World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 96 Toxicology (2)
"But, sir," said the young woman, "you have spent part of your life in the societies of the East, and are these societies as absurd as the stories we hear from these beautiful countries? Eliminated, and the murderer is not punished? This is actually Garang French orientalist (1646-1715), the French translator of "Arabian Nights". Mr. Baghdad and Basra (Iraq place names.). Sudan And the ministers who run these societies and form governments like what we call in France, they are real tyrants and scumbags like Hahus-al-Rashid and Ziafar, who not only appease poisoned sinners, Moreover, if the crime is clever and the perpetrator of the poisoning is promoted as the prime minister, when such a thing happens, they will order the poisoning process to be written in the history in big golden characters, so that they can entertain them when they are extremely bored, right?"

"No, ma'am, nonsense doesn't even exist in the Orient, where there are police officers, examining magistrates, prosecutors, and expert judges, but with different names and different costumes, and it is very convenient to execute criminals, you can hang them, They could be beheaded, or staked. But these men are a master of deceit, and can evade human justice, and cunningly use their schemes to do what they do. Here, if a fool is obsessed with hatred or greed, and wants to get rid of An enemy or an old man who killed an ancestor, so he went to the grocery store and made up a fake name for himself-in fact, it was easier to expose himself than using his real name, and bought five or six grams of it on the pretext that the rats made him unable to sleep Arsenic. If the man is shrewd, he goes to five or six grocery stores in succession, and is five or six times more likely to be recognized. The enemy or the old man of his family dropped arsenic, enough to kill a mammoth or an ancient elephant, and made the victim scream for no reason, and the neighbors around were alarmed. In this way, a large number of police and gendarmes came , and sent someone to the doctor, who dissected the body and scraped out spoonfuls of arsenic in the stomach and intestines. The next day hundreds of newspapers were talking about it, and both the victim and the murderer were named. In the evening of that day, the owner of that grocery store or those grocery stores came over and said, "I sold the arsenic to Mr. That." Not to mention such a buyer, even 20 buyers, they all recognized it. So that fool The criminal is caught, jailed, interrogated, confronted, confused, sentenced, and guillotined. If it's a lady of high standing, she's given a life sentence. That's What you northerners call chemistry, ma'am. To be frank, I think Drew is a better criminal than this."

"That's the only way to go, sir," the young woman said with a smile. "This is the best I can do. Not everyone has the secret recipe of the Medici Italian family in Florence. Or the Bogia family."

"Now," said the count, shrugging his shoulders, "I might as well tell you why this stupid thing happened, would you like to hear it? It is because in your theater, at least according to my judgment, because I read The various scripts being staged here, the audience always saw someone swallowed a small bottle of medicine, or bit the gemstone on the ring, and then fell straight down and died. After 5 minutes, the curtain fell, and the audience also And off. They don't know what's going on with the murder, never see an officer with a sash, nor a corporal with four pawns, which makes many poor minds think that's all there is to it. But leave Not far from France, go up to Aleppo, Syria. Either way, up to Cairo, or just go to Naples or Rome, and you'll see some people walking past you with straight waists and ruddy faces, Radiant. If you happen to pass the protagonist in the novel of the same name by the French writer Le Sage, the lame devil, he will tell you: 'This gentleman has been poisoned for three weeks and will die in a month.'”

"So," said Madame de Villefort, "they have again discovered the secret recipe for the famous Tofana potion, which I am told is lost in Perugia."

"Oh, my God! Ma'am, is there anything lost in man? Art is fluid, and it travels the world. Things can change names, but that's all. Ordinary people are confused, but the result of changing always It is the same. Poisons act either on this organ or on that organ, some on the stomach, some on the brain, some on the intestines. Let us say that the poison causes a cough, and the cough causes an inflammation of the chest. Or any other disease mentioned in the medical books, which is quite fatal anyway, and if not fatal, it has become fatal because of the medicine prescribed by quack doctors. Generally speaking, these quack doctors have chemical knowledge. Very bad, healed the disease or put the person to death. In this way, a person was killed, and the killing was very skillful, without leaving any loopholes, and the court could not find any evidence of crime. This is my one According to a friend of mine, he was a great chemist, the eminent Elder Adelmonte of Taomina, Sicily, who had made extensive studies of such phenomena in his country."

