Chapter 6 Chapter VI Copying Wills

I have thought many times about the relationship between coal and potatoes, but I have always gotten only one answer, that is, both come from the earth, and both are products of the earth.And what Barna’s outpatient route provides, besides Mrs. Gabriel’s shop in Baihua Lane, is the dark and eerie underground room hidden in the middle of the old house on the west side of Fetter Lane, which is about a foot lower than the ground of the laneway. shop.It was a wooden three-story building, which seemed to be suspended in mid-air and might fall at any time. As I was passing by this shop that sold strange products, I saw Miss Orman standing in the dark shop.She saw me too, and immediately greeted me with her hand still holding a Spanish onion.So, I walked in and smiled back at her.

"This is a beautiful onion, Miss Orman. Are you really willing to give it to me?" "It's not! But look at it, doesn't it look like a man?" "Like a man?" I interrupted her in surprise, "Could it be that onions..." "Hey!" She raised her voice to stop it, "Don't talk nonsense here! He is a big man who is proficient in medical knowledge! You should be very clear." "Yes." I said embarrassedly. Miss Orman ignored me and continued: "I called the clinic just now!" "Looking for me?" "Of course, why don't I find a handyman?"

"That's not true. Miss Aoman, have you finally discovered that female doctors are not very useful?" "Hmph! I'm calling on Miss Branham's behalf." Miss Orman gritted her beautiful teeth and said to me fiercely. "Is Miss Bellingham ill?" I asked anxiously.Suddenly, I wasn't in the mood to joke anymore. "No, I just cut my hand; and it's the right hand, which is quite serious. She is not a person who does nothing, and often uses her right hand. So, you should go and see her!" Miss Aoman said sarcastically. say to me. As soon as the words fell, she had disappeared into the dark depths of the shop.Without stopping for a second, I hurried back to the office to grab the medicine kit and headed for Nevill Lane.

Miss Orman's young maid received me, and told me that Mr. Burlingham was away, and only Miss Burlingham was at home. After finishing speaking, she went back to the kitchen to do her own business.I went upstairs to Miss Birlingham, and saw that her right hand was wrapped in layers and layers of white cloth, like a boxing glove. "I'm glad you came." She smiled. "Phyllis—that's Miss Orman. She bandaged my wound very carefully, but it would be great if you could check it for me." We went to the living room, and I put the medicine kit on the table and started asking her about her injuries.

"It's just unlucky that it should happen at this juncture," she said despondently. "How do you say that? Is there something special?" I asked, trying to untie the knots of feminine fabric wrapped around her hands, as if they were deliberately embarrassing me, not at all. obedient.The last knot unexpectedly loosened automatically at a certain moment. "I have to do some very important work. A lady of great learning has asked me to collect all the literature on the mound of Amana. You should know, Amenhotep IV - those inscribed on clay tablets cuneiform script on it!"

"Well..." I comforted her, "Don't worry, your hand will recover soon." "No! I have to start working immediately. Before this weekend, I have to send out the complete materials. Unfortunately, now... what should I do?" At this time, I had already untied the bandage, and the wound was exposed in front of my eyes.A deep scar was in the middle of the palm, but luckily it didn't cut the artery.It seems that this hand needs to be recuperated for a week before it will heal. "I was thinking, you'll wrap it up well, maybe you can let me write?" Her eyes were full of expectation.

