Chapter 4 The Countess' Interpretation

The next morning, Tarzan told D'Arnault what he had encountered with the gangsters and the police in Moore Street the night before, and then he said conclusively: "Your Paris is more dangerous than our barbaric jungle." , Paul. Why did those people lead me there? Are they hungry?" D'Arnot shivered in feigned fear.The outlandish idea made him laugh. "It seems that it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong according to the habits of civilized society to get you beyond the moral standards of the jungle," he joked. "The habits of civilized society, huh! Of course..." Tarzan said contemptuously, "the morality of the jungle does not encourage unprincipled and vulgar atrocities. Everyone fights for food, for self-protection, or for mates, protection kill their children.

All this, however, is subject to the laws of nature as a whole.But here, bah!You civilized people are more ferocious than beasts.They kill innocent people at will, and what's worse, they use the noble feeling of human friendship to lure the unwary victim into their trap and fall into disaster.I ran to that room in a hurry because I heard a brother and sister crying for help. I didn't expect that what was waiting for me was actually an assassin. "For a long time I didn't realize, and couldn't realize, that a woman could have degenerated to such a degree that she deceived a person who volunteered to save her to her death. But that's exactly what happened, the appearance of Rukov, and the woman's subsequent arrest by the police. The accusations before me lead me to only this explanation of her behaviour. Rukov must have known that I passed Moore Street often, and had laid an ambush there. His whole plan was flawless, Even in case something unexpected happened—and it did happen—what kind of story the woman would make up. Now I know everything.”

"Well," said D'Arnot, "anyway, this incident has finally taught you that Moore Street is a place to hide away after dark. I told you before that you always ignored it. " "On the contrary," said Tarzan with a smile, "this incident has shown me that the Rue Moore in Paris is the most eye-opening place in Paris. From now on, I will never miss a single person walking along this street." Because I left Africa until last night, the first time I really opened my heart." "Even if you don't visit Moore Street anymore, this incident will last you for a while," D'Arnot said. "Remember, you are not done with the police! I know the police in Paris very well. I I can assure you. They won't soon forget what you did to them. Dear Tarzan, they'll catch you sooner or later. Then they'll lock you, a wildling in the forest, into the bars. Would you like that?"

"They'll never lock Tarzan of the apes into the bars," said Tarzan, smiling. When Tarzan spoke, there was something in his voice that caused Diano to raise his head and look at him with piercing eyes.Tarzan's stern face and icy eyes made it clear to the young Frenchman that it was difficult for the "big boy" to understand that the law was more powerful than his own incomparable strength and valor.Therefore, measures must be taken to clear the relationship between Taishan and the police before they clash again. "You have so much to learn, Tarzan," he said gravely. "The law must be respected, whether you like it or not. You will only bring harm to yourself and your friends if you continue to flout the police authority." Trouble. I can explain something to them, go today. But from now on, you must obey the law. If the people representing the law say 'come', you must come. If they say 'go', you must Go away. Now we'll go find our good friend who works in the police department and put an end to the Moore Street business. Come on!"

Half an hour later they walked into the sheriff's office together.The sheriff is very enthusiastic, and he still remembers Taishan.They had met a few months ago for fingerprinting. After D'Arnot finished telling what happened that night, the sheriff showed a smile on his face.He pressed the bell button in front of his hand, and while waiting for the secretary to be summoned, he flipped through a stack of papers on the table, and finally found the one he was looking for. "Juben," he said after the secretary came in, "get these police officers here right away." He handed the secretary the piece of paper he had just found, and turned to look at Tarzan again.

"You have made a great mistake, sir," he said kindly, "and I should have punished you severely if our good friend had not explained this. Now I am going to do something that no one has ever heard of." I've sent for the officers you beat up last night. Tell them to come and hear D'Arnot's story, and then they'll decide if you should be charged. "You have to learn many rules of civilized society. These things seem completely unfamiliar or unnecessary to you, but you must learn to accept them and gradually understand their connotations. The policemen you beat up are just following It's their duty to perform tasks. They have no say in the matter.

