Chapter 3 Chapter 1 The Mysterious Red-Headed Papa

The Malagasy people living on Madagascar, the largest island in the world, were formed by the combination of a large number of immigrants from the Pacific Indonesia region and the original residents of the island after the tenth century AD, so their language is close to the Indonesian language family.Due to the long-term French colonial rule, quite a few Malagasy believe in Catholicism, but more of them still believe in their own fetishism--that is a form of religious belief in primitive society. Almost any object, Can become a god, become an object of worship.Fetishism was also prevalent in their ancestors, the Indonesian islands.

Generally speaking, the Malagasy people are very mild-tempered, not greedy for anything, happy to know their fate, the island has a good climate and rich products, with an area of ​​nearly 600,000 square kilometers and a population of just over 8 million. Conflicts can also be reduced to a fairly low level. In particular, in some villages in the mountainous area, the residents have lived within 50 kilometers of their living area for generations. For them, there is nothing new in their lives. Therefore, twenty years ago, When the red-headed daddy's family suddenly appeared in a small village, it was regarded as an event that couldn't be more important.

The village where the red-headed father appeared was located in the mountainous part of the central part of the island. There were only about twenty families living in poverty. , the traffic is really inconvenient.Second, living in the mountainous area, although poor, but not enough food and clothing, outside, who knows what the outside world is like? Although there are some young people who have left the village, most of them have never returned. For the residents of this village, what is the living situation outside the mountainous area? In a small village like this, the simple houses are quite close to each other. In the middle of the night, if someone at the head of the village coughs loudly, the people at the end of the village can also hear it, so.The lives of the villagers are almost integrated, and they don't understand each other thoroughly. Under such circumstances, if a stranger from a family suddenly invades, it will naturally become the leader of the entire village. Top priority.

The family that "invaded" was the family of the red-headed father.Papa Ginger naturally has his official name, but that doesn't matter.The reason why he is called the red-headed dad is that "Dad" is a kind of respectful title for people in the local language, and on his forehead, there is a rather large red birthmark that extends almost to the entire top of his head.Therefore, it is very natural for him to be called "Red-headed Daddy" by the villagers. The red-headed father's family is actually just three people: red-headed father, red-headed father's wife, and their son.

The red-headed old man was quite old and very ugly, but his wife was a rather petite girl, so young that the people in the village thought it was his daughter at first, but the one who brought them here The mule dealer said they were husband and wife. Whether it is the red-headed father or his wife, their complexion is quite dark, similar to that of the local natives, and it is not very eye-catching. What surprised the villagers is that their son, who was only a baby at the time, had a dark complexion. But it is white. The baby is very cute, not only has a snow-white complexion, but also has a head of red hair, which looks extremely cute. The villagers have never seen a person with fair skin. When they saw the baby's cute, snow-white face, It caused a commotion.

If the mule dealer hadn't reprimanded the villagers for a while and told the villagers that there are many white people in the world, the villagers would have almost rejected the cute baby as some kind of monster. The mule dealer is an authoritative figure in the villages in the mountainous area. In fact, he is just a small businessman. He is responsible for the daily necessities that some villagers need urgently. , most of them are the seeds of some rather rare spice plants--at the distribution center of spices, rare spices can be sold at a very good price. For the villagers who have never left the village all their lives, the mule trader who has been around and seen the world for many years is naturally an authoritative figure, and the villagers naturally believe in his words.But the villagers always felt a little weird about this baby.And this strange feeling has been growing as the child grows up.

When the mule dealer announced on behalf of the red-headed father that their family would settle here, the villagers were silent, because this was almost an unacceptable drastic change to their peaceful life. But when the mule dealer further announced that the goods he brought this time were all gifts from the red-headed old man to the villagers. The solid thick cloth alone could be shared by almost everyone, and the villagers were satisfied. Naturally, the respectful title of "Daddy" was given to strangers. The house where the red-headed father and his family lived was built with the help of the villagers. It is far away from other houses in the village, and is located on a prominent part of a cliff, facing the cliff.

At the beginning, the red-headed old man was not very familiar with the local language-this situation has not changed much, because he does not talk to the villagers at all, not only him, but also his wife, who never talks to the villagers , and no other contact, their family just lived near an isolated village, and an invisible and unbreakable wall was built between them and the villagers of this village. Only when the mule dealer came, the red-headed old man would talk to the mule dealer in a language that the villagers could not understand, and the mule dealer would bring a lot of things to the red-headed old man every time.

The villagers didn't know what those things were, because they were all placed in wooden boxes one by one. Some curious villagers once sneaked close to the red-headed father's house to spy.But nothing unusual could be seen.Because the villagers are very kind by nature, although they always feel strange in their hearts, they live in peace. The red-headed father guarded his child even more strictly, and he never allowed the child to get close to the villagers. The husband and wife were always near the child.The child grows up quite quickly. The red-headed daddy has already been able to leave after less than a year since he came here. The child tried to get close to the white child several times, but was stopped by the red-headed father.

