Chapter 3 Tarzan makes a big noise on Moore Street

After arriving in Paris, Tarzan went straight to his old friend D'Arnot.The lieutenant, outspoken, reproached him for giving up his legal right to the title and fortune of the late Lord Greystoke, John Clayton. "You must be mad, my friend," said D'Arnot, "for not only giving up property and status so easily, but for giving up a most precious opportunity: to prove to the whole world that you have The blood of two of the noblest families in England, and not of a savage female ape, without proof, people would not believe your explanation, much less Miss Potter. "Only I never believe that you are the son of an ape. Even in the primeval African jungle, when you tear raw meat with your powerful teeth like a wild beast, when you wipe your greasy hands on your thighs, I also No. At that time, although there was no clue to prove your parentage, I knew that it would be wrong to admit that Carla was your mother.

"Now, your father's diary not only records the terrible years he and your mother spent on the desolate coast of Africa, but also records the details of your birth, and you have the most convincing evidence-in the diary when you were a child. It's hard to believe to me that you're willing to go on being a nameless, penniless bum." "I don't need a better name than Tarzan," replied Tarzan, "and it's not my intention to be a penniless bum. In fact, next time—hopefully the last—I'll Adding to your selfless friendship is the desire for you to help me find a job."

"Bah, bah!" D'Arnot sneered, "You know, I don't mean that. How many times have I told you that I have enough money for 20 people, and half of the money is yours. Even if I Giving you all my property can only repay your kindness in case, my Tarzan. Can this be worth everything you have done for me in Africa? My friend, I will not forget, Without you and your amazing bravery, I would have died long ago on the pillars of those cannibals in the village of Mubenga; The serious wounds in their hands will never heal. Later, I discovered that when you were with me in the ape's "little stage", your heart was suffering in anxiety and pain, urging you to return to the seashore quickly. And this What does everything mean.

"It wasn't until we finally got there, and found Miss Potter and her party already sailing away, that I realized what a price you had paid to save a complete stranger! I didn't pay you back, Tarzan! Just because you need money right now. If this is a kind of sacrifice, then let it be regarded as my dedication to you! My friendship is always with you. Because we share the same interests, and I admire you very much. Don’t I can't control things, but money can, and I want to." "Well," said Tarzan with a smile, "don't quarrel about money anymore. I must live, so I must have money. I can only feel at ease when I work. There is nothing like finding me a job. To express your friendship. If this idleness continues, I shall die before long. As for my birth and succession, all the proofs are in the hands of trustworthy ones. Although Clayton has deprived me of these rights, But it wasn't his fault. He sincerely believed that he was the real Lord Greystoke. In fact, he would be a better Lord of England than a man born and brought up in the African bush. You know , even now, I am only a half-civilized person. The real, bestial instinct in my life immediately drowns out the little gentleness and humility that culture and upbringing have given me at the sight of annoying things.

"Besides, to unravel the mysteries of my parentage would take away from the woman I love the money and status she has gained by marrying Clayton. I can't do that. Can I, Paul? "For me, it doesn't matter what my origin is." He didn't wait for D'Arnot to answer, and continued to speak endlessly, "People like me who grew up in the jungle, no matter people or beasts, except for themselves Psychological or physical endowment and quality, I really don’t see any external and more valuable things. Therefore, when I think of Kara as my mother and the one who left after giving birth to me in my heart I am equally relieved by the poor, unfortunate English girls of the world. Carla was very loving to me, though it was often expressed in cruel and savage ways. She grew up in the arms of her mother. For me, she fought the wild beasts of the forest and fought against the savage members of our tribe with fervent maternal love.

"I love her for that, Paul. And I didn't realize how much I loved her until Kimotoga's black warriors took her from me with brutal spears and poisoned arrows! When I was a child, I threw myself on her dead body and howled and wailed. It was all a child's feelings for his biological mother. To you, my friend, she was an ugly, fierce beast; but to me, she It's so beautiful—how wonderfully love changes the object of your love. So I don't find any dissatisfaction in being forever the son of Kara the mother ape." "I greatly appreciate your loyalty," said D'Arnot, "but there will come a time when you will be happy to ask for your rights to be restored. Mark my words, and hopefully it will be as easy then as it is now to find out your parentage. You must understand that in this world only Professor Potter and Mr. Philander can prove that the little skeleton buried with your parents' remains is an ape baby, not Lord Greystoke and Mr. Greystock. The child was born. This evidence is very important, and they are old and will not live long. Tarzan, don't you think that once Miss Potter knows the truth, she will break off the engagement with Clayton .In this way, you can easily get your title, property, and the woman you love."

Taishan shook his head. "You don't know her," he said. "The more unlucky Clayton is, the more she keeps her word. She's a girl from an old-fashioned Southern family. These Southerners have a sense of justice and pride in it." For the next fortnight Tarzan revisited his preliminary impressions of Paris.During the day, he spent his time in the galleries of libraries and art museums.He has read a lot of books, and in front of this treasure house of knowledge, he was very surprised to find that even if a person studies and researches tirelessly all his life, the knowledge he can get is only a drop in the ocean.He studies as hard as he can during the day, and finds places where he can relax and play in the evening.Paris, famous for its colorful nightlife, naturally has no shortage of such places.

