Well, Ali, my Nubian, believes me to be an Arab; Bertuccio, my
steward, takes me for a Roman; Haidee, my slave, thinks me a Greek.
You may, therefore, comprehend, that being of no country, asking no
protection from any government, acknowledging no man as my brother,
not one of the scruples that arrest the powerful, or the obstacles
which paralyze the weak, paralyzes or arrests me. I have only two
adversaries — I will not say two conquerors, for with perseverance
I subdue even them, — they are time and distance. There is a third,
and the most terrible — that is my condition as a mortal being.
This alone can stop me in my onward career, before I have attained
the goal at which I aim, for all the rest I have reduced to
mathematical terms. What men call the chances of fate — namely,
ruin, change, circumstances — I have fully anticipated, and if any
of these should overtake me, yet it will not overwhelm me. Unless I
die, I shall always be what I am, and therefore it is that I utter
the things you have never heard, even from the mouths of kings —
for kings have need, and other persons have fear of you. For who is
there who does not say to himself, in a society as incongruously
organized as ours, `Perhaps some day I shall have to do with the
king's attorney'?"
"But can you not say that, sir? The moment you become an
inhabitant of France, you are naturally subjected to the French
law."
"I know it sir," replied Monte Cristo; "but when I visit a
country I begin to study, by all the means which are available, the
men from whom I may have anything to hope or to fear, till I know
them as well as, perhaps better than, they know themselves. It
follows from this, that the king's attorney, be he who he may, with
whom I should have to deal, would assuredly be more embarrassed
than I should."
"That is to say," replied Villefort with hesitation, "that human
nature being weak, every man, according to your creed, has
committed faults."
"Faults or crimes," responded Monte Cristo with a negligent
air.committed faults."
"Faults or crimes," responded Monte Cristo with a negligent
air.
"And that you alone, amongst the men whom you do not recognize
as your brothers — for you have said so," observed Villefort in a
tone that faltered somewhat — "you alone are perfect."
"No, not perfect," was the count's reply; "only impenetrable,
that's all. But let us leave off this strain, sir, if the tone of
it is displeasing to you; I am no more disturbed by your justice
than are you by my second-sight."
"No, no, — by no means," said Villefort, who was afraid of
seeming to abandon his ground. "No; by your brilliant and almost
sublime conversation you have elevated me above the ordinary level;
we no longer talk, we rise to dissertation. But you know how the
theologians in their collegiate chairs, and philosophers in their
controversies, occasionally say cruel truths; let us suppose for
the moment that we are theologizing in a social way, or even
philosophically, and I will say to you, rude as it may seem, `My
brother, you sacrifice greatly to pride; you may be above others,
but above you there is God.'"
"Above us all, sir," was Monte Cristo's response, in a tone and
with an emphasis so deep that Villefort involuntarily shuddered. "I
have my pride for men — serpents always ready to threaten every one
who would pass without crushing them under foot. But I lay aside
that pride before God, who has taken me from nothing to make me
what I am."
"Then, count, I admire you," said Villefort, who, for the first
time in this strange conversation, used the aristocratic form to
the unknown personage, whom, until now, he had only called
monsieur. "Yes, and I say to you, if you are really strong, really
superior, really pious, or impenetrable, which you were right in
saying amounts to the same thing — then be proud, sir, for that is
the characteristic of predominance. Yet you have unquestionably
some ambition."
"I have, sir."
"And what may it be?"
"I too, as happens to every man once in his life, have been"I have, sir."
"And what may it be?"
"I too, as happens to every man once in his life, have been
taken by Satan into the highest mountain in the earth, and when
there he showed me all the kingdoms of the world, and as he said
before, so said he to me, `Child of earth, what wouldst thou have
to make thee adore me?' I reflected long, for a gnawing ambition
had long preyed upon me, and then I replied, `Listen, — I have
always heard of providence, and yet I have never seen him, or
anything that resembles him, or which can make me believe that he
exists. I wish to be providence myself, for I feel that the most
beautiful, noblest, most sublime thing in the world, is to
recompense and punish.' Satan bowed his head, and groaned. `You
mistake,' he said, `providence does exist, only you have never seen
him, because the child of God is as invisible as the parent. You
have seen nothing that resembles him, because he works by secret
springs, and moves by hidden ways. All I can do for you is to make
you one of the agents of that providence.' The bargain was
concluded. I may sacrifice my soul, but what matters it?" added
Monte Cristo. "If the thing were to do again, I would again do it."
Villefort looked at Monte Cristo with extreme amazement. "Count,"
he inquired, "have you any relations?"
"No, sir, I am alone in the world."
"So much the worse."
"Why?" asked Monte Cristo.
"Because then you might witness a spectacle calculated to break
down your pride. You say you fear nothing but death?"
"I did not say that I feared it; I only said that death alone
could check the execution of my plans."
"And old age?"
"My end will be achieved before I grow old."
"And madness?"
"I have been nearly mad; and you know the axiom, — non bis in
idem. It is an axiom of criminal law, and, consequently, you
understand its full application."
"Sir," continued Villefort, "there is something to fear besides
death, old age, and madness. For instance, there is apoplexy — that
lightning-stroke which strikes but does not destroy you, and yet