The red-headed old man warned the whole village through the dealer that his child had a terrible disease. Anyone who touched him with his finger or even looked at him for a while would be infected and brought great harm. disaster. Because the mule dealer has a considerable degree of authority among the villagers, and the villagers are very ignorant after all, and they are afraid of catastrophe, so most of them believe that the child is very ominous and cannot be approached. The purpose of the red-headed father doing this is naturally obvious, to prevent anyone from approaching them, especially that child.Therefore, their family lived almost without any relationship with anyone.The child grows up day by day and has become a young man. The villagers can often see the tall and handsome boy standing alone in front of the cliff, staring at the white clouds in the sky, or overlooking the The mountains and rivers at the foot of the mountain can be seen for a long time.

And for the rest of the time, the boy hid in the simple house—what was he doing in the house?People in the village are naturally curious.There was a brave girl who once approached the house to peek at what the boy was doing, but she repeated what she had seen in front of the villagers.The villagers could not understand what he was doing. Until one time, the mule dealer came to the village again, and the girl exchanged a small monkey she had caught that could make a very loud roar with the mule dealer for some daily necessities. The mule dealer knew that this kind of monkey was a rare species unique to the island. It was called a "howler monkey". Although it was small in size, when it roared, its sound could be heard several miles away. It was a treasure in the zoo and could be sold for a The price was quite good, so I really said a few good words, and the bold girl took the opportunity to repeat the actions of the boy she saw.He held the young man in his hands, stared at it for a long time, and then described the thing that "opened a layer of skin", and asked the mule dealer very seriously: what is the young man doing?What is he holding? The mule dealer was puzzled when he heard it at first, but he just thought about it for a while, and couldn't help laughing out loud. He patted the girl's head and said, "He's reading a book, and the thing in his hand It’s a book, what to open a skin, he has opened a page of a book.” Because the life of the residents in the mountains is so closed, they don't know what a "book" is, and naturally they don't know what reading or reading is. Moreover, even after the mule dealer's explanation, the girl still didn't understand, and asked again: "What is a book? What are the many small black dots on it? Reading? Sitting still like a fool, what's the use of reading?" Although the mule dealer knows that there is a thing called "book" in the world, and that there is a kind of human behavior called "reading books", he is not a person with knowledge, and he also answered the girl's series of questions. If he didn't come up, he felt very humiliated, so he said in a deep voice, "You won't ask him yourself!" The girl hit a nail and dared not say anything.But this young girl was very clever, and the mule dealer's angry words made her even bolder to ask him. Why not?You can ask him yourself. The girl was waiting for this opportunity, but the opportunity never came, and three years passed. Three years later, the boy grew taller and more handsome, and the bold girl matured into the most attractive girl in the village.All men and women in the village are already married at this age, so there are naturally many young people who pursue the girl, but the girl refuses them all. This girl who grew up in the mountains.It's not that you don't understand love.She fell in love with that young man from outside, whom she didn't even know the name, and whom she had never spoken to. She has been waiting for an opportunity, but the young man spends more and more time hiding in the house, and whenever she tries to approach the other party's house.Papa Ginger and his wife, almost without exception, were bound to appear, with very severe eyes.Push her back. The girl's name was Qinya, and Qinya's parents were already very impatient with her repeated rejection of the proposals of the young people in the village. Qinya also made up her mind and decided to ask the young man from outside if she wanted her If she was rejected, she decided to leave the village and go outside the mountains, like some young men and women in the village, and never return. The opportunity Qinya had been waiting for finally came. During