The Count of Monte Cristo

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"But, sir," remarked the young woman, "these Eastern societies, in
the midst of which you have passed a portion of your existence, are
as fantastic as the tales that come from their strange land. A man can
easily be put out of the way there, then; it is, indeed, the Bagdad and
Bassora of the 'Thousand and One Nights.' The sultans and viziers who
rule over society there, and who constitute what in France we call the
government, are really Haroun-al-Raschids and Giaffars, who not only
pardon a poisoner, but even make him a prime minister, if his crime has
been an ingenious one, and who, under such circumstances, have the whole
story written in letters of gold, to divert their hours of idleness and
ennui."

"By no means, madame; the fanciful exists no longer in the East. There,
disguised under other names, and concealed under other costumes, are
police agents, magistrates, attorneys-general, and bailiffs. They
hang, behead, and impale their criminals in the most agreeable possible
manner; but some of these, like clever rogues, have contrived to escape