Chapter 39 Box 9...we are all part of the same family...

After leaving the ancient bazaar and the high city of Athens, our father and son walked down several commercial streets and walked all the way to Syntegma Square in front of the Capitol. On the way, Dad bought a very chic deck of playing cards.After getting it in his hand, he immediately tore open the package, took out the Joker card, and handed me all the remaining cards. There are many pubs along the square.We picked one and sat down to dinner.Dad drank a cup of coffee first, and then went to inquire about Mom's whereabouts.My father and I followed the footsteps of the ancient Greeks and walked around the city of Athens all day. Our feet hurt so much that we had to beg my father to let me sit in the tavern and wait for him.So Dad went off on the phone alone, and then visited a nearby modeling agency.

After my father left, I sat alone in the vast square, surrounded by bustling Greeks.As soon as my father walked out of the tavern, I spread out the deck of cards he had given me on the table, trying to give each card a sentence, and then put all the sentences together to form a complete story.However, as I had no paper and pen to hand, the game was so nerve-wracking that I had to give it up. I took out the magnifying glass and the bun book and continued reading the story of the magic island.I know that the climax of the story is coming.The fifty-two dwarves had finished their lines. Joker is about to put these fragmented sentences back together.Then I might be able to see what connection I had with those miraculous deeds that Hans the baker had told Albert long ago.

The little bottle of drink the clown made me drink, once down my throat, made waves all over my body.The floor beneath my feet began to shake.For a moment, I seemed to be back on a ship in the ocean.In a trance, I heard Grandpa Floyd say, "How can you let him drink this kind of thing?" Then I heard the clown reply, "He asked for a taste." Then, I fell asleep in a daze.In my sleep, I suddenly felt someone kicking my body lightly.I opened my eyes and saw Grandpa Floyd looking down at me. "You should wake up!" he said. "The Joker is about to solve the big mystery."

I sat up straight suddenly: "What mystery?" "The buffoon game, remember? He's going to put together all the lines the gnomes are chanting to make a whole story." I got up and saw that the clown was busy commanding fifty-two dwarves, asking them to rearrange and stand in formation according to the order he prescribed.As before, they still lined up in a circle, but this time the gnomes of different suits were all mixed... together.I soon noticed that gnomes of the same number stood shoulder to shoulder. The clown climbed onto his throne again.Grandpa Floyd and I also sat back in our seats.

"Jack!" the clown yelled. "Come here, four of you, and stand between the four kings and the four tens. Four queens, please stand between the four kings and the four aces." The clown stretched out his hand and scratched his head vigorously: "Nine of clubs, nine of diamonds, switch positions between you two." The chubby Plum Blossom Nine walked over slowly and stood beside the vigorous and bouncing Fang Nine.The two exchanged positions according to order. The clown made a few more changes before nodding in satisfaction. "That's called a layout," Grandpa Floyd whispered to me. "First, you give each card a meaning; then, you gather the fifty-two cards, shuffle them thoroughly, and deal the cards again."

In a daze, I didn't hear clearly what the old man said.At this moment, I feel the strong scent of lemon attacking my legs, and the fragrance of lilac teasing my ears.The drink that the clown made me drink is still causing trouble everywhere in my body. "Everybody has a—line," said the Joker. "However, we have to combine all the sentences so that our game will make sense, because we are all members of the same family." In the banquet hall, the gnomes suddenly fell silent. "Who will start first?" asked the king of spades. "He's always impatient," whispered Grandpa Floyd.

The clown opened his arms and solemnly announced: "The beginning of the story establishes the development direction of the entire plot. Our story should start with square J. Jack, who is a master in the glass factory, please start." "The silver two-masted sailing ship sank in the rough sea." Square J recited his lines loudly. The King of Spades standing on his right immediately interjected, "Those who see through fate must bear the torment of fate." "No, no!" The clown waved his hands again and again. "Our play proceeds in the direction of the sun. The King of Spades is the last to appear."

Grandpa Frod's face suddenly became serious. "This is bad!" he murmured. "What's the matter?" I asked. "The King of Spades comes last." I didn't have time to answer, because at this moment I felt a strong smell of eggnog coming to me, overwhelming me.Eggnog isn't every day in my hometown of Rubik. "Let's start over!" said the Joker. "Four Jacks come first, then four tens, then four nines, and so on ¨circling in the direction of the sun. Four Jacks, now read your sentences!" One by one, Jack read their lines: "Silver brig, sunk in rough seas. Drifted forever on an ever-expanding island. He had a deck of cards in his pocket, and now it's on the table." Drying in the sun. The fifty-three pictures on the playing cards have accompanied the son of the master glass factory master through many long years."

"That's all right," said the clown. "That's how our story began. Maybe it wasn't a great beginning, but it was. Now it's the turn of the four ten o'clock, and the four ten o'clock said: "Before the cards faded, fifty-three dwarves Take shape in the lonely sailor's mind; monstrous figures dance in the master's mind.While the master is asleep, the gnomes live freely.One fine morning, the king and his entourage climbed out of the prison of consciousness. " "Excellent! Excellent!" The clown applauded and cheered. "Four nine o'clock, now it's time for you to come on stage."

