قبر چاتیو

Chapter 11 The Grave of the Chateau d’If

On the bed Dantes saw a long bag of dirty cloth. The body of his friend Faria lay inside it. ‘Alone! I am alone again,’ Dantes thought. And then he stopped. He looked at the bag and a strange thought came to him. ‘ Only dead people leave this prison. I can take the place of the dead!’

There was no time to think about it. Dantes opened the bag with Faria’s knife. He took the body from the bag and carried it along the underground path to his own room. He laid the body on his bed and pulled the bedclothes over its head. Then he kissed the cold face and turned it to the wall.

‘The guard will think that I am asleep,’ Dantes said to himself.

He returned to Faria’s room, took off his clothes and hid them. Then he got inside the bag, and lay exactly like the dead body. ‘I have made my plan,’ he thought. ‘Will the men discover me when they carry the bag outside? Will they find a living man, not a dead body? If that happens, I will cut open the bag from top to bottom with the knife. Then I will escape. If they try to catch me, I will use the knife.

‘Perhaps they will put me in the grave, and cover me with earth. It will be night. I only hope that the grave is not too deep.’

Another thought came to him. ‘When the guard brings my evening meal at seven o’clock, will he notice Faria’s body in my bed? But no, I am often in bed when the man comes. He just puts the food on the table and goes away again in silence. If he speaks to me this time, what will happen then? When he gets no answer, will he go to the bed?’

Dantes waited for the cries of the guard. But the hours passed, and the prison was quiet. Finally, Edmond heard footsteps outside.

He must be brave now, braver than ever before. The footsteps stopped outside the door.

‘There are two of them,’ Dantes decided. He heard them put down some wood. ‘ They are going to carry the body on that,’ he thought.

The door opened. Through the cloth of the bag, he saw two shadows come to the ends of his bed. Another man stood at the door with the lamp.

‘He was a thin old man, but he is heavy.’ One man was lifting up his head. The other man lifted his feet.

‘Have you tied it on?’ the first speaker asked.

‘Not yet — we don’t want to carry unnecessary weight!’ the other man replied. ‘I can do that when we get there.’

‘“Tied it on.” Tied what on?’ thought Dantes.

The men put the body on the piece of wood. Then they moved up the steps.

Suddenly, Dantes felt the cold, fresh night air. The men walked about twenty metres, then stopped and put the body down. One of them went away. Dantes heard the sound of his shoes on the stone. ‘Where am I?’ he asked himself.

‘Here it is. I have found it.’

Edmond heard the man put a heavy weight on to the ground next to him. Then he tied the weight round Dantes’ feet.

‘Is that tied carefully?’ asked the other man.

‘Yes. It won’t come off,’ was the answer.

The men lifted Dantes up again, and they began to walk.

Now Dantes heard the sound of waves against the rocks.

‘We are finally here,’ said one of the men.

‘Don’t stop yet,’ said the other man. ‘You know very well that the last one fell on the rocks. Don’t you remember that the governor was angry with us?’

They went five or six more steps, then they lifted Dantes by his head and by his feet.

‘One!’ said the men. ‘Two! Three — and away!’

They threw Dantes into the air. He was falling, falling. A heavy weight pulled him quickly down. Finally, with a great noise, he fell into the cold water. When he hit the water, he gave a cry. Then the water closed over him.

‘They have thrown me into the sea!’ Dantes cried to himself.

‘They tied a big stone to my feet. It is pulling me down to the bottom of the sea. This is the grave of the Chateau d’If the sea!’