World Literature Classics Library: The Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 80 Revenge (1)
"Where does the count want me to begin?" asked Beticio.

"As you wish," said Monte Cristo, "I know nothing anyway."

"I thought Elder Buzzoni had already told Your Excellency..."

"Yes, I may have talked about it piecemeal, but seven or eight years have passed, and I have forgotten all about it."

"In this way, I don't have to worry that Your Excellency will find me annoying, I can..."

"Tell me, Monsieur Beticio, tell me, and pretend that I am reading the evening papers."

"We have to start talking about 1815."

"Ah," said Monte Cristo, "1815, that's a long time."

"Yes, sir, but I remember all these events down to the last detail, as if it happened just yesterday. I have a brother who served in the emperor's army and is already a lieutenant, and his regiment is all Corsi Marie Claire. My brother was my only friend. We were orphans. I was 5 years old and he was 18. My brother raised me and treated me like a son. He married and started a family in 1814 during the Bourbon dynasty, and later the emperor Returning from Elba, my brother immediately returned to the army, was slightly wounded at Waterloo, and withdrew with the team to the Loire."

"You are telling me the history of the 'Hundred Days', Monsieur Beticio," said the count. "If I remember correctly, this history has already been written."

"Excuse me, sir, but at the beginning these details have to be explained clearly, and you also told me that you don't find my talking annoying."

"Okay, go ahead, I will do what I say."

"One day we received a letter. I must tell you that we were living at the time in a little village called Logriano, at the head of the Cape of Corsica. It was from my brother, who told We said that the army was disbanded, and he was going to go home by way of Châteauroux, Clermont-Ferrand, Mont du Mont and Nîmes. He said that if I had money, I would ask someone to bring it to Nîmes and give it to a The owner of the small inn we know, I really have a little contact with the owner."

"Smuggle," said Monte Cristo.

"Oh, my God! Life must go on, Monsieur Earl."

"It's true, let's go on."

"As I said just now, sir, I love my brother very much, so I decided not to ask someone to send the money, but to send it myself. I have 1000 francs, and I left 500 for my sister-in-law Ascenta. I took 500 and set off on the road. To Nimes. There is nothing difficult on the way. I have my own boat, and I happen to have some goods to take to sea, so I can do it with me. But when the goods are loaded, the head wind blows, and we go We did not enter the Rhone for four or five days, but at last we did, and went upstream to Arles, where I anchored somewhere between Bellegatt and Beaucaire, and went overland to Nîmes."

"It's time to get to the point, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir, I beg your pardon, but your Excellency will understand in a moment that what I am telling you is absolutely not nonsense. At that time, the notorious massacre was going on in the south of France. There were two or three robbers named Retalon, Truffomy, and Grafont killed anyone in the streets and alleys where they suspected they belonged to the party of Napoleon. Surely the count has heard of such indiscretions?"

"I have vaguely heard that the place where I was was very far away from France. Let's go on."

"When I arrived in Nîmes, it was like walking in a pool of blood. Every step I took, I encountered a few dead bodies. The murderers ganged up to kill, rob, and burn. Seeing this bloody scene, I trembled with fear. I had nothing to do with myself, I was an ordinary Corsican fisherman, and I had nothing to fear. And on the contrary, it was a good time for us smugglers. But my brother is a soldier of the empire, fresh from the Loire's army, still in uniform and epaulettes, and everything is enough for him to fear. I hurried to the innkeeper's house, and my premonition was right, My brother arrived in Nimes the day before, and he was murdered at the door just as he was about to knock on the door. I asked around to find the murderer, but the murderer was too scary, and no one dared to tell me. What are their last names? So I thought of the French judiciary, which I had always heard people talk about, they should be fearless, and I hurried to the prosecutor."

"The prosecutor's name is Villefort?" asked Monte Cristo casually.