"The image leaps from the mind into the outer world. The magician flicks his sleeve, and out of nothing emerges several little figures. Beautiful in appearance, but all but one of the imaginary figures are lost. Only the lone buffoon sees through this deception." "Yes! Exactly right!" The clown applauded happily. "Truth is a lonely thing! Eight o'clock, now it's your turn." "The sparkling drink numbs the clown's senses. The clown spits out the sparkling drink. The clown who no longer drank the 'deceived water' became clearer in thinking.Fifty-two years later, the shipwrecked grandson came to this village. "

The clown shot me a meaningful look. "Four out at seven!" The clown ordered. "The truth is hidden in the cards. The truth is that the glass-maker's son was playing a trick on his own fantasies. A figure out of fantasies, who staged a wild rebellion against his master. Soon the master died, and he was murdered by a gang of dwarfs." "It's wonderful!" The clown exclaimed. "At six o'clock!" "The Sun Princess fled to the sea. The magic island was destroyed by internal strife. The dwarfs became playing cards again. The baker's son escapes before the fairy tale ends. " "Well, not bad." The clown nodded. "Five o'clock, it's time for you to come on stage and recite your lines. The pronunciation must be correct, and the articulation must be clear. A small mistake in pronunciation may cause serious consequences." I was so confused by the "serious consequences" the clown said that I didn't catch the first line of the five o'clock recitation. "The baker's son escaped and settled in a distant village over the mountains. The baker hides the treasure of the magic island, and the future is revealed in the cards." The clown clapped and applauded. "You guys are doing pretty well," he said. "Our play has a special feature, that is, it not only reflects what has happened, but also predicts what will happen in the future. Our play is only halfway through now." I looked back at Grandpa Floyd.He stretched out an arm, wrapped it around my shoulder, put his mouth close to my ear and whispered, "Grandson, he's right." "He said, what's wrong?" "I am not long to die." "Nonsense!" I panicked. "This is just a nonsense game, why do you take it so seriously, old man?" "Grandson, this is not just a game!" "You can't die! I won't let you die!" I yelled.The dwarves in a circle turned their heads and looked at us, grandparents and grandchildren. "Grandson, ah, whether you are right or not, people will die when they get old." Grandpa Frod sighed. "Fortunately, someone took over, and I can die with peace of mind." "Maybe I'll die on this island too," I said. Grandpa comforted me softly: "Didn't you hear the line that the dwarf said just now? 'The baker's son fled to a remote village and settled down.'Isn't your father the baker's master?" The clown clapped his hands vigorously.The jingling of his bell could be heard all over the hall. "Quiet!" he yelled. "Four o'clock, you can continue to read." All I could think about was what Grandpa Floyd had just said, and I was afraid he was really going to die.The lines recited at four o'clock, I only heard the two lines recited by the four of clubs and the four of squares. "Villagers take in a lonely little boy. The baker treats him to sparkling drinks and shows him beautiful goldfish." "It's three o'clock now." The clown ordered, "Read it!" This time I also only heard two lines. "The sailor married a beautiful woman; she ran away after giving birth to a child, and ran south to find herself. Father and son went out together to find the beautiful woman who lost himself." When reciting his lines at three o'clock, the clown kept applauding and cheering: "It's wonderful! Look at us entering the future kingdom." I looked back at Grandpa Floyd, and saw tears welling up in his eyes. "What the hell are they saying? I can't understand any of it." I was confused. "Hush!" Grandpa said in a low voice, "Grandson, you must listen to history carefully." "history?" "Or 'future'. Actually, the future is also part of history. This game takes us to several eras in the future. This is what the Joker calls 'future land'. We don't fully understand the mysteries hidden in the playing cards, but future generations will solve the mysteries. " "Start at two o'clock!" The clown yelled. I tried to memorize every line, but could only remember three. "The dwarf stretched out his cold hand, pointed the way to a distant village, and then took out a magnifying glass and gave it to the boy from the north. The size of the magnifying glass fits the gap in the goldfish bowl. The goldfish will not reveal the secrets of the island, but Madoka Bread Book Club." "It's wonderful!" The clown applauded with high fives. "I've known for a long time that the magnifying glass and the goldfish bowl are the key to the whole story... Now it's our little one's turn! Princesses, please." I only heard three lines. "Destiny is like a snake that is so hungry that it eats itself. When the inner box opens the outer box, the outer box opens the inner box. Destiny is like a cauliflower crown, spreading out in every direction." "Queens, come on!" cried the Clown. I was so dazzled by the drink that I could only catch two lines from the Queens recitation. "The baker shouted into the magic funnel, and his voice was heard for hundreds of miles. The sailor spat out a strong drink." "Our card game is coming to an end." The clown announced. "The wise and wise four kings, please come on stage! We are all ears." Except for Plum Blossom K, I have heard the other three lines. "The card game is a family curse, and there's always a buffoon who sees through the whole scam. Those who see through fate must bear the torture of fate. " This is the third time that the K of Spades mentions "suffering the torment of fate".The clown applauded, and the dwarves in the banquet hall also clapped their hands. "That's great," the clown yelled. "You should all be proud of the card game because everyone contributed a line." " The dwarves clapped and cheered again. The clown was very happy and kept patting his chest: "Today is 'Joker Day', let us praise the clown, because the future belongs to him!"