基督山伯爵 英文版 The Count of Monte Cristo
大仲马 Alexandre Dumas père
Chapter 44 Page 1
The Vendetta.
"At what point shall I begin my story, your excellency?"asked Bertuccio.
"Where you please," returned Monte Cristo, "since I knownothing at all of it."
"I thought the Abbe Busoni had told your excellency."
"Some particulars, doubtless, but that is seven or eightyears ago, and I have forgotten them."
"Then I can speak without fear of tiring your excellency."
"Go on, M. Bertuccio; you will supply the want of theevening papers."
"The story begins in 1815."
"Ah," said Monte Cristo, "1815 is not yesterday."
"No, monsieur, and yet I recollect all things as clearly asif they had happened but then. I had a brother, an elderbrother, who was in the service of the emperor; he hadbecome lieutenant in a regiment composed entirely ofCorsicans. This brother was my only friend; we becameorphans -- I at five, he at eighteen. He brought me up as ifI had been his son, and in 1814 he married. When the emperorreturned from the Island of Elba, my brother instantlyjoined the army, was slightly wounded at Waterloo, andretired with the army beyond the Loire."
"But that is the history of the Hundred Days, M. Bertuccio,"said the count; "unless I am mistaken, it has been alreadywritten."
"Excuse me, excellency, but these details are necessary, andyou promised to be patient."
"Go on; I will keep my word."
"One day we received a letter. I should tell you that welived in the little village of Rogliano, at the extremity ofCape Corso. This letter was from my brother. He told us thatthe army was disbanded, and that he should return byChateauroux, Clermont-Ferrand, Le Puy, and Nimes; and, if Ihad any money, he prayed me to leave it for him at Nimes,with an inn-keeper with whom I had dealings."
"In the smuggling line?" said Monte Cristo.
"Eh, your excellency? Every one must live."
"Certainly; go on."
"I loved my brother tenderly, as I told your excellency, andI resolved not to send the money, but to take it to himmyself. I possessed a thousand francs. I left five hundredwith Assunta, my sister-in-law, and with the other fivehundred I set off for Nimes. It was easy to do so, and as Ihad my boat and a lading to take in at sea, everythingfavored my project. But, after we had taken in our cargo,the wind became contrary, so that we were four or five dayswithout being able to enter the Rhone. At last, however, wesucceeded, and worked up to Arles. I left the boat betweenBellegarde and Beaucaire, and took the road to Nimes."
"We are getting to the story now?"
"Yes, your excellency; excuse me, but, as you will see, Ionly tell you what is absolutely necessary. Just at thistime the famous massacres took place in the south of France.Three brigands, called Trestaillon, Truphemy, and Graffan,publicly assassinated everybody whom they suspected ofBonapartism. You have doubtless heard of these massacres,your excellency?"
"Vaguely; I was far from France at that period. Go on."
"As I entered Nimes, I literally waded in blood; at everystep you encountered dead bodies and bands of murderers, whokilled, plundered, and burned. At the sight of thisslaughter and devastation I became terrified, not for myself-- for I, a simple Corsican fisherman, had nothing to fear;on the contrary, that time was most favorable for ussmugglers -- but for my brother, a soldier of the empire,returning from the army of the Loire, with his uniform andhis epaulets, there was everything to apprehend. I hastenedto the inn-keeper. My misgivings had been but too true. Mybrother had arrived the previous evening at Nimes, and, atthe very door of the house where he was about to demandhospitality, he had been assassinated. I did all in my powerto discover the murderers, but no one durst tell me theirnames, so much were they dreaded. I then thought of thatFrench justice of which I had heard so much, and whichfeared nothing, and I went to the king's attorney."
"And this king's attorney was named Villefort?" asked MonteCristo carelessly.
"Yes, your excellency; he came from Marseilles, where he hadbeen deputy-procureur. His zeal had procured himadvancement, and he was said to be one of the first who hadinformed the government of the departure from the Island ofElba."
"Then," said Monte Cristo "you went to him?"
