The Cemetery of Chateau d'lf Locatedd ty the dle af Bani Pratialaets Nay, Aleatrae tatanel tnaoel Ks fitiae tie oF the anu carotene arto tn the eel Dogpile attig atternpta ratte by ever prisoners, noune ever mtiayerd 1G foccnpe the place alte, The prtant Tie naw been abandoned bul the place tine become o iajor touriat alltaetiony, along with the nearby lighthouse and military fortifientione. Look at the picture aml think about sen of a he feature at vnle Aletta? auch a difficult prison to escape from Edmond Dantes, the hero of the story, The Count al Monte Crbate, fe wrongfully Juited inthe fearsome Chateau cif the worst prin in Pate Here, he beftienils a priest who has also been imprisoned. Fram him, Dantes fevtrne about the existent of Widen treasure, But to get ants ereauure, Dates hs 10 Jina a wedy et uf the prteanh The death ted waty oul of the priest offers Anions cand intepre When Dantes entered Haria’s cell the next morning, he found , him sitting calmly with a piece of paper in hia loft hand, the only hand which he could now Use: He showed Dantes the paper without a word. “What's that?” asked Dantes: “Look at it closely,” sald the priest millty ‘Scanned with CamScanner“L see nothing except a half-burnt piece of paper with Gothic letters written on it in some sort of strange ink.” “This piece of paper, my friend,” said Faria, “is my treasure, half of which belongs to you from this day on.” Dantes broke into a cold sweat. Inall the time he had known Faria, he had avoided speaking of the famous treasure. Everyone else in the prison thought Faria was mad because he seemed to be obsessed with it. Faria smiled and said, “I know what you're thinking. But don’t worry, I’m not mad. This treasure really exists, and if Fate allows me to possess it, you will possess it too.” “That treasure belongs to you, my friend,” said Dantes, “and [have no right to it. I'm not even related to you.” “You're my son!” cried the old man. “You're the child of my captivity. My profession swore me to celibacy, but God sent you to me to console both the man who could not be a father and the prisoner who could not be free.” Faria held out his hand to the young man, who threw his arms around his neck and wept. Every day he spoke of the immensity of the treasure, explaining to Dantes all the good a man could do for his friends in our modern times with such a fortune. ‘Gothic .a certain style of printed words that have pointed letters with thick sharp angles captivity the state of being kept a prisoner aso cnrecnacel console to offer comfort to someone ‘Scanned with CamScannerfiarta did not kniow the fale of Marte Cristo, but Dantes did He had often passed by that oral island, located twenty-five miles from Pianos, between Corsica and the tale of filba, and he had once even vinited the place, It was, and still is, completely desert [his a rock of almost conical form which ems to have been thrust up (ror the bottom of the sea by same volcanic couming, Farla’s arm and leg remained paralysed, and he lost almost all hope of ever reaching, the treasure himeelf, but he continued to dream of an escape for his young companion. One night, Dantes awoke suddenly with the impression that gomeone had called him, His name, oF rather a plaintive voice trying, to call out his name, reached his ears, He leaped out of bed and listened, The voice was coming from Faria’s cell, “Good God!” murmured Dantes, “Could it be that..2” He rushed into the underground passage and was soon at the opposite end of iL. The flagstone was raised. By the flickering light of the amp, he saw the old man, his face deathly white and contracted by the horrible symptoms which Dantes already knew and which had filled him with such terror the first time he saw them. “Well, my friend,” said Karka resignedly, “you understand, don’t you? There’s no need for me to explain anything to you, Think only of yourself from now on, of making your captivity bearable and your escape possible, C iod is doing something good for you at last, and it’s high time for me to die.” A violent shiver interrupted the old man’s words, “Farewell! Harewelll” he murmured, pressing Dantes’ hand, ‘The attack was terrible, The last murmur of his heart ceased, his face grow livid and the light faded entirely from his eyes, which remained open. ‘Scanned with CamScanner‘The first feeble rays of dawn Tt was six o'clock in the morning. ace of invaded the cell, casting weird reflections over the far d fully that he was alone with a corpse, { led from the cell, the corpse. Dantes realise An overwhelming terror seized him. He fl He left none too soon, for the jailer was coming. T his time he began his visit with Dantes’ cell. Nothing indicated that he was aware of what had happened. He went out. Burning, ' with impatience to know what would happen in the cell of his unfortunate friend, Dantes crawled back into the underground Passage, in time to hear the jailer calling for aid. Other jailers soon arrived; then came the heavy, measured footsteps of soldiers, Behind them came the governor. Dantes heard the bed creaking as they tried to rouse the dead man. The governor ordered them to throw water in his face. Seeing that this had no effect, he sent for the doctor. The governor left the cell and several words of compassion, mingled with crude jokes and laughter, reached Dantes’ ears. “Well,” said one voice, “the old lunatic’s gone off to find his treasure. Bon voyage!” “With all his millions, he still didn’t have enough to pay for his shroud,” said another. “Oh, the shrouds of the Chateau d’If don’t cost much,” “Since he's a priest, maybe they'll go to a little extra expense for him.” “That's right. He'll have the honour of the sack.” Dantes listened without losing a word, but he did not understand much of what was being said. Soon, the voices a dead body the plece of cloth a d ' wrapped in before itis burt dre eee ‘Scanned with CamScanner| ated away and if seened to him that everyone had