"I'm sorry, Miss Burlingham." I said, shaking my head. "I think I'm going to splint your hand. The wound is so deep that I have to." "Then I have to give up this task. However, I am worried that my client will not be able to finish the book in time. Ancient Egyptian literature is what I am best at, and this task is not only well paid, but also very interesting. Alas, maybe I can only accept my fate!" I carefully applied the medicine to her while thinking.It was obvious that this incident had disappointed her, and losing her job equaled losing her money.One need only take one look at her shabby black dress to see how little she is living on.What's more, this matter may have more significance to her.Yes, in terms of her reaction, it does seem to be the case.Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Not necessarily." I said. She looked at me with longing eyes as if she had grasped at straws.I continued: "I have a suggestion, I hope you can accept it." "It seems that your suggestion is a bit unusual," she said, "but I will consider it, so tell me!" "I took a sketching class when I was still in school. You know, although I am not a good reporter, I am also very good at sketching." "Well, I know that." "Every afternoon, I have enough rest time until 6 o'clock in the evening. I think, in the morning, you can go to the museum to find materials, and then mark them with bookmarks. Of course, you are not allowed to use your right hand; in the afternoon, I will go to help you sketch , you just need to read to me the passages you have selected. I think, this way, you should be able to achieve your usual amount of copying."

"My God, Dr. Bakery, you're a good man!" she exclaimed. "That's very kind! But I can't take up your private time like that, though I appreciate you saying so." Miss Burlingham rebuffed my proposal firmly, and I was dismayed, but I persisted: "I hope you will take my advice! Indeed, a relative stranger making such a suggestion to a lady is really Somewhat offensive. However, if you were a man, I would make the same suggestion. So, you should accept it!" "But, I'm not a man after all. Sometimes, I really wish I was!" "It's better not to, in my opinion, it's better to maintain your status quo!" I said bluntly.Then we laughed together.Just at that moment Mr. Burlingham entered with a pile of new books strapped together.

"You are so lively!" He looked at us kindly and said with a smile, "Is there any happy event? Look at you, a doctor and a patient are smiling as happily as two schoolgirls, what makes you so happy ?” He put the pile of books on the table, and then said, “The doctor is right, son, you should still be a woman! I really can’t imagine what it would be like for you to become a man, just listen to Bike Dr. Li's!" Seeing that he was in a good mood, I took the opportunity to tell him my proposal, and wanted him to help me persuade Miss Burlingham.After I finished speaking, he turned to look at his daughter and asked:

