Chapter 15 Queen of Spades...these butterflies chirp like birds...

The next morning, when it was daylight, my father woke me up.The two small bottles he bought on the way last night when we went to the fairgrounds weren't enough to get him drunk after all. ' "Today we are going to Venice," he announced. "As soon as the sun comes out, we'll go." As I crawled out of bed, I remembered dreaming about the little man and the fortune teller at the fairground last night.In that dream, the dwarf was transformed into a wax figure in the "House of Horror".I dreamed that a black-haired gypsy female fortune teller took her daughter into the "House of Horror", opened her eyes, stared straight at the wax figure of the dwarf, and suddenly he stretched his limbs and turned back into a living person.Under the cover of thick night, the dwarf crawled out of the tunnel and began to wander all over Europe, fearing that someone would recognize him and send him back to the "House of Horrors" in the playground, turning him into a lifeless statue again. wax figure. As soon as I got this strange dream out of my mind, my dad kept urging me to go out as I was about to put on my jeans.In fact, I am also eager to visit Venice.During this long journey we will see for the first time the Adriatic Sea in the eastern part of the Italian peninsula.I've never seen the sea, and papa hasn't been here since he left sailorship.

Going forward from Venice, we will drive across the border of Yugoslavia and finally arrive in Athens. We went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast.South of the Alps, hotels everywhere serve a dry breakfast.At seven o'clock in the morning, we drove on the road.At this moment the sun was poking its face over the main line. "The sun was very bright this morning." Dad put on his dark glasses. The road to Venice winds through the famous Po River Valley in northern Italy.It is one of the richest regions in the world.The soil here is irrigated with Alpine snow water and is particularly fertile.

We drove past lush citrus and lemon groves and through clumps of cypress, olive and palm trees.In this wetter region we saw rows of paddy fields with rows of tall poplars.There are bright red hibiscus growing everywhere on both sides of the road.Their colors are so bright and dazzling, I have to rub my eyes every now and then. Near noon, the car climbed a hill.Looking down from the top, we see a plain full of flowers and colors.If a painter wanted to paint a landscape with this as a background, he might have to use all the paints in his palette. Dad stopped the car, got out of the car door, and stood by the side of the road lighting a marriage.While puffing, he began to express his views on life and the universe: "Hans Thomas, every spring the earth will revive. Tomatoes, lemons, artichokes, walnuts... all of a sudden emerge from the ground , to cover the earth with boundless emerald green. Do you know how the black soil drives these plants out?"

Dad stood by the side of the road, squinting his eyes and looking at the living things around him. After a while, he continued: "The thing that moved me the most is that all life in the world evolved from a single cell. Millions of years ago , a small seed appeared on the earth, and then split in two. The sun and the moon passed, and over time, this small seed evolved into an elephant and an apple tree, a strawberry and a gorilla. Hans Thomas, you Do you understand me?" I shake my head.So my father talked about the origin of various plants and animals.At the end, he stretched out his arm and pointed to a pair of butterflies flying from the blue flowers, and said to me that it lives very freely here in the valley of the Po River, just because of the spots on its wings; Eye.

When stopping the car to smoke a cigarette on the way, my father would occasionally fall into deep thought and stop talking about the philosophy of the universe and life to his ignorant son.These days, I pull out a magnifying glass from my jeans pocket and observe the creatures on the side of the road.I also pull out my magnifying glass and read a bun book while sitting in the backseat of the car.It seems to me that both nature and the bun book are full of mysteries. For several miles, Dad just drove the car quietly, as if he was in deep thought.I knew that, at any moment, he would break out and talk about the planet we lived on or about our runaway mother.For me, reading Bun's book well at this moment is the most important.

I finally landed on a not-too-small island, thank goodness. What attracted me most was that the island seemed to hide an unfathomable secret.The more I walked inside, the more I saw the vastness of the island—it seemed to expand in all directions with my steps, and it felt as if there was a force coming from the core of the island. I walked along the trail, step by step" to the depths of the island, but it didn't take long to come to a three-way intersection. Without hesitation, I chose the road on the left, and it forked again soon, and this time I chose to take the left . The trail winds through a deep gorge between two mountains.Here, I saw several huge tortoises crawling in the pothole; the largest one was two meters long.I've heard people talk about this giant tortoise before, but this is the first time I've seen it with my own eyes.One of them poked its head out of its shell and squinted at me, as if welcoming me to the island.

