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Bread and Salt

8:48 recording · EN · 1 speaker

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Executive Summary AI
  • Madame de Morcerf leads Monte Cristo through a grove of lindens to a greenhouse, where she offers him muscatel grapes and then a peach, and he refuses both.
  • She invokes the Arabian custom that makes eternal friends of those who eat bread and salt under the same roof, and the Count replies that in France eternal friendships are as rare as that custom.
  • Questioned about his past, the Count says his present happiness equals his past misery, that Haydée is a slave bought at Constantinople whom he adopted, and that a girl he loved at Malta married while he was away at war.
  • He says he has forgiven her but only her, and when she offers the grapes again he repeats that he never eats muscatel grapes, and she throws them away calling him an inflexible man.
  • Albert brings news that M. de Saint-Méran has died after leaving Marseille, that Valentine fainted on hearing it, and the Countess leaves in tears after the Count calls himself only her respectful servant.

Brief overview

Mercédès tests Monte Cristo's friendship with fruit and questions, but he refuses to eat under her roof.

  1. Refusing food signals refusing friendshipThe Count declines grapes and a peach after she recalls the bread-and-salt custom.
  2. The Count hints at his lost loveHe describes a girl at Malta who married while war carried him away.
  3. Saint-Méran's death disrupts Valentine's marriage plansHe was coming to hasten Valentine's marriage with Franz and died after leaving Marseille.

Questions this recording answers

7 questions, each answered where it is said
Why does Monte Cristo refuse the fruit Mercédès offers him?

Mercédès offers muscatel grapes and then a peach, and the Count refuses both, saying he never eats muscatel grapes. She then recalls the Arabian custom that makes eternal friends of those who eat bread and salt together, and he replies that in France such eternal friendships are as rare as the custom.

What does the Count say about the young woman seen with him at the opera?

He says she is a slave whom he bought at Constantinople, the daughter of a prince, and that he has adopted her as his daughter, having no one else to love in the world. He insists he is not married and lives alone.

What story does the Count tell about his lost love?

He says that at Malta he loved a young girl and was about to marry her when war carried him away. He thought she would wait, but when he returned she was married. He says one can only love once and he never returned to see her again.

Has the Count forgiven those who separated him from his love?

He says he has forgiven her, but only her. When the Countess asks whether he still hates those who separated them, he answers that he does not hate them at all, asking why he should.

What misfortune does Albert announce?

Albert says Monsieur de Villefort has come to fetch his wife and daughter because Madame de Saint-Méran has arrived in Paris with news that M. de Saint-Méran died on the first stage after leaving Marseille. Valentine guessed the truth and fell senseless.

Why was M. de Saint-Méran coming to Paris?

The Count learns that M. de Saint-Méran was Valentine de Villefort's grandfather on her mother's side, and he was coming to hasten her marriage with Franz, which now must wait.

How does the Count answer when Mercédès asks if they are friends?

The first time he turns pale, then crimson, and says certainly they are friends, which disappoints her. At the end, when she joins his hand with Albert's and asks again, he says he does not presume to call himself her friend, but is always her most respectful servant.

Key Quote
“Pray excuse me, madame, replied Monte Cristo, but I never eat muscatel grapes.”
— Narrator
Key Quote
“My present happiness equals my past misery,' said the Count.”
— Narrator
Key Quote
“When I returned, she was married.”
— Narrator

Transcript

0:00 the count of monte-cristo by alexander dumas bread and salt
0:21 madame de morcerf entered an archway of trees with her companion.
0:27 It led through a grove of lindens to a conservatory.
0:30 It was too warm in the room, was it not, Count? she asked. Yes, madame, and it was an excellent
0:36 idea of yours to open the doors and the blinds. As he ceased speaking, the Count felt the hand
0:42 of Mercedes tremble. But you, he said, with that light dress
0:46 and without anything to cover you but that gauze scarf, perhaps you feel cold?
0:52 Do you know where I am leading you? said the Countess, without replying to the question.
0:56 No, madame, replied Monte Cristo, but you see I make no resistance.
1:02 We are going to the greenhouse that you see at the other end of the grove.
1:06 The Count looked at Mercedes, as if to interrogate her,
1:10 but she continued to walk on in silence, and he refrained from speaking.
1:14 They reached the building, ornamented with magnificent fruits,
1:17 which ripen at the beginning of July in the artificial temperature
1:20 which takes the place of the sun, so frequently absent in our climate.
1:25 The Countess left the arm of Monte Cristo, and gathered a bunch of muscatel grapes.
1:30 See, Count, she said, with a smile so sad in its expression that one could almost detect the tears
1:36 on her eyelids. See, our French grapes are not to be compared, I know, with yours of Sicily and
1:42 Cyprus. But you will make allowance for our northern sun.
1:46 The Count bowed, but stepped back.
1:49 Do you refuse? said Mercedes in a tremulous voice.
1:53 Pray excuse me, madame, replied Monte Cristo, but I never eat muscatel grapes.
1:59 Mercedes let them fall, and sighed. A magnificent peach was hanging against an adjoining wall, ripened
2:06 by the same artificial heat. Mercedes drew near and plucked the fruit.
2:11 "'Take this peach, then,' she said. The Count again refused.
2:17 "'What, again?' she exclaimed, in so plaintive an accent that it seemed to stifle a sob.
2:22 "'Really, you pain me!' A long silence followed. The peach, like the grapes, fell to the ground.
2:30 Count, added Mercedes with a supplicating glance, there is a beautiful Arabian custom,
2:37 which makes eternal friends of those who have together eaten bread and salt under the same roof.
2:42 I know it, madame, replied the Count. But we are in France, and not
2:47 in Arabia, and in France eternal friendships are as rare as the custom of dividing bread and salt
2:52 with one another. But, said the Countess breathlessly, with her eyes fixed on Monte
2:58 Cristo, whose arms she convulsively pressed with both hands,We are friends, are we not?' The Count became pale as death.
3:07 The blood rushed to his heart,
3:09 and then again, rising,
3:10 dyed his cheeks with crimson.
3:12 His eyes swam like those of a man
3:14 suddenly dazzled.
3:16 "'Certainly we are friends,' he replied.
3:18 "'Why should we not be?'

Showing the first 40 of 96 lines.

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