Chapter 41 Chapter Forty

The next morning, I found Helen having breakfast in the dining room of the hotel. "I was very impressed with your aunt last night." I buttered another bagel. "I see it." "If you don't mind, tell me exactly how she came here from Romania to such a high position?" Helen took a sip of coffee, "I think it was destiny. She met a young man in Budapest. His name was John Oban, a reporter and a revolutionary. They fell in love and got married. Later, he was in Killed in a car accident, Eva raised their children and continued his political career. I think my uncle was a passionate person, I dare not say my aunt was the same, but she was very good at her career."

I listened intently, "Then how did you and your mother get here?" Helen sighed again. "My mother is twelve years younger than Eva," she said. "Among the children in this family, she has always been favored by Eva. When Eva went to Budapest, she was only five years old. Later, when my mother was nineteen years old and unmarried, she became pregnant. Afraid that her parents and the people in the village would know, she wrote to Eva, begging her for help. My aunt and uncle arranged for her to come to Budapest. My uncle went to the heavily guarded to pick her up and bring her to the city. My mother told me that she was deeply indebted to my uncle all her life, not only because he saved her from fire and water, but because he never made her feel that she was a foreigner. .”

"And you were born?" I asked quietly. "Then I was born. My aunt and uncle helped bring me up and put me in school. During World War II, Eva took us to the countryside and figured out how to get us food. My mother also studied culture and learned Hungarian." She glanced at me resentfully, "If it wasn't for my aunt and uncle, my mother might have died in a deep mountain forest and was eaten by wolves, actually it was the two of us." "I thank your aunt and uncle, too," I said. Helen said nothing.After a while, she took some papers out of her purse, "Shall we go over your speech again?"

For me, the morning sun and cool air fraught with menace.We were on our way to college and all I could think about was the moment of giving the speech. As we walked to the building where the reception was held last night, she stopped and said, "Do me a favor." "Of course, why are you busy?" "Don't tell Gazzo Joseph about our trip, or tell him we're looking for someone." "I didn't want to do that either," I said angrily. "I'm just warning you. He's going to be very charming." She held up her gloved hand conciliatoryly.

"Okay," I opened the baroque door for her, and we walked in. In the lecture hall on the second floor, many of the people I met last night were already seated in rows of chairs. "My God," Helen murmured, "People from the Anthropology Department are here too." Before long, she was drowning in greetings and conversations. At this moment, someone patted my arm, and the terrible Gezo was standing in front of me.He smiled warmly and shook my hand, "Is everything all right?" "Everything is to my liking," I said with equal enthusiasm. "Oh, I'm glad," he said, "you're going to be giving a speech this afternoon, aren't you?"

I coughed, "Yeah, exactly. What about you? Are you going to give a speech today?" "Oh, no, I won't," he said. "Actually, I've been working on a subject these days that I'm very interested in, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet." "What is your subject?" I couldn't help asking. But at this moment, Professor Sanduo, with white hair, special hairstyle, and tall figure, greeted the audience to be quiet on the podium. The speech will start immediately, and everyone is staring at Professor Sanduo. "Good morning (German)," he said in a low voice, "good morning, distinguished guest. Good morning (German), hello (French), welcome to the University of Budapest. We are proud to present you the first European… ...Historical Congress—”

To my horror, I will be the keynote speaker, the heart of the meeting, the focus of the entire agenda. The last speaker before lunch was a young academic from London, about my age, who spoke English, much to my relief.A Hungarian linguistics student reads a German translation of his speech.When Professor Sandow introduced the Englishman, he said that his name was Hugh James, and he taught Eastern European history. Professor James is a stocky, typical Englishman.He looked at the audience with bright eyes and a pleasant smile. "I never expected to be in Budapest," he said with a glance at us, "but to be in the greatest city in Central Europe, I am very happy." Rejoice. This is the gate that stands between East and West. Now, then, I will take a few minutes of your time to reflect on the legacy."

