Titanic

Chapter 4

Umar Khayyam, the author of Rubaiyah, walked into Ruth's dream.The wise man 1000 years ago predicted the fate of the "Titanic" and the future of mankind, and reminded Ruth to enjoy life and enjoy herself in time.

The wonderful coincidence made Ruth's mood clear again, and the unhappiness with Jack was swept away.She sat down on the chair, imagining what the manuscript would look like after thousands of years of vicissitudes?How many tortuous stories are there behind it?Will there be any secrets in the book, or some kind of mysterious power hidden?Thoughts drifted to the distant Middle Ages, the time when a brave knight loyally guarded his noble-born dream girl.

Ruth's mind was full of fantasies, thinking wildly, looking at the "Rubai" ("Quatrain Collection") in her hand, with a holy look on her face.There was a sweet smile on the corner of her mouth, and an intoxicating picture appeared in her mind-the knight was singing under the high wall of the castle, and as the castle owner's daughter and noble lady, she was distracted.

Ruth turned the pages lightly, as if she were reading a Bible.This is a collection of poems by the Persian poet Omar Khayyam, a treasure of Persian poetry. Fitzgerald translated it into English with his expressive pen, which is very popular. It is said that there are many versions of this collection of poems Second only to the Bible.

Ruth has read this collection of poems many times, and she has memorized many poems in it backwards.Each poem consists of four lines, and the first, second, and third lines rhyme, similar to Chinese quatrains.The poet despises the preaching of traditional theology, satirizes the hypocrisy of monks, denies the afterlife, praises life, and advocates instant pleasure.Whenever she reads these brilliant and dreamlike poems, Ruth can't restrain the excitement in her heart, she wants to dance like a butterfly in the wind, fluttering away.Recite poems under the shade of green trees,

A basket of food and drink;

Only the king of the wilderness sings,
The vast and clear field is better than heaven.Ruth couldn't help reciting one of the poems, and the beautiful voice was like the sound of heaven.She didn't find that poem from her memory, but it flowed out naturally from the depths of her heart, like a sweet spring gushing out of her mouth, the taste was so sweet that Ruth was intoxicated again Among them, unable to extricate themselves.

Sitting on the deck like this, from the bright sun to the setting sun, the sunset dyed the sky and the sea red, facing the warm afterglow, wearing golden light, Ruth felt that her soul had been baptized again and soared to the heaven .Instead of going to a restaurant for dinner, she indulged in the heavenly beauty and inner wonder.

At 7 o'clock that night, the "Titanic" docked in the port of Cherbourg, France.Ruth leaned on the side of the ship and watched another batch of passengers board.A man in a well-fitting suit helped a lady who looked very weak, and boarded the "Titanic" from the ferry boat.White Star Company boss Bruce Ismay, captain Edward?John?Smith and Chief Designer Thomas Andrews all came to the deck to greet them.

Ruth was a little curious as to who the hell was this man, who actually asked the high-level management on the ship to mobilize people to greet him.She approached Thomas quietly, "Mr. Andrews, this is a very important guest. Look, so many people have come to greet him."

Seeing that it was Ruth, Andrews smiled and whispered to her: "Yes, he is the richest person on this ship now. John? Jacob? Asder, his property is 1 million US dollars, enough to build There are 10 'Titanics'!" 100 years ago, 1 million US dollars was an astronomical figure beyond the imagination of ordinary people, and Ruth's first reaction was "how to spend so much money".

Andrews pointed to the old man in uniform with a white beard standing in front of him, and told Ruth: "This is Captain John Edward Smith. He is an experienced old captain. The maiden voyage of the new ship is all He is at the helm. He will retire after this voyage."

Captain Smith heard their whispers, turned his face, and smiled at Ruth. He looked like an amiable old man, not a legendary figure who conquered the sea at all.

Behind the Asder couple, followed a fat woman, who yelled like no one else was there, "It's so spectacular! It's like a castle floating on the sea! It's so beautiful, Sansheng is lucky to be on this big ship."

Ruth knew that she was a nouveau riche from the way she was full of jewels. Her body smelled of copper and her head was empty.Ruth despised such people, and looked away from her in disgust.

Andrews knew Ruth's mind well, and told her: "This is Mrs. Margaret Brown. She is a new rich man. Her husband found a gold mine in the New World, and now he is very fat."

Ruth glanced at the bloated Mrs. Brown, and said in a low voice, "That's true. I'm worried that the boat will be too heavy for her to move."

Andrews couldn't help laughing, "You can really be sarcastic. Don't be prejudiced against rich people. The principle of being rich and unkind doesn't apply generally. If you get to know them well, you may find that some of them Not bad! Correspondingly, the poor may not all be good people. Sometimes you will find that they are more vicious than those rich people who are mercenary!"

"Don't you think your statement is a bit snobby? This is not something a gentleman should say." Ruth retorted dissatisfiedly.

"Maybe! I'm just saying what's in my heart, and I don't mean anything else." Andrews shrugged, stopped talking, and concentrated on waiting for the distinguished guests on board. ﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡ After eating something hastily, Ruth returned to her cabin, greeted the people in the same cabin, then fell down on the bed, fell into a dream, and slept very soundly.During the day, her spirit was always in a state of excitement, and she had consumed too much energy, and now she finally couldn't hold on.

In her sleep, Ruth felt a soft light enveloped herself in it. She slowly opened her eyes and found an old man in a long robe and a turban standing in front of her, with a long beard covering her body and a peaceful expression.Ruth sat up from the bed, and the old man said kindly, "Son, don't panic, I mean no harm."

Ruth: "Who are you?"

The old man: "You are my loyal reader, and I am the master of the Rubaiyat - Omar Khayyam."

Ruth: "My God! Why are you here, out on the ocean, on this ship? You're probably a thousand years old?"

Umar: "Yeah, it's almost a thousand years old, life is really long, I've seen too much in this world! Throughout the ages, vicissitudes have changed..."

Ruth couldn't wait for the answer, "You haven't answered my question yet?"

Although the heartfelt emotion was interrupted