THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO—a bestseller since its initial publication—is the story of a daring prison break, a tale of betrayal and redemption, and a swashbuckling romance. Dashing young Edmond Dantès has everything. He is engaged to a beautiful woman, is about to become the captain of a ship, and is well liked by almost everyone. But his perfect life is shattered when he is falsely accused of treason by a jealous rival and thrown into a dark prison cell for fourteen years. Written in Dumas’s oft-imitated style of adventure and suspense and filled with vivid details of post-Napoleonic France, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO continues to dazzle with its thrilling and memorable scenes, including Dantès’ miraculous escape from the dreadful Château d’If, his amazing discovery of a vast hidden treasure, and his transformation into a man whose astonishing thirst for vengeance is as cruel as it is just.
ON FEBRUARY 24, 1815, the watchtower at Marseilles signaled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples.
The quay was soon covered with the usual crowd of curious onlookers, for the arrival of a ship is always a great event in Marseilles, especially when, like the Pharaon, it has been built, rigged and laden in the city and belongs to a local shipowner.
Meanwhile the vessel was approaching the harbor under topsails, jib and foresail, but so slowly and with such an air of melancholy that the onlookers, instinctively sensing misfortune, began to wonder what accident could have happened on board. However, the experienced seamen among them saw that if there had been an accident, it could not have happened to the ship herself, for she had every appearance of being under perfect control. Standing beside the pilot, who was preparing to steer the Pharaon through the narrow entrance of the harbor, was a young man who, with vigilant eyes and rapid gestures, watched every movement of the ship and repeated each of the pilot's orders.
The vague anxiety hovering over the crowd affected one man so much that he could not wait until the ship entered the harbor: he leaped into a small boat and ordered the boatman to row him out to meet the Pharaon.
When he saw this man coming toward him, the young sailor left his post beside the pilot and walked over to the side of the ship, holding his hat in his hand. He was a tall, slender young man, no more than twenty years old, with dark eyes and hair as black as ebony. His whole manner gave evidence of that calmness and resolution peculiar to those who have been accustomed to facing danger ever since their childhood.
"Ah, it's you, Dantès!" cried the man in the boat. "What's happened? Why does everything look so gloomy on board?"
"A great misfortune, Monsieur Morrel!" replied the young man. "We lost our brave Captain Leclère off Civitavecchia."
"What about the cargo?" asked the shipowner eagerly.
"It arrived safely, Monsieur Morrel, and I think you'll be satisfied on that score, but poor Captain Leclère--"
"What happened to him?" asked the shipowner, visibly relieved.
"He died of brain fever, in horrible agony. He's now at rest off the Isle of II Giglio, sewed up in his hammock with one cannon ball at his head and another at his feet." The young man smiled sadly and added, "How ironic-he waged war against the English for ten long years and then died in his bed like anyone else."
"Well, we're all mortal," said the shipowner, "and the old must make way for the young, otherwise there would be no promotion."
As they were passing the Round Tower, the young sailor called out, "Make ready to lower topsails, foresail and jib!" The order was executed as smartly as on board a man-of-war. "Lower away and brail all!" At this last order all the sails were lowered and the ship's speed became almost imperceptible.
"And now, if you'd like to come aboard, Monsieur Morrel," said Dantès, seeing the shipowner's impatience, "you can talk to your purser, Monsieur Danglars, who's just coming out of his cabin. He can give you all the information you want. As for myself, I must look after the anchoring and dress the ship in mourning."
The shipowner did not wait to be invited twice. He grasped the line which Dantès threw to him and, with an agility that would have done credit to a sailor, climbed up the ladder attached to the ship's side. Dantès returned to his duties, while Danglars came out to meet Monsieur Morrel. The purser was a man of twenty-five or twenty-six with a rather melancholy face,...
The lightning transformation of Edmond Dantes, blameless sea captain with hair "dark as the raven's wing," from joyous manhood to dungeon wretch is one of the great first acts in literature. Dantes is a Frenchman, but we--as Americans--expect our classics read with an English accent. And so Richard Matthews is spot-on for this sweeping and voluptuous romance. Our imprisoned hero educates himself--yes, students, you mustn't neglect your homework--escapes the dread dungeon of the Chateau d'If, and becomes rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He returns and wreaks a terrible vengeance on the treacherous. Man, woman, French nobility, and Italian banditry, Matthews has the range for a variety of accents and emotions. Excellent performance, great sound. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