They risk their lives every day to protect the lives and property of others from violation.They will also fight to protect you.They are very brave people.Their pride is shattered by being beaten to the ground by an unarmed man. "You ought to make them look good so they can forgive you for your mistakes. You are, I am sure, a very brave man, and brave men are known to be magnanimous." Four police officers entered the office and interrupted their conversation.Seeing Taishan, they all had surprised expressions on their faces. "My boys," said the Inspector affectionately, "this is the gentleman you saw last night in Moore Street. He has surrendered himself. I want you to pay attention to D'Arnot. He will tell Some stories from your gentleman's life. These stories will explain why he acted on you last night. Tell me, Lieutenant."

D'Arnot spoke to the four policemen for half an hour.He narrated Tarzan's life in the primeval forest, explaining to them that the company of beasts had taught him to fight like wild beasts in self-defense.They gradually understood that when Tai Shan attacked them, he did it purely out of instinct, without rational thinking, and did not understand their intentions.For him, they were not much different from the various life phenomena he had seen in the jungle of his hometown.And all kinds of animals are actually his enemies. "Your pride has been hurt," said D'Arnot at last. "Probably the most embarrassing thing for you is that this man beat you with his bare hands. There is nothing shameful about it. If you were compared to an African lion, or a jungle Gorillas in a hut, and you won't be ashamed of your failures.

"And last night, the man you met had fought countless times with the ferocious animals on that chaotic continent, and ended in victory every time. Therefore, it is not a shame to be defeated by the superhuman ape Tarzan." The four policemen stood there looking at Tarzan and at their superiors, not knowing what to do, Tarzan did one thing to eliminate the last bit of ties between them—stretched out a hand and walked towards them . "I'm sorry for my mistake," he said flatly. "Let's make friends." And so the matter was satisfactorily settled.Tarzan, however, was a constant talking point in the police barracks; and he, for his part, added four brave men to his circle of friends.

Back at D'Arnot's residence, the lieutenant found a letter from an English friend.The confidante was none other than William Cecil Clayton, Lord Greystoke, whom Diano would follow on the ill-fated quest to find Jenny Potter after she had been abducted by the great ape Teganz. Forged a deep friendship with Clayton.They have been in correspondence ever since. "Two months later, they got married in London." After reading the letter, D'Arnot said that without explaining who "they" were, Tarzan knew it was Clayton and Jenny. He made no answer, but the whole day, full of thoughts, said nothing.

