Chapter 20 The Thief in the Closet - Locks - A Necessary Evil in the World of Rodenbaud

The famous semiotic scholar and novelist Umberto Eco once said in his book "Interpretation and Overinterpretation", "Life begins with boundaries." I am not sure whether such a wise and extensible philosophical statement can withstand the test and beating in every discipline such as history, political science, economics, biology, physics, etc., but it reminds me of biologists a way of saying. I think this statement is somewhat metaphorical—they are talking about the outermost "membrane" of biological cells, the cell membrane. Biologists think that it is a very important and wise step for the formation of life, because it "must" be a translucent layer, which means that some substances can penetrate and some are excluded, which is the establishment of life. It is a dilemma, because life must ingest food and let in the metabolic substances that can sustain life; but at the same time, life must find ways to keep away from infringement, so that those unwelcome things cannot enter.

However, from the point of view of feeding, the metabolism of life means that you have to find a way to break through the defense mechanism of the feeding object and brazenly invade its translucent film—this is the ultimate cruelty that is indescribable deep in the essence of life. Is it possible to go all alone and make this membrane infinitely strong so that no damage can get in?It is impossible not to know, but first of all, life itself is completely sealed and isolated, and there is nothing needed for survival. That is to say, life ends and death. It seems that the growth and danger of life are fundamentally symbiotic.

This made me think of Peach Blossom Land. A few years ago, it was said that the mainland finally found the peaceful and beautiful world written by Tao Yuanming. I have always hoped that this news is false, or at most it is just a good thing. It’s just the astonishing words of Jin Zhizhi——At that time, the famous novelist Zhong Acheng happened to be in Taiwan. When talking about this matter, Acheng smoked a pipe that never left his hand, and only said pitifully, “It’s miserable!” Acheng said that there are many so-called Peach Blossom Springs. When wars broke out, harsh taxes came, the harvest was not good, and thieves gathered, there would always be a group of people who "avoided the Qin Dynasty". For a place that is completely isolated from the world, for example, in a mountain depression or an isolated island in northern Shaanxi, in the short term, this is a paradise, but you should pray to God not to be isolated like this for a long time, otherwise it won’t take a few generations. You will see a settlement that has degenerated to the point of death—Acheng said that the so-called degeneration is not just a matter of being out of touch with the development of the big history, and the way of life remains in the past. It is also a matter of literary philosophy, which is more troublesome The most important thing is the problem of people becoming idiots due to the intermarriage of generations of close relatives and the stagnation of knowledge. Acheng said that he has seen more than one place like this in the mainland.

Perhaps, life really begins with a boundary, but it must be a translucent boundary that can be entered and exited. As we said, Bernie Roddenball is not Arson Robin, he is the thief of our generation - the secrets of the real world are constantly being revealed, many moving imaginations have lost their basis in reality, and the vast adventure country of Ranger A good thief who has disappeared and is still struggling to keep the original "thief's dream" in the congested and indifferent city. He's almost believable, and he's practically a hard worker, not like an omnipotent god like Arthan Robin, or at least a ghost that can be disembodied.

Like a prophet of the end of the world, Arson Robin will predict the target of the attack first, and at a certain moment, he will come to take something away, and then suddenly appear in the net of the French police, and succeed And go - this is the original source of Gu Long's novel "Legend of Chu Liuxiang", "Come and fetch when stepping on the moon". However, Rodenbaud's work procedure is roughly like this: he must first find out which house is worth stealing, and at a certain moment leave the city for vacation or go out to watch a theater, and first go there to conduct necessary reconnaissance , and when it was time to work, he would change into his Pumas, the thin surgeon's gloves with the palms cut off that the New York police regarded as his signature (to keep his hands dexterous and avoid fingerprints), and carry Set off with his suitcase containing the lockpicking tools.

He has to be careful to get off the taxi a few blocks away from the object, and then try to pass the building administrator who is either on guard or confusing (for this, Rodenbaud has many exquisite and useful moves), take the elevator but not Go straight to the floor where the target is located, and then walk downstairs (or upstairs) along the fire escape. Before officially unlocking the lock, he has to be careful to ring the doorbell first to confirm whether there is anyone in the house, and then he will tell us the number of locks, the brand, its weakness and its strength with great interest, and then he will take out his stealing tool like a show. Click it open with the softest but fastest way.

Do you remember how many locks the great and amazing Arsen Robin actually opened?Or is he just like a magician who only recites spells like sesame seeds to open the door, and all the locks in the world will naturally disintegrate upon hearing the wind? What Rodenbaud violated most was that between entering an empty room and actually picking it up, he couldn’t help but spend time admiring the taste and layout of the room, imagining the warmth of life at home in the house, and he would even Sit on a comfortable recliner with a book and turn a page or two—Rhodenbahr is a book lover, and in this series, his daytime occupation is sole proprietorship of a second-hand bookstore.

