[Count of Monte Cristo] Love and hatred

r021

Edmund had heard Maisettes hum those Catalan songs countless times, but this time was different.

The singing is really beautiful, like the singing of the Muse.When the last lingering sound dissipated in the darkness, Edmund still didn't notice it. The only thing he could feel was his heart beating uncontrollably.

No, not only his heart, but even the ground under his feet trembled.

He still remembered the dark dawn when he was sent to the Château d'If, when ice and rain fell from the iron-black sky, like thousands of sharp swords piercing the rough sea.

The gendarmes should wait for the rain to stop before taking him to the Château d'If, he thought.But they didn't. Although the journey was not far away, the boat had been wandering on the sea for a long time.For a moment, Edmund hoped that they would never reach the destination, but suddenly the hull shook violently, announcing helplessly—they had arrived.

A gendarme jumped ashore from the boat, and soon Edmund heard the sound of iron ropes being pulled over the pulleys, as the gendarmes were tying the boat with cables.Then the gendarmes escorted him to the Château d'If in the rain.He had sailed past this gloomy fortress countless times, but he never thought that he would be locked up there.

Edmund turned his head back in despair, wanting to take another look at the sea in which he was galloping.Unfortunately, the rain was so heavy that he couldn't see anything.

The stimulation of the sea water made the wound on his arm ache sharply. It was the wound left to meet Mei Tess.Although she still didn't give him an answer, he didn't regret it at all.He was only thankful that he was brave enough to jump off the boat at that time, so that he could see her again and tell her the secret under the fig.

Edmund had no doubt that Plum Tess could find the gold coins.It was there that they had their first kiss.From then on, Mei Tess often waited for him under the flower pergola in Meilan Lane, and the fig tree was the witness of their love.

But for some reason, Edmund could clearly feel that Mei Tess had changed.

If it was before, she would be sad and cry for him, but she couldn't do more for him.But this time, she became unusually sensible, not only skillfully treated his bloody wound for him, but also managed to help him escape.

But...

While Edmund was immersed in his own thoughts, a deeper darkness suddenly descended. When he came back to his senses, he found that he had been escorted into the gate of Chateau d'If.A jailer lit a lamp and led his gendarmes into a room almost buried in the ground.

They pushed poor Edmund in, and immediately locked the door.As if angry at Edmund for disturbing his dream, the jailer left without even leaving any water or bread.

Edmund stood motionless in the darkness until the jailer returned the next day to find him standing there like a statue.

The jailer walked forward and lightly touched Edmund's shoulder, "Aren't you asleep?"

Edmund shook his head, "I don't know..."

"Are you hungry?" the jailer asked again.

"I have no idea..."

"Then what do you know?"

"I know I'm innocent," pleaded Edmund, "please, let me see the warden."

The jailer shrugged and left. He had seen too many prisoners like this.

After that, the jailer never paid any attention to Edmund except when he came to deliver water and bread at fixed times.This situation lasted for two days and two nights, and finally, Edmund lost his mind and threatened the jailer named Adoni, saying that if he did not allow himself to see the warden, he would smash his head with a stool.

This remark finally helped.It didn't take long before he was taken out of the cell by several jailers.

"Are you going to take me to the warden?" Edmund asked.

"No, we're going to take you to the place where the lunatics are held," the leader of the corps returned.

Edmund thought that the cell he was in when he came here was the most terrifying place in the world, but he didn't expect that they threw him into the dungeon, which was the real hell.It was cold, damp, and dark, with no light and no hope.

After that, he cut off all contact with the outside world.He often thinks back to those days when he was galloping across the sea, recalling the familiar faces of his relatives and lovers in Marseille, but he finds that everything he loves is gradually blurred and far away from him.

After all, he would never hear a word from Marseilles again, never see the sun again, never hear even the sound of the sea.

In this dark dungeon, Edmund once thought that he was not far from death.Every moment, every moment, every day, every month, he felt that he was dying little by little.

The only thing that accompanied him was endless pain, devouring his heart bit by bit.

He could not understand why the venerable protector, Villefort, had promised to set him free soon, but why he had been forgotten in this dark corner, where he was left to rot.

He clearly remembered that acting prosecutor Villefort said in a soft tone after listening to his statement, "Even if you are at fault, it can only be regarded as a crime of negligence, and since it was ordered by your captain, this Negligence is nothing. Give us this letter you brought from Elba, write down your words, and go back to your friend, and come again when you are needed. (Note 1)"

"Am I free, then, Mr. Prosecutor?" cried Edmund excitedly.

