登陆注册
5382900000508

第508章

"Oh," exclaimed Morrel, with a glance full of bitter reproach, "do you think it possible that I could be?""Listen," said the count."Do you understand the meaning of my words? You cannot take me for a commonplace man, a mere rattle, emitting a vague and senseless noise.When I ask you if you are consoled, I speak to you as a man for whom the human heart has no secrets.Well, Morrel, let us both examine the depths of your heart.Do you still feel the same feverish impatience of grief which made you start like a wounded lion? Have you still that devouring thirst which can only be appeased in the grave? Are you still actuated by the regret which drags the living to the pursuit of death; or are you only suffering from the prostration of fatigue and the weariness of hope deferred? Has the loss of memory rendered it impossible for you to weep? Oh, my dear friend, if this be the case, -- if you can no longer weep, if your frozen heart be dead, if you put all your trust in God, then, Maximilian, you are consoled -- do not complain.""Count," said Morrel, in a firm and at the same time soft voice, "listen to me, as to a man whose thoughts are raised to heaven, though he remains on earth; I come to die in the arms of a friend.Certainly, there are people whom I love.Ilove my sister Julie, -- I love her husband Emmanuel; but Irequire a strong mind to smile on my last moments.My sister would be bathed in tears and fainting; I could not bear to see her suffer.Emmanuel would tear the weapon from my hand, and alarm the house with his cries.You, count, who are more than mortal, will, I am sure, lead me to death by a pleasant path, will you not?""My friend," said the count, "I have still one doubt, -- are you weak enough to pride yourself upon your sufferings?""No, indeed, -- I am calm," said Morrel, giving his hand to the count; "my pulse does not beat slower or faster than usual.No, I feel that I have reached the goal, and I will go no farther.You told me to wait and hope; do you know what you did, unfortunate adviser? I waited a month, or rather I suffered for a month! I did hope (man is a poor wretched creature), I did hope.What I cannot tell, --something wonderful, an absurdity, a miracle, -- of what nature he alone can tell who has mingled with our reason that folly we call hope.Yes, I did wait -- yes, I did hope, count, and during this quarter of an hour we have been talking together, you have unconsciously wounded, tortured my heart, for every word you have uttered proved that there was no hope for me.Oh, count, I shall sleep calmly, deliciously in the arms of death." Morrel uttered these words with an energy which made the count shudder."My friend," continued Morrel, "you named the fifth of October as the end of the period of waiting, -- to-day is the fifth of October," he took out his watch, "it is now nine o'clock, -- I have yet three hours to live.""Be it so," said the count, "come." Morrel mechanically followed the count, and they had entered the grotto before he perceived it.He felt a carpet under his feet, a door opened, perfumes surrounded him, and a brilliant light dazzled his eyes.Morrel hesitated to advance; he dreaded the enervating effect of all that he saw.Monte Cristo drew him in gently."Why should we not spend the last three hours remaining to us of life, like those ancient Romans, who when condemned by Nero, their emperor and heir, sat down at a table covered with flowers, and gently glided into death, amid the perfume of heliotropes and roses?" Morrel smiled.

"As you please," he said; "death is always death, -- that is forgetfulness, repose, exclusion from life, and therefore from grief." He sat down, and Monte Cristo placed himself opposite to him.They were in the marvellous dining-room before described, where the statues had baskets on their heads always filled with fruits and flowers.Morrel had looked carelessly around, and had probably noticed nothing.

"Let us talk like men," he said, looking at the count.

"Go on!"

"Count," said Morrel, "you are the epitome of all human knowledge, and you seem like a being descended from a wiser and more advanced world than ours.""There is something true in what you say," said the count, with that smile which made him so handsome; "I have descended from a planet called grief.""I believe all you tell me without questioning its meaning;for instance, you told me to live, and I did live; you told me to hope, and I almost did so.I am almost inclined to ask you, as though you had experienced death, `is it painful to die?'"Monte Cristo looked upon Morrel with indescribable tenderness."Yes," he said, "yes, doubtless it is painful, if you violently break the outer covering which obstinately begs for life.If you plunge a dagger into your flesh, if you insinuate a bullet into your brain, which the least shock disorders, -- then certainly, you will suffer pain, and you will repent quitting a life for a repose you have bought at so dear a price.""Yes; I know that there is a secret of luxury and pain in death, as well as in life; the only thing is to understand it.""You have spoken truly, Maximilian; according to the care we bestow upon it, death is either a friend who rocks us gently as a nurse, or an enemy who violently drags the soul from the body.Some day, when the world is much older, and when mankind will be masters of all the destructive powers in nature, to serve for the general good of humanity; when mankind, as you were just saying, have discovered the secrets of death, then that death will become as sweet and voluptuous as a slumber in the arms of your beloved.""And if you wished to die, you would choose this death, count?""Yes."

