Chapter 3 third chapter

Baslim had long been teaching Soapy in Sargon and Interlingua, supplemented by slaps and other incentives, because Soapy had little interest in cultural knowledge.But the fact that Ziggy taught him the art of burglary and Soapy was growing up made Baslim realize that time waits for no one, especially young children, and changes at any time. Soapy couldn't tell when he realized that Pop wasn't just (or not quite) a simple beggar.Ordinarily, Dad used so many incredible means to teach him: tape recorders, projectors, sleep guidance machines, these should have made him understand.But by that time, it didn't surprise him anymore what Dad did and said—it seemed that Dad not only knew everything, but could do everything well.Soapy knew enough beggars to tell the difference between Pop and them, but he didn't care, Pop was Pop as the sun was the sun and the rain was the rain.

When they were away, Pop and Soapy never talked about things at home, not even where their own home was, so they never had any visitors.Soapy had many friends outside, and Baslim had even more friends, dozens or even hundreds, so he knew everything about the city.Nobody but Soapy had ever been to Baslim's hiding place.But Soapy knew in his heart that Dad also participated in some activities that had nothing to do with begging.One night they went to bed as usual, but when Soapy awoke at dawn the next morning, he heard a noise, and he called "Daddy" dimly. "Hey, you can sleep a little longer."

But the child couldn't fall asleep, so he got up to turn on the light.Soapy knew that Baslim was missing a leg and it was difficult to walk in the dark, and if he wanted a glass of water or something he could help him. "Are you all right, Father?" asked the boy, turning around after the light was turned on. Under the light, Soapy was taken aback and gasped: the man standing in front of him was a strange gentleman! "It's all right, Soapy," said the stranger in his father's voice, "don't worry, boy." "You are daddy?" "Yes, son. I'm sorry I scared you. I should have changed my clothes before I got back, but I was too late." He began to take off his beautiful clothes.

When Baslim took off his party headgear, he looked a lot more like Papa... except for one thing. "Father... your eyes." "Oh, yes. It's as easy to take out as it is to put in. Maybe I'll look better with the other eye?" "I don't know." Soapy looked at him suspiciously. "I don't think I like it." "Is that what you think? Well, but you don't see me like this very often. Now that you're awake, come and do me a favor." In fact, Thorby couldn't help him much, because everything Papa did was new to him.Baslim started with a cupboard, which he had dug grooves in—the one that seemed to have a special door at the back.Then he carefully removed the false eye, split it in half through the special door, and removed a small cylinder with tweezers.

Soapy watched him take the eye off, but he couldn't understand anything except that old man was doing it very carefully and carefully.Finally, Baslim spoke: "Everything is done, now let's see if we can get a picture." Baslim inserted the roll of film into the microdisplay, checked it carefully, and said with a smile: "Ready to go. I won't have breakfast, you can take a piece of bread with you." "what?" "Let's go, it's too late." Soapy put on fancy dress, put on a loincloth, and blackened his face.Baslim stood waiting, holding a photograph and a small dark cylinder the size of a half-cent.When Soapy finished dressing, Baslim gave him the photo. "Look at this photo first, and remember it."

"why?" Baslim took the photo back and said, "Please remember that person's appearance!" "Well...let me read it again." "You've got to keep him in your head. You'll have to look at it this time." Soapy looked it over carefully again, and said, "Well, I'll keep that in mind." "The man in the photo will be sitting in a bar near the spaceport. You can go to Aunt Saumy's first, then to Supernova and the Masked Virgin. If you haven't If you find him, then go to the bars on both sides of Happy Street until you find him. But within three hours, you must find him.”

"I'll find him, Father." "When you find him, you put this thing in a bowl with some coins. Then you talk to him a little more, but you must say that you are the son of Baslim the Lame." "Remember it all, Dad." "Let's go." Soapy immediately walked towards the spaceport.It was the morning of the second day after the Ninth Moon Festival, and the road was very quiet, so he didn't have to pretend to beg for food on the road, and he could walk there directly.He crossed the basketball court, climbed over the fence, walked to the street, and took cover when he saw the patrolman who hadn't slept all night coming.However, although he got there soon, unfortunately, he was unlucky and never saw the person he was looking for.He wasn't in the cheap taverns that Baslim had talked about, nor in the bars that lined Pleasure Street.The time was running out, and Soapy was worried about not being able to find anyone, when he suddenly found that the person in the photo was coming out of a bar he had just been to.