"Yes, sir, he is from Marseilles, and was formerly the deputy prosecutor of Marseilles. He worked so hard that he was promoted, and he is said to be one of the first to report to the government that the emperor returned from Elba. .”

"So," said Monte Cristo, "you went to him."

"'Sir,' I said to him, 'my brother was murdered yesterday in the streets of Nîmes. I don't know who the murderer was, and it is your business to find him out. You are the magistrate here, If the judiciary fails to protect good people, then the victim should always be avenged."

"'What does your brother do?' the prosecutor asked.

"'A lieutenant of the Corsican troops.'

"'Then he is a warrior of the usurpers?'

"'A soldier in the French army.'

"'Very well!' he replied, 'he killed with his sword, and died by the sword himself.'

"'You are mistaken, sir, he died with a dagger.'

"'What do you say I can do?' replied the judge.

"'But I have told you that I hope you will avenge my brother.'

"'Avenge on whom?'

"'Find his murderer.'

"'How do I know who the murderer is?'

"'You may order to investigate.'

"'What's the use of looking? Your brother probably got into a fight and was killed in a duel. These veterans are bold and reckless. They were proud of the Empire, but now they're in trouble. And we Southerners don't like Soldiers don't like boldness either.'

"'Sir,' I went on, 'I am not begging you for myself. I myself, whether weeping or revenge, is it over? But my poor brother has a wife, and if I have another trouble, The poor woman must starve to death, for she lives on my brother's wages. Please ask the government for a little pension for her.'

"'As long as there is a revolution, there will be disaster,' replied Villefort. 'Your brother is the victim of the revolution. It is bad luck, so the government has no obligation to your family in this respect. It's time to persecute the royal party. If we settle the vengeance now, your brother may be sentenced to death today. It is only right to do so, because this is the law of revenge."

"'What! Sir,' I exclaimed, 'you are a judge, how can you speak to me like that! . . . '

"'The Corsicans are madmen, I swear on my honour,' said M. de Villefort; 'they think their countrymen are emperors, and you are too illiterate, my dear friend, for such a thing. You should have come and told me two months ago. It’s too late for today, so just go. If you don’t want to go, then I’ll ask someone to see you off.’

"I looked at him for a while, to see if I could help him. The man was a hard-hearted man, so I leaned closer and whispered to him: 'Well, since you know the Corsicans, you should know What do they say? You think it is right to kill my brother because he is a Napoleonist and you are a royalist. Well, I am also a Napoleonist. I want to make it clear to you. , I want to kill you. Now I will announce to you that I want to avenge my relatives. You should pay attention and take care of yourself, because the next time we face each other will be the anniversary of your death." If you are still in shock, open the door and escape."

"Ha ha!" said Monte Cristo, "you look so honest, Monsieur Beticio, that you have done this to the prosecutor! You deserve it! But at least he must know what you Corsicans say about avenging one's relatives." How powerful is it?"

"He knew it very well, so since then he never went out alone, always hiding at home, and he sent people to search for me everywhere. Fortunately, I was hiding very well, and he couldn't find me. In this way, he panicked. He was too scared to stay in Nîmes any longer. He asked for a transfer, and the fellow was a man of influence, and he was appointed prosecutor at Versailles. But, as you know, a Corsican who swears to avenge his enemy will do so. There is no such thing as a short road or a long road. Although I walk on foot, no matter how fast his carriage drives, he is never more than half a day ahead of me. It is not difficult to kill him, and I have found it a hundred times. Opportunity, but the important thing is to kill him without being noticed, especially not caught, because now I have to take care of myself, and I have to protect and support my sister-in-law. I watched M. de Villefort for three months, In the past three months, every step he took, every time he went out for activities, every walk, there was nothing I couldn’t see. Wherever he went, I followed him. Finally I found that he came to Auteuil sneakily, and I Followed closely, and saw him enter our present house. But he did not enter by the street gate as most people do. He came either on horseback or in a carriage, but he left both cart and horse at the inn, Then come in through the small door, you see, it is the small door over there."

