The wicked are great drinkers of water

Origin and Context

The proverb "The wicked are great drinkers of water" appears in Chapter 4 of Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, during a pivotal scene at the La Reserve tavern. As the conspiracy against Edmond Dantes takes shape, Gaspard Caderousse, already three parts drunk, sings the two last lines of a popular song: "Tous les mechants sont beuveurs d'eau; C'est bien prouve par le deluge." The English translation provided in the text renders this as "The wicked are great drinkers of water / As the flood proved once for all." The proverb is thus presented as a fragment of folk wisdom, a cynical inversion of the biblical narrative of Noah's flood, where water serves as the instrument of divine punishment for human wickedness.

The Toast and Its Irony

Caderousse's drunken recitation occurs immediately after Danglars has proposed a toast "to Captain Edmond Dantes, husband of the beautiful Catalane." The juxtaposition is striking: the assembled company raises their glasses to the young sailor's future happiness, while the very men who will soon destroy him—Danglars, Fernand, and the complicit Caderousse—are the ones drinking. The proverb's surface meaning, that the wicked are those who drink water, is belied by the scene's reality: it is the drinkers of wine who are plotting treachery. This irony is compounded by the fact that Caderousse, who quotes the proverb, is himself the most intoxicated of the group, his judgment clouded by the very wine that the proverb associates with virtue. The line thus functions as a piece of dramatic irony, exposing the gap between the characters' self-perception and their actual moral state.

The Proverb as Moral Commentary

The proverb's deeper resonance lies in its inversion of conventional moral symbolism. In Christian tradition, water is a symbol of purity and life, while wine represents both joy and, in excess, moral failing. The proverb's claim that the wicked are water-drinkers subverts this symbolism, suggesting that outward temperance may conceal inner corruption. This inversion mirrors the novel's broader exploration of appearance and reality, where the most respectable figures—Villefort, Danglars, Morcerf—are revealed to be the most deeply compromised. The proverb thus becomes a kind of moral shorthand, a warning that virtue cannot be judged by external signs alone. Its placement in the mouth of Caderousse, a man whose own weakness for drink will later contribute to his downfall, adds another layer of irony: the proverb's speaker is himself a living refutation of its claim.

The Proverb's Role in the Narrative

The proverb's significance extends beyond its immediate context. It is one of several instances in the novel where folk wisdom or popular sayings are deployed to comment on the action. The line "The wicked are great drinkers of water" anticipates the novel's central theme of hidden guilt and delayed justice. The conspirators who drink to Dantes' health are, in fact, the wicked ones, and their crime will eventually be exposed. The proverb thus functions as a subtle piece of foreshadowing, hinting at the moral reckoning that awaits the characters. Moreover, the fact that the proverb is quoted by Caderousse, who will later confess his role in the conspiracy to the disguised Monte Cristo, links the line to the novel's larger pattern of confession and revelation. The proverb's appearance at the moment of the conspiracy's inception marks it as a kind of thematic seed, one that will bear fruit in the novel's later explorations of guilt, punishment, and redemption.

The Proverb as a Reflection of the Novel's Moral Universe

Ultimately, the proverb "The wicked are great drinkers of water" encapsulates the novel's moral vision, in which appearances are deceptive and justice is inexorable. The line's cynical tone—its suggestion that even the most innocent-seeming habits may mask wickedness—resonates with the novel's portrayal of a society where respectability is often a mask for corruption. The proverb's biblical allusion to the flood also evokes the novel's own apocalyptic imagery, from the storm that wrecks the Pharaon to the final departure of Monte Cristo, who has acted as an agent of divine retribution. In this context, the proverb serves as a reminder that, in the world of the novel, moral order will ultimately be restored, even if it requires a cataclysm to do so. The line, though brief, thus contributes to the novel's rich tapestry of allusion and irony, offering a compact commentary on the nature of wickedness and the inevitability of justice.