That night, they went to the opera together.Tai Shan felt heavy in his heart because of those unpleasant events, he didn't care to watch what was on stage, he just felt the beautiful figure of the American girl swaying in front of his eyes.He could hear nothing but a sad and sweet voice saying that his love had been reciprocated and now she was marrying someone else! He shook his head, trying to free himself from some unpleasant thoughts.At the same time, he felt a pair of eyes watching him.Years of training have given him this "special ability".He raised his head, and looking straight into those shining, smiling eyes, it was the Countess de Cauder, Olga.She bowed to him, and when Tarzan returned the bow, he saw that there was an expression of invitation, even begging, in Olga's eyes. During the intermission, Taishan had already appeared in her box. "I would very much like to see you," she said, "and it disturbs me to think that you have done so much for me and my husband, and I have not explained it properly to you. You may feel We are ungrateful villains, and we did not follow your advice and take appropriate measures to prevent those two people from continuing to persecute us." "You are mistaken," replied Tarzan. "It makes me very happy to think of you. You mustn't think you have anything to do with me. Have they troubled you again?" "The harassment has never ceased," she said sadly. "I seem to have to tell someone about it, and I don't think anyone is more qualified to hear it than you. You must honor me Do this. My words may be of some use to you. I know this Nicholas Zhukov too well, and I know that you have absolutely not seen him through. He will certainly try to get back at you. What I will tell you, maybe later on against him I can help you a little when it comes to your revenge. But I can't tell you here. To-morrow at five o'clock at my house, Mr. Tarzan." "Oh, tomorrow at five o'clock, I can't wait," Tarzan said, and bade her good night. In one corner of the theater stood Zhukov and Balvich.They saw Mr. Tarzan standing in the box of the Countess de Cauder, with a knowing smile on his face. At half-past four the next afternoon, a dark, bearded man rang the bell of the little servants' door in the Count de Cauder's house.A servant opened the door and raised his eyebrows when he recognized the man standing outside.The two whispered for a while. At first the footman seemed to object to what the bearded man was asking.But after the bearded man stuffed something into his hand, the servant turned around and led the visitor around a big turn, into the room connected with the living room where the countess had tea in the afternoon, and was separated by a curtain. open cabin. Half an hour later, Taishan walked into the living room, and after a while the hostess came in, smiling and stretching out her hands. "I'm glad you could come," she said. "Nothing will stop me from seeing you," he replied. They talked for a while about the opera they had seen the night before;They talked to each other about the joy of meeting by chance in such a bizarre environment, and now they are reunited, and then the two talked about the most important relationship at this moment.matter of heart. "You must be wondering," said the countess, "why Zhukov would harm us so endlessly. In fact, the matter is very simple. The count holds many important secrets of the Ministry of Defense. He often carries secrets that foreign powers are willing to spend a lot of money to obtain." Documents. In order to obtain these documents, the agents of those countries would rather resort to murder or more brutal means than murder. "Now the count has a secret in his hands. If any Russian can get this secret and provide it to his government, he will be famous and rich. Zhukov and Balvich are spies of the Tsarist Empire. They did not spare any effort to get this information. The affair on the ship—I mean the conspiracy at the card table—was intended to blackmail my husband. "If people think he's cheating when he's playing cards, his political career will suffer a lot and he'll have to leave the Ministry of Defense and be ostracized from various social groups. They try to This is the handle to blackmail him. Thus, the count became a victim of the enemy's plot.They were trying to tarnish his reputation and get the documents they desperately needed. "He thwarted their plot and they hatched a plan to discredit me and get those documents at the cost of it. Balvich was blunt and told them all about their plot in my cabin," he said. If I can provide information, they will not bother me anymore. Otherwise, Zhukov standing outside the door will report to the purser on the ship that I am messing with other men in the locked cabin. What's more, I have to tell all the people on board about this matter; "Isn't that terrible? But I happen to know the secret of that Balvich, and if word got out, the St. Petersburg police would have him hanged in Russia. Therefore, I measure He didn't dare to play his tricks, so he leaned over to him and whispered someone's name. Just like that, he snapped his fingers and grabbed my throat like crazy. If it wasn't If you come in time, I will die at his hands." "These beasts!" murmured Tarzan. "They are worse than beasts, my friend," she said, "they are devils! I am afraid for you, for you have offended them. You must be on your guard. Tell me, for my sake, be careful I will never forgive myself if you are plotted against them because of your kindness to me." "I'm not afraid of them," replied Kishan, "I've seen worse enemies than Zhukov and Balvich. He saw that Olga didn't know anything about what happened in Moore Street, so he didn't say a word, for fear that she would become more worried about him. "For your own safety," he went on, "why don't you hand over these two rascals to the authorities? They will get their due soon." She hesitated. "There are two reasons," she said at last, "one of which is that the count himself is unwilling to denounce them. The other reason, which is why I am afraid to reveal their truth, I have never told anyone. Only I And Zhukov knew. Oh, how strange..." She stopped talking and looked at him eagerly for a long time. "Strange what?" he asked with a smile. "I wonder why I should tell you things I dare not even tell my husband. I trust you will understand me. You will tell me what to do. I trust you will