If he smokes too much and drinks absinthe too much, it is because that is how he understands civilization.He found that all the enlightened brothers did this.Life is fresh and full of temptations, but his heart is full of sorrow and great longings that can never be satisfied, so he can only seek solace from two extremes—study and entertainment, forgetting the past, and not dwelling on the past. Daydreams about the future. One night, while he was sitting in a concert hall, sipping absinthe and enjoying the performance of a Russian dancer with relish, he suddenly felt a pair of evil black eyes flicker past him.Before Taishan could see who it was, the man had already turned around and disappeared among the crowd at the door.But Tarzan was convinced he had seen those eyes before, and it was no accident that they stared at him that night.

Taishan seemed to feel that someone was watching him all the time, and the animal instinct hidden in his heart reacted strongly to this.He turned his face sharply and caught sight of the startled eyes that were staring straight at him. Before leaving the concert hall, he forgot about it, and he didn't see the dark-skinned guy hiding in the shadows under a doorway opposite when he came out of the brightly lit hall. Unbeknownst to Taishan, he had been followed many times in concert halls and other entertainment venues, but he had rarely come out alone before.But tonight, D'Arnot had another appointment, so Tarzan came to watch the show alone.

He turned a corner, as was his habit when he came home from this part of Paris.The "tail" ran out of hiding place, crossed the road, and hurried forward. When Tarzan came home at night, he always used to walk along Moore Street.Because it was quiet and dark, it reminded him of the lovely African jungle more easily than the bustling and colorful streets around him.If you are familiar with Paris, you must remember that Moore Street is narrow and full of dangers.If you are not familiar with it, just ask the police and you will know that after dark in Paris, there is nothing more "respectful" than this street.