So Soapy walked across the street and followed him in two steps at a time.There was another person beside that person—that person didn't look like a kind person.But Soapy spoke anyway: "Please, gentlemen! Have pity on me!" The fierce-looking man tossed him a coin, which Soapy picked up between his teeth. "God bless you, sir!" and turning to the other, he said, "Be kind, sir. Give the poor man some money. I'm the son of Baslim the lame—" The first person who threw money at him kicked him: "Go away." Seeing that it was not good, Soapy immediately took a few steps away, and continued to say: "I am the son of Baslim the lame. Poor old Baslim needs easy-to-digest food and medicine, so I have to do it alone." come out..."

The man in the photo is reaching for his wallet. "Don't give it to him," advised his fierce-looking companion, "They're all liars, and I've already paid them, so don't make him bother us." " "Today we're lucky," the man replied, "Let me see..." He reached into his wallet, glanced at the bowl, and put some money into it, and at the same time, the dark The little cylinder was gone too. "Thank you, sir, and may your children be dutiful and successful." Soapy left without looking. He begged along Happy Street, and begged a lot of money along the way.He forgot to go home when he reached Liberty Square and stopped there.Suddenly, he was surprised to find that Dad was standing facing the auction table in the spaceport, where he especially liked to beg for food.Soapy slipped up to him at once, and said, "It's over."

The old man muttered something, as if he was not very happy. "Father, why don't you go home? You must be very tired. I've got some coins." "Shut up. Do me a favor, madam! Pity the poor cripple." After three hours in this way, a spaceship took off with a whoosh.It slowly left the ground and flew away at a subsonic speed, and the old man breathed a sigh of relief. "What kind of ship is that?" Soapy asked, "It doesn't seem to be Xin Tang's ship." "It's the 'Gypsy Girl Free Trade Ship', bound for the fringe planets... your friend is on board. You go home now and have some breakfast. No, let's go get some breakfast and eat as soon as possible. "