the day, the mule dealer came again and brought a big wooden box for the red-headed old man—for more than ten years, because the mule dealer brought a wooden box every time he came, the red-headed old man built a lot more A thatched hut for those wooden boxes.Only Qinya had peeked at it before, and those wooden boxes were full of strange things called "books". When the mule dealer unloaded the crate at the red-headed man's house, he couldn't wait to get out of the house.It's that young man.Qinya would hang around in front of other people's houses whenever she had a chance, so when the young man came out, the distance between her and him was about twenty steps.Qin Ya whistled immediately. The young man looked up at her. His complexion was extremely fair, his hair was red, and his eyes were blue. To the villagers who had never seen an outsider, such a person should be very strange.But the power of love is really great. At this time, Qin Ya saw it in his eyes, but felt that the young man was extremely handsome. (The young man is naturally very handsome, but even Qinya thinks he is handsome, so love is at work.) The young man raised his head and saw Qinya, and his expression seemed to be stunned. Qin Ya's heart beat wildly.But at this moment, the red-headed old man had already come out and gave Qinya a hard look. Qinya had to half turn around, and when she turned around, the red-headed old man, the mule dealer and the young man had all entered. out of the house. Qinya was very anxious, and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't help but took a few steps forward and got closer to the house. At this moment, she heard the voice of the red-headed old man in the room. The red-headed old man seemed to be angry. .It was quite loud and spoke in a language she could not understand.At the same time, the mule dealer's voice came out, as if he was trying to explain something. After a while, the mule dealer came out, not very happy, and continued to make deals with the villagers, while Qin Ya kept wandering nearby. When the mule dealer was about to leave, the villagers saw an unprecedented phenomenon: the red-headed old man stepped on the mule with a bag in his hand, and left the village with the mule dealer. It has been more than ten years, since the red-headed father's family came to this village, they have never left.This incident, of course, was the source of the villagers' conversations for the rest of the day. And at dusk, Qinya, who had been by the house all the time, felt her heart beating wildly again. She saw the young man coming out of the house, slowly coming to the cliff, standing there, looking at the red clouds and the setting sun all over the sky . Since Qinya knew that the red-headed old man had left the village, she became more courageous. After thinking for a while, she approached the young man gently, and waited until she was only three or five steps away from the young man. The young man suddenly turned his head to look at her. Qin Ya's mood was already extremely tense, and her sweetheart turned her head again, which made her heart beat wildly, and she couldn't help but stretched out her hand to press her own heart. She was originally a very beautiful girl, and this action made her more charming. Although the young man didn't say anything, Qinya's keen girlish heart is already certain. When the young man saw her, his blue eyes In it, a strange radiance shot out, in this situation, it was the same as the gleam in the eyes of those young people in the village who admired her when they saw her. That made Qinya's courage suddenly increase, and she said what she had thought so many times in her heart at once: "I will be your wife, if you want to marry me, if you want me, just kiss my forehead. " In the village, when a pair of young men and women kiss each other on the forehead, it is a very solemn promise of marriage to each other.Usually, it is naturally the young man who kisses the young girl first, but there are also young girls who kiss the young man first. After Qinya finished those few words quickly, she waited for the young man to kiss her forehead, but the young man still just looked at her without any action. Qin Ya's heart beat extremely violently, it's not that the young man doesn't like her, that's it.She can be affirmed in the young man's eyes looking at her, so why doesn't he kiss her forehead? Qin Ya's mood was so chaotic and anxious that she couldn't think about it at all. She just thought that she could kiss him first, why not?So, she bravely took a step forward, stood on tiptoe, and pressed her plump lips to the young man's