Chapter 29 Plum Blossom K...he is very troubled because he feels that he doesn't know enough about life and the world...

Apollo promises that we father and son will find our mother in Athens.After hearing his oracle, we walked up the hillside along the temple trail and came to an ancient theater that can accommodate 5,000 spectators.Standing on the top of the theater, we can overlook the entire temple, and we can look all the way to the bottom of the valley. As we came down the hill, Dad said, "Hans Thomas, there's something I haven't told you about the Oracle of Delphi. Do you know that this place means a lot to philosophers like us father and son." We sat down on a ruin.When I think that the ruins here are two or three thousand years old, I feel weird in my heart.

"Do you know Socrates?" Dad asked. "Not much," I said frankly. "I only know him as a Greek philosopher." "That's right. First, let me tell you about the term 'philosopher' and what it means..." As soon as I heard my father's tone, I knew he was going to make a long speech again.Frankly speaking, sitting in the hot sun and sweating all over my face, I really don't want to listen to Dad's speech. "'Philosopher' means someone who seeks wisdom. However, this does not mean that a philosopher is particularly intelligent. Do you understand the difference?"

I nod. "Socrates was the first to do this. He liked to walk around the marketplaces of Athens, talking to all kinds of people, but never teaching them. On the contrary, he wanted to learn something from what other people said. He once said: He likes to walk in the market place where people come and go, because 'the trees in the country can't teach me anything'. However, he was disappointed because he found that those who claimed to know a lot actually knew nothing .They may be able to tell Socrates about the price of wine and oil today, but they often know nothing about the affairs of life. Socrates himself frankly admits that he only knows one thing, and that is, he knows nothing .”

"It seems that Socrates is not very smart!" I said disdainfully. "Don't jump to conclusions!" Dad scolded me with a straight face. "Suppose there are two people who don't know anything about a matter, but one of them pretends to know, in your opinion, which one is wiser?" I have to admit that the wisest man is the one who doesn't pretend he knows a lot. "Well, you finally got the hang of it," Dad said. "On this basis, Socrates is qualified to be a true philosopher. He was very troubled because he felt that he did not understand life and the world deep enough or broad enough. He felt that he was excluded from life and the world."

I nodded again. "Once, an Athenian went to the Temple of Delphi and asked Apollo, who is the wisest man in Athens? The oracle's answer was Socrates. Socrates heard this, and he felt— Well—rather surprised, because he really didn't think he was well educated enough to deserve the credit. He went to visit people who were supposed to be wiser than himself, and asked them a few profound questions, and found that, Apollo's prediction is indeed correct. The difference between Socrates and others is that others know a little bit of knowledge and are complacent and boastful, even though they know no more than Socrates. Such a person who is easy to be complacent will never be A true philosopher."

I think what Dad said makes a lot of sense. Dad couldn't stop thinking about it. He stretched out his arm and pointed to groups of tourists who got out of the tour bus under the hillside.They lined up in a single file, went up the stairs one by one, and walked into the Temple of Apollo, looking like a long line of ants crawling on the ground. "Among these people, if there is one person who regards life as an adventure and the world as a great mystery..." Dad took a deep breath and continued: "Look, Hans Thomas, there are thousands of people under the mountain now." tourists. If there is only one of them who takes his life as a wild adventure—I mean, he lives it every day..."

"So what?" I couldn't help asking.Dad's hesitant to speak, really makes people anxious. "Then he becomes the buffoon in a deck of cards." "Do you think there's such a buffoon here?" I asked Dad. A look of despair appeared on Dad's face. "No!" He shook his head. "Of course, I'm not sure. After all, there are not many clowns, just a few." "Dad, what about yourself? Don't you live your life like a fairy tale every day?" I asked. "Yes! That's right!" Dad answered very simply, and I was speechless for a while.

"Every morning when I wake up, I feel refreshed," Dad said. "That feeling, like being injected with a shot, made me deeply feel that I was still alive. I seemed to have become a character in a fairy tale, full of vitality. Hans Thomas, who are we? Can you tell me the answer? We are like a cloud of meteor dust flying in the universe, gathering together inexplicably. What is going on here? Where did this world come from?" "I don't know!" I replied.At that moment, I felt like Socrates, excluded from life and the world. "Sometimes, this feeling comes on suddenly in the evening," Dad continued. "I thought to myself, I'm alive now, but I don't want to live it all over again."

"Dad, you live a very hard life." I said. "Even so, it's exciting. I don't have to go to a spooky old castle to find a ghost, because I'm a ghost myself." "You were worried when your son saw a dwarf ghost appear at the cabin window." I don't know why I bring this up.Maybe to remind Dad of what he said on the boat that night.Dad laughed. "You're amazing!" he said. Regarding the oracle of Apollo, my father told me one last thing: the ancient Greeks carved several inscriptions on the temple - "Knowthvself" (Knowthvself).

"Easy to say, but hard to do!" Dad said to himself. We strolled down the hill, back to the temple entrance.Dad is going to visit the museum and see the world-famous "Navel of the World".I begged my father to let me sit outside in the shade and wait for him.What is displayed in this museum does not help children grow up much. "Just sit under that strawberry tree obediently, Dad Guang said. He dragged me over to look at the very oddly shaped strawberry tree.To my surprise, the tree was full of bright red strawberries. Of course, I declined to accompany Dad on the museum tour, the real reason I can't tell him: all morning, I've been thinking about the magnifying glass and the bun book in my pocket.I am eager to find opportunities, read on.I can't wait to finish reading this book in one sitting, but I must be on guard against my father, and I must not let him find out.

I began to wonder if this little book, like the oracle of Apollo, would answer all the questions I had.Now, when I open the bun book and read about the clown on Magic Island, I can't help the cold sweat running down my back, because I was just discussing the clown card in the poker with my father.