Usually, the first thing Roddenbaud looks at is the refrigerator, which he calls "cold money" (he also wonders why many female homeowners always think this is the safest place to hide cash, so I personally go home and tell my wife that it should change to another place where cash is accepted).He thought that to be a good thief, you have to have good taste, so you know what to take and what to keep, including jewelry, rare coins, stamps, baseball cards, or even book editions with special commemorative value, etc. However, Rodden Barr My favorite is still cash, a bearer currency with the highest circulation that does not need to be converted and sold. "It's amazing, when you put someone else's cash into your wallet, it immediately becomes yours."

Arsen Robin, in my personal impression, doesn't steal cash, he would think it's too vulgar - because Arson Robin in the book is never short of money, even without food or drink. Other jewelry, coins, stamps, etc. will not "become yours immediately" because they have to be sent to reliable dealers, and they need to wait for them to be converted into cash, and Rodenbaud knows the market. What he can afford is only about 30% of the real price. Timid, hardworking, working late and never drinking during duty hours, professional knowledge and skills, risk is not low, recycling makes Arson Robin sneer (although Rodden Barr himself is always very satisfied), and the police can find you at any time Where is such a realistic thief, but Rodden Barr still enjoys it, and still tells us like a dream, an adult fairy tale that we can't imagine still exists.

Then, let's talk about locks - a "necessary evil" in the world of thieves. Our Mr. Bernie Roddenbull often claims (in fact he speaks out loudly) that he is a natural thief. What's more, every time he successfully breaks in, the moment he faces an empty room (or apartment room), there will be indescribable tension, excitement, sweetness and a sense of satisfaction mixed with pride at the same time. The other is purely physical, that is, he has repeatedly boasted about his extraordinary talent and "touch" for lockpicking. He said that of course this skill needs continuous practice and improvement, but the premise is that you have to be talented first. points, as in all creative trades and learnings, such as writing a good novel or discovering fascinating principles of physics.