forehead. While she was doing this, although she could hear her own heart beating like thunder, she also heard the exclamation of some people behind her. She knew that her actions had already been seen by people in the village.However, she doesn't care if anyone sees it, because as long as the young man kisses her back.Then, even if the relationship between the two of them is confirmed, everyone in the village will know it soon, so what does it matter if people see it? After she kissed the young man's forehead, her breathing involuntarily quickened, her chest heaved, and she looked at the young man with girlish and affectionate eyes, waiting for his return kiss. But the young man still just stood there in a daze, he didn't intend to kiss her back at all, he just stretched out his hand and stroked the forehead kissed by Qin Ya.Although the look in his eyes was more intense, he didn't kiss Qinya's forehead back. In an instant, Qinya only felt that the blood in her whole body was congealed. A young girl kissed a young man on the forehead, but the young man did not return the kiss. According to the customs, it was the greatest insult to a young girl. Qin Ya's face must have turned very pale at that time, and the young man hesitated and stretched out. He reached out, wanting to touch her pale face. At this moment, behind Qinya, someone shouted: "Qinya, he doesn't want you, you have no shame in seducing him, he doesn't want you." Qin Ya's body trembled violently, but she still managed to utter a sentence from her bloodless double layer: "You really don't want me?" The young man still didn't respond at all, but behind Qinya, there was a burst of malicious laughter and harsh shouts from her parents.At that moment, the red-headed father's wife, the young man's mother, also came out of the house. The woman was no longer young at this time, but she still had a beautiful outline on her dark skin, and her thick black hair hung like a black waterfall on her head. As soon as she walked out, probably due to her mother's instinct, she immediately knew what was going on. She was not as usual.Pushing Qinya back with stern eyes, he just said something that sounded quite simple, but Qinya couldn't understand it at all. Because at that time, it was the most important moment in Qinya's life, and also the most desperate moment, her mood was in an extremely abnormal state, and she was extremely sensitive to everything, so although she didn't say this sentence at all, I understand, but the syllables of the whole sentence are deeply imprinted in her mind. In the days to come, she could repeat that sentence at any time. (This sentence itself is not important, but the matter of "Qinya memorized that sentence and can repeat it at any time" is very important, please pay attention.) At that time, after the woman finished speaking, she came to her son. Qinya could no longer hear what she said to her son clearly, because when the young man and his mother turned around together, After entering the house, the laughter behind Qinya and the shouts of her parents were like the tide.came rushing over. Qin Ya's vision was blurred, which was the result of her tears welling up, her whole body was stiff, and she couldn't do anything except standing there and weeping.And when a small stone was thrown from behind her and hit her body, she didn't know the pain. She was dragged back to her house by her parents, laughing at her villagers, who surrounded her house mercilessly, roaring with laughter.And that kind of insulting words, even her parents coldly gave her no words of comfort. Under such circumstances, Qinya naturally could no longer live in this small mountain village. She silently prepared some dry food for herself, and left the place where she was born overnight. Qin Ya's failure to offer love with her hot and simple heart as a mountain girl has always been a great trauma in her heart. It was not until nearly two years later that she realized that she had made an unforgivable mistake by chance. Wrong, but too much time has passed. Over the past two years, her life has changed greatly.As a result, although she wanted to make up for her mistakes, it became impossible. In fact, the changes in Qinya's life over the past two years cannot be said to be too great, but for a girl who has only lived in a mountain village, it can already be said to have been turned upside down. After Qinya left the mountain village, her luck was not too bad. She didn't know how to leave the mountain, but stubbornly walked in the same direction every day. A few days later, she met the mule dealer. The mule dealer had a good heart