同类推荐
  • 八关斋经

    八关斋经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 观音菩萨传奇

    观音菩萨传奇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 茶赋并书

    茶赋并书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 卫将军文子

    卫将军文子

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Money and Trade Considered

    Money and Trade Considered

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 中吴纪闻

    中吴纪闻

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 生物天堂

    生物天堂

    《我的第一本探索书》是专为21世纪的青少年量身打造的课外读物。本丛书为广大青少年提高科学人文素养打开了一扇通往知识宝库的大门。科学翔实的内容与图文并茂的形式一定可以让青少年在阅读过程中收获心灵的愉悦与精神的富足。王志艳编写的《生物天堂》是丛书之一。《生物天堂》讲述浩瀚无边的宇宙,诡异莫测的自然,神奇有趣的生物 ……千余个知识热点,千余幅精美图片,带领我们一起探索变化无穷的大千世界。
  • 追忆似水年华:盖尔芒特家那边(第三卷)

    追忆似水年华:盖尔芒特家那边(第三卷)

    《追忆似水年华》以回忆的形式对往事作了回顾,有童年的回忆、家庭生活、初恋与失恋、历史事件的观察、以及对艺术的见解和对时空的认识等等。时间是这部小说的主人公。作者凭着智慧和想象力,使时间变得具体、生动、完美。它就像一首由多种主题构成的交响乐,爱情、嫉妒、死亡、回忆、时光,时而交叉重叠在一起,时而又游离开来,然而在宏观上,整个作品浑然一体,具有蓬勃的生命力。《追忆似水年华》被公认为文学创作的一次新的尝试,开意识流小说之先河。
  • 案件与刑律历史纵横谈

    案件与刑律历史纵横谈

    本书在参考了大量权威性历史著作的基础上,将中国悠久历史沉淀下来的丰富的图文资料融为一体,直观的介绍历史发展进程,全书以丰富的珍贵图片,配以深沉的文字叙述,全方位介绍了中华文明的历史,内容涵盖政治、军事、经济、文化、外交、科技、法律、宗教、艺术等领域,具有很强的系统性、知识性和可读性,不仅是广大读者学习中国历史知识的最佳读物,也是各级图书馆珍藏的最佳版本。
  • 各有前因莫羡人

    各有前因莫羡人

    有缘,请惜,无论深浅。死生契阔,与子成说。执子之手,与子偕老。
  • 爱上自己的工作(白金升级版)

    爱上自己的工作(白金升级版)

    让我们知道我们可以享受工作,而不仅仅是努力工作!让每一位员工全身心投入到工作中来是CEO最重要的工作,爱上工作的员工是企业最大的财富!工作如同恋爱,爱上自己的工作,才能享受到被爱!
  • 那颗星照亮了她

    那颗星照亮了她

    一位平凡学生与当红巨星之间的美好友谊……
  • 拥王者的女儿

    拥王者的女儿

    《玫瑰战争》系列之一,菲利帕·格里高利代表作品,背景为英国玫瑰战争时期,主要描写在两大家族斗争中起过关键作用的女性的故事。《玫瑰战争:拥王者的女儿》故事聚焦在有名的“拥王者”沃里克伯爵的两个女儿身上,为了实现父亲的野心,两名少女的人生之路从出生之日起就注定不会平顺,在不断的政治斗争中她们象棋子一般被各方势力利用,虽然最终其中一人坐上了王后的位子,但也付出了惨痛的血的代价。
  • 母亲在左,我在右

    母亲在左,我在右

    实际上,每个人的成长,都是一个痛并快乐的过程。犹如“母亲”的成长,她也有她的痛苦,只因“她”很少向“我”描述,虽然在一个阳光暖暖的午后,她轻描淡写地向“我”诉说,但终究是时过境迁,物影渐淡,导致“我”不能彻底体会到“她”那个时代的痛,正如“她”不能体会“我”这个时代成长的痛一样。“小西施”只是想穿一条带口子的牛仔裤,却遭到母亲的责骂,她没有权利为自己的行为辩解,更没任何办法去争取到那条牛仔裤,也许她索要的不是一条牛仔裤,只是一种“正常家庭”的温暖,一种“不被扭曲的童年”的渴望。而“母亲”呢,她只需要稍微发发慈悲,就可以满足“小西施”的愿望,可她偏偏没有“慈悲”的意识,造成了母女之间相互排斥、相互抵触的局面。不是“偷窥”问题,即使没有“偷窥”问题的矛头,“小西施”也需要那条牛仔裤。不过还好,小说中并没有出现“冷漠”二字,因为最无可救药的不是恨,而是比恨更糟糕的一种东西,叫“冷漠”。
  • 瑜伽论第三十一手记

    瑜伽论第三十一手记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。