"`Monsieur,' I said, `my brother was assassinated yesterdayin the streets of Nimes, I know not by whom, but it is yourduty to find out. You are the representative of justicehere, and it is for justice to avenge those she has beenunable to protect.' -- `Who was your brother?' asked he. --`A lieutenant in the Corsican battalion.' -- `A soldier ofthe usurper, then?' -- `A soldier of the French army.' --`Well,' replied he, `he has smitten with the sword, and hehas perished by the sword.' -- `You are mistaken, monsieur,'I replied; `he has perished by the poniard.' -- `What do youwant me to do?' asked the magistrate. -- `I have alreadytold you -- avenge him.' -- `On whom?' -- `On hismurderers.' -- `How should I know who they are?' -- `Orderthem to be sought for.' -- `Why, your brother has beeninvolved in a quarrel, and killed in a duel. All these oldsoldiers commit excesses which were tolerated in the time ofthe emperor, but which are not suffered now, for the peoplehere do not like soldiers of such disorderly conduct.' --`Monsieur,' I replied, `it is not for myself that I entreatyour interference -- I should grieve for him or avenge him,but my poor brother had a wife, and were anything to happento me, the poor creature would perish from want, for mybrother's pay alone kept her. Pray, try and obtain a smallgovernment pension for her.'
"`Every revolution has its catastrophes,' returned M. deVillefort; `your brother has been the victim of this. It isa misfortune, and government owes nothing to his family. Ifwe are to judge by all the vengeance that the followers ofthe usurper exercised on the partisans of the king, when, intheir turn, they were in power, your brother would beto-day, in all probability, condemned to death. What hashappened is quite natural, and in conformity with the law ofreprisals.' -- `What,' cried I, `do you, a magistrate, speakthus to me?' -- `All these Corsicans are mad, on my honor,'replied M. de Villefort; `they fancy that their countrymanis still emperor. You have mistaken the time, you shouldhave told me this two months ago, it is too late now. Gonow, at once, or I shall have you put out.'
"I looked at him an instant to see if there was anything tohope from further entreaty. But he was a man of stone. Iapproached him, and said in a low voice, `Well, since youknow the Corsicans so well, you know that they always keeptheir word. You think that it was a good deed to kill mybrother, who was a Bonapartist, because you are a royalist.Well, I, who am a Bonapartist also, declare one thing toyou, which is, that I will kill you. From this moment Ideclare the vendetta against you, so protect yourself aswell as you can, for the next time we meet your last hourhas come.' And before he had recovered from his surprise, Iopened the door and left the room."
"Well, well," said Monte Cristo, "such an innocent lookingperson as you are to do those things, M. Bertuccio, and to aking's attorney at that! But did he know what was meant bythe terrible word `vendetta'?"
"One evening, as I was looking over the wall, I saw a youngand handsome woman who was walking alone in that garden,which was not overlooked by any windows, and I guessed thatshe was awaiting M. de Villefort. When she was sufficientlynear for me to distinguish her features, I saw she was fromeighteen to nineteen, tall and very fair. As she had a loosemuslin dress on and as nothing concealed her figure, I sawshe would ere long become a mother. A few moments after, thelittle door was opened and a man entered. The young womanhastened to meet him. They threw themselves into eachother's arms, embraced tenderly, and returned together tothe house. The man was M. de Villefort; I fully believedthat when he went out in the night he would be forced totraverse the whole of the garden alone."
"And," asked the count, "did you ever know the name of thiswoman?"
"No, excellency," returned Bertuccio; "you will see that Ihad no time to learn it."
"Go on."