"It's terrible, but it's also admirable," said the young woman, who listened intently and didn't move. "I'll tell you, I thought it was all about medieval inventions."

"Yes, indeed, but in our time these inventions are more perfected. Time, rewards, medals, crosses, and Montion prizes, if not for the perfection of society, you think, for What role? And man is perfect only when, like God, he can both create and destroy. Man already knows how to destroy, but the whole journey is only halfway."

"Therefore," said Madame de Villefort, always trying to bring the conversation back to her subject, "the poisons that have been overused by modern dramas and novels, of the Bogia, of the Medici, of the noble French family of René. of the noble Florentine family of Rougeli, Italy, and perhaps later of the Baron of Trunc..."

"It's all works of art, madam, and nothing out of the ordinary," said the Count. "Do you think that a truly learned man would look to mediocrity? Wrong. Let me put it this way, science requires continuous bounces, feats." And fantasies. So, for example, I had an astonishing experiment in this direction with that eminent Elder Adairmont whom you mentioned just now."

"is it?"

"Yes, I'll just give you one example. He had a very nice garden with vegetables, flowers and fruit trees. He chose one of the vegetables that everyone ate, such as cabbage. For three days in a row He doused the cabbage with a solution of arsenic, and on the third day the cabbage began to wilt and turn yellow, so he cut it off. The cabbage was still acceptable in appearance, and everyone thought it was ripe, and only Adalmont knew that the poison was in the cabbage. So he took the vegetables back and brought a rabbit. Elder Adairmont also raised many rabbits, mice and guinea pigs, and he did as well as he grew vegetables, flowers and trees. So, Elder Adairmont brought in a rabbit, fed it with a leaf, and it died. What examining magistrate dares to find fault with such a matter? And what prosecutor would want to prosecute Madondi? French physiologist and neurologist (1783-1855). Sir or Flouren French physiologist (1794-1867). Sir, accuse them of killing rabbits, mice and guinea pigs? Will come to investigate. Elder Adairmont ordered the cook to disembowel the dead rabbit and throw the entrails on the garbage dump. There was a hen on the garbage heap, pecked at the entrails, and died of illness the next day. The hen was dying While convulsing and struggling, a vulture happened to fly over—there were many vultures at Elder Adairmont's place. The vulture has been feeling sick, and three days later when he was flying in the clouds, he suddenly got dizzy, rolled in the air, and finally fell into your fish pond with a plop. You know, pike, eels, eels are very gluttonous, so they all Come bite the vulture. Well, suppose next day you serve such a plate of barracuda, eel, or eel, which is the fourth round of poisoned fish, your guests will be poisoned by the fifth round, a A week or ten days later, he died of colic, heart distress, and pyloric ulceration. The autopsy was performed, and the doctor finally said: "This man died of liver tumors or typhoid fever. "

"However," said Madame de Villefort, "you string them back and forth, and they will be interrupted by the slightest unexpected event. The vulture may not come in time, or it may fall away from the fish pond. A hundred paces away."

"Ah, this is exactly what art is about. Whoever wants to be a great chemist in the East has to be able to control chance. This can be done."

Madame de Villefort was becoming more and more perplexed. "However," she said, "arsenic cannot be eliminated. No matter how much it is absorbed, it will always remain in the human body as long as the absorbed amount is fatal."

