Chapter 23 Chapter 21

"Mona Lisa". For a long while, Sophie froze on the stairs, completely forgetting about escaping from the Louvre. She was horrified by the anagram, and embarrassed that she hadn't been able to decipher the message herself.Sophie's proficiency in complex cryptanalysis made her ignore the simple word games, when she knew she should have deciphered the message long ago.After all, she is no stranger to word puzzles, especially English word puzzles. When Sophie was a child, her grandfather often used anagrams to practice her English spelling skills.Once, he wrote down the English word "planets" and told Sophie to arrange and rearrange these letters to get sixty-two English words of different lengths.Sophie spent three days looking up English dictionaries to find all these words. "It's incredible," Langdon said, staring at the typescript, "that your grandfather could have come up with such a complex anagram in the minutes before he died."

Sophie knew why, but it made her feel worse.I should have thought of that earlier!Now, she recalls, her grandfather, who was both a wordplayer and an art lover, used to amuse himself as a young man by creating crossword puzzles about masterpieces of art.When Sophie was a child, her grandfather got into trouble with an anagram he had created.In an interview with an American art magazine, Saunière suggested that Picasso's famous painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (Les Demoiselles d'Avignon) can be made into an anagram game just to get "vilemeaninglessdoodles" (vilemeaninglessdoodles), showing his respect for The "Modern Cubist Movement" did not appreciate it.This move caused

The dissatisfaction of Picasso fans. "Grandfather may have thought of this 'Mona Lisa' anagram long ago," Sophie said, looking at Langdon.He had to use it as a password tonight.Grandfather's voice came from the sky, so clear that it made people shudder. Leonardo da Vinci! "Mona Lisa"! Sophie didn't know why her grandfather had mentioned the famous painting in his last words, but she could think of a possibility—a disturbing possibility. That wasn't my grandfather's last words... Did grandpa want her to go and see the Mona Lisa?It was only now that Sophie realized that the door leading to that exhibition hall was only twenty meters away from her grandfather's body.

It is entirely possible that he visited the famous painting "Mona Lisa" before his death.Sophie turned her head and glanced at the emergency stairway, feeling very embarrassed.She knew she should get Langdon out of the museum immediately, but her instincts prevented her from doing so.Sophie realizes that if her grandfather has a secret to tell her, there's no better place than da Vinci's Mona Lisa. "Just a little more to go," said the grandfather, holding Sophie's tender little hand, as he walked through the empty museum for several hours. Sophie was only six years old then.She looked up at the huge roof, looked down at the blinding floor, and felt small.The empty museum frightened her, but she didn't want her grandfather to see it.She gritted her teeth and let go of her grandfather's hand.

They approached the most famous exhibition hall of the Louvre, and the grandfather said: "Ahead is the National Exhibition Hall." Although the grandfather became very excited at this time, Sophie just wanted to go home.She had seen the Mona Lisa in the book, but didn't like the painting at all.She didn't understand why everyone loved the painting so much. "Boring," Sophie murmured in French. "Boring," corrected Grandpa in English. "Speak French at school and English at home." "This is the Louvre, not home." Sophie retorted in French.

The grandfather smiled helplessly and said, "You are right. Then we will play in English." Sophie pouted and walked on.After arriving at the National Exhibition Hall, Sophie glanced at the narrow room, and her gaze stayed on the proud place of the exhibition hall—the portrait hanging behind the protective glass in the middle of the right wall.Grandfather stopped at the door and turned to face the painting. "Go ahead, Sophie. Very few people have the opportunity to see this painting alone." Sophie suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and walked slowly into the room.Because she had heard all kinds of things about the "Mona Lisa", she felt as if she was approaching something extremely sacred.She came to the protective glass, held her breath, looked up, and immediately fell in love with the painting.

Sophie forgot how she expected to feel, but she was sure it was different from how she actually felt.She didn't have the slightest surprise or admiration, because the famous face looked exactly like the one in the book.After an unknown amount of time, she stood there silently, waiting for something to happen. "How is it?" Grandpa came up behind her and said softly, "It's beautiful, isn't it?" "She's too young." Saunière smiled and said, "You are small, but you are beautiful." I'm not beautiful, Sophie thought.Sophie hated her red hair and freckles, and she was taller than all the boys in the class.Sophie looked back at the Mona Lisa and shook her head. "She's worse than in the book. Her face..." Sophie paused, then continued in French, "like a fog."