All that day I wandered about the island, seeing forests, valleys, and plateaus, but no more sea.It felt like I had stepped into a magical realm—an upside-down maze with intricately interspersed paths that never ended. That evening, I came to an empty place.There was a great lake there, sparkling in the sun.I immediately lay down on the shore of the lake and drank a few sips of clear water.For many weeks I drank nothing but the fresh water which was kept on board. I haven't washed my body for a long time.As soon as I saw the clear water, I immediately took off my tight sailor uniform and jumped into the water.After a long day of walking around in the sweltering heat of the tropical island, it was refreshing to soak in the cool water of the lake.Now I realize that after a few days in a lifeboat with no shelter, the skin on my face has been scorched by the sun at sea.

Several times, when I dived into the deep water, I opened my eyes at the bottom of the lake and saw a group of goldfish shining with colorful colors, like a rainbow.Some goldfish were as green as the vegetation by the lake, others were as blue as gemstones, and others were bright red, yellow and orange.No matter what the color, every goldfish has the sheen of the rainbow. I climbed back to the shore and lay down in the setting sun to dry my wet body.Suddenly, feeling hungry, I looked up and saw a bush by the lake with yellow berries the size of strawberries.I've never seen berries like this, but I guess they're edible.I picked one and tasted it, and it looked like a cross between a walnut and a banana.After a full meal, I put on my clothes, lay down on the beach by the lake, and immediately fell asleep.

Early the next morning, before the sun came out, I woke up suddenly, as if I suddenly thought of something in my sleep. I survived a catastrophe! It wasn't until this moment that I really realized that I had survived a shipwreck, like, a reborn human being. On the left bank of the lake stands a rugged and steep cliff, covered with yellow weeds.Some red flowers, shaped like bells, swayed lightly in the morning breeze. Before sunrise, I climbed to the ridge.I still can't see the sea from here.Looking around, what I saw was a vast land.I have been to North and South America, but the scenery here looks nothing like those two continents.On this piece of land, there is no human habitation anywhere.

I stand on the top of the mountain until the sun rises.The sun here is as red as a ripe tomato, but it is shining like a mirage, slowly rising from the eastern plain.The island's horizon is so low that the sun looks especially big and red—bigger and redder even than I've seen it at sea. Is this the same sun as the one that shines on the roof of my parents' house in Lubik, Germany? All morning, I wandered around the island.At noon, with the sun high above the zenith, I came to a valley where countless yellow roses bloomed.A group of huge butterflies fluttered among the flowers.The largest one, with its wings spread out, was as big as a crow, but much more beautiful than a crow.These butterflies are dark blue all over, but have two blood-red star-shaped spots on their wings, making them look like flowers fluttering in the air.It feels as if there are some flowers on the island that suddenly rise into the sky and learn to fly.What amazes me the most is that these butterflies make a bird-like chirping sound.Their cries are like a piece of music played on a flute, but the tone is slightly different.The whole valley resounded with soft, melodious flute sounds, and at first glance it seemed as if all the flute players in an orchestra were adjusting their instruments together before a concert.Their two tender wings brushed over my body from time to time, as if being brushed by a velvet cloth.The scent emanating from these butterflies is both rich and sweet, smelling like expensive perfume.

