The Count of Monte Cristo

Corpse Placed in Burial Sack

Corpse Placed in Burial Sack A turnkey asks whether the formality must occur in the governor’s presence, and after hurried activity—including footsteps, rustling canvas, and the creaking of the bed—the body is deposited in a burial sack for interment.

Evening Burial Time Confirmed

Evening Burial Time Confirmed The governor sets the burial for that evening, around ten or eleven o’clock. When asked about watching the corpse, he dismisses the notion, instructing merely to shut the dungeon as if the prisoner were alive. The officials then withdraw, leaving a profound, deathly silence.

Dantès Emerges from the Tunnel

Dantès Emerges from the Tunnel Once the footsteps, voices, and the sound of creaking door hinges have faded into complete silence, Dantès cautiously raises the flagstone with his head and surveys the empty chamber. Finding it clear, he emerges from the tunnel.

第二十章 The Cemetery of the Château d’If

This chapter chronicles Edmond Dantès’s bold escape from the Château d’If by trading places with his deceased friend Faria’s corpse, culminating in his being cast into the sea that acts as the prison’s unmarked burial ground.

Faria’s Corpse Prepared for Burial

Faria’s body is laid out on a dungeon bed, wrapped in a low-cost canvas winding-sheet, fully prepared for burial, with a barrier separating him from a grieving Edmond Dantès. Dantès mourns the loss of his only companion, the sole person who connected him to life outside his prison cell.

Dantès’s Grief and Escape Resolve

Overcome with grief, Dantès briefly considers suicide to rejoin Faria in death, before rejecting the idea of dying by execution as a victory for his enemies. He resolves to fight for life and liberty to punish his persecutors and reward any potential allies, before he is forgotten and left to die in his dungeon. A sudden, urgent thought strikes him: since only the dead are permitted to leave the Château d’If, he will take Faria’s place.