After that Baslim never hid his special professional activities from Soapy, though he never explained why he did them or how he did them.Whenever Liberty Square turns into a place where there are mixed religions and street performers, one of them will go out to beg for food, because Baslim seems to be particularly interested in the spaceships that come and go, especially slave ships, and Auctions will be held after it arrives at the port. Since the improvement of cultural knowledge, Thorby has become more useful to Dad.The old man seemed to think that everyone should have an impeccable memory.He stubbornly instilled this concept in the child, ignoring Soapy's complaints. "Why, Dad, how can you expect me to remember these things? You won't let me take a good look at them!" "I played that page for at least three seconds, why didn't you read it?" "Oh, it's too late to finish." "I can finish it, so you can too. Soapy, you've seen jugglers in the square, have you ever seen old Mickey do it? Standing upside down with nine daggers in his hand and a lace on his foot Four hula hoops flying around." "Well, I've seen it." "can you play?" "Won't." "Can you learn it?" "Well... I don't know." "As long as you practice a lot and beat a lot, anyone can learn to juggle." The old man picked up a spoon, a tracing needle and a knife, and threw them upwards. These three things were always in front of him like a fountain. Flying back and forth up and down.After a while, he didn't catch one of them, stopped and said, "I used to practice a little bit, just for fun. As long as you put your heart into it...anyone can learn it." "Will you teach me how to juggle, father?" "I can teach you any time, if you will learn it well. Now you will learn how to use your eyes. Thorby, this juggling of attention was developed by a man named Dr. Renshaw on Earth long ago. Smart people did it." "Well... maybe, I think I've heard people say that too." "Um...you mean you don't believe it happened?" "Well, I don't know . . . but they talk so much about frozen water falling from the sky, barbarian cannibals ten feet tall, buildings taller than the Executive Committee building, nothing but dolls Big dwarf. It's unbelievable, all this. Come on, I'm no fool, Dad." Baslim sighed.He didn't know how many times he had sighed since adopting this child. "Those rumors have confused you. Someday—when you learn to read—I'm going to show you books you can trust." "But I can read now." "You can only read a few words, and it's not far away. Soapy, there really is such a thing as the earth in the universe, and it is indeed very wonderful-an almost incredible planet, where there are many intelligent people. ...of course, there are legions of fools and villains at the same time. Some wise men have come to us. Dr. Renshaw is such a wise man. He proved that most people spend their lives half-conscious. Not only that, He also explained how one can live wakingly by seeing with eyes, hearing with ears, tasting with tongue, and thinking with heart, all while fully remembering what one sees, hears, tastes and What I can think of." The old man showed his artificial leg and continued, "It doesn't make me mentally crippled. I can see more with one eye than you can with two. Much. I'm nearly deaf...but I'm no more deaf than you are because I'm listening and remembering. Which one of us is lame? It's not me, it's you. But You won't be crippled, boy, because if I were to smash your stupid brains out, I'd develop your wits." As Soapy gradually learned how to use his brain, he found that he liked to use his brain more and more, and his appetite for words grew bigger and bigger.He studied every night until Baslim forced him to turn off the monitor and go to bed.At first, Soapy wondered what the old man was doing in forcing him to learn things, languages ​​he had never heard of, for example.But now that he has learned to use his brain, those languages ​​are not very difficult to learn.Later, Soapy discovered that the old man had many films and CDs, all of which were written in those "useless" languages.Now, he understood that those languages ​​were worth learning.Later, he also took a liking to history and galactic texts, because in this physical space measured in light-years, his personal world was as narrow as a slave agent's small pen.So Thorby continued to expand his world of knowledge with the excitement of a baby discovering his fist. But Soapy really didn't understand the use of mathematics. It seemed that mathematics was completely useless except for the simplest point of money.But after a period of time, he felt that mathematics may not be fully applied to real life. It is a game, a bit like chess, but much more interesting than chess. Seeing Soapy study so hard, sometimes, even the old man himself doesn't know what is the use of doing so.It was clear to Dad now that the boy was much smarter than he had imagined.However, is it too much for him to ask the child to study so hard?Is he just teaching children not to be content with their fate?What chance would a beggar slave living in Jubul have? 0 to the nth power is still O. "Soby." "Hey, Dad, wait a minute, I haven't finished this chapter yet." "See you later. I want to talk to you." "Yes, my lord, well, my master, in a moment, sir." "Don't speak glibly." "I'm sorry, Dad. What's the matter with you?" "Son, what are you going to do after I die?" Upon hearing this, Soapy froze. "Are you unwell, father?" "I'm in good health. As it stands, I've got a few more years to live. But then again, I might not wake up tomorrow. You never know how old I am. If I don't , what are you going to do? Will you still beg for food in Liberty Square?" Soapy didn't answer.Baslim continued: "You can't beg for food anymore, we all know that. You're so old you can't make up a reason to beg for food anymore. People won't give you money like you did when you were a kid. " Soapy still didn't react, just said: "I don't want to be your burden, old man." "Am I complaining about you?" "No." Soapy hesitated for a moment, "I've also thought about it secretly. Dad, you can also ask me to work in the factory." The old man was very unhappy. "You're at it again! That's not what I mean, boy. I'm going to send you away." "Father! You promised you wouldn't drive me away." "I promised nothing." "But I don't want to break up our relationship, father. If you set me free--even if you did, I wouldn't leave you!" "I really don't mean that." Soapy was silent for a long time, then said: "You want to sell me again, father?" "Not quite. Oh . . . both." There was no expression on Soapy's face. Finally, he said calmly: "Anyway, it doesn't mean this, it means that. Anyway, I know what you're thinking... I don't think I should insist on my will anymore, because this It's your right, and, of all my masters, you are... the best." "I am not your master at all!" "That's what the contract says, you can also check the number on my lap." "Stop