After the speech, there was thunderous applause. Professor Sandow invited us to a restaurant for dinner. In the crowd of scholars and food, I finally found Professor James about to sit at a table. "Can I sit with you?" He jumped up laughing, "Of course, of course. Hugh James. Hello!" I also introduced myself and we shook hands.We sat down facing each other and looked at each other in a friendly and curious way. "So you're the keynote speaker? I'm really looking forward to hearing your speech." "Thanks," I said, trying not to flinch, "I wonder if you know my - er - mentor, Bartholomew Rossi, who is also English."

"Ah, of course I do!" Hugh James shook his napkin excitedly. "I like what Professor Rossi wrote. You work with him? How lucky." "Yes," I said casually, "he has been writing an article entitled 'Ghosts in the Amphora', dealing with stage props in Greek tragedies." I paused, suddenly thinking that I might be giving away Rosie's professional secrets.Even if I didn't stop, though, Professor James' look would have kept my mouth shut. "What?" he said, looking very shocked.He put down his knife and fork, and stopped eating, "You mean "Ghost in the Amphora"?"

"Yes, why do you ask that?" "This is astonishing! I think I'll have to write to Professor Rossi right away. You see, I've been working on a very interesting document from fifteenth-century Hungary lately. That's the most important reason I've come to Budapest— You know, I've been exploring this part of Hungarian history. I've got permission from Professor Sandow to come here for a meeting. Anyway, this document was written by a scholar of King Matthias Corvinus, and it's about double A ghost in an ear jar." I remember Helen talking about King Matthias Corvinus last night.Wasn't he the one who built the great library in Buda Castle?Aunt Eva also introduced him to me.

"Please explain," I said eagerly. "Uh - that sounds a little silly, but I've been interested in Central European folk songs for a few years. I think it originated long ago with the imitation of larks. I'm obsessed with vampire lore, though." I glared at him. "Oh, I know it sounds childish, but you know, once you get into it a little bit, it's something special. Dracula was a real person, even though he wasn't a vampire. What interests me is, his history Does it have something to do with folk vampire legends? A few years ago, I started looking for relevant written materials to see if they existed, because vampires mainly exist in oral legends in the villages of Central and Eastern Europe." He leaned back and pointed his finger Knocking on the table, "Well, you see, I searched the school library here and found this document, which was apparently collected by Corvinus - he wanted to have all the earliest materials about vampires collected. Collect. Whichever scholar gets the job, he's got to be a classicist. He doesn't go from village to village like an anthropologist, but scours Latin and Greek—you know, Corvinus has a lot of material on this - find out something to do with vampires. He discovered the ancient Greek idea of ​​ghosts in amphora, which I haven't seen anywhere else - at least until you just mentioned it You know, in ancient Greece, in Greek tragedies, amphoras were sometimes used to hold human ashes. The unscientific Greek people believed that if something went wrong with the burial of the amphora, the vampire would come out— I don't know how I figured it out yet. If Professor Rossi was discussing ghosts in amphora, he might know something. A curious coincidence, huh? In fact, according to folklore, there are also What about vampires?" "I know," I said, "called vrykolakas." Now it was Hugh James' turn to stare at me.His protruding eyeballs were wide open. "How do you know?" he gasped. "I mean—excuse me—I'm just surprised I've come across a pair—" "People who are interested in vampires?" I said dryly. "Yes, I was once surprised, but I'm getting used to it these days. Professor James, how did you become interested in vampires?" "Hugh," he said slowly, "please call me Hugh. Well, I—" He stared at me for a moment, and for the first time I saw the fiery power beneath his jovial, clumsy exterior." It's a queer and terrible thing, and I seldom talk about it to people, but—" I couldn't bear to keep talking like this, "Maybe you found an ancient book with a dragon in the middle?" I said. He stared at me almost madly, his healthy face was bloodless, "Yes," he said, "I found a book." He gripped the edge of the table tightly with both hands, "Who are you ?” "I found one too." We sat there, looking at each other for a long time.If someone hadn't interrupted us, we would have sat without saying a word for a long time, delaying what we should have discussed. I didn't notice that Gezo Joseph appeared in front of us until I heard him speak.He came up from behind me and was leaning over our table with a friendly smile on his face.Helen also hurried to catch up, she looked strange - I think, a bit sorry. "Good afternoon," he said friendly, "found the book? What's the matter?"