Chapter 9 Chapter nine

As I wrote this book, scribbling and dazed, page after page, I realized that this ancient story had only just begun.Now begins the real plot, the perilous journey of Ajilulfo and his groom to find evidence of Sofronia's virginity, interspersed with Bradamante's stalking and his love for Rambal More pursuit of Bradamante, and Torrismondo's search for the Holy Grail Knight.However, this plot line does not stretch smoothly under my fingers, sometimes loose and weak, sometimes tangled and empty, and I think that there are so many routes and so many difficulties and obstacles that need to be shown on paper , so many chases, illusions and mistakes, duels and contests, I feel dizzy and helpless.This monastic clerical drudgery, this search for words and sentences, this meditation on the ultimate nature of things, at last gave me something to grasp: that which the average man, of whom I am a part, loves to speak. , the intricacies and thrills of a story that must be found in every novel of chivalry, I now consider it a frill, a lifeless embellishment, the most thankless part of the work I was condemned to do.

I really want to write fast and write in one go, and write all the fighting and fighting required for a knight poem on a page of paper. However, once I stop writing and prepare to read it again, I find that the pen and ink have not left traces on the paper. It turned out to be blank sheets of paper. In order to write down the story as I imagined, it is necessary to conjure a picture of abrupt cliffs, sand and stones, and junipers on this white paper.A winding path stretches out, and I want Ajilulfo to walk along this path. He sits on the saddle with his chest upright, with a valiant posture for fighting.On this page, in addition to the earthly branches of sand and stone.The ring must exist because it covers this land, the sky is low, and only crows can fly between the sky and the earth.My pen almost tore through the manuscript paper, but I have to draw lightly. It should show the track of a snake hiding in the green grass on the grass. There should be a hare in the wasteland. He raised his short beard and sniffed around, and disappeared without a trace after a while.

All things move quietly and imperceptibly, without outwardly showing any change, as the earth's interior moves without changing its uneven shell, because the earth is just the same matter flowing inside and outside.Just like the paper I wrote on, the same substance shrinks and condenses into different shapes, volumes and slightly different colors. Mottled spots may also appear on a flat surface, and it may also appear like the turtle's back. Some places are hairy, some places have thorns, and some places have pimples. These hairs, thorns, and pimples sometimes move their positions, that is, various distribution ratio changes have occurred in the overall distribution of the same substance. Essentially nothing has changed.We can say that the only one who is detached from the surrounding material world is Agilulfo in the book, and I don't mean his horse, his armor, but the unique set in the armor that is traveling on the horse. Things, that kind of worry and anxiety about oneself.All around him, pine cones fell from the branches, creeks ran through the gravel, fish swam in the water, caterpillars gnawed at the leaves, and turtles crawled on the ground on their hard bellies, and all this was just a matter of time. It is an illusion of movement, just as the water in the spray is always just drifting with the current.Gulduru is drifting with the current, this prisoner surrounded by matter, he is as muddy as pine cones, small fish, small worms, small stones, and tree leaves, purely a protruding tumor on the outer shell of the earth.

How difficult it is for me to mark on this sheet the lines of Bradamante, of Rambaldo, and of gloomy Torrismondo!Perhaps a slightly raised line must be drawn on the flat surface of the paper, which can only be drawn with a pin from the back of the paper, and this raised and forward line has been mixed and soaked with the earth. Ordinary mud, maybe emotion, pain and beauty are in it, real consumption and movement are in it. I dug valleys and ravines, creases and gaps in the white paper, and when I discerned the travel routes of the knights among them, the paper began to be broken by me. How can I move the story forward? ?Maybe my drawing a map will help me tell the story a little more clearly.I marked warm France on the map, wild Brittany, the English Channel with black waves, the Scottish plateau above, the Pyrenees below, Spain still in the hands of heathens, Africa infested with snakes and scorpions .Then, mark the tracks of this or that hero with arrows, crosses, and numbers.Now I can send Agilulfo along a tortuous but quick route to England, and lead him to the monastery where Sophronia has been hermit for fifteen years.