and gave Qinya a lot of help. He took Qinya to his home and gave it to his wife. After that, Qinya's life changed. I can make a long story short. In the whole story, it is quite important, but that experience is irrelevant.The mule dealer had no children, so Qinya was well taken care of, and she was smart. Within half a year, it was already hard to tell that she was a girl who had never left the mountain village. The mule dealer's home was in a town at the foot of the mountain. Six months later, Qinya left that town and went to another larger place, where she received adult education sponsored by a government school. After another year, she came again Arriving at the capital Talalan Leaf, which is the largest city on the island, with a population of more than 400,000 and a history of hundreds of years, Qinya can completely adapt to city life independently. Her family is not very large, but the cooking is exquisite and extremely Served as a waitress in a dining room appreciated by the local elite and foreign tourists. At this point in the description, we can put aside the matter of Qin Ya for a while, and we can also ignore the matter of the red-headed father and his family for the time being. But there is a person whose name is Yingsheng. He is really surnamed Ying and happened to be born in England, so it is logical that he is called Yingsheng. Unlike Wang Yingsheng and Chen Yingsheng, Yingsheng is Yingsheng. Yingsheng is a geologist who believes very much in the theory of splitting the earth's crust—that is, the land on the earth was originally connected together, but later it split apart due to changes in the earth's crust and became the five continents today. He also believes that although Madagascar is now in the east of the African continent and is very close to the African continent, before the crust was split, it should be in the east of India, which is where the Indian Ocean is today. This hypothesis of his, if confirmed, would be of great importance, for such a large piece of land, which had drifted so far from its original position, would be further inferred that there was something at the bottom of the Indian Ocean which caused this drift. The factor is.For example, the formation there is extremely thin, there are huge faults, and so on. Since the fossils of ammonites, a marine organism, can be found on the top of the Himalayas, which proves that the top of the Himalayas was originally the seabed, which was "squeezed" out by the drift of the Indian subcontinent to the Asian continent, Yingsheng became more convinced that the depths of the Indian Ocean, There must be some crustal fluctuation factors unknown to human beings, and he wanted to find out this kind of factors. Therefore, he first lived in India for a year, and then went to Madagascar to study the similarity of organisms and rock structures between the two places to prove his theory. Yingsheng can be said to be a very interesting person. I knew him from the year he lived on the east coast of India. That year, I went to India for business. (I'm going to India to find an Indian.) (This sentence sounds funny, but the journey at that time was extremely tortuous, and the whole process was recorded in the story called "Chain".) I met him in New Delhi, and the conversation was speculative. Later, when he arrived in Madagascar, he once wrote to me.Once, he told me with great joy that a monkey found on Madagascar, the "lemur", is completely related to the tarsier on the Indian mainland. In the next few letters, he expressed that he himself was completely obsessed with Madagascar, and he was reluctant to leave.In the letters he sent one after another.It can be known that he traveled almost all over the island. Naturally, he had also been to the town where the mule dealer lived. He has already learned a local language. That day, he was in the only bookstore in the town and asked if there was a new geological magazine. "No, in a small place like ours, no one has ever read this kind of special book." After receiving such a reasonable answer, Yingsheng was about to leave, but he took another look, and caught a glimpse of a thick book in the clerk's hand. circuit) research". It is quite a specialized academic work, and it is obviously not very suitable for such a small place. This made Yingsheng feel a little curious, and then he looked at other books that the clerk was sorting out. The more he looked, the more strange he looked, because they were all extremely specialized books, and they covered a wide range of books. Books on electricity, such as "Electromagnetism", also have many up-to-date specialized