Stretched out on the bed, weakly outlined by a dusty ray of light from the window, there was a sack of coarse cloth, under the broad folds of which one could vaguely distinguish a long, stiff shape: this was Faria's last winding-sheet which, according to the turnkeys, had cost so little. So all was finished. Between Dantès and his old friend there was already a gulf: he could no longer see those eyes, wide open as if looking beyond death; he could no longer clasp that industrious hand which for him had lifted the veil that covered arcane matters. Faria, that good and valuable companion to whom he had become so strongly attached, now existed only in his memory. He sat down at the head of this awful bed and lapsed into a deep and bitter melancholy.
借着从窗洞里透进来的苍白微弱的光线，可以看到床上有一只与床齐长的粗布口袋，在这个大口袋里面，直挺挺地躺着一个长而僵硬的东西。这个口袋就是法利亚的寿衣，——正如狱卒所说的，这套寿衣的确是很便宜的。那末，一切都已了结。在邓蒂斯和他的老朋友之间，已有了一重物质的隔离。他不能再看到那一对依旧张大着的，象是甚至在死后还能看人的眼睛了；他不能再紧握那只曾为他揭开事实真相的勤奋的手了。法利亚，这位他曾长期亲密相处的有用的好伴侣，已不再呼吸了。他在那张可怖的床边上坐下来，陷入一种忧郁，迷离的状态之中。
Alone, he no longer had even the sight or the sound of the voice of the only human being who still bound him to the earth! Would it not be better for him, like Faria, to go and ask God to explain the enigma of life, even at the risk of passing through the dark gate of suffering? The idea of suicide had been driven away by his friend's presence, but returned like a ghost and rose up beside Faria's corpse.
孤独了，——不再能看到那个惟一使他对生命尚有所留恋的人，也不再能听到他的声音了！假如他也象法利亚一样，冒险通过那道可悲的痛苦之门，去向上帝追问人生之谜的意义，那不是更好吗？自杀的想法，一度曾为他的朋友所驱走，在长老活着的时候，当着他的面，曾被邓蒂斯所遗忘了的，现在当着他的尸体，却又象一个幽灵似的在他面前现了出来。
Alone! He was once more alone! He had fallen back into silence, he was faced once more with nothingness!
孤独了！他又孤独了！——又寂寞了！他又觉得自己一无所有了！
"If I could die," he said, "I should go where he has gone and I should certainly find him again. But how can I die? It is easy," he added, laughing. "I have only to remain here, throw myself on the first person who enters and strangle him; they will guillotine me."
“假如我死了，”他说，“我就可以到他所去的地方，一定可以找到他。但怎么死法呢？这是非常容易的，”他带着一个痛苦的微笑继续说，“我就呆在这儿，谁第一个来开门，我就向他冲上去，捏死他，这样他们就会把我送上断头台了。”
But, as often happens, in great sorrow as in great storms, the abyss lies between the crests of two waves; Dantès shrank from the idea of so dishonourable a death and rapidly went from this feeling of despair to a burning thirst for life and freedom.
但人在极度悲痛之中，也象在大风暴里一样，深渊是夹在最高的浪头之中的，邓蒂斯这时也从这种可耻的求死的念头上反冲回来，突然从绝望转变到一种热烈的求生和自由的愿望。
"Die! No, no!" he cried. "It was not worth living so long, and suffering so much, to die now. Death was welcome previously, when I made a resolution to meet it, many years ago. But now it would truly be conceding too much to my miserable fate. No, I want to live, I want to struggle to the end. No, I want to recover the happiness that has been taken away from me. I am forgetting that, before I die, I have my enemies to punish and, who knows? -- perhaps a few friends to reward. But now that I am forgotten here, I shall not escape my dungeon except in the same way as Faria."
“死！噢，不！”他喊道，“现在还不能死，我已经活了这末久，受苦了这末久！几年以前，当我存心想死的时候死，或许还好，但现在这样做，就等于自己让步，承认我的苦命了。不，我要活，我要奋斗到最后一口气，我要重新去寻找我被剥夺的幸福。我不能死，在死以前，我还有几个陷害我的刽子手要去惩罚，或许，谁能料得定呢，还有几个朋友要报答。但是我现在倒忘掉啦，我只能象法利亚一样的走出我的黑牢了。”
At these words, Edmond remained motionless, his gaze fixed, like a man who has suddenly been struck by an idea, but one that appals him. At once he got up, put his hand on his forehead as if suffering from dizziness, walked around the room two or three times and returned to the bed.