He got there, and all that remained of the monastery were ruins. "You have come too late, noble knight," said an old man. "The cries of those unfortunate women still echo in these valleys. A Moorish pirate fleet has landed here. Looted all the belongings, kidnapped all the nuns, and then set fire to the house." "Take it away? Where did you go?" "Brought to the market in Morocco and sold as a slave girl, my sir." "Among the nuns was there a daughter of the King of Scots, whose original name was Sophronia?" "Hey, you're talking about Sister Palmyra! Is there her? As soon as those villains saw her, they carried her away! She is not very young, but she is still beautiful. I clearly remember her being taken away by those ugly The ghost screamed loudly when it caught it, and the scene seemed to be happening right before our eyes."

"You witnessed the catastrophe?" "What can we do? Those of us in this town always like to sit in the square." "Didn't you go to the rescue?" "Who are you saving? Oh, my sir, what are you talking about? Everything happened so suddenly... We have no command and no experience... It's hard to say whether we've done a good job or not. It's better not to do it than to fail." "Well, tell me, this Sophronia, does she obey the rules in the monastery?" "There are all kinds of nuns these days, but Palmyra is the most pious and chaste in the whole parish."

"Quick, Guldurou, let's go to the port and take a boat to Morocco." Now these curves I draw are sea water, they represent a vast ocean.Now I'm drawing Agilulfo's ship, and here I'm drawing a huge whale with a strip of paper that reads "Oceano Sea" on its back.This arrow shows the course of the boat, and I draw another arrow to show the direction of the whale's swim.what.They met.Then there will be a fierce battle between whales and ships in the depths of the ocean.Since I'm drawing the whale bigger than the boat, the boat will be at a disadvantage.Then I drew many arrows pointing in all directions, and they intersected with each other, which is intended to illustrate the life and death struggle between the whale and the ship here.Agilulfo, as valiant as ever, drove his spearhead into the whale's side.A sickening stream of whale oil fell on him, and I use these rays to mean whale oil squirts.Gulduru jumped on the back of the whale, leaving his boat aside.The whale wagged its tail and capsized the boat.Ajilulfo, who was wearing iron armor, could only sink straight down.Before being completely overwhelmed by the waves, he shouted to the groom: "Meet me in Morocco! I'm walking!"

In fact, Ajilulf fell foot by foot into the depths of the sea, and his feet stepped on the sandy bottom of the sea. He began to walk steadily. He often encountered sirens and monsters, and he drew his sword to defend himself.You also know what is the only thing wrong with a pin armor in the bottom of the sea: rust.Since it was covered with a layer of whale oil from head to toe, the white pin armor was smeared with a layer of anti-rust cream. Now I'm drawing a turtle in the ocean.After Gulduru drank a pint of seawater, he realized that he should not put the sea in his body, but put himself in the sea.He grabbed the shell of the giant turtle.Sometimes he was carried by the turtle, sometimes he dragged the turtle forward, and he approached the coast of Africa.Here he was tangled in a net by a Saracen fisherman.

All the nets were pulled ashore, and the fishermen saw a man covered in seaweed and moldy clothes among a group of fresh fish. "Mermaid! Mermaid wide they shouted. "What mermaid, he is Gudi Yusuf!" said the fisherman captain, "He is Gudi Yusuf, I know him!" It turned out that Gudi Yusuf was one of the names Guldulu was called when he was begging in the kitchen of the Islamic army. He often crossed the line of defense and entered the Sultan's camp unknowingly.The fisherman captain had served as a soldier in the Moorish army stationed in Spain.He took a fancy to Guldulu's strong body and docile temperament, so he took him in and asked him to pick up male collars for him.

Guldurou was among the fishermen sitting on the sandy shore of Morocco one night peeling sea mussels one by one, and a tassel, a helmet, a breastplate, and finally a whole A pin armor that can walk, and walks ashore step by step. "Lobster people! Lobster people!" The fishermen exclaimed, scattered in a hurry, and hid among the reefs. "What a lobsterman!" said Gulduru, "he is my master! Good work, knight. You have come here." "I'm not tired at all," said Agilulfo, "and what are you doing here?" "We are looking for pearls for the Sultan," put in the former soldier, "for he changes his wife every night and presents her with a new pearl."