journals.There are also very advanced works on physics, and there is an extremely thick volume, which is the winning paper of the Nobel Prize winners in physics in the past ten years. This has already surprised Yingsheng so much that he couldn't even close his mouth, and when he saw another geology book, it was a special book on the formation and nature of Australian mountain ranges that he co-authored with another geologist. He couldn't help but asked the clerk, "What's the matter? Which famous university has set up a research institute here, so it needs so many advanced reference books of various subjects?" The clerk shook his head: "Of course not. These books are all ordered by Mr. Carley. Over the years, he has ordered an unknown number of books. The sum of them may be several times more than the books in our entire store." Yingsheng was stunned: "Is it all books like this?" The clerk said: "It wasn't that special at first, but later on, it became more and more special. I really doubt that anyone can understand these books. The price is not cheap in the first place, and with the shipping fee—" The clerk shook his head vigorously, as if he thought it was a sin to spend a lot of money on these books. At this time, Yingsheng was overwhelmed with admiration for Mr. Kali who bought those books. He asked in a very respectful tone: "That Mr. Kali must be a great scholar?" The clerk was startled for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Yingsheng didn't understand why he was laughing, so he had to wait for his explanation.The clerk smiled for a while, and then said: "Maybe he is really a great scholar, so he really doesn't show his face, but the people in the town only know that he has been a mule dealer for twenty years." Yingsheng has lived in Madagascar for so long, so of course he knows what kind of profession a "musle dealer" is. Already pointed out: "Look, Mr. Carley is here." Yingsheng turned his head and saw a tall and thin middle-aged man walking towards the bookstore. This mule trader named Cali is, of course, the mule trader who brought the red-headed father and his family into the mountain village at the beginning of this story. He has appeared many times in the story, but what is he? His appearance, but he has never been described, so let's take this opportunity to take a good look at him. As with all mule dealers.Due to years of trekking on the mountain roads, there is less chance of accumulating fat in the body, so it is quite thin, and it looks dusty. Kali has a pair of small eyes, and his eyes are cloudy. He is in his early fifties. He has dark skin. When he walks, he has a little jumping movement. Although his clothes are not old, they always give people an unclean look. Feeling, the gray hair has begun to thin out. Although a person who is learned or not will never chisel his forehead, but Kali looks like a mule dealer in the middle of the road, not half a scholar. Yingsheng kept staring at him, and he didn't even care about being polite. As soon as Kali entered the store, he also found a well-dressed and handsome gentleman staring at him, so he also looked very uncomfortable, and looked at Yingsheng. I don't know whether to say hello or ignore the other person's stare. At this time, Yingsheng thought of the saying "a person should not be judged by his appearance". In martial arts novels, don't most of the masters with superb martial arts look like bad old men?So, he asked very respectfully: "Mr. Carley?" Kali asked suddenly. He couldn't help being flattered to be treated so politely by a gentleman. He was at a loss as to what to do. He nodded and bowed, and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes, sir, how did you know my name? It's really—" Looking at Kali's expression, Yingsheng couldn't help smiling wryly. Naturally, one can't see a person's inner self from the outside, but in action, one can tell a little bit.A person who is qualified to read such profound knowledge books will never have such an attitude.He sighed inwardly, pointing to those books: "Mr. Carley, you ordered all these books?" Kali's expression was even more flustered: "Yes... I can't say it is... It was ordered according to the order given to me by the red-headed old man. Until now, Lu Ji has arrived, and I will send it to him..." When Kali said this, Yingsheng fully understood that those books were not read by Kali. Kali was just a mule dealer. . At this time, Yingsheng's kindness became even more intense.First, "Red-Headed Daddy" is a very strange name.Second, the mule dealer was required to deliver these books. The "red-headed old man" obviously