"Well said," cried Monte Cristo, "well said, that is exactly what my lovely Adairmon said. He thought for a moment, smiled, and answered me with a Sicilian proverb, I think People in China also say this proverb: "My child, the world was not created in one day, but in seven days. Come back on Sunday." I went to him again on Sunday. This time he did not pour the cabbage with arsenic solution, but It uses a saline solution of strychnine, and the scientific name that scientists say is strychnoscolubrin a in Latin: snake vine strychnium. This time the cabbage didn't look wilted at all, so the rabbit didn't have any vigilance, but the rabbit died after 5 minutes Yes. The hen pecked at the rabbit meat, and died the next day. At this time we were vultures, we took the hen away and opened it. This time, all the characteristic symptoms were not seen, but we could see it. All general symptoms, nothing special in any organs, just nervous system surge, that's all, traces of cerebral congestion, nothing else can be seen. The hen is not poisoned, but stroke Dead. I know very well that strokes in hens are rare, but strokes in people are common."

Madame de Villefort seemed more and more perplexed. "Fortunately," she said, "poisons of this kind are prepared only by chemists, because, let's be honest, half the world would poison the other half."

"A chemist can make it, and a man who loves chemistry can do it too," replied Monte Cristo casually.

"Besides," said Madame de Villefort, trying to free herself from her train of thought, "no matter how ingenious the means, a crime is always a crime, and though it may escape the eye of man, it cannot escape the eye of God. In matters of conscience, the Orient People are smarter than us, they are very wise, they have canceled hell, and the high is here."

"Ah, Madame, such scruples are naturally aroused by a good soul like yours, but reasoning can make them disappear. The evil side of the human mind can always be summed up by the paradox of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau said - you know this saying, 'If someone moves his finger 5000 miles away, the famous person will be killed.' People's life is spent doing this kind of thing, and human wisdom is also anxious because of these things Exhausted by worry. Rarely do you see a man recklessly thrust a knife into the heart of his own kind, or, in order to wipe man from the face of the earth, drop such quantities of arsenic as we have just spoken of. Such an act It is indeed a kind of eccentricity or stupidity. Like this reckless, the blood on the body will be as hot as 36 degrees, the pulse will jump to 90, and the soul will go beyond the norm. However, we might as well change the same word to a mild color like a literary study synonymous with , if your actions are only for elimination, if you are not dastardly to assassinate, but just to keep those who stand in your way out of your way, so that there is no confrontation, no violence, no instruments of pain, Because after pain turns into torture, the victim becomes a martyr instead, and the perpetrator becomes a veritable executioner. If there is no bloodshed, no shouting, no posturing, especially the kind of thunder that is terrible and hurts people If you can't keep your ears to yourself, then you can escape the human law, because the law says only 'do not disturb the society.' This is the secret of how the Orientals behave and succeed. The Orientals are calm and calm, and in this comparison On important occasions, they don't care much about time."

"But there is a question of conscience," said Madame de Villefort, in a voice already so agitated that she seemed about to sigh, but stifled it.

"Yes," said Monte Cristo, "yes, fortunately there is a problem of conscience, otherwise man would be too unfortunate. After every more vicious action, it is always conscience that relieves us, and conscience provides us with a thousand things. The reasons for masturbating and self-excusation, and how to judge these reasons are all up to us. However, these reasons, however good they are, can let us sleep peacefully, but they are very dry when the courts try to save our lives. Yes. For example, Richard III, the character in Shakespeare's play, King of England. Heir to the throne from 1483 to 1485 after the murder of two children of his brother Edward IV. After getting rid of the two children of Edward IV Finally, conscience may have given him great consolation, and he could indeed say to himself: 'The father of these two children is a cruel tyrant. I see it in. These two children stand in the way of my happiness for the people of England, for they must do evil to the people of England.' And Mrs. Macbeth quotes from Shakespeare. Mrs. Macbeth, seeking the throne for her son, Encouraging her husband to kill King Duncan. And so comforted by her conscience, no matter what Shakespeare says, Lady Macbeth seeks the throne not for her husband, but only for her son. Ah, what a great mother's love and such a powerful motive as it is to excuse so many things, that Lady Macbeth must have suffered greatly if Duncan had been killed if she had not had the consolation of her conscience."