not judge me too harshly." "I am afraid I shall prove to be a very incompetent 'judge', madam," replied Tarzan, "and if you were a guilty murderer, I would say that the victim would have been Thanks Dade." "Oh, my dear, no," she said admonishingly, "things are not so bad. First let me tell you why the count is unwilling to denounce these two; then, if I have enough courage, I will tell you the real reason why I dare not expose them. You will never think that Nicholas is my brother. We are Russian. As long as I can remember, Nicholas is a bad guy. He used to be in the Russian army A captain, fired. It became a scandal. Then, as time went on, it faded away. My father got him a place in the spy agency. "Nicholas is really bad, but he can always manage to escape the punishment of the authorities. Recently, he was pardoned by the Russian police for fabricating facts to prove that several victims opposed the tsar. charges of this nature." "Isn't all the crimes he has done to you and your husband enough to prove that he has long disregarded the relationship between brothers and sisters?" Taishan said, "Although you are his sister, he has tried every means to damage your reputation. You have no obligation to protect him ,Mrs." "Oh, but there are other reasons. Even if I don't have to protect him because he's my brother, I can't easily relieve him of my responsibility. Because of an episode in my life, he knew it perfectly.I've always had a deep fear of him. "But I can tell you the whole story," she continued after a pause, "because I feel I must tell you sooner or later. I was educated in a convent, and during my education I met a man, whom I I thought he was a very educated gentleman. At that time, I knew little or nothing about men, let alone love. I foolishly thought that I fell in love with this man. Under repeated demands and urgings from him, I eloped with him and planned to get married. "Actually, I only stayed with him for three hours, in broad daylight, and in public places - train stations and trains. After arriving at the destination where we were going to get married, two policemen were arrested just after the fire year. They went up to my traveling companion, and arrested him. They took me, of course, too. But after hearing my plea, they did not detain me, but sent me back to the convent by a female guard. Judging from their introduction, the man who proposed to me was not an educated gentleman at all, but a deserter who deserted and a wanted fugitive.Every country in Europe has his criminal records. "The monastery kept it secret, and even my parents didn't know anything about it. But Nicholas met the man later and heard the whole story from him. Now he threatens me if I don't follow his instructions. Request it, and tell the count about it." Tarzan laughed. "What a child you are! How can this matter which you have just told affect your reputation? If you are not a little girl in your heart, you should know it. Go to your husband this evening, just like you did to him just now." As I say, tell him all about it. I'm sure he'll laugh at your fear, and take steps at once to send your dear brother to prison. That's where he is. home." "I wish I had so much courage," she said, "but I'm still afraid. I have been afraid of men since I was a child.First I was afraid of my father, then I was afraid of Nicholas, then I was afraid of the priest of the monastery, almost all my friends were afraid of their husbands, how could I not be afraid? " "I don't think women should be afraid of men," Tarzan said, with a puzzled look on his face. "I am familiar with all the animals in the jungle, and they are the opposite, except for blacks. I can't understand why civilized women should be afraid of men. It seems to me that men are born to protect women. .If any woman is afraid of me, I can't stand it." "I don't think any woman is afraid of you, my friend," said Olga de Cauder softly. "It may be stupid to say that, but I don't think I've known you very long, but I think you've never met me in my life." The only man who has nothing to fear. That's odd, because you're so big, you should be intimidating.It was marvelous that you were at ease with Nicholas and Balvich that night in my cabin. " Tarzan remained for a while longer, and at parting Olga pressed his hand tightly, insisting that he promise to come and see her again the next day.Qin Shan couldn't help feeling a little bit surprised. When they parted, she stood there looking at him affectionately.For a whole day, her eyes full of autumn waves, and her red and plump lips appeared in front of his eyes from time to time. Olga de Cauder was a very beautiful woman, and Qinshan the Ape was a very lonely boy whose wounds in his soul could only be healed by a woman. After seeing Tarzan off, the countess turned back to the house and saw Nicholas Zhukov standing in front of her. "How long have you been here?" she yelled, taking a few steps back. "Before your lover came, I came." He cast a sideways glance at her and said mockingly. "Shut up!" she said in a commanding tone, "how can you tell me— Your sister said something like that? " "Well, dear Olga, if he is not your lover, I apologize. If he had a tenth of my experience with women, you would be in his arms at this very moment. He is a You are a complete fool, Olga. Every word and every movement of yours is a naked encouragement to him, but he ignores it." Olga covered her ears with her hands. "I don't want to hear it! You say this kind of work is so vicious. No matter how much you threaten me, you know that I am a decent woman. From this evening on, you will not dare to disturb me again. I will tell Luo everything. Hell. He'll understand me. Then, Mr. Nicholas, you just take care!" "You won't tell him anything," said Zhukov, "and now I have the secret of your affair with Mr. Tarzan again, and if necessary, I can have one of your servants provide it to your husband without any effort." A lot of testimonies. The previous affair has fulfilled its historical mission. Now there is another well-documented case that can continue to serve us, Olga. A real affair. You are a A trustworthy wife. Don't be shy, Olga!" the bastard laughed. The countess did not dare to tell her husband the truth, and things got worse. The vague terror that had been in her before seemed palpable now.Perhaps the moral sense increases the proportion of this fear.