A swift river runs through the valley.I decided to walk along the river bank so as not to wander aimlessly.Following this river, sooner or later I will come to the sea.But things are not that simple. That afternoon, I walked to the end of the valley, and found that the wide valley suddenly became narrow, like a funnel.A huge and steep mountain wall stands in front of it. I was dumbfounded immediately.How can a river turn back? I walked down the canyon and found a tunnel on the mountain wall, and the river flowed through the tunnel.I walked to the entrance of the tunnel, stretched out my neck and took a look inside.The level of the river slowed down, forming an underground canal. Enter the mountain wall tunnel.Ahead, a group of big frogs jumped and stopped by the water's edge.They are as large as a rabbit.When they hooted together, the whole valley reverberated with a piercing noise.I never dreamed that nature could create such a huge frog. Several fat lizards crawled in the damp grass.In addition, there are some larger geckos.I've never seen lizards and geckos that big, but in ports all over the world I've seen these reptiles quite often, though in less variety.The reptiles on this island are colored red, yellow and blue. I discovered that it is possible to walk along the tunnel's canal.So I got down on my stomach and burrowed into the tunnel to see how far I could go. A cluster of soft blue-green lights shone from the mountainside.The water in the canal is still. I saw dozens of goldfish swimming in the crystal clear water. After walking forward for a while, I heard the sound of rumbling water coming from the depths of the tunnel. At first glance, it sounded like the sound of war drums.An underground waterfall loomed in front of me, blocking my way.I thought to myself, now I have to turn back again.But before I came to the waterfall, I saw a bright light filled the whole cave. I looked up and saw a small gap in the stone wall.I climbed up and suddenly there was a beautiful landscape in front of me - so beautiful that it almost made me cry. I tried my best to get out of that small gap.When I stood up, I saw a green and fertile valley ahead of me.I no longer miss the sea. All the way down the mountain, I saw all kinds of fruit trees, some with familiar fruits, such as apples and oranges, but some with fruits I had never seen before.The slender, plum-like fruit grows on the tallest trees in the valley.The smaller trees bear green fruit the size of a tomato. The ground is covered with various flowers, like a colorful carpet.Bluebells, black cherry and crown flowers grow all around the valley.Rosebushes with purple flowers were everywhere.Bees circled the flowers.The bees here are as big as German sparrows. Their wings shone like glass in the midday sun.I smell a strong honey scent in the air. I continued to walk down the valley.At this moment, I saw a six-legged monster... The bees and butterflies I saw along the way were all beautiful and bigger than their European counterparts, which really brightened my eyes, but they are still bees and butterflies after all, Not another novelty animal.So are the frogs and reptiles here.But now—now I saw several huge white animals that looked completely different from the animals I had seen and heard about.For a moment, I could hardly believe my eyes. There are about twelve to fifteen monsters in this group.Their body shape is equivalent to that of European cattle and horses, but their heads are relatively small and pointed.Their skin is very white and thick, and it looks like pigskin.The most surprising thing is that they all have six legs.From time to time, these monsters raised their heads and whined "side by side" towards the sky. I'm not scared at all.These six-legged monsters look as gentle and kind as German cows.But their appearance proves one thing: the island where I am now cannot be found on any map.When I think about it, I can't help shivering. It feels like meeting someone who has no face. Of course, reading thin type on a bun book is much slower than reading normal type.You have to piece together letter by letter and read carefully.It was evening when I read the part about the six-legged monster on the magic island.Dad pulled the car off the wide Italian highway. "Let's go to Verona for dinner," Dad said. "Anorev." I read the town's name backwards. As we drove into town, my dad told me the sad story of Romeo and Juliet: they couldn't be married because they were feuds, and the couple paid their lives for their love.Hundreds of years ago, Romeo and Juliet lived in the city of Verona. "Sounds like a grandfather and grandmother story!" I said.Dad laughed when he heard it.It had never occurred to him before. We ate pizza and some appetizers in a large outdoor restaurant.Before hitting the road, we went for a walk in the street.Dad went into a gift shop and bought a deck of playing cards, each of which had a half-naked woman on it.As usual, he immediately drew the buffoon, but this time he kept the whole deck. I could see that my father was a little embarrassed, because the woman on the fifty-two cards was wearing much cooler clothes than he had imagined.He glanced at it and immediately stuffed the whole deck into his coat pocket. "It's incredible that there are so many women in the world." He seemed to be talking to himself. Obviously, he forced the words out to hide his embarrassment. This sentence is of course nonsense, because half of the world's population is women.But what he really meant might be this: It's incredible how many naked women there are in the world. If that's what Dad meant, then I totally agree.I thought it was too much to put fifty-two nude models in one deck.That's a really bad idea, because you really can't play with a deck of naked girls. Symbols such as "K of spades" and "4 of clubs" are printed on the upper left corner of each card, but when playing cards, if you keep staring at the beauties on the cards, how can you concentrate on the game? In the whole deck, the only man is the image printed on the buffoon card.It was a Greek or Roman statue, with goat horns on its head, and naked, like all ancient statues. As father and son returned to the car, I couldn't stop thinking about that bizarre deck of cards. "Dad, have you ever thought about marrying a new wife and forgetting about the one who ran away? Why spend most of your life looking for a woman who lost herself?" I asked my father on the way. My father laughed out loud and answered me after a while: "I admit, things like marriage are a bit mysterious. There are five billion people in the world, but you just fell in love with her, and you wouldn't want to use her if you were committed to death." She comes in exchange for any other woman." We don't mention that deck of cards anymore.Although there are fifty-two women who are posing and posing in various ways, I know that in Dad's mind, this deck lacks the most important card.The purpose of our father and son's trip to Athens is to retrieve this card.