Monte Cristo, with his characteristic sarcasm, babbled out one frightening maxim and one dreadful grotesque, and Madame de Villefort listened greedily.Then, after a silence, she said: "You know, Monsieur Earl, you are a formidable debater, and you see the world through a somewhat pale light! Is it true that you judge the world so carefully that you can use the alembic With the retort? You are right, you are a great chemist, and as for the elixir you gave my son and revived him quickly..."

"Oh, this drug is not to be taken lightly, Madame," said Monte Cristo; "one drop will revive the dying child, but three will cause the blood to rush into the lungs and set the heart beating violently, and six will Cessation of breath, fainting, much worse than he was then, ten drops, sudden death. You know, ma'am, how I pulled him away hastily when he touched those vials rashly. !"

"Then it is a very terrible poison?"

"Oh, my God, no! First, let's put it this way, the word poison is specious, because medicine can use the most powerful poisons, but when used according to the law, they are good medicines."

"What the hell is that?"

"It is a medicine which my friend, the eminent Elder Adairmont, skillfully concocted, and taught me how to take."

"Ah," said Madame de Villefort, "it must be a very effective sedative."

"Simply a panacea, Madame, you have seen it with your own eyes," replied the count. "I use it quite often, of course, with caution." He added, laughing.

"I think so too," said Madame de Villefort in the same tone. "I am of the nervous type, and I am prone to fainting. I need a doctor like Adairmont to give me some medicine so that I can breathe easily and freely." You don’t need to worry about suffocating to death one day. But this kind of medicine is hard to find in France, and your elder may not be willing to make a special trip to Paris for me, so I will just use general medicine Mr. Lanche's sedative, in addition, peppermint and Ofman's potion are also my usual medicines. You see, this is my custom-made medicine, and the dosage is twice as large as usual."

Monte Cristo opened a tortoiseshell box that the young woman handed him, and sniffed the potion, as if an amateur and experienced connoisseur were trying to identify what it was. "It's a good medicine," he said, "but it must be swallowed, but it is generally impossible to swallow it after fainting. I still think my medicine is good."

"Of course, especially after I have seen the effect of this medicine with my own eyes, I also like to use it. But it must be a kind of medicine that is not rumored, so I am embarrassed to ask you for it."

"But I, Madame," said Monte Cristo, rising, "I should like to give it to you."

"Oh, sir!"

"Just one thing must be remembered, a small dose is good medicine, a large dose is poison. You have seen with your own eyes that one drop can save lives, but five or six drops will definitely kill people. What is especially terrible is that after a glass of wine is mixed with this medicine , the taste of the wine has not changed at all. But I will say no more, madam, as if I were giving you some advice."

The clock struck half-past six, and a servant came to announce the arrival of a lady whom Mme de Villefort had invited to dinner.

"If I had the honor of seeing you for the third or fourth time, Monsieur Comte, and not the second," said Madame de Villefort, "if I had the honor of being your friend and not merely your favor, I must Please stay and have a meal together, and I will never accept the first invitation and be rejected."

"Thank you very much, Madame," replied Monte Cristo, "I have an appointment myself, and I cannot break my word. There is a Greek lady, whom I know as a Greek princess, who has not yet seen the Paris Opera, and would like me to accompany her. , I also agreed."

"Go ahead, sir, and don't forget my medicine."

"How is it possible, Madame! Unless our hour's conversation is also forgotten, which is absolutely impossible." Monte Cristo bowed and left the drawing room.

Madame de Villefort was thinking. "What a queer man," she said. "I think his Christian name is like Adalmont."

As for Monte Cristo, the result of his trip had exceeded his expectations. "That's right," he said as he walked, "this is a piece of fertile soil, and we can fully believe that the seeds sown will never fail." The next day, he kept his promise and sent someone to deliver the medicine he wanted.

(End of this chapter)