说到这里，他身子一动不动，眼睛一眨都不眨，好象突然有了一个极其惊人的想法。他猛然站起身来，举手扶住额头，象是脑子已在晕眩似的。他在房间里转了两三圈，突然在床前站下来。
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Where did that idea come from? From you, God? Since only the dead leave this place freely, let us take the place of the dead." And, without wasting any time in reconsidering the decision, as if to avoid giving his thoughts the opportunity to annihilate his desperate resolve, he bent over the ghastly sack, opened it with the knife that Faria had made, removed the body, dragged it into his own cell, put it in his bed, covered its head with the scrap of linen that he was accustomed to wear on his own, drew his blanket over it, kissed its icy brow for the last time and tried to close the eyes, which still remained stubbornly open, terrifying because there was no thought behind them. After that, he turned the head to the wall so that the jailer, when he brought the evening meal, would think that he was asleep, as quite often happened; then he returned to the tunnel, dragged the bed against the wall, went back to the other cell, took the needle and thread out of the wardrobe, threw off his rags so that they would feel naked flesh under the cloth, slipped into the empty sack, lay down in the same position as the body, and sewed it up from inside.
“啊！啊！”他自言自语地说，“是谁使我有这个想法的？是您吗，慈悲的上帝？既然只有死人才能自由地离开这个黑牢，那末我就来装死吧！”他不让自己有片刻时间来考虑这个决定，真的，要是他仔细想一想，他这种决心或许会动摇的。他弯身凑到那张可怕的布袋前面，用法利亚制造的小刀将它割开，把尸体从口袋里拖出来，再把它背到自己的地牢里，把它放在自己的睡榻上，用自己晚上包头的那块布给它包了头，再吻了一次那冰冷的额头，几次徒劳地想去闭上那依旧开着的眼睛，把头转向墙壁，这样，当狱卒拿晚餐来的时候，会以为他已经睡着了，这也是常事，于是，折入地道，把床拖过来靠住墙壁，回到那个地牢里，从贮藏处拿出针线，脱掉他破烂的衣衫，以便使他们一摸就知道粗糙的口袋底下确是裸体的尸身，然后钻进口袋，使自己躺在他们放尸体的地位，在口袋里面把袋口缝起来。
Now, in any case, his plan was fixed. Here is what he intended to do:
现在，他的计划无论如何是决定了，他希望就能这样生效。
If anyone had unfortunately chanced to come in at that moment, they would have heard his heart beating.
假如狱卒不巧在这时进来，或许会听到他心跳的声音。
Dantès could easily have waited until after the evening visit, but he was afraid that between now and then the governor might change his mind and take away the body. In that case, his last hope would be gone.
邓蒂斯本来可以等七点钟的一次查看过了以后再这样做的，但他怕堡长改变决定，吩咐把尸体提早搬开，假若如此，他最后的一个希望都要毁了。
If they took him to the burial ground and put him in a grave, he would allow himself to be covered with earth; then, since it was night, the gravediggers would hardly have turned their backs before he would tunnel out of the soft earth and escape. He hoped the soil would not be too heavy for him to lift it. If he was wrong and the earth proved to be too heavy, he would suffocate, and so much the better: all would be over!
假如他们把他扛到坟场上，把他放在坟墓里，他就让他们在他的身上盖土，因为在夜里，只要那掘墓人一转身，他就可以从那松软的泥土里爬出来逃走。他希望所盖的泥土不要太重，使他受不了。假如不幸，那泥土如果太重，那他就会被压死在里面，那样也好，也可一了百了。
If, during the journey out of the cell, the gravediggers realized that they were carrying a living man instead of a corpse, Dantès would not give them time to gather their wits. He would split the sack from top to bottom with a sharp lunge of the knife and take advantage of their terror to escape. If they tried to stop him, he would use the knife.
假如在扛出去的途中，被掘墓人发觉他们所抬的不是一具尸体而是一个活人，则邓蒂斯决不让他们认出是谁，就用小刀把口袋从头到底划破，乘他们在惊惶失措的时候逃走。假如他们想来捉他，他就要用那把小刀了。
As seven o'clock approached, Dantès began to suffer in earnest. One hand was pressed against his heart, attempting to stifle its beating while the other wiped the sweat from his brow as it streamed along his temples. From time to time, a shudder would run through his whole body and seize his heart in an icy grip; at such moments he thought he would die. The hours passed without bringing any sound of movement in the fortress and Dantès realized that he had escaped the first danger, which was a good sign. Finally, at around the time appointed by the governor, footsteps were heard in the stairway. Edmond realized that the moment had come. He summoned up all his courage, holding his breath; he would have been happier could he have stifled the beating of his pulse in the same way.