The sultan has three hundred and sixty-five wives, and he visits one place every night, and each wife can only be favored once a year.For the one who is favored, he is used to bring a pearl as a gift, so the merchants must provide him with a brand new pearl every day.On this day, as the merchants had exhausted their reserves, they came to the fishermen and told them to find a pearl for them at all costs. "You can walk so well on the bottom of the sea," the ex-soldier said to Atilulfo, "why don't you come to our business?" "A knight takes no part in any profit-making business, much less if it is run by his religious enemies. Heretic, thank you for saving and taking in my groom. But I have nothing to do with your sultan's inability to send pearls to his three hundred and sixty-fifth wife tonight." "It matters to us, and we shall be flogged," said the fisherman. "It is not an ordinary reunion tonight. It is the turn of a bride, and the Sultan is visiting her for the first time. She was brought from some pirates about a year ago. Bought it in hand, wait till now for shift. It is unreasonable for the Sultan to visit her empty-handed. Besides, she is one of your parishioners, she is Sophronia of Scotland, of royal blood. Immediately after the slaves were brought to Morocco, they were sent to the harem of our sovereign." Ajilulfo did not let others see his excitement. "I will teach you a way to avoid trouble," he said, "let the merchants advise the sultan to bring the bride not ordinary pearls, but something that will ease her longing for her distant homeland. This is a set of Christ. The armor of a gangster." "Where shall we find such armor?" "That's my way!" said Agilulfo. Sophronia waits for night in her harem quarters.From the pointed window above she looked out at the palm trees, the pond, and the flower beds in the garden.The sun was in the west, and the muanjins shouted loudly, and the evening primroses bloomed in the garden, and the fragrance was overwhelming. There is a knock on the door.Could it be that the time has come!No, it was the eunuch who came.They brought a gift from the Sultan, a piece of armor, a pure white armor.Who knows what he means.Sofronia was alone again, and she stood at the window again.She has been standing there often for a year.When she had just been bought, they had sent her to fill the vacancy of an abandoned concubine, a seat whose rotation would be in eleven months.She had nothing to do in the harem, day after day, and was more bored than in the monastery. "Don't be afraid, noble Sophronia," said a voice behind her.When she turned around, it was Xiaojia who was speaking. "I am Ajilulf, I once protected your pure and innocent chastity." "Oh, help!" he made the Sultan's bride jump with fright.After a while, she returned to normal: "Hey, yes, I just thought this pair of white pin armor looks familiar. Many years ago, you arrived in time and stopped the bandits from atrocities against me..." "Now I have come in time to rescue you from this disgraceful pagan marriage." "Understood... You are always here, you are..." "Now, under the protection of this sword, I will deliver you from the clutches of the Sultan." "-……clear……" When the eunuchs came to inform that the sultan was about to arrive, they all fell under the sword.Sophronia wrapped herself in a cloak and ran to the garden by the knight's side.The interpreters sounded the alarm.The heavy scimitars of Muslims were no match for the agility and precision of white-armored warriors.His shield held back the spears of a whole squad of soldiers.Gulduru led a horse and waited behind a cactus to meet him.In the harbor, a small two-masted sailing ship that had already been equipped immediately set sail for the Christian country.Sophronia stood on the deck and stared at the palm trees on the bank gradually going away. Now I draw a boat on the sea.I made it a little larger than the previous one, so that in case of encountering a whale, there would be no more danger.I use this curve to represent the course of the boat, and I want it to go straight to the port of Saint-Malo.Unfortunately in the depths of the Bay of Biscay there is already a tangled course, it is best to steer the boat a little bit up, from here up, up, crap, it hits Brittany on the reef!The boat capsized and sank, and Ajilulfo and Gurduru barely managed to get Sophronia to shore. Sophronia was exhausted.Atilulfo decided to let her hide in a cave, and returned himself with the groom to Charlemagne's camp, reporting that the princess's virginity was still unblemished, so that his title should be perfectly legitimate.Now I mark the cave by marking a large cross at this point on the coast of Brittany, so that I may find it later.I don't understand what this other line that also goes through here represents, the lines pointing in all directions are intertwined and intertwined on this drawing of mine.Oh yes, this is Torresmondo's travel itinerary.So the preoccupied young man happened to pass by the cave when Sophronia lay there.He also went into the cave, and he went in and saw Sophronia.