Let's start with the not-so-clever question: Is there an ideal lock that no great thief - certainly including Mr. Rodenbaud - can break? Of course there are, and it is neither an ideal lock nor a word of progress at all. According to credible historical research and inference, the first lock invented by human beings cannot be opened—that is, The long history of locks began when they could not be opened. The earliest lock we know today can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian period, which is four thousand years old, but it is not a physical body, but an image painted on a mural. The real first lock was unearthed from the ruins of the suburbs of Nineveh—from In terms of shape, it is such a kind of lock that cannot be opened (or more correctly, it cannot be opened from the outside). , in the shape of double ten, just like the wooden door of the old house of the grandmother's house in the country that many people still use today, or what we call the door latch that is still kept at the gate of ordinary temples.This ancient lock has no keyhole on the outside, and of course there is no key. That is to say, in the history of lock development, the two parts, the lock and the key, which we regard as conjoined twins today, were actually born separately, and they were born separately. The days are still far apart. It is understood that the key was born in the later ancient Greek period. What is the meaning of this lock that cannot be opened from the outside?It means that it is inconvenient, you have to keep someone at home, and this kind of lock can't be further used to protect the things you want to put in and out at any time, such as the suitcases or safes we commonly use today, except for the door. , In other words, this kind of lock without a key is purely closed from the outside, no matter who you are, you will be prohibited from entering without selection or identification. From this point of view, the appearance of the key is not just a supplement or accessory to the lock, but fundamentally changes the meaning and range of use—it opens up the completely closed nature of the lock that is indiscriminate and repelling people thousands of miles away , let the lock become a selective translucent layer, those who meet its identification are welcome to come in, and those who do not, thank you for coming; locks have become ubiquitous, and people can solemnly add a lock to everything that people cherish and want to protect. on it. However, if the master can get in, the thief can get in too, isn't it always like this in the world? From the moment the key appears, theoretically, there can no longer be any perfect lock in the universe that a thief can never open (you have also seen locks that are identified by pupils or fingerprints in Seven Intelligence Agents, and the result is Nuclear bombs are still stolen by ambitious terrorists).The game at this new stage becomes: the two systems develop independently and compete with each other, just like the evolutionary chasing game between carnivores and herbivores in the history of biology, and also like the Chinese "I pierce you, or you block me "The ancient fable of the spear and shield. Moreover, there is still a fundamental weakness in the evolution of the lock, which is difficult to overcome, that is, it needs to be easily opened by (the owner) in normal times, so it cannot unscrupulously go in the direction of complexity and difficulty—this Rodden Barr also Seriously told us more than one time, for example, something like a supplementary burglar alarm, of course it is difficult to overcome, you have to find it and turn it off within ten seconds of opening the door and naturally activating it, but more often it is the house. The main device was discarded after that. The reason is that the owner himself will not remember to perform this necessary action every time he returns home. Often there will be embarrassing scenes where you and your wife or girlfriend take off half of your clothes, and the police break into the door with a gun and ask you to put down your weapon and get caught. ; Or very simply just feel troublesome. This is a small advantage for thieves. Here, let us turn back a little bit and think about why there are locks. A lock is a protective device that protects something that we think is valuable and that we fear being robbed of or stolen from—not just things that are valuable but not feared being robbed and stolen, such as sunlight, air, and most of the time Water is incredibly valuable, but we don't lock it up (although humans continue to do evil things like this, they may soon consider doing so). The root of the fear of being robbed and stolen is scarcity, and as every economics textbook tells us at the beginning of the book, the scarcity of resources is the premise of economic thinking, and of course it is the reason for the occurrence of private property. Therefore, we can say that the historical significance of the lock is just a striking sign of the private property system, and it must come from the emergence of the private property system later—from a reverse perspective, if we (many people in history This kind of) regards the private property system as evil, as the degeneration of human selfishness and greed, and the meaning of the patron saint of the lock becomes an accomplice, something that must be defeated and canceled when a better world emerges.Don't pick up things on the road, don't close the door at night, our Chinese ancestors in the past dynasties said that the simplest and most explanatory signboard of the so-called Great Harmony, isn't it right to come to the lock? The things that people are selfish and greedy and not allowed to be touched by others, of course, will soon be limited to the tangible things that already exist in nature. Locks also present a variety of usages and forms: we regard food, metal, pearls and jade as goods, locks Get up; regard women's bodies and so-called chastity as goods, and also lock them up (the structure of the chastity belt is a monster with a lock at its core); regard ruling power, face, speech and ideology as goods, Also lock it up (the new locks of this kind of human form are usually carnivorous living monsters with their heads removed, called Jinyiwei, Dongchang eunuch, Gestapo, Jesuit, KGB, CIA, security headquarters...the family is too numerous to be recorded) ; regard the country as a commodity, and also lock it up (army, tariffs, the Great Wall, high walls of electrified barbed wire...) - even in the romantic world of romance, there are similar needs and applications, after all, emotions are rare, exclusive, We call it "heart lock" or "love lock" that does not allow others to snort and sleep. With locks everywhere, will you start to feel that some of the socialism you read when you were young is coming back to you, and dreams come back to your mind with red makeup and tears? Well, since socialism has been mentioned, let’s take advantage of the trend to add more socialism—in fact, it is natural and appropriate to talk about socialism when talking about thieves, because since thieves are responsible for unlocking, they are To deal with the patron saint of private property is to shake this evil private property system, so the thief has a certain heroic aura.For example, Hobsbawm, a mild-mannered British historian of socialism, wrote a special book called "Bandits". In the book, we can clearly read that under the tolerable range of academic conscience and industry , Hobsbawm has done everything in his power to defend the trade of thieves. What Rodenbaud said about the surprise of the instant transfer of property rights in cash is not just a joke, but has considerable practical significance and a little professional worry buried in it. With the development of capitalism and the private property system to this day, the importance of currency has been repeatedly confirmed (currency has long ceased to be a silent and transparent tool of exchange), but at the same time, the form and meaning of currency have become increasingly complex (see Economics Friedman's work) - here, we only look at the most superficial and everyday phenomenon of money use. The scope and amount are getting smaller and smaller. To put it crudely, everyone needs and is willing to keep less and less cash. What else can a thief steal?Or will this ancient and respectable industry wither and disappear? Personally I would say that thieves like Rodden Barr will, but thieves won't. Of course thieves can't, but the method of stealing is different. Why is there a different method?For example, when a hacker invades the computer system of an organization, directly tampers with the records or steals the credit card password; , That is, the one who steals the country, the one who steals the hook, and the one who steals the hook—I am sorry, but my personal knowledge of the supernatural powers and mysteries in this area is too limited, so I can only give a suggestive explanation. Ruthless stealing, rude stealing, blatant stealing, stealing without fine skills, appreciation and faith, just lacking the elegant, romantic, unrestrained and humanistic thief like Rodenbaud-in the history of the thief's development, There is also the sad law of bad thieves chasing good thieves. None of us may be able to change such a downward parabolic trend, but we can read Rodden Barr, remember such a good thief, and use it as firewood to warm our hands and chest on raining days.