"Foggy," Grandpa taught her the new English word. "Foggy," Sophie read back.She knew that her grandfather would not continue until she pronounced the new word again. "It's smudging," Grandpa told Sophie, "and it's a tricky technique. Leonardo did it best." Sophie still didn't like the painting. "She seems to know something... like a kid at school knows a secret." Grandfather laughed. "That's one of the reasons she's so famous. People like to guess why she smiles." "Do you know why she smiles?" "Maybe." Grandfather said with a wink. "I'll tell you someday."

Sophie stamped her foot and said, "I said I don't like secrets!" "Princess," said the grandfather with a smile, "life is full of secrets. You can't unravel them all at once." "I'm going back up there," Sophie announced loudly, her voice echoing in the stairwell. "To the Mona Lisa?" Langdon asked rhetorically. "Now?" Sophie weighed the dangers of the move. "I'm not a murder suspect, I'm going to take my chances. I'm going to know what my grandfather wanted to tell me." "Then still go to the embassy?"

Sophie felt guilty for turning Langdon into a fugitive and then leaving him behind, but she had no choice.Pointing to a metal door at the bottom of the stairs, she said, "Go through that door and look at the illuminated exit signs. This is where my grandfather took me down. Follow the signs and you'll find A security exit with a turnstile. It turns one way and leads to the outside of the palace." She handed Langdon the car keys, "My car is a red 'Urban Elf' parked in the official parking area .It's just outside this wall. Do you know the way to the embassy?" Langdon looked at the key in his hand and nodded.

"Listen," said Sophie softly, "I think my grandfather left me a message in the Mona Lisa - a message about the murderer, or something that would explain why I was in danger, or It's about my family. I have to check it out." "But if he wants to tell you why you're in danger, why doesn't he just write it on the floor? Why do complicated wordplay?" "No matter what my grandfather wanted to tell me, he would not let others know, not even the police." Obviously, the grandfather wanted to seize the initiative and convey the secret directly to her.He wrote Sophie's secret initials into the code and sent her to find Langdon.Judging from the fact that the American symbologist had already cracked the code, it was indeed a wise move. "Sounds weird," Sophie said, "I think he wants me to see the Mona Lisa before anyone else." "Me too." "No! We don't know when someone will come. You must go." Langdon hesitated, as if his academic curiosity might override rational judgment and drag him back into Fache's hands. "Hurry up." Sophie's smile was full of gratitude, "Mr. Langdon, see you at the embassy." Langdon looked slightly displeased.He replied solemnly: "Only under one condition, I will see you." Sophie froze for a moment, then asked in surprise, "What condition?" "Unless you stop calling me Mr. Langdon." Sophie could sense Langdon's unnatural smile, and couldn't help herself. "Good luck, Robert." As Langdon descended the stairs, the smell of linseed oil and plaster filled his nostrils.Ahead, there is a bright exit pointing board, and the arrow on the board points to a long corridor. Langdon walked down the corridor, wondering if he would wake up from this dream at any time to find himself still in bed in Cambridge University.The whole night was like a strange dream. "I'm going to fly out of the Louvre... as a fugitive." Saunière's cleverly crafted message was still in his head, and he wondered if Sophie might find something in the Mona Lisa.Apparently, she was convinced that her grandfather was going to make her see the Mona Lisa again.While her idea seemed reasonable, Langdon was troubled by a contrary thought.Princess: Go find Robert Langdon. (P.S. Find Robert Langdon.) Saunière wrote Langdon's name on the floor and told Sophie to find him.why?Was it just so that he could help Sophie solve an anagram? It doesn't seem to be the case.After all, Saunière wouldn't think Langdon was good at word puzzles.We have never met.What's more, Sophie once confessed that she should be able to solve the crossword puzzle herself.It was Sophie who recognized the Fibonacci sequence, and had no doubt that, given a little more time, she could have deciphered the code on her own. Sophie was supposed to break the code on her own.Langdon suddenly became more convinced of this, but such a conclusion did not seem to be in line with the logic of Saunière's behavior. Why are you looking for me?Langdon thought as he walked.Why did Saunière's last wish be for his estranged granddaughter to come to me?What does he think I'll know? Langdon was startled suddenly and stopped in his tracks.He reached into his pocket, took out the computer printout, and stared at the last line of information with wide eyes: Princess: Go find Robert Langdon. (P.S. Find Robert Langdon.) His eyes rested on two letters: P. S． At that moment, Langdon felt that all the puzzling symbols left by Saunière had a clear meaning.Implications for symbology and historical research emerge instantly.What Jacques Saunière did was perfectly rationalized. Langdon quickly connected the symbolic meanings of all the symbols in his mind.He turned around and looked in the direction he had come from.Is there still time? He knows it doesn't matter.He ran back up the stairs without hesitation.