talking! Don't talk like that again." "When a slave speaks, it's better not to forget his identity, otherwise he should keep his mouth shut." "Then for God's sake, shut your mouth! Listen, boy, let me explain to you. I have nothing left for you here, and you and I know that. If I don't set you free slavery, you are always a slave of Sargon." "They're going to catch me again!" "They will. But on the other hand, even if slavery is lifted, it will not solve any problems. For example, what social groups and institutions will accept a freed slave today? Yes, it seems that the only way to continue begging Yes, but when you grow up, if you want to continue to beg for food, you have to pick out your eyeballs. Therefore, you also know that the vast majority of freedmen who have been liberated still have no choice but to return to their original owners. The freedmen didn't leave much room for the freed slave, they hated the freed slave and didn't want to work with him." "Don't worry, Pop. I'll live." "I'm really worried. Now you listen to me, I'm going to get ready to sell you to a guy I know who'll ship you somewhere else. That is, you're not going on a slave ship, Instead, take a normal ship, but instead of taking you to the place on the bill of lading, you'll go to a..." "I will not go!" "Don't interrupt me, you will land on a planet without slavery, but I can't tell you which planet it is, because I can't confirm the flight schedule of the spaceship, and I don't know the name of the ship. Detail The situation will not be known until later. But it is certain that as long as it is a free society, I believe you can survive." At this point, Baslim stopped and thought carefully as usual.He thought, should the child be sent to the planet where he was born?No, not only is this plan difficult to arrange, but it's not a place for free immigrants.It's better to send the child to a remote planet. There are just a few such planets within the range of the nine-star trade.On the other hand, he very much hopes to know the planet where the child is from, and maybe there are his relatives there, so that they will help him.But unfortunately, it is very difficult to find out the origin of the child! After thinking for a long time, Baslim continued: "This is the best way I can implement. At that time, you must pretend to be an unsold one, waiting to be reshipped and shipped away." slaves. But, in the weeks waiting for this opportunity . . . " "I will not go!" "Don't be a fool, kid." "Maybe it's stupid, but I'm not going, I'm going to stay here." "What do you want to do? Boy, I didn't mean to say it. You can't stop me." "how?" "Just like you said, I have a contract, and it says in the contract, you have to listen to me." "Hey." "Go to bed and sleep, child." Baslim hadn't slept.About two hours after the lights were put out, he heard Soapy rise quietly.In the silence of the night, the father could hear the child's every movement.Then Pop heard Soapy get dressed (it was just a loincloth wrapped around him), go into the next room, rummage in the pantry, drink a good deal of wine, and go away.He didn't take the bowl because he hadn't been to the rack. After Soapy left, Baslim turned over, trying to forget what had just happened and go to sleep at once.However, the pain in his heart has been tormenting him, making him unable to sleep.But it never occurred to him that he should show the majesty of the master and order the child to stay.He himself is a very self-respecting person, and he will naturally respect other people's choices. Baslim, feeling relieved for the first time since Soapy's departure, fell asleep at last.Soapy was gone for four days.That night, Baslim heard Thorby coming back, but still didn't initiate a word with him.The next morning, Dad woke up at his usual time and said, "Good morning, son." "Well, good morning, father." After getting up, the old man said: "Let's have breakfast, I still have some things to do." They sat down and ate hot polenta.As usual, Baslim's appetite was poor.Soapy ate slowly, and at last said abruptly, "Father, when are you going to sell me?" "I won't sell you." "what?" "The day you went away, I went to the Archives and canceled you as a slave. You're a freeman now, Soapy." Soapy was dumbfounded, and then looked down at the bowl of polenta, first scooping it up into little mounds, then straightening it out again.After a while, he said, "It would be fine if you didn't go through the formalities." "I don't want you to be charged as a 'runaway slave' if they catch you later." "Oh." Soapy realized. "That would be 'flashing and branding,' wouldn't it? Thank you, father. I reckon I did something stupid." "Perhaps. But I'm not thinking of 'lashing and branding'. A lash goes by quickly, and so does the branding. I'm thinking you might break the law a second time. As a fugitive slave, what do you do? Breaking the law. I'd rather have my head chopped off than be caught breaking the law with my brand." At this, Soapy pushed the polenta aside, and asked eagerly, "You mean a lobotomy, Dad? What would happen if you had that?" "Well... let's just say that after this operation, the days of drudgery in the radiation mines were easier to bear. But now we don't talk about it, and we don't talk about these things at dinner. By the way, I remembered One thing, if you finish eating, bring a bowl, don't dawdle and waste time, there is still an auction this morning!" "You mean I can stay?" "This is your home, don't you understand?" From then on Baslim never spoke of asking Soapy to leave him.In their day-to-day life, it made no difference, and it didn't matter, whether they were released from slavery or not.Thorby actually went to the Royal Archives once, paid the money, and gave a small gift as usual. Then, the slave number on his leg was stabbed with a line down the middle, and the Sargon seal was stabbed on the side , and the numbers and pages of the docket declaring him a freedman of Sargon, show him to be a man free from any hindrance in paying taxes, serving, or starving.The staff member who tattooed him looked at the number on Soapy's leg and said, "That doesn't seem to be your date of birth, boy. Is your father bankrupt? Or did your family just sell it to kick you out of the house?" Are you done?" "What does it matter to you?" "Don't talk to me, boy, or this needle will hurt you even more. Answer me now. I know, this is an agency number, not a private owner's number. Judging from the writing and fading Look, you've probably been resold five or six times. When and where were these words tattooed?" "I don't know, I really don't remember." "Really? That's what I replied when my wife inquired about my privacy. Don't move, the stabbing is almost over. Well... Congratulations, welcome back to the ranks of free people. I have lived a free life for so many years, I am entitled to give you a prophecy: You will feel freer later, but not always more comfortable than before."