"Why don't you say yes, child?" "It will cause Dr. Bakery a lot of trouble, and it's not an easy job!" she replied. "It's going to be a lot of fun for me, too, really." I was very sincere. "In that case, you promise!" said Mr. Birlingham. "Let's do the doctor a little favor!" "My God, that's not what I meant!" she cried hastily. "Well, then you accept his offer! It's a good thing he really wants to help, and I'm sure he'll enjoy it. Doctor, she said yes. Did you, boy?" "Oh, you've said that, so I have to accept it." She smiled, and this elegant smile was the greatest reward in itself.After making the necessary arrangements, I happily rushed back to finish the morning's work and simply ate a missed breakfast. A few hours later, I came again to Miss Burlingham's house, and saw her standing in the garden with her handbag.I took the bag and walked out together.When I walked to the gate of the courtyard, I saw Miss Oman's jealous eyes. It is unbelievable that at this moment, I am walking side by side with this beautiful woman in the alley.Because of her, the originally chaotic environment became full of brilliance, and even the most ordinary things in the daily life became so beautiful; and the Feite Lane full of weird and interesting things turned out to be so beautiful.I breathe in the cabbage as deeply as I smell sunflowers.Even the West End bus we took seemed to be transformed into a chariot of glory, and the crowds on the sidewalks were transformed into innocent angels at the moment. Love is foolish enough to make the ordinary trivial things beautiful; and the thoughts and actions between lovers are even more foolish.However, it is absurd to judge love based on trivial matters in life, because utilitarianism makes our eyes only focus on those insignificant details and short-term interests, thus ignoring the true meaning of the great and eternal love behind it.On a silent midsummer night, the song of the nightingale is more meaningful than the wisdom of King Solomon. Before entering the library, in the small glass room at the entrance, the management staff inspected us. I handed over my walking stick to a bald monk for safekeeping and exchanged it for a talisman. Then we entered the huge domed library . I often think that if a deadly vapor of a highly antiseptic substance—such as formaldehyde—can be injected into this hall, then all the books and nerds here will be preserved and become another part of the museum that will be handed down to future generations. anthropological landscape.There is no doubt that there is no other place in the whole world that can gather so many freaks except this place.But what makes us most curious is: Where did these people come from?Where do these people go when the huge clock (the one designed for the near-sighted) strikes to close the doors?Like the sad-faced gentleman with his spiraling curls bouncing as he walked; or the diminutive "middle-aged man" in parsonage black and bowler hat who frightened people by turning his head suddenly? man"—actually a woman, where are they all going?These people we have never met, maybe they will disappear into the dark corners of the museum after the museum is closed, and then hide in the ancient sarcophagus or the coffin of the mummy until dawn?Maybe they would crawl with their books in their hands in the gaps between the shelves, soaking up the scent of leather and paper all night long?No one knows!And all I know is that, compared with those strange people, Ruth Berlinham seems to be another creature, almost comparable to the head of the young Antinous—originally placed in the statue of the Roman God of War, and later Moved away; she was like a statue of a god in a gallery of grim-faced portraits of savages. "Where do we start?" I asked her after I found my seat. "Shall I check the catalog first?" "No. I have a library card in my tote bag, and the books I want are in 'Rare Books.'" I put the hat on the leather bookshelf, and deliberately put her gloves on it—what an intimate suggestion!Then they changed the number on the library card, and walked towards the direction of "Treasured Books" together, and started today's work - an extremely happy afternoon.I quickly copied two hours of text on the smooth, oily leather desk, these two hours were so happy and sweet.I seem to have entered a fresh and strange world, where there is love, learning, interaction, and rigid archaeology. This world is extremely strange and weird, but extremely sweet.Before that, history was a very esoteric subject for me, just like the famous Egyptian pagan pharaoh-Amenhotep IV, who overthrew the traditional polytheistic belief in Egypt and advocated only respecting the sun god , and also named himself a god, so he was opposed by the Egyptian people.But before that, Amenhotep IV was just a name to me; Rough fossil biscuits for ostriches. But now everything has changed.We sat side by side, and she whispered the chaotic history in my ear, and the slowly drifting whispers were beautiful. (Because conversations are forbidden in the library, so we can have such close contact.) Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Aramaic, Xitai, Memphis, Hama, Megiddo... I am excited to transcribe all of these, Wish she would say a little more.But once I lost my composure, the stern, ascetic clergyman passed us and gave us a disdainful look, obviously thinking we were flirting in the library.Maybe the pastor is also thinking about the gentle voice in my ear!Thinking of this, I couldn't help laughing.And my beautiful work partner, who had already put his hand on the book, looked at me with a reproachful smile, and continued to read.She worked with the seriousness and fierceness of a Tartar. There is a moment I am most proud of when I ask Miss Burlingham "and then" and she replies "it's over".In two and a half hours, we completed the work of removing the dross from the six volumes. "You are really amazing!" said Miss Burlingham. "If I were the only one to transcribe, it would take at least two full days! Thank you so much." "Don't be so polite. Not only am I very happy, but I also reviewed the sketch. What shall we do next? Shall I find the book I need tomorrow?" "Well, I've already made the list. Let's go to the catalog area now. I'll find the number and you write the library card." We spent half an hour looking for new books and returning the ones we had drained before leaving the library. "Where are we going now?" she asked me as I walked out the gate.A burly guard stood at the gate, just like the guardian angel of heaven, but fortunately he didn't hold the forbidden fire sword in his hand. "Go to Museum Street!" I said. "There's a nice milk shop there. Let's have a drink." Although she was a bit reluctant, she finally followed me.After a while, we were sitting side by side at a small table with a marble countertop, enjoying tea and reminiscing about the work we had just finished. "Have you been doing this job for a long time?" I asked as she filled my second cup of tea. "It took only two years to be full-time. In fact, it started after my family went bankrupt. It's just that before that, I often followed Uncle John—the uncle who disappeared mysteriously—to the museum to help him find information. We The two are good friends." "Is he very learned?" I was very curious about this. "Yes, so to speak. For a high-society collector, he is. He is familiar with all the Egyptian antiquities in the museum collection, and he has studied each one very well. Egyptology is inherently an esoteric subject. of course, he was really interested in studying antiquities, not in history. But he knew a lot about Egyptian history, after all, he was A collector." "If he dies, who will own all his collections?" "In accordance with his will, the majority of the collection will be donated to the British Museum, with the rest going to his lawyer, Mr Jericho." "Why, Mr. Jericho? What's the use of those Egyptian curios in Jericho?" “He was also originally a researcher of Egyptology, and he was very enthusiastic about it. He collected a large number of scarab jewellery, and some household antiques. Uncle is so close. Of course he is a very good lawyer, but also a very cautious and delicate person." "Is that so? Look at your uncle's will. I doubt it!" "No, it's not Mr. Jericho's fault. He's explained to us that more than once he tried to persuade my uncle to draw up a new will with reasonable content, but my uncle wouldn't listen to him. In fact, my uncle was a rather obstinate Mr. Jericho also refused to take responsibility for the matter, saying that the will was written by a mentally disturbed person. I think so, I saw the will for the first time a few days ago, it is hard to imagine, A sane person would write something like that." "Have you a copy of your will?" I asked eagerly, suddenly remembering Thorndike's instructions. "Well, yes! Would you like to read it? My father mentioned it to you, didn't he? You'd be worth reading--for some crazy talk." "I'd like to show my friend Thorndike, who says he's interested in the will," said I. "Let him see it, and maybe he'll get something out of it." "I can't really think of an objection," she went on, "but, you know my father's situation; I mean, he's wary of being misunderstood to be looking for 'free legal services' everywhere. " "He needn't worry about it. Thorndike is only very interested in this case, so he wants to see the will. To be honest, he is a complete detective fan, and it is a dream for him to see the will with his own eyes. " "Well, he's a very kind man. I'll talk to my father about it, and if he'll agree, I'll send you or post a copy of the will tonight. Shall we go now?" I nodded reluctantly, then paid the tea money, and walked outside together; after a while, we all turned around and walked towards Russell Street, in order to avoid the busy streets and traffic. "What kind of person is your uncle?" I asked her unhurriedly as we walked the quiet street, but I added, "I hope you don't find me strange, because in my impression , he seems to be the kind of person who is casual and often gets into legal troubles." "My Uncle John..." she said after pondering for a while, "his character is very strange, and he is also very stubborn. Reasonable, and a little old-fashioned." "Well, it can be seen from his will that he is such a person." I nodded. "Yes, not only this will, but also the allowance he set up for my father, which is ridiculous to the extreme. Not only is it a ridiculous arrangement, but it is extremely unfair. He should follow my grandfather's wish and divide the inheritance Second. Of course, maybe he has no malicious intentions, but just likes to do things according to his own wishes, but it's a pity that his method really doesn't work. " "I remember such an incident, which is enough to prove how stubborn and difficult he is. Although this incident is insignificant, it can also show his personality. Among the items in his collection, there is a very delicate eighteenth dynasty