lived in a remote mountainous area. This is really an incredible thing.He immediately asked: "That... the red-headed old man... is—" Cali said: "I don't know who he is. I only know that he has been asking me to bring him books, one box or even two boxes at a time, for more than ten years. He and his children like reading books very much." Yingsheng took a breath and glanced at the pile of books again. Just the pile of books in front of him, not to mention the content, just the text used in the books, there are English, German, Japanese, French, Russian and Chinese . (The Chinese version is "Compendium of Materia Medica", which is a masterpiece of Ming Dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen.) How many languages ​​and specialized knowledge does the red-headed old man need to know to understand those books? Yingsheng's first thought was naturally: Where does this "red-headed daddy" live?He hurriedly brought up the question.Kali has been answering his questions very respectfully, but when Yingsheng asked this question, he blinked his eyes and refused to answer. After hesitating for a while, he said: "This... this... the red-headed old man... I can't tell where he lives! He seems to have foreseen that someone will come to him, so... never allow me... to reveal where he lives." Yingsheng took a breath. He felt that the matter was a bit mysterious. That "red-headed old man" was by no means an ordinary person, that was for sure. Why did he hide and see no one?Is it because he is afraid that someone will harm him?Or does he have some powerful enemies?He thought for a while and said, "I just want to meet him. If you are willing to lead the way—" Carly didn't wait for him to finish.Just shook his head vigorously.From that moment on, Yingsheng threatened and lured, and used both soft and hard tactics, including bringing Cali to his residence and offering a bottle of top-quality Beer. After Cali was too drunk to stop him, he mentioned Going to see Papa Ginger, Cali still shook his head: "No, absolutely not, I swore a bad oath. I won't tell anyone where he lives." Yingsheng saw that he had no choice but to say: "Then, when you see him, please tell him that I am a geologist and my name is Yingsheng. Among these books, there is one book that I collaborated with. Yes, I want to see him very much, if he is willing to see me, can't you take me to see him?" Kali was very happy, as if he had solved an extremely difficult problem, and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I must tell him that you are a big shot, really, treat me to such a good wine." Yingsheng shook his head: "I'm not a big shot, that red-headed old man is the big shot." Cali's eyes widened, with a look of disbelief on his face: "He's a big shot? I see... I can't tell, but he's weird, and he doesn't get close to anyone, let alone his child. That child is also weird. , the skin is completely white, and they have red hair and blue eyes. Both of them are not white, and his wife is even weirder, and I have never heard her speak..." It seems that Cali only swore not to reveal where Papa Ginger lived, but made no promise not to disclose anything else about Papa Ginger. So at this time, he was talking about everything about Papa Ginger's family. When Yingsheng opened the bottle of good wine two hours ago, he was still a little bit reluctant, but at this moment, he felt that it was no longer worth it, because what he heard was so strange. Most of what he had heard had already been described, and what needed to be added was the first time the family had met Cali. At dusk more than ten years ago, at the fork of a mountain road, Cali met the red-headed father's family.They were at the fork in the road, as if they didn't know what to do, and at this time, it was almost dark. 卡利经过时，红头老爹叫住了他，要他把他们的一家，带到一个最偏僻，最深山，最不和外界接触的一个山村去，他们一家，要在那个山村中落户。 卡利的心地十分善良，也乐于助人，虽然红头老爹的要求奇特之极，他还是爽快地答应了下来。而出乎他意料之外，在他答应了之后，红头老爹给予他的报酬，丰富到令他咋舌，同时，红头老爹又取出了一尊怪异的石像来。 那尊石像并不是十分大，由于那时天色已黑了下来，卡利也看不清那是什么，看来像是一个身形十分臃肿的人。 红头老爹要卡利对那尊神像起誓，绝不能泄漏他们一家的行踪，不然就会有极可怕的灾祸。卡利崇奉拜物教，对各种各样的神像，倒是可以接受的，他就起了誓，带着他们的一家，走了七天，才到了那个小村。 英生在卡利的叙述之中，不断提出问题，详细询问红头老爹和他妻子的样子，问得最多的是他们的孩子的样子。他开始有了一点概念：红头老爹夫妇，要这样躲起来，并不是为了他们自己。而是为了那孩子。 那孩子，看来不像是他们的孩子，那又是什么来历呢？照叙述看来，红头老拳不断在对那孩子进行教育，那孩子虽然在一个偏僻的山村中长大，可是他所接受的教育，比在任何著名的学府之中更好。 而红头老爹本身，自然也极有资格，不然，也不能负起教育的责任。 英生曾考虑过，红头老爹可能是拐带了那孩子的，可是谁会干这样的傻事，拐了一个孩子，尽心尽意地去教育他，在荒僻的山村过了近二十年。 而且，那孩子还非得有过人的资质才行，不然，再逼他，他也学不会什么。 英生心中的疑惑，真是到了极点，一再拜托卡利见到红头老爹，一定要代他致意。 卡利并未负英生所托，在那次送书时，一进了红头老爹的屋子，他就转告了英生的话，谁知红头老爹一听之后，又惊又怒，大声斥责起卡利来。 这就是那次，琴亚在屋外听到的争执。 后来，红头老爹和卡利一起离开，也就是那一天，是琴亚生活中最大的转捩点──她示爱不成，羞愤交集，不得不离开了她的家乡。 也就在那一天，英生有事，离开了镇市，到了首都，在首都一个多月。