当七点钟来临的时候，邓蒂斯的痛苦真正开始了。他把一只手压在心上，但却不能制住它的剧跳，另一只手则不断地去抹太阳穴上的冷汗。他全身打起阵阵寒颤，心脏突然受着紧压，象是被一只冰冷的手抓住了似的。那时，他以为自己快要死了。可是，几点钟过去了，堡里毫无动静，邓蒂斯觉得他已逃过了第一重危险，这是一个好兆头。终于，约莫在堡长所指定的那个时间，楼梯上有了脚步声。爱德蒙知道时机已到，就集中他的全部勇气，屏住自己的呼吸，他真希望能同时制住他脉搏的急促的跳动。
The first danger that threatened was that the jailer, bringing him his supper at seven o'clock, would notice the substitution; luckily Dantès had many times received the jailer's visit lying down, either through misanthropy or fatigue. In such cases the man usually put the bread and soup on the table and left without speaking to him. This time, however, the jailer might lapse from his habitual silence, say something and, when Dantès did not reply, go over to the bed and discover the deception.
邓蒂斯所冒的第一重危险是：当狱卒在七点钟给他拿晚餐来的时候，或许会发觉他的掉包计。幸而，至少有二十次了，为了怕麻烦或是为了疲倦，邓蒂斯曾这样躺在床上迎接他的狱卒。每逢这样的时候，那人就把他的面包和汤放在桌子上，然后一言不发的走了。这一次，狱卒或许不会象往常那样沉默，他或许会和邓蒂斯讲话，而看到他不回答，或许会走到床边去看看，就此把一切都发觉了。
Dantès had not eaten since the previous day, but he had not thought of his hunger that morning, and he still did not notice it. His position was too precarious for him to waste time on thinking of anything else.
邓蒂斯从昨天晚上起就不曾吃过东西，但他没有想到饥渴，他现在也没有想到它。他的处境是太危险了，不容许他有时间想到别的事情上面去。
The footsteps, two sets of them, stopped outside the door. Dantès guessed that this must be the two gravediggers who had come to fetch him. This suspicion became a certainty when he heard the noise that they made setting down the bier.
脚步在门口停住了。那是两个人的脚步声，邓蒂斯猜测这是两个掘墓人找他来了。这个想法不久便被证实，因为他听到了他们放尸架时所发出的声音。
The door opened and a muffled light reached Dantès' eyes. Through the cloth covering him he saw two shapes approach the bed. At the door was a third, carrying a lantern. The two who had come over to the bed each grasped one end of the sack.
门开了，一片昏暗的光透过粗布，传到邓蒂斯的眼睛里。他看到两个黑影朝他的床边走过来，第三个人留在门口，手里举着火炬。这两个人分别走到床的两头，各人扛起布袋的一端。
"He's still pretty heavy, this one, for such a thin old man!" one said, raising the head.
“他很重呀，虽然是一个瘦老头子。”扛头的那个人说。
"Quite right, let's go."
“是的，你说得对。”他的同伴回答。
"They do say that each year adds half a pound to the weight of the bones," the other replied, taking the feet.
“他们说人的骨头每年要重半磅哩。”另外那一个扛脚的人说。
"What knot is that?" Dantès wondered.
“干吗要绑结呀？”邓蒂斯想。
"Have you made your knot?" the first asked.
“你把结绑住了没有？”第一个讲话的人问。
They carried the supposed corpse from the bed to the bier. Edmond stiffened, the better to play dead. They put him down on the stretcher, and the funeral procession, led and lit by the man with the lantern, went up the stairs.
他们把伪装的尸体放到尸架上。爱德蒙为了要装死人，就故意把自己挺得硬棒棒地，于是由那举火炬的人引路，这一队人就开始走上楼梯。
"It would be stupid to carry any unnecessary weight; I'll make it when we get there."
“何必要带这么多重量呢？”那一个回答说，“我们到了那儿再绑好啦。”
"Give us some light, here, you brute," said the one who had moved away. "Otherwise I'll never find what I'm looking for."
“照着我，畜生，”那个扛夫说，“不然我就看不到要找的东西啦。”
"You know something, he's not at all light!" said the one who had stayed behind, sitting down on the edge of the stretcher.
“真的，他可实在不轻呵！”那个扛夫在担架边上坐下来说。
Dantès' first instinct had been to escape, but luckily he resisted it.
邓蒂斯的第一个冲动是想逃走，但幸而他并没有真的干出来。
"Where can I be?" he wondered.
“我这时在哪儿了呢？”他自问。
"At last," the other said. "You made a hard job of it."
“在这儿啦，”他说，“虽然费了点劲。”
A satisfied exclamation indicated that the gravedigger had found whatever it was he needed.