"That evening," continued Bertuccio, "I could have killedthe procureur, but as I was not sufficiently acquainted withthe neighborhood, I was fearful of not killing him on thespot, and that if his cries were overheard I might be taken;so I put it off until the next occasion, and in order thatnothing should escape me, I took a chamber looking into thestreet bordered by the wall of the garden. Three days after,about seven o'clock in the evening, I saw a servant onhorseback leave the house at full gallop, and take the roadto Sevres. I concluded that he was going to Versailles, andI was not deceived. Three hours later, the man returnedcovered with dust, his errand was performed, and two minutesafter, another man on foot, muffled in a mantle, opened thelittle door of the garden, which he closed after him. Idescended rapidly; although I had not seen Villefort's face,I recognized him by the beating of my heart. I crossed thestreet, and stopped at a post placed at the angle of thewall, and by means of which I had once before looked intothe garden. This time I did not content myself with looking,but I took my knife out of my pocket, felt that the pointwas sharp, and sprang over the wall. My first care was torun to the door; he had left the key in it, taking thesimple precaution of turning it twice in the lock. Nothing,then, preventing my escape by this means, I examined thegrounds. The garden was long and narrow; a stretch of smoothturf extended down the middle, and at the corners wereclumps of trees with thick and massy foliage, that made abackground for the shrubs and flowers. In order to go fromthe door to the house, or from the house to the door, M. deVillefort would be obliged to pass by one of these clumps oftrees.
"It was the end of September; the wind blew violently. Thefaint glimpses of the pale moon, hidden momentarily bymasses of dark clouds that were sweeping across the sky,whitened the gravel walks that led to the house, but wereunable to pierce the obscurity of the thick shrubberies, inwhich a man could conceal himself without any fear ofdiscovery. I hid myself in the one nearest to the pathVillefort must take, and scarcely was I there when, amidstthe gusts of wind, I fancied I heard groans; but you know,or rather you do not know, your excellency, that he who isabout to commit an assassination fancies that he hears lowcries perpetually ringing in his ears. Two hours passedthus, during which I imagined I heard moans repeatedly.Midnight struck. As the last stroke died away, I saw a faintlight shine through the windows of the private staircase bywhich we have just descended. The door opened, and the manin the mantle reappeared. The terrible moment had come, butI had so long been prepared for it that my heart did notfail in the least. I drew my knife from my pocket again,opened it, and made ready to strike. The man in the mantleadvanced towards me, but as he drew near I saw that he had aweapon in his hand. I was afraid, not of a struggle, but ofa failure. When he was only a few paces from me, I saw thatwhat I had taken for a weapon was only a spade. I was stillunable to divine for what reason M. de Villefort had thisspade in his hands, when he stopped close to the thicketwhere I was, glanced round, and began to dig a hole in theearth. I then perceived that he was hiding something underhis mantle, which he laid on the grass in order to dig morefreely. Then, I confess, curiosity mingled with hatred; Iwished to see what Villefort was going to do there, and Iremained motionless, holding my breath. Then an idea crossedmy mind, which was confirmed when I saw the procureur liftfrom under his mantle a box, two feet long, and six or eightinches deep. I let him place the box in the hole he hadmade, then, while he stamped with his feet to remove alltraces of his occupation, I rushed on him and plunged myknife into his breast, exclaiming, -- `I am GiovanniBertuccio; thy death for my brother's; thy treasure for hiswidow; thou seest that my vengeance is more complete than Ihad hoped.' I know not if he heard these words; I think hedid not, for he fell without a cry. I felt his blood gushover my face, but I was intoxicated, I was delirious, andthe blood refreshed, instead of burning me. In a second Ihad disinterred the box; then, that it might not be known Ihad done so, I filled up the hole, threw the spade over thewall, and rushed through the door, which I double-locked,carrying off the key."
"Ah," said Monte Cristo "it seems to me this was nothing butmurder and robbery."
"No, your excellency," returned Bertuccio; "it was avendetta followed by restitution."
"And was the sum a large one?"
"It was not money."
"Ah, I recollect," replied the count; "did you not saysomething of an infant?"
"Yes, excellency; I hastened to the river, sat down on thebank, and with my knife forced open the lock of the box. Ina fine linen cloth was wrapped a new-born child. Its purplevisage, and its violet-colored hands showed that it hadperished from suffocation, but as it was not yet cold, Ihesitated to throw it into the water that ran at my feet.After a moment I fancied that I felt a slight pulsation ofthe heart, and as I had been assistant at the hospital atBastia, I did what a doctor would have done -- I inflatedthe lungs by blowing air into them, and at the expiration ofa quarter of an hour, it began to breathe, and cried feebly.In my turn I uttered a cry, but a cry of joy. `God has notcursed me then,' I cried, `since he permits me to save thelife of a human creature, in exchange for the life I havetaken away.'"