"Yes, but first you must give me the letter from Napoleon."

"It's with you, sir. They've taken it from me."

Villefort nodded, indicating that he could leave.But just as he was packing his things, Villefort stopped him again, "By the way, who is that letter for?"

"General Noirtier," replied Edmund, "the address is the Rue du Hayron, Paris."

He still remembered that after the prosecutor heard that answer, his face became extremely pale for a moment, as if he had suddenly suffered a serious illness.At that time, Edmund had a bad premonition in his heart. That General Noirtier must be a very important person, and the prosecutor would be like this.As long as the general is involved, his case will become complicated.

Sure enough, the acting prosecutor Villefort immediately changed his words and said that the case would be retried.But Dinvillefort, after reading the letter from Napoleon, was merciful and threw the letter into the stove, "Monsieur Dantès, this letter is your chief crime. Behold, I destroyed it!"

Villefort then made Edmund swear that if anyone came to interrogate him again, he would not mention a word of this letter.

"I have sworn, I have done everything he asked," Edmund thought bitterly, "why should I be imprisoned in the Château d'If?"

What made him even more puzzled was why he had suffered such a punishment for doing nothing wrong.

He asked the solid wall, and the wall did not answer him.

He asked the cold iron window, but the iron window did not answer him.

He asked about the endless darkness and void, and this time, he heard it.He heard a small rhythmic tapping sound coming from the ground.

"Boom boom boom..." It was like a drumbeat from hell.

"Boom, boom, boom!" No, that was the devil's mocking of him.

Edmund was furious to the extreme, but all he could do now was to punish his unknown persecutors with the most horrific torture imaginable in his mind.But this is far from enough, because torture is followed by death, and after death, even if you don’t get rest, it’s a state of numbness that’s close to rest.

Edmund gradually thought of suicide because he was always thinking that death was peace.This idea fell into the dark soil like a seed, and it began to feed on pain and grow crazily.In the end, even those things he was nostalgic for could no longer influence his determination.

After all, when he risked his life and fled back to Marseille, he could no longer see the love he once had in Mai Tess' eyes.She is everything to him!And if even she doesn't love him anymore, then what's the point of his life.

Perhaps when death did come, all suffering would end, Edmund thought.

However, what he didn't expect was that when he was in despair, his sweetheart Mei Tess broke through the dangers of the Château d'If and brought him the light and the long-lost breath of the sea.

Everything seemed like a dream, and he could hardly believe that the beautiful woman in front of him was the Mei Tess he knew.

"My plum Tess, so you still love me..." a part of Edmund murmured.He blamed himself for his unfounded guesses, was ashamed of his unsteady trust, and regretted those blurted words.

He caressed the gold-plated ring that Tess plum gave him. The hand-carved patterns and lines on it were different from his own, soft and gentle, more like never-ending waves.

Sea and fire, iron and gold, opposite poles, are tightly fused together.

He suddenly remembered the words of the gypsy who sold him the ring, "This pair of rings can only be worn by the destined lover. Wearing it, no matter how far away we will be together, no matter how long it takes, we will never forget it. No matter how many storms we experience , your love will never fade..."

......

After the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, the hope of changing the sentence in Edmund's case was completely shattered, and all the "evidence" provided by Morel to Villefort in order to rescue Edmund had now become Edmund's incriminating evidence.

The strange thing is that Villefort, who served as the Marseille inspector during the "Hundred Days", was not affected by this experience of serving Napoleon, but was reused by Louis XVIII and transferred to Nîmes as an inspector.It was evident that Villefort had deceived Morel, and all of them.He never presented the evidence to Napoleon, as he had promised.

Fortunately, because of Mei Tess' reminder, Morrell's actions to rescue Edmund were all carried out in private.Otherwise, he would have been persecuted as a Napoleonic like Edmund.

For old Dantes, the news that his son in prison was still alive became his life-saving straw, which made him persevere with his last hope.

Where's our plum Tess?

She is rarely seen in Catalan villages.

But ships to and from the port of Marseille often see a beautiful Catalan girl.She always drives the boat alone, drifting on the sea between the Marseilles fjord and the Château d'If, throwing the fishing net with hope on the sparkling sea...