一声满意的喊叫表示那掘墓人已找到他所寻找的东西了。
"What can he be looking for?" Dantès wondered. "No doubt a spade."
“他在找什么呢？”爱德蒙想。“或许是铲子吧。”
The men carrying him went about twenty paces, then stopped and set the bier down on the ground. One of them went away: Dantès could hear his footsteps on the pavement.
扛夫向前走了二十步，于是停下来，把尸架放在地上。其中有一个走了开去，邓蒂斯听到他的皮鞋在石道上一路响过去。
Suddenly, he was bathed in the fresh, sharp air of night. Dantès recognized the mistral and was filled with a sudden feeling of both delight and anguish.
突然间，邓蒂斯吸到了新鲜寒冷的夜气，他认识这是海湾边冷燥的西北风。这是一种突然的感触，真使他悲喜交集。
The man with the lantern obeyed, even though, as we have seen, the request was couched in rather offensive terms.
举火炬的那个人照办，虽然对方说话的口吻不太客气。
"Yes, but there's nothing lost by the delay."
“是罗，”那个回答，“就是多等一会儿也不费你什么的呀。”
At these words, he went over to Edmond, who heard something heavy and resounding being put down beside him. At the same moment, a rope was bound tightly and painfully around his feet.
说到这里，那个人向爱德蒙走来，接着就听到他的身旁放下了一件很重很结实的东西，同时他的两脚突然被使劲地绑上了一条绳子。
"In that case, let's be going."
“走吧，那末。”
"And done it well," said the other. "I guarantee."
“绑上啦，而且还绑得很紧呢。”那一个回答。
"Yes, the abbé runs a serious risk of getting wet," said the other -- and they burst out laughing.
“对了，长老可得湿一个透啦。”另外那一个说，接着就一声大笑。
And the bier was lifted and carried forward. They took about fifty paces, then stopped to open a gate, before carrying on. The sound of waves breaking against the rocks on which the castle was built reached Dantès more and more clearly as they went on.
于是尸架又被扛了起来，他们继续向前走去。他们又走了五十步路，于是停下来开一扇门，然后又向前走。在他们前进的时候，浪花冲激堡下岩石所发出的声音清晰地传到了邓蒂斯的耳朵里。
"Well, have you done the knot?" asked the gravedigger who had remained idle.
“喂，你把结绑上了没有？”旁观的那个掘墓人问。
"The weather is bad," said one of the men. "I'd not like to be out at sea tonight."
“天气真坏！”扛夫之中有一个说，“今夜泡到海里可并不好受。”
"Good, here we are!" said the first man.
“好，我们总算走到啦。”他们之中有一个说。
Dantès did not entirely understand this joke, but the hair still rose on his neck.
邓蒂斯不懂他们开的玩笑是什么意思，可是他头上的头发都竖起来了。
"Further on, further on," said the other. "You remember that the last one stayed behind, caught on the rocks, and the next day the governor told us what lazy devils we were."
“走远一点！走远一点！”另外那一个说。“你知道上一次就在这儿停的，结果撞到岩石上去了，第二天，堡长怪我们都是粗心的家伙。”
"One!" said the gravediggers.
“一！”两个掘墓人喊道。
"Three!"
“三！”
"Two…"
“二！”
Dantès had been thrown into the sea -- and a thirty-six-pound cannonball tied to his feet was dragging him to the bottom.
邓蒂斯被抛进了海里，抛进了海的深处，他的脚上绑着一个三十六磅重的铁球。
The sea is the graveyard of the Château d'If.
海就是伊夫堡的坟场。
They took four or five steps more, still going up, then Dantès felt them take him by the head and feet and swing him.
他们又向上走了五六步，然后邓蒂斯觉得他们把他扛起来了，一个抬头，一个抬脚，把他荡来荡去。
At this moment, Dantès felt himself being thrown into a huge void, flying through the air like a wounded bird, then falling, falling, in a terrifying descent that froze his heart. Although he was drawn downwards by some weight that sped his flight, it seemed to him that the fall lasted a century. Finally, with a terrifying noise, he plunged like an arrow into icy water, and he cried out, his cry instantly stifled by the water closing around him.
这时，邓蒂斯觉得自己被抛入空间象一只受伤的鸟穿过空气，——在往下掉，在用一种使他的血液凝固的速度往下掉。虽然有重物拖着他往下掉，加快了他下降的速度，但在他，这往下掉的时间似乎继续了一百年。终于，随着可怕的一个冲激，他掉进了冰冷的水里，当他落水的时候，他发出了一声尖锐的喊叫，那声喊叫立刻被淹没在浪花里。