在忙碌的研究工作中，他一直没有忘记在卡利口中听来的有关红头老爹一家的奇异的故事，也曾和几个与他一起进行研究工作的朋友提起过。 其中有一个，想像力比较丰富，道：“看来，那孩子──现在应该是青年人了，一定有一个十分隐秘的身世。会不会是欧洲哪一个国家的王子？” 英生讶然道：“为什么是欧洲国家的王子？” 那朋友道：“即使在你的复述中，这个青年也是一个典型的欧洲人，就算不是王子，一定也是一个地位极重要的人，所以才有人将他从小掳了来，加以精心的教育，等他长大了，好利用他。” 英生苦笑：“若是真有人在进行一个这样的计画，那付出的代价未免太大了。” 那朋友摊了摊手：“谁知道，世上什么样的怪事，都有人在做。你说，那个什么红头老爹，如果真是青年的父亲，哪有做父亲的这样对待儿子的？” 英生也觉得事情充满了神秘性，简直无法作出任何的假设。 不过有一点倒是可以肯定的，在红头老爹一家人的神秘行动中，一定蕴藏着什么巨大的秘密。 所以，当一个多月之后，他在首都的研究工作告了一个段落之后，他一刻也不停留，就再到那个镇市，去找卡利。 卡利进山区去了，英生等了好几天，才等到他回来，英生忙问：“我托你带口信，结果怎样？” 卡利苦笑了一下：“还说，我一提出来，红头老爹就大发脾气，就差没有出拳打我，接着，他又骂我，说我泄漏了他的行踪，不知道会给他惹来多大的麻烦，他本来从来也不离开山村的，忽然要和我一起下山，我也不知道他想干什么。” 英生听得傻了半天，他也没有想到，“红头老爹”的行踪，竟然如此之诡秘，连想要求和他见一下面，都会引起那么大的波折。 他问：“他离开山村干什么？” 卡利摇头：“我不知道，半途我就和他分手，他好像赶着去做什么。” 卡利只是说了红头老爹的事，并没有告诉英生，他在和红头老爹分手之后不久，就遇上了离开了山村的琴亚，自然也没有告诉英生，琴亚这时正在他的家里。 （如果卡利说了，以后的事情发展，多少有点不同，英生知道了琴亚来自那个山村，一定会叫黎亚带着他前去见红头老爹的。） （卡利是认为琴亚的事，和英生有兴趣的事一点关系也没有，所以连想都未曾想过要将之告诉英生。） 当时，英生叹了一口气，自言自语地道：“看来，要见到这位神秘人物，是没有希望的了。” 卡利自有他小商人的机警，闻言忙道：“我不知道，再也别问我有关红头老爹的事。” 英生想了一想：“什么样的条件也不行？” 卡利用力摇着头：“不行，谁知道他要我对着来起誓的那个是什么神，我日子过得很好，不想倒楣。” 英生自然地无可奈何，又送了卡利两瓶好酒。自此之后，他虽然时时将这件事放在心上，但由于研究工作已进入决定性的阶段，所以他也无法再追究下去。而且，只要卡利一直忠于他的誓言的话，英生想追究下去，也是没有法子的。 一晃又过了一年多，英生再到那镇市，遇上了卡利，卡利一见到他。就拉住了他，道：“先生，你知道不？自从我传了你的口信之后，红头老爹不是和我一起离开了山村吗？” 英生忙道：“是啊，你说过。发生了什么事？” 卡利忙道：“他到第二天才回山村，一到，一家人就收拾了一些东西离开了。” 英生“啊”地一声：“他，他到哪里去了？” 卡利摊着手：“不知道，这一年多来，我也在留意他们的行踪。可是一点消息也没有。” 英生听了之后。呆了半晌，心想。事情只有两个可能，一是卡利和红头老爹合起来说谎，目的是使他不要再追究下去，二是真的离开了，那就更加增加了这一家人的神秘性──单是为了有人想与之见一见面，就立即搬离住了将近二十年的山村，行藏的隐秘，居然到了这种程度。 不过，英生立时否定了自己设想中的第一项，因为卡利立时提到了琴亚的事，他说：“小山村一直到现在还在谈论，两天走了四个人，真是不多见的。” 英年讶异道：“红头老爹的一家，不是只有三个人吗？” 卡利摇了摇头：“还有一个，是名叫琴亚的少女，就在红头老爹离开的那天，她向红头老爹的儿子示爱──” 卡利当时虽然并不在场，但是他听人提起这件事好多次了，所以他绉声绘影地把事情的经过说了出来──只怕比当时实际上所发生的，还要“详尽”许多。 英生听得大感兴趣：“那少女现在哪里？” 卡利一听到问起了琴亚，大是骄傲，挺直了身子：“这女孩子真争气，现在在首都，到了大地方，一个人过得很好，当然，这是她在我家寄住了一段时间的结果，我把她当自己的女儿一样。” 他又把自己如何收留琴亚的经过，讲了一遍。 英生听了，心中一算，就知道上次自已见到卡利的时候，琴亚正在他家里，而他却什么也没有说。英生不禁暗暗顿足，想到那次若见了这个少女，就可以知道红头老爹隐居在哪一个山村中了。而如今，红头老爹当然是离开了那个山村，不知道搬到什么地方去了。 他们可能早已离开了马达加斯加岛，就算未曾离开，那么大的一个岛，有得是崇山峻岭的原始森林，要找三个人。也难过登天了。 他想了一想，道：“我很快要到首都去，怎么和她联络？请告诉我？” 卡利大是高兴：“有先生你这样的人，能方便照顾她一下的话，实在太好了……” 卡利接着，又啰啰唆怂说了一大串的话，无非是拜托英生照顾琴亚之意，又把琴亚工作的餐室和住所的地址电话，告诉了英生。 英生并不寄望在琴亚身上得知红头老爹一家人的下落。他只是想，山村中，一直在注意红头老爹一家人的只有琴亚，当然可以在她的口中，多了解一下这神秘的一家人的情形。 于是，在他又到了首都之后，他就到了那家餐室之中，很快地，他就在几个女侍之中，认出了琴亚来。 琴亚可以说是一个美丽的女郎，短而鬈的头发，大大的眼睛，显得她十分伶俐机灵，她显然已习惯了城市的生活，一点地看不出她来自一个几乎与世隔绝的山村。 英生和她打招呼的时候，她有点发怔，因为英生的外型举止，一望而知，是一个十分有社会地位的人，英生自我介绍：“我是卡利的朋友！” 琴亚立时“啊”地一声，卡利一定曾向她说起过有关英生的事，她的神情立时变得忧郁不欢：“你就是对红头老爹有兴趣的那位先生！” 英生道：“是，你要是愿意，我想多听听他们一家在山村中的情形！” 琴亚垂下了眼睑，声音黯然：“不，我不愿意，我不想再想起在山村中的一切！” 英生是早已料到这一点的，一个少女，大胆向一个青年示爱而被拒，那是终生的耻辱，没有什么人愿意再提起这种不愉快的事情来。所以，他也早已准备好了一番话。 他道：“琴亚，那次不愉快的事，其实是你自己不好，犯了错误！”那时，事情已经相隔两年了，可是一提起来，琴亚还是紧咬着口唇，双眼之中，泫然欲泪。她倔强地道：“没有错。我他用喜欢我的眼光，鼓励我那么做，可是他却……他却……” 英生叹了一声：“问题就在这里了，你想想，他根本未曾和你们在一起生活过，他怎知道你们村中的习俗？而且，他是知道你在对他讲话，而你对他讲的是什么，他也根本听不懂，你怎么能够预期他会有什么反应？” 琴亚一听，“啊”地一声叫了起来，惹得餐室中人人都向她望来，一个经理模样的人，想走向前来阻止，可是英生的气派令他不敢有什么干涉。 琴亚在叫了一下之后，也知道她自己的失态，忙道：“这就是说，他并不是不要我，而是根本不知道如何表达他自己的意思？” 英生微笑着：“本来就是。” 琴亚一脸喜悦的神色：“谢谢你，真的十分谢谢你，英生先生，现在我要工作，等我下了班，我们再详细谈──你要吃些什么？这里的烤山鸡十分美味。” 英生也十分愉快地道：“好，就来烤山鸡。” 琴亚用轻松的脚步，走了开去。英生对于自己三言两语，就能使一个少女的心情由忧郁而变得开朗，也感到十分高兴。 当天，他就和琴亚有了一次长谈，知道了一些红头老爹一家的生活。由于这一家人，刻意不和村民来往，所以琴亚所知实在也不多。 琴亚说：“现在，我当然知道他……是在看书，可是当时，他们所说的话，我一句也听不懂，在那最难堪的时候，他母亲就说了一句话，我也不知道是什么意思。” 她说着，就把她一直牢记在心的那句话，重复了一遍。她已在心中，不知把这句话重复过多少遍了。所以，这时说起来，一点困难也没有。 可是英生一听，却陡然怔了一怔，立时道：“请你再说一遍。” 琴亚立时又说了一遍，英生又请她说第三次，琴亚在照做了之后，问：“你懂这句话？这句话是什么意思？” 这时，英生心中的讶异。实在是到了极点，他心想，这简直是不可能的事，所以，他再次要求琴亚，把那句话重说一遍。 而这时，他内心的讶异，自然也反映到他的脸部来了，琴亚再追问：“她说了些什么？” 英生实在不知道怎么说才好，一面挥着手，一面道：“那句话，没有什么，不可思议的是她所使用的那种语言，如果我没有听错的话——” 他讲到这里，又向琴亚望了一眼，琴亚知道他想什么，再把那句话，重复了三次，每一次，她都听到英生深深的吸气声。 英生是一个地质学家，不是一个语言学家。虽然做为一个地质学家，他精通英语、法语、德语、日语和拉丁文，但是和一个语言学家的要求，还是相去很远。 自琴亚口中讲出来的那句话，英生本来是不应该听得懂的。但是他曾花了不少时间在澳洲腹地，研究当地山脉的地质情况，当他在澳洲大狄维亭山脉中进行地质考察之际，曾和聚居在这个山区的一种十分慓悍的土人，叫作刚刚族的，有过相当程度的接触，也学会了一些刚刚族人的语言。 这个土著民族又所以引起英生的兴趣，是由于土著有着相当丰富的神话传说，语言的变化也相当复杂之故。 At this time.自琴亚口中复述出来的却句话，却正是刚刚族人的语言。 这真是不可思议的事！ 除了刚刚族土人之外，根本没有人使用那种语言，而这就十分怪异了，难道红头老爹的妻子。是澳洲刚刚族的土人？ 就算是的话，一个澳洲腹地的土著，老远走到马达加斯加岛的山区来隐居，又是为了什么？ 当英生心中疑惑无比，想到这里时，他又陡然震了一震，更加可以肯定，那个女人，红头老爹的妻子，真可能是刚刚族人，因为琴亚一再描述过，她有一头极长极浓的头发，而那正是刚刚族人的特征之一。 刹那之间，英生想到的事情极多，他也想到，就算那孩子的父亲是白种人，只要他母亲是刚刚族人的话，他的外型也绝不可能再是典型的白种人，谁都知道在遗传上，有色人种的遗传是显性的，占压倒性的优势，所以白人和有色人种的混血儿，一定多于像有色人种。 那样说来，那女人，根本不是那孩子的母亲了？ 事情真是越想越复杂，也更加没有头绪了。 英生在发怔，琴亚等了一会，道：“她……究竟说了什么？” 英生“哦”地一声：“她用一种很少人用的语言，说的那句话是：孩子，他不能爱你的。”琴亚呆了半晌，才道：“为什么，他为什么不能爱我？为什么？” 英生苦笑了一下，摊了机手，他当然无法回答这个问题，这个问题可以假设的答案太多了，或者是那青年的身分特殊，不会爱上一个山村少女，或者是种种别的原因。 而英生略感奇怪的是，何以那女人不说“他不会爱你的”，而说“他不能爱你的”呢？两者之间，似乎没有什么大不同，但多少总有点差别。 琴亚的神倩也十分疑惑，她道：“至少，他绝不会讨厌我，在他的眼神中，我可以肯定，他……不能爱我，可是有什么特别的原因？” 英生安慰着她：“琴亚，我看以后，你们相见的机会，微乎其微，不如忘了这件事算了，你年轻、美丽，一定会有很好的青年爱你的。” 琴亚并没有说什么，只是幽幽地叹了一口气：“是啊，他现在不知道在什么地方了。”自那次之后，英生只要在首都，就会和琴亚联络，送点礼物给她。 英生虽然十分喜欢马达加斯加岛。但他毕竟无法在岛上永远住下去的。 当研究工作告一段落之后，他就回到了英国，在大学研究所工作，一面担任授课。 好了，现在，轮到我出场了。