The Count of Monte Cristo: Introduction by Umberto Eco (Everyman's Library Classics Series)

This beloved novel tells the story of Edmond Dantès wrongfully imprisoned for life in the supposedly impregnable sea fortress the Château d’If. After a daring escape and after unearthing a hidden treasure revealed to him by a fellow prisoner he devotes the rest of his life to tracking down and punishing the enemies who wronged him.Though a brilliant storyteller Dumas was given to repetitions and redundancies; this slightly streamlined version of the original 1846 English translation speeds the narrative flow while retaining most of the rich pictorial descriptions and all the essential details of Dumas’s intricately plotted and thrilling masterpiece.Alexandre Dumas’s epic novel of justice retribution and self-discovery-one of the most enduringly popular adventure tales ever written-in a newly revised translation. Review “A piece of perfect storytelling.”-Robert Louis Stevenson About the Author Alexandre Dumas was born in 1802 in France and died in 1870.Umberto Eco is the author ofThe Name of the Rose andFoucault’s Pendulum. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter ION 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 pilots 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 its you Dantès! cried the man in the boat. Whats 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 youll 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. Hes 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 were 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 bra