Monte Cristo nodded, meaning that he really saw in the dark the little door that Beticio had spoken of.

"I no longer need to stay at Versailles, so I stayed at Auteuil and asked about the situation. If I want to kill him, it is obvious that I should set a trap here. The porter has just told your Excellency that this is the case. The house belonged to M. de Saint-Méran, father-in-law of Villefort. M. de Saint-Méran lived in Versailles, so he had no use for the country house. It was said that the house was rented to a young widow who was only known to be called the baroness. Sure enough, I crawled in Looking through the wall, I saw a young and beautiful woman walking alone in this garden. There are no windows around the garden. The woman kept looking towards the small door, and I understood that she was in the middle of the night Waiting for M. de Villefort. When she came near me, though it was already very dark, I saw her face clearly. I saw that this young and beautiful woman was about eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and tall. Blonde hair. She was only wearing a bathrobe and nothing was wrapped around her waist. I could see that she was pregnant. It seemed that she was in the late pregnancy. After a while, the small door opened and a man walked in. The woman took her They ran as fast as they could to meet them, and they embraced and kissed intimately, and then they both entered the house. The man was M. de Villefort, and I reckoned that when he came out, especially if he came out at night , must have walked through the whole garden alone."

"Then," asked the count, "did you find out the woman's name afterward?"

"No, sir," replied Beticio, "you will find out in a moment, and I had no time to inquire."

"Go on."

"That night," continued Beticio, "I could have killed the prosecutor, but I hadn't figured out the layout of the garden. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to kill him at once, and if he shouted, no one would hear him." Hurry up, then I can't run away. I decided to wait until their next tryst. In order not to miss any situation, I asked for a small room on the street by the garden wall. Three days later , about seven o'clock in the evening, I saw a servant come out of the house on horseback, and galloped down the lane to the road of Sèvres. I thought he was going to Versailles. I guessed right, Three hours later the servant came back covered in dust, having finished his errand, and ten minutes later another man came, on foot, wrapped in a cloak, and he opened the little garden gate, Once inside, close the door behind you.

"I hastened down. Although I did not see Villefort's face, I knew it was him by the beating of my heart. I crossed the street and came to the corner stone at the corner, where I peeped for the first time. The garden is the stepping stone. This time I didn't just peek, I took the knife out of my pocket, tried it, and it was really sharp, and then I climbed over the wall and entered the garden. As soon as I was in, I ran to see the Small door, he left the key on the door, although he was very careful, he only turned the key twice in the lockhole. In this way, there will be no obstacles for me to run from here. So I started to check the place, In the center was a large lawn of fine English grass, and at the corners were thick groves full of autumn flowers. Whether M. de Villefort entered or exited from the little building to the little door, or from the little door to the building, , he had to go through the bushes.

"It was the end of September, the wind was very strong, the pale moon was hazy, and it was sometimes covered by the big thick clouds galloping in the sky, and only the sandy path leading to the house was white, but impenetrable. The dense and dark bushes, in which one wants to hide, he just needs to be sure that no one will find him. The bushes I hid were closest to the road that Villefort must pass. Once I got into the bushes, there were waves The wind was blowing the branches down on my head, and I thought there was a moaning in the whistling of the wind. But, you know, or rather, you don't know, Monsieur Count, the assassin always feels as if A muffled cry was heard in the air. Two hours passed, and several times in between I thought I heard that moan again. At last twelve o'clock struck midnight.

"While the last trembling bell was still ringing, I saw a faint light illuminate the window of the dark staircase from which we had just come down. The door opened, and the cloaked man came out. At this moment I It's creepy, but how long have I been preparing for this moment! I will not be soft on anything, so I draw the knife, open the blade, and wait to strike. The man in the cloak came straight to me, this The place happened to be uncovered, and he gradually approached, and I seemed to find that he was holding a murder weapon in his right hand. I was afraid, not because I was afraid to fight him, but because I was afraid that my success would fall short. When he was only a few steps away from me , I just realized that I used the shovel as a murder weapon just now.

