4 The two prisoners

Chapter 4 The two prisoners For hours, Edmond sat slumped against the cell wall, clutching his knees to his chest. He was convinced he would be released any moment. But that moment never came. Hours turned into days. Slowly, Edmond's confusion boiled into anger. Each time the guards brought him food, he smashed the bowl against the door and yelled until his voice ran dry. "I am innocent!" he cried.

几个小时以来，爱德蒙耷拉着身子靠在牢房的墙上，把膝盖贴在胸前。 他确信自己随时都会被释放。 但那一刻从未到来。 几个小时变成了几天。慢慢地，爱德蒙的困惑变成了愤怒。 每次看守给他送食物时，他就把碗砸在门上，大声喊叫，直到嗓子都哑了。 “我是无辜的！”

Days became weeks and then months. Edmond curled up in the dark, haunted by memories. At first he thought about Mercedes, but more and more he became obsessed with Fernand and Danglars. He was certain they wrote the letter accusing him of treason. Months grew into years. By then, Edmond's wedding suit hung like rags around his skeleton frame. His nails grew long and filthy, and lice crawled in his tangled beard. All day the scurrying sound of rats echoed around his cramped cell. The noise seemed to be coming from under the ground. Edmond pressed his ear to the floor, listening for hours. How he envied their freedom!

几天变成了几周，然后是几个月。 爱德蒙蜷缩在黑暗中，被回忆所困扰。 起初他想到的是美塞苔丝，但他对弗尔南多和腾格拉尔的思念越来越深。 他确信是他们写了那封指控他叛国的信。 几个月变成了几年。那时，爱德蒙的结婚礼服像破布一样挂在他那骨架上。 他的指甲又长又脏，乱糟糟的胡子上爬满了虱子。 在他狭窄的牢房里，整天回荡着老鼠奔跑的声音。 那声音似乎是从地下传来的。 爱德蒙把耳朵贴在地板上，听了好几个小时。 他多么羡慕他们的自由啊！

Then, one day, the ground began to tremble. One of the stones shuddered and rose. Edmond scrabbled back in fright as a head emerged from the ground- a tangled mass of white hair and beard with two bulging eyes in between. It was another prisoner! The old man glared at Edmond cowering in the corner. "Curses!" he cried. "I have dug the wrong way. I thought I was escaping the prison, not digging deeper inside." Edmond crawled closer and peered into the man's tunnel. For the first time in years, a smile spread across his filthy face. "Let me help you dig in the other direction," he said.

然后，有一天，大地开始颤抖。 其中一块石头颤抖起来。 当一个脑袋从地下钻出来的时候，爱德蒙吓得往后退了一步——一团乱糟糟的白头发和白胡子，中间有两只凸出来的眼睛。 是另一个囚犯！老人怒视着躲在角落里的爱德蒙。 “诅咒！”“我挖错路了。 我以为我是在逃离监狱，而不是在里面挖得更深。” 爱德蒙爬得更近一些，朝那人的地道里看了看。 多年来，他污秽的脸上第一次绽开了笑容。 “让我帮你朝另一个方向挖，”他说。

"It would take years," the man replied. "I have years." The old man smiled, showing his black and brown teeth. "So do I," he said. "Follow me!" Edmond slid into the tunnel and wriggled like a worm through the narrow space. He rose into another cell, as dark and dingy as his own. The old man bowed. "My name is Abbé Faria," he said. "Abbé?" Edmond replied. That meant priest. "Why are you in prison?" "Because I knew a secret that I wouldn't tell the King." "What secret?" The old man smiled again. "It is a secret," he said.

“那得花好几年时间，”那人回答。 “我还有好几年。”老人笑了，露出他那黑棕色的牙齿。 “我也是，”他说。“跟我来!”爱德蒙溜进隧道，像条虫子一样在狭窄的空间里蠕动着。 他起身走进另一间牢房，和自己的牢房一样阴暗肮脏。 老人鞠了一躬。“我叫法利亚修道院院长，”他说。 “阿贝?”爱德蒙回答道。意思是牧师。 “你为什么在监狱里？”“因为我知道一个秘密，我不会告诉国王。” “什么秘密?”老人又笑了。 “这是个秘密，”他说。

The Abbé skipped across his cell and tapped one of the stones in the opposite wall. "If we dig this way for about five years, we should come out near the sea." He handed Edmond a digging tool made from a bent iron bed leg. "Let's get started." That first night, they barely dug an inch into the wall. But each night after, Edmond crawled from his cell and they continued scraping at the rock. As they dug, Edmond told the Abbé about Mercedes, and his hunger for revenge against Fernand and Danglars. But whenever he asked about the Abbé's secret, the priest just smiled and kept digging.

修道院院长跳过他的牢房，敲了敲对面墙上的一块石头。 “如果我们沿着这条路挖大约五年，我们就会在靠近大海的地方出来。” 他递给爱德蒙一个用弯曲的铁床腿做成的挖掘工具。 “我们开始吧。”第一天晚上，他们只在墙上挖了一英寸。 但之后的每个晚上，爱德蒙都从他的牢房里爬出来，他们继续在岩石上刮来刮去。 他们挖地的时候，爱德蒙把美塞苔丝的事告诉了修道院院长，说他想报复弗尔南多和腾格拉尔。 但每当他问起修道院院长的秘密时，牧师只是微笑着继续挖掘。

Each night they met, and each night the tunnel grew longer. Then, around twenty years after Edmond was thrown into Chateau D'If, the Abbé called excitedly from the end of the tunnel. "Edmond, I see daylight!" Edmond's heart raced. They had reached the end. But as he scurried closer, the tunnel walls began to tremble. Zigzag cracks splintered along the roof. "Abbé!" Edmond cried. "Come back." But it was too late. Rocks crashed down as the tunnel collapsed.

他们每天晚上见面，隧道也每天晚上变长。 后来，大约在爱德蒙被扔进伊夫堡二十年后，修道院院长从地道的尽头兴奋地喊道。 “爱德蒙，我看见天亮了！”爱德蒙的心怦怦直跳。 他们到达了终点。但当他匆匆靠近时，隧道的墙壁开始颤抖。 曲折的裂缝沿着屋顶裂开。 “阿贝!”爱德蒙哭了。“回来了。” 但为时已晚。隧道坍塌时，岩石纷纷落了下来。