"And what did you do with the child?" asked Monte Cristo."It was an embarrassing load for a man seeking to escape."
"I had not for a moment the idea of keeping it, but I knewthat at Paris there was an asylum where they receive suchcreatures. As I passed the city gates I declared that I hadfound the child on the road, and I inquired where the asylumwas; the box confirmed my statement, the linen proved thatthe infant belonged to wealthy parents, the blood with whichI was covered might have proceeded from the child as well asfrom any one else. No objection was raised, but they pointedout the asylum, which was situated at the upper end of theRue d'Enfer, and after having taken the precaution ofcutting the linen in two pieces, so that one of the twoletters which marked it was on the piece wrapped around thechild, while the other remained in my possession, I rang thebell, and fled with all speed. A fortnight after I was atRogliano, and I said to Assunta, -- `Console thyself,sister; Israel is dead, but he is avenged.' She demandedwhat I meant, and when I had told her all, -- `Giovanni,'said she, `you should have brought this child with you; wewould have replaced the parents it has lost, have called itBenedetto, and then, in consequence of this good action, Godwould have blessed us.' In reply I gave her the half of thelinen I had kept in order to reclaim him if we became rich."
"What letters were marked on the linen?" said Monte Cristo.
"An H and an N, surmounted by a baron's coronet."
"By heaven, M. Bertuccio, you make use of heraldic terms;where did you study heraldry?"
heart, and as I had been assistant at the hospital atBastia, I did what.
"In your service, excellency, where everything is learned."
"Go on, I am curious to know two things."
"What are they, your excellency ?"
"What became of this little boy? for I think you told me itwas a boy, M. Bertuccio."
"No excellency, I do not recollect telling you that."
"I thought you did; I must have been mistaken."
"No, you were not, for it was in reality a little boy. Butyour excellency wished to know two things; what was thesecond?"
"The second was the crime of which you were accused when youasked for a confessor, and the Abbe Busoni came to visit youat your request in the prison at Nimes."
"The story will be very long, excellency."
"What matter? you know I take but little sleep, and I do notsuppose you are very much inclined for it either." Bertucciobowed, and resumed his story.
"Partly to drown the recollections of the past that hauntedme, partly to supply the wants of the poor widow, I eagerlyreturned to my trade of smuggler, which had become more easysince that relaxation of the laws which always follows arevolution. The southern districts were ill-watched inparticular, in consequence of the disturbances that wereperpetually breaking out in Avignon, Nimes, or Uzes. Weprofited by this respite on the part of the government tomake friends everywhere. Since my brother's assassination inthe streets of Nimes, I had never entered the town; theresult was that the inn-keeper with whom we were connected,seeing that we would no longer come to him, was forced tocome to us, and had established a branch to his inn, on theroad from Bellegarde to Beaucaire, at the sign of the Pontdu Gard. We had thus, at Aigues-Mortes, Martigues, or Bouc,a dozen places where we left our goods, and where, in caseof necessity, we concealed ourselves from the gendarmes andcustom-house officers. Smuggling is a profitable trade, whena certain degree of vigor and intelligence is employed; asfor myself, brought up in the mountains, I had a doublemotive for fearing the gendarmes and custom-house officers,as my appearance before the judges would cause an inquiry,and an inquiry always looks back into the past. And in mypast life they might find something far more grave than theselling of smuggled cigars, or barrels of brandy without apermit. So, preferring death to capture, I accomplished themost astonishing deeds, and which, more than once, showed methat the too great care we take of our bodies is the onlyobstacle to the success of those projects which requirerapid decision, and vigorous and determined execution. Inreality, when you have once devoted your life to yourenterprises, you are no longer the equal of other men, or,rather, other men are no longer your equals, and whosoeverhas taken this resolution, feels his strength and resourcesdoubled."