-law listened to me and refused to give it to him. One morning he threatened my sister-in-law and hid out all day. Arsenta cried with anxiety, she was still a mother to the little bastard Heart-hearted. It was getting dark, she was not sleeping, and she was still waiting for Benedetuo to come back. At eleven o'clock at night, Benedetuo came back, and brought two friends with him, all of whom were his usual gangsters. Asen Ta opened her arms to meet her, but they came up and grabbed her. One of them, I still tremble when I think about it, may be the villain, and one of them shouted: 'Let's play torture, she must give up the money. Where.'

"But that day our neighbor Vazilio went to Bastia, and only his wife was at home. Except for this woman, no one saw or heard about my sister-in-law. The two held each other tightly. Poor Arsenta, who still did not believe in such a crime, smiled at the men who were about to kill her. At this moment the third blocked the door and the windows, and returned to the house. Come here. Arsenta saw that the matter was serious, and shouted in fright. The three of them blocked Arsenta's mouth together, and then grabbed her foot and pulled her on the brazier, trying to force her to tell us about our small sum. But when Arsenta was struggling, her clothes were on fire, and they feared that they would also be burned, so they let her go. Arsenta was covered in fire, and ran to the door, but the door It was locked. She rushed to the window, but it was blocked. At this time, the woman in the neighbor's house heard a miserable cry, which was Arsenta calling for help. After a while, the voice of the cry was suffocated, and the cry changed. It became a groan. Vazilio's wife spent the night restless with fear, and the next day she had the courage to come out and call the judge to open the door of my house. Arsenta was half dead, but still alive. The lockers in the house were broken open and the money was gone. Benededo fled from Logriano and never returned.

"When I heard these sad news, I came to your Excellency," continued Berticio, "and I never told you about Benededo and my sister-in-law, because they ran away and died. "

"What do you think of the matter?" asked Monte Cristo.

"This is the punishment for my crime," said Berticio. "Ah, the Villeforts deserve to die!"

"I suppose so," said the Count sadly.

"Now," continued Beticio, "Your Excellency may understand that I have never been in this house since, and that I was caught off guard when I revisited this garden, and it was here that I killed someone, this old place. The revisit really disturbed me so much that I would ask you why. After all, I am still not sure that the place before me, under my feet, was where M. de Villefort dug the grave for his child. Is it not Villefort himself that lies there?"

"Yes, anything is possible." Monte Cristo rose from the stool on which he was sitting, "even," he continued in a low voice, "that the prosecutor is not dead. The Abbot Buzzoni sent you to me." That's right, you're right to tell me your life experience, because I won't try to harm you. But Benedetto, he got the wrong name, so you didn't try to find out his whereabouts? I don't want to know what happened to him?"

"It never occurred to me that if I knew where he was, not only would I not go looking for him, but it would be like a demon and I'd have to hide far away. I really hope he's dead."

"Don't hope so, Beticio," said the count. "The wicked do not die like this. God seems to keep them as instruments of retribution."

"I hope so," said Beticio, "and I only ask Heaven that I shall never see him again. And now," continued the steward, bowing his head, "you know all about it, Monsieur Count, it is judged My, there is God in heaven, and you are here on earth. Wouldn't you like to say a few words of comfort to me?"

"You are right, I may have said the same thing that the Abbot Buzzoni said to you, that the man you punished, this Villefort, was punished for what he had done to you, and perhaps for what else he had done. Such punishment is well deserved. As for Benedetto, if he is still alive, he will be the instrument of some kind of divine retribution, as I just told you, and then he himself will be punished. And you, you really only have One thing to blame yourself, you have to ask yourself, since you took the child from death, why didn't you give him back to the mother? It's a sin, Beticio."

"Yes, sir, it is a crime, a very real one, for it is in this that I am a contemptible coward. The only thing I should do, after I have saved the child, is, as you have just said, Send the child back to his mother. But to send it back I would have to be questioned, it would attract attention, and maybe sell myself. I don't want to die, for my sister-in-law, and because of our human nature Self-love, once revenge, I want to be safe and defeat the enemy, I have to live. Besides, maybe, I just want to live because I want to live. Oh, I am not as noble as my poor brother!"

Beticio covered his face with his hands, and Monte Cristo gazed at him for a long time with a look that cannot be described in words.Everyone was silent for a while, and at this moment, and in this place again, the silence was even more solemn.

"Our conversation, this will be the last time we will talk about one miracle after another, so there should be a proper conclusion at the end." Monte Cristo said, full of a tone he rarely has. Sentimental, "Please remember this sentence, which is also what I have often heard the elder Buzzoni say: There are only two medicines for all evils, time and silence. Now, Mr. Beticio, please leave me alone in the garden You are an actor in this scene, so you feel a great pain, but my feeling is a kind of comfort, and it makes me feel more cherished in this house. You know, Betsy Mr. Au, trees are lovely because they are shaded, and shades are lovely because their shades are full of dreams and illusions. When I bought a garden, I thought it was nothing more than Buying a vacant lot surrounded by a high wall, but it is not. In an instant, the vacant lot turned into a garden full of ghosts, but the contract never mentioned it. I love ghosts. I have never heard of them. As much pain as a living man does in a day. Go in, Monsieur Beticio, and sleep in peace. If, on your deathbed, the priest who listens to your confession is less tolerant than the elder Buzzoni, then if I am still here, you can call me, and I will find words to soothe you when your soul is about to embark on the journey that men call eternity."

Beticio bowed respectfully to the count, then let out a long breath and walked away.Monte Cristo, left alone, took four steps forward. "Here, right under this sycamore tree," he said to himself, "this is the pit where the children are buried, that is the small door for dancing in and out of the garden, and at this corner is the hidden ladder to the bedroom. These are all There is no need to write it down in my notepad, and then I took out my watch and looked at it, and said to the Nubian black slave who was engrossed in watching: "It is 11:[-], Edai is coming soon, and the French maids have notified her." ? "

Ali stretched out his hand and pointed to the suite reserved for the Greek beauty. This suite was completely isolated from other rooms, and the door was blocked by a door curtain. If you walk around the whole building, you would never think of such a suite, and there is a Living room and two bedrooms.As we said just now, Ali pointed to the apartment, then stretched out three fingers with his left hand, put his hand flat on his face, closed his eyes, and pretended to be sleeping.

"Ah!" said Monte Cristo, who knew the language well, "there are three of them, and they are all waiting in the bedroom, are they not?"

"Yes." Ali nodded repeatedly.

"Madame must be tired tonight," Monte Cristo continued, "maybe she wants to sleep, so I told everyone not to ask her too much. The French maid quits immediately after saluting the mistress. You have to pay attention, the Greek maid can't talk to the French maid." Maid contact."

Ali bowed.After a while, I heard a drink from the porter, the iron gate was opened immediately, and a carriage drove up the path and stopped beside the steps in front of the building.As the count descended the steps, the carriage door was opened, and he held out his hand to a young woman.The woman is wrapped in a cloak embroidered with gold and green satin, and her head is covered with the cloak.She took the extended hand and kissed it with an air of reverence, and then the girl and the count spoke a few words, the girl spoke affectionately, and the count spoke gently and solemnly, and they were talking about old Homer writing myths. The language of the poem that sounds like pearls.

This young woman is the Greek beauty who often accompanied Monte Cristo in Italy.Now Ali, leading the way with a large rose-coloured candle, led the woman into her apartment, and the Count returned to his own.At 12:30 midnight, all the lights in the small building were extinguished, and everyone in the house had probably fallen asleep.

(End of this chapter)