"I have not yet guessed why M. de Villefort had a shovel in his hand, but he stopped on the edge of the bushes, looked around, and began to dig a hole in the ground. Only then did I see him under his cloak. Tucked in something, I saw him take off his cloak and put it on the grass, so that he could work quickly. I will tell you that my hatred was mixed with a little curiosity at this time, and I wanted to see where Villefort was. What the hell, so I waited, holding my breath, motionless. Then I had an idea, when I saw the prosecutor take out from under the cape a small box two feet long and seven or eight inches wide. It's settled.

"I watched him put the small box into the pit, refill the soil, and stamp the freshly filled soil with his feet. He wanted to leave no trace of the more dry work in the middle of the night. At this time, I He sprang at him, stabbed him in the chest, and said: 'I am Giovanni Beticio! Pay my brother's with your life, and give his widow your treasure.' I don't know if he heard these words, it didn't look like it, because he fell to the ground without even shouting. I just felt his hot blood splashed on my hand and sprayed on my face. At that time I was like a drunk, and I seemed to be going crazy, but the blood not only did not make me impulsive, but made me sober. In a blink of an eye, I dug out the small box with a shovel, and then in order not to let others see I took the things away, I filled the soil again, then I threw the shovel outside from the wall, I rushed to the small door, twisted the lock twice from the outside to lock it, took the key and left.”

"Well!" said Monte Cristo, "it seems that this is killing and stealing."

"No, my lord," replied Beticio, "this is revenge for a loved one, and the return of the property to its rightful owner."

"The money is at least a whole number, right?"

"That's not money."

"Oh, yes, I remember," said Monte Cristo. "Didn't you say something about children?"

"Exactly, sir. I strode down to the river, and sat down on the bank. I was anxious to know what was in this chest, and I picked the lock with my knife. Inside was a swaddle of fine linen, The wrapped child was a newborn baby. The baby’s face was purple, and his little hands were blue. It seemed that he died of suffocation because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. But his body was not cold yet, so I hesitated and couldn’t bear to put him Throwing it into the river flowing at my feet. Sure enough, after a while I felt a slight throbbing in his chest, and I untied the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. I used to work as a nurse at the Bastia hospital, and I According to the doctor's certificate, the linen swaddling clothes indicate that the parents of the child are rich, and the blood on my body could be splashed by the child or someone else. They didn't have any doubts and told me where the Foundling Hall was, It turned out to be at the head of Hell Street. At this time, I had an extra thought and tore the swaddle into two pieces. For the two letters on the swaddle, I kept one half of the child, and I kept the other half. Then, I put the baby in the baby locker, rang the doorbell and ran. Two weeks later I returned to Logriano and I said to Asenta, 'Don't worry, sister-in-law, Isla. El died, but I avenged him.'

"So she asked me what I meant by that, and I told her the story.

"'Giovanni,' Ascenta said to me, 'you should bring the child back so we can be his lost parent and name him Benedetto (Corsican dialect, meaning "blessing") .), for the sake of this good thing, God will also bless us.'

"I didn't say much, I just gave her the half of the swaddle that was left behind. If we live a better life in the future, we can bring the child over."

"What are the two letters on the swaddle?" asked Monte Cristo.

"One is H, the other is N, and above the letters is the band of the baronet's coronet."

"My God, I see you're using heraldic terms, Monsieur Beticio! Where did you learn genealogy?"

"You can learn everything under your errand, Monsieur Count."

"Going forward, I want to know two things."

"Which two, sir?"

"What happened to the boy? Didn't you tell me it was a boy, Monsieur Beticio?"

"No, sir, I don't recall saying that."

"I thought I heard you say it, maybe I was mistaken."

(End of this chapter)