small ring , it is said that the mother of Amenhotep IV, Queen Tai, is the owner of this ring. However, I think this statement is biased. The pattern on the ring is the eye of Osiris. You should also know that the sun god It's what the queen of Thailand revered. Anyway, this ring is really beautiful. Uncle John has an unfounded fascination with this mysterious eye of Osiris, so he specially hired a skilled goldsmith to make it Two imitations, one for me and one for himself. When the goldsmith was about to measure our fingers, Uncle John insisted that the two rings must be exactly the same as the real thing, even the size The same. My fingers are too thin, as you can imagine, and the ring is too big to fit; Uncle John, when he put it on, was so tight that he couldn't take it off. Fortunately, his left hand is a little thinner than his right, Otherwise, there is no way to even wear it." "You mean, you've never worn this ring?" "Yes. I wanted to make it smaller, but Uncle John was against it, so I put it in the box." "What a weird old guy," I remarked. "Yeah, he's just that unreasonable. Also, he's always pissing my dad off with his collection, and he's always changing our house in Queens Square. We have a deep affection for that house. Our family lived there before it was built. At that time, Queen Anne was in power, and the square named after her was just beginning to be planned. It is a very distinctive house, do you want to see it? It is not far in front The place." Without any hesitation, I nodded in agreement.In fact, even if it was a coal shed or a fish fryer's, I'd be happy to go if I could go on walking with Miss Burlingham.Also, I was really interested in this house, after all it was somehow connected to the mysterious disappearance of John Bellingham. After a while, we came to Fengzhou Square - there are many strange iron columns in the shape of cannons on display here. We stayed here for a few minutes and admired the majestic old square for a while.A group of boys played loudly in the center of the square—surrounded by stone pillars, with quaint lampposts erected in the middle; besides, the whole square was shrouded in a long history and a solemn atmosphere.On this sunny summer afternoon, the square is covered by thick sycamore trees, which looks very pleasant. The sun shines through the branches and illuminates the rows of dark brick roofs brilliantly.We were walking along the shady west side street, and when we reached the end, Miss Burlingham stopped suddenly. "This is the house," she said. "It may seem lonely at the moment, but it must have been very charming when my grandfather and great-grandfather lived in it! At that time, they could look out at the large square through the windows." , not far from the square is a large grassland, and a little further is Hampstead and Hagrid Heights." She stood gloomy on the pavement, looking up at the old house; her figure was so forlorn that I looked at her and thought to myself: such a beautiful, dignified lady, wearing shabby clothes and worn With torn gloves, she stood in front of the family house that was supposed to belong to her, but now had to give it up to someone else. Curiously, I followed Miss Bellingham and looked up at it, and a sad and gloomy atmosphere rushed over my face.From the basement all the way to the attic, all the windows were tightly closed, without a trace of life.Dead silence and sadness permeated the whole house, as if wearing sackcloth in mourning for the missing owner.The door to the ornate porch was dusty, and seemed too old to be useful, as were the old lampstands and rusted extinguishers.Looking at this old-fashioned house, I imagined the era of Queen Anne, the servants were about to extinguish the torch, and a certain lady of the Bellingham family was sitting on a chair inlaid with gold to rest. After staying for a while, we decided to get rid of this sad scene and walk towards home.Miss Bellingham had been lost in thought, with the same solemn expression as when I first saw her.Involuntarily, I was also infected by her melancholy, as if a lost soul floated out of that silent house and walked side by side with us. Of course, we are still happy.When we reached the mouth of Neville's Lane, Miss Burlingham stopped, shook hands with me, and said: "Goodbye, thank you very much for your help. Could you please return the tote bag?" "Of course, but I need to get out the notebook first." "Why?" She was very curious. "Shouldn't I copy these sketches in normal text?" As soon as I finished speaking, she exclaimed in surprise (she even forgot to let go of my hand): "My God! I'm so slow to react. But it's impossible, Dr. Berry! It will take at least several hours to finish this!" "How can it be impossible? It must be done, or these notes will be useless. Want your bag back?" "No, it's really not necessary. I'm really flattered, but you'd better give up this idea!" "So, is this the end of our partnership?" I asked aloud, holding her hand tightly.Only then did she realize that our hands were holding each other, so she hurriedly pulled them back. "I don't want to just give up an entire afternoon of work!" I explained. "See you tomorrow, I'll try to get to the museum as early as possible. Leave your library card with me, and don't forget to promise me, A copy of the will to Dr. Thorndike!" "I will never forget, as long as my father agrees, I will deliver it to you tonight." She said, took the library card, thanked me again, turned and walked into the alley.