The Count of Monte Cristo

Count Reveals Custom Sleep Remedy and Emerald Pill Case

Over breakfast, Albert frets that the meal may not suit the count’s tastes, but the count explains he eats all types of food in small portions, noting he has not eaten since the previous morning as he detoured near Nîmes to gather information rather than stopping for a meal. When Morrel asks if he has a way to fall asleep when weary or too hungry to eat, the count reveals he uses an infallible remedy: equal parts pure opium he sourced himself from Canton and high-quality hashish from the region between the Tigris and Euphrates, mixed into small pills that take effect 10 minutes after ingestion. He produces a casket carved from a single large emerald with a golden screw-top lid, holding the greenish pills, which he prepares himself as a chemist. The casket is passed around the table for the guests to admire the exceptional emerald.

Count Recounts Gifting Emeralds to the Sultan and Pope

The count explains he originally owned three identical large emeralds: he gifted one to the Sultan, who mounted it on his sabre, and a second to the Pope, who set it in his tiara opposite a nearly as large but slightly lower-quality emerald that Emperor Napoleon had gifted to Pope Pius VII. He kept the third emerald for himself, hollowing it out to create the pill casket, sacrificing some of the stone’s monetary value for the practical purpose of storing his sleep remedy. He adds that the Sultan granted him the liberty of a woman in exchange for his emerald, while the Pope granted him the life of a man, making him feel as powerful as if he had been born to a throne.

Morcerf Praises the Count and Recounts His Roman Bandit Kidnapping

Morcerf praises the count, noting he had introduced him to his friends as a real-life Arabian Nights enchanter before his arrival, and laments that Parisians dismiss even incontrovertible truths that fall outside their everyday experience, such as the existence of organized bandits in the Italian countryside. He shares that he was kidnapped by Roman bandits during a prior trip, held for a 4,000 piaster ransom, and would have been killed had the count not intervened to secure his release. He notes the signed ransom letter from bandit leader Luigi Vampa is still in Franz d’Épinay’s possession, and he remains amazed by the respect the count inspired in the notoriously ruthless bandits.

Count Explains His Connection to Bandit Leader Vampa

The count explains he has known Vampa for over 10 years, first meeting him as a child shepherd to whom he gave gold pieces for directions; Vampa repaid him with a hand-carved poniard that the count still keeps in his personal arms collection. Years later, when Vampa had become a bandit leader, he tried to capture the count, but the count captured Vampa and a dozen of his men instead. He chose not to hand them over to Roman authorities, releasing them on the simple condition that they and their band respect him and his friends. He adds that he does not feel obligated to protect a society that does not protect him, and sees himself as owed by society rather than the reverse.

Debate Over the Count’s Egotism and Philanthropy

Château-Renaud cheers the count’s frank avowal of egotism, while Morrel counters that the count’s act of saving Morcerf, a stranger to him at the time, was a philanthropic deed that contradicts his stated self-centered principles. Morcerf argues the count is actually a philanthropist who hides his virtues and pretends to vices he does not hold, pointing out that on his first day in Paris, he already displays the classic Parisian eccentricity of feigning faults and concealing his strengths. The count responds that he only saved Morcerf because he already knew him from their prior travels together, and had long planned to ask Morcerf to introduce him to Parisian high society, a promise Morcerf is now obligated to fulfill.