That night Tarzan walked in the dark shadows of the dirty, dilapidated buildings that lined this depressing street.After passing through two residential areas facing the street, I suddenly heard a cry for help from the third floor of a house opposite. Listen to the voice is a woman.Her first cry was still echoing in the air as Tarzan rushed up the stairs and down the dimly lit corridors to rescue the woman in distress. There was a door ajar at the end of the corridor on the third floor, through which Tarzan heard the cries for help that had brought him here from the street just now.In the blink of an eye, he had rushed into the dimly lit room.An oil lamp on an old-fashioned mantelpiece cast its flickering light over a dozen hideous-looking figures.Except for the woman who called for help in the room, there were all men.The woman looked about 30 years old, and her ass, which might have been beautiful when she was young, was now a lewd look.She covered her throat with one hand, bowed her head, and stood with her back against the innermost wall. "Help me, sir," she said in a low voice when Tarzan came in, "they're going to kill me." Tarzan glanced around and saw the sly, sinister faces only a habitual criminal could have.He was wondering why they didn't have the slightest intention of running away, when he suddenly heard a noise, turned his head quickly, and two scenes came into his eyes, one of which puzzled him greatly: a person was sneaking from the house Slipping out, Tarzan recognized Rukov with only one glance. Another thing immediately piqued his interest.A big man with a fierce face was holding a bludgeon in his hand, and was touching him from behind on tiptoe. This guy and his accomplices saw that Taishan had noticed, and rushed forward.Some held sharp knives, some held chairs, and the guy with the bludgeon exhausted all his life's strength, waving the stick and hitting them.If this stick hits, it will smash Taishan's head to pieces. However, in the primeval forest, Tarzan, who has dealt with the extremely powerful, cruel and cunning giant ape Teganz and the lion Numa, will not lose the slightest in his agility or strength.And all this is unimaginable to the hooligans on the streets of Paris. Having settled on the most formidable opponent, the fellow wielding the bludgeon, Tarzan dodged the falling club, swooped in, and punched him on the jaw, sending the fellow down. Then he turned back and turned on the others.It's almost like an easy game.The thin veil of civilization was gone, and Tarzan reveled in the joy of fighting and venting his thirst for blood.It's a pity that these guys are like fragile shells, and they really can't stand the beating.These ten stout rogues found themselves, it seemed, in the same hut with a ferocious beast, whose strength was so great that their strength was nothing compared with his. Zhukov stood at the end of the corridor, waiting for the outcome of the vicious struggle.He hoped to find out that Tai Shan had indeed been beaten to death by those hooligans before leaving here.But he didn't want to be in the house by himself during the murder. The woman was still where Tarzan had stood when he first entered the house.But in the past few minutes, the expression on her face has undergone a series of changes.When Tarzan saw her for the first time, she had put on a pitiful face; when he turned to meet the rascals, that face was very sly.It's just that Taishan didn't see this change. Then slyness turned to surprise, until finally fear replaced all those expressions.She was naturally horrified.The innocent gentleman whom she had lured in with cries for help was about to die in this little cabin, but suddenly he was a vengeful god.What she saw was not delicate skin and powerless resistance, but a mad, real Hercules①. "My God!" she exclaimed, "he's a beast!" as Tarzan's white, powerful teeth were about the throat of an adversary--a practice he'd learned from the great apes in Kochak's tribe. method of fighting. He strikes in all directions, is very agile, and jumps around the room.The woman couldn't help but think of the leopard she saw in the zoo.Now he stretched out his iron palm and snapped a villain's wrist, and now he grabbed a guy's arm and twisted it back to dislocate it. Screaming in pain, the hooligans fled to the foyer.Before the first man with a bloody head and a short arm and a short leg staggered out of the house, Zhukov started He already understood that it was impossible for Taishan to die in that room that night.So the Russian ran off to a nearby thief's den and called the police, saying that there was a man on the third floor of 27 Moore Street who was killing people. When officers arrived, they found three men lying on the floor moaning, a terrified woman lying on a dirty bed with her face in her hands and a well-dressed young gentleman standing in the room In the middle, waiting for this "reinforcement" - he judged from the hurried footsteps of the policemen as they went upstairs.However, the police thought wrongly, there was no "well-dressed gentleman" standing in front of them, but a beast looking at them viciously with narrowed iron-gray eyes.The smell of blood wiped away the last vestige of civilization from Tarzan, and now he was like a lion surrounded by hunters, cornered, waiting for an imminent attack, and ready to pounce on the attacker at any moment. "What's going on here?" asked a policeman. Taishan explained briefly, but when he turned to ask the woman to testify for his statement, he was taken aback by her "testimony". "He lied!" she screamed at the top of her voice, telling the police. "I was alone in the house and he came in with malicious intent. I told him to get out and he started to move. I yelled for help." , alarmed several gentlemen who were passing by the house. If they hadn't saved me, I would have let him kill me.Gentlemen, he's a monster, and with his bare hands and his teeth, he'd beat ten men. " Tarzan was stunned by the woman's ingratitude, and for a moment he was speechless; the police were a little suspicious of her words, for they knew something of her and her dear friends' misdeeds.But they are policemen, not judges.It was therefore decided to arrest everyone in the house.Who is the criminal and who is the innocent has to be left to the judgment of the judge. But they discovered that it was one thing to announce to this well-dressed young man that he was under arrest, and quite another to carry it out. "I'm not guilty." He said calmly, "I'm just defending myself. I don't know why this woman wants to speak out. She has never had any grudges with me in the past, and she has no grudges in recent days. When she called for help, she led me into this hut. I've never seen her before." "Come on, come on," said a policeman, "When you get to the place, there will be a judge to listen to you." He stepped forward and put a hand on Taishan's shoulder.But Taishan only shook his shoulders, and he fell to the corner of the wall.His colleagues rushed forward and immediately tasted what the group of hooligans had just tasted.Taishan had quick eyesight and quick hands, and he moved them nimbly, beating them all around, without even having the time to draw a gun. At this moment, Tarzan realized that the window was open, and there was a tree outside the window-perhaps a telegraph pole, which he did not see clearly.After the last policeman was knocked down by him, a police officer finally pulled out his pistol and shot Tarzan.The gun missed.Before the man could fire again, Tarzan had knocked over the oil lamp on the mantelpiece, and the cabin was plunged into darkness. Then, the police saw a figure as light as a flying swallow, jumping onto the window sill, leaping from the window, like a leopard jumping onto a pole on the opposite side of the sidewalk. By the time they got together and ran to the street, there was no sign of the person they wanted to arrest. After they brought the woman and those guys who didn't have time to escape to the police station, they didn't give them a good look. This team lost face during the mission and was very annoyed.And the thought of having to report to the boss, and an unarmed man beat them to pieces and run away, is even more embarrassing. The policeman who was left in the street swore that from the time they entered the building to the time they came out, no one jumped out of a window or slipped out of anything. Colleagues thought he was lying, but couldn't prove it. After jumping on the pole, Tarzan, according to the habit in the jungle, looked for enemies before he ventured down.He did it right, there was a policeman standing right under that pole.Therefore, Mount Tai did not go down at all. When he saw people thrown from above, he climbed up. The top of this pole is facing the roof of that building.Over the years, Mount Tai has jumped on the treetops in the primeval forest, and he has long practiced the stunt of "flying over the eaves and walls", so he jumped onto the roof of the building without any effort.He jumped from one house to another, until he reached a crossroads, and when he saw another pole, he jumped and climbed down along the pole. He darts past a residential area or two and enters a café that is open around the clock.In the bathroom, scrub the traces of climbing walls and houses on your hands and clothes.After a while, he came out of the cafe.Leisurely, he walked slowly towards his residence. Not far from where he lives, there is a brightly lit street.He had to cross the street to get back to where he was staying.He stood under a bright arc light, waiting for a large limousine to pass.Suddenly he heard a woman's sweet voice calling him.He looked up and saw Olga de Cauder sitting in the back seat of the car, smiling at him from the window.He answered her friendly greeting with a low bow.When he straightened up, the car had already sped away with her. "Meet Zhukov and the countess on the same night," he said to himself. "Oh, Paris is so small!"