left the cell Aten ant hour or so, the silence was asia 7 i “ t cel whieh gradually grew louder. twas the aa eeaeriiey jallowed by the doctor and several officials. The doctor declared the prisotier dead i | {yates heard @ sound like the rustling of cloth. The bed creaked, | Where were heavy footsteps like those of a man lifting a burden, and the bed creaked once again under the weight which had been placed bac konit *Avill there be a mans?” asked one of the officials. |mpossible,” replied the governor, “The chaplain asked me for awook's leave yesterday and he's already gone. If the poor priest Hadn't been it such a hurry, he'd have had his requiem.” ‘The body had been laid out, “Ponight,” said the governor, "What time?” asked one of the jailers, “At around ten or eleven o'clock as usual.” “Shall we wateh over the body?” “What for? Just lock the door as though he were still alive.” and the voices died down. Then, ‘The footsteps went away f solitude invaded everything asilenee more mournful than that of and chilled the depths af Da the stone with his head and twas empty. He entered, nites’ heart. He slowly raised ast a swift glance around the cell. ‘Scanned with CamScannering into space like He was alone again! He sat stock-still star Then he stood up a man suddenly struck by a terrifying idea put his hand to his forehead and murmured leave here, I'l take the place of a corpse! “Since only the dead He leaned over the hideous sack, slit it open with the knife which Faria had made. tuok out the corpse and car ried it into his own cell, He put ton his bed, wrapped around its head the rag which he himselt always wore, pulled his blank over it, kissed the cold forehead one last time and turned the head to the wall so that when the jailer brought in his evening meal, he would think he was already aslewp, as he often was ‘Then he went back into Faria’s cell, took out the needle and thread, threw off his clothes so that the jailers would feel bare flesh under the sackcloth, slipped into the sack, placed himself in the same position as the corpse and sewed up the sack again from the inside. If the jailers had happened to come in at that moment, they would have heard the beating of his heart. Towards seven o'clock in the evening, his anxiety began in eamest. He trembled in every limb and his heart felt as though it were being gripped in an icy vice. The hours passed without bringing the slightest movement in the prison; so far his ruse had not been discovered. Finally, he heard footsteps on the stairs He sumumoned up all his courage, held his breath and tried to repress the pounding of his heart. ‘Scanned with CamScannereee ‘The door opened and a din light reached his eyes, Hinough the cloth covering, hit, he saw two shadows approach the bed A third one stood in the dogrway holding «lantern. The fret two men took Hold of the sack train both ends, Dantes made his body rigid ‘They carried Him out on a stretcher and the funeral procession, Jed by the man with the lantern, went up the otaire, Suddenly, Dantes felt the cold, fresh night alr and the sharp wind fron the sea, The sensation filled him with both joy and arndety. ‘They carried him some twenty yards further, then stopped and laid the stretcher on the ground, Dantes heard one of the men walking away, “Where am 1? he wondered His first impulse was to try to escape, but fortunately he controlled himself, A few moments later, he heard one of the men walk up to him and drop a heavy object on the ground, At the same time, he felt a rope tied around his feet with painful tightness, “Have you made the knot?” asked the man who had remained idle, “Yes, and it’s well made, I'll answer for that.” “All right then, Let’s go.” The stretcher was raised again and the procession continued on its way. The sound of the waves breaking against the rocks on which the Chateau d’If is built reached Dantes more distinctly with every step, “What miserable weather!” said one of the men. ‘sudden strong wish or need to da something, without stopping to ‘Scanned with CamScanner“I wouldn't like to be in the sea tonight,” remarked his friend. “Here we are,” said the first man after a while. “No, further on, further on! You know the last one got smas on the rocks and the next day the governor called us a coup! lazy rascals,” warned the second person. They went on a few more steps. Then Dantes felt them pick him up by the head and feet and swing him back and forth. “One! Two! Three!” With the last word, he felt himself flung into space. Fear clutched at his heart as he fell like a wounded bird, down, down, down. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, there was a tremendous splash and he plunged like an arrow into the icy sea. He uttered ‘Scanned with CamScanner_. — aseroam which was immediately choked out as the water closed over his head. He was being swiftly dragged to the bottom by acantion ball tied to his feet, The sea is the comvtery of the Chateau d’Tf. Extract front The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was one of the most famous French writers of the nineteenth century, He is best known for historical adventure novels like The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. ‘The latter novel is set at the time of Louis Napoleon's return to France after his exile in the Isle of St Helena in 1815. Exercises —* Reading Answer these questions. 1, What did Faria give Dantes? Why? 2. How did Dantes realise that Faria was about to die? 3. When the soldiers came to inspect Faria’s body, what did Dantes hear from his cell? 4. Describe the manner in which Dantes planned his escape from the prison. 5, What did the jailors do with the shroud in which Dantes was hidden? 6. What were the sensations felt by Dantes as he was flung into the sea? Dread these lines and answer the questions with reference to the context. 1. "Well," said one voice, “the old lunatic’s gone off to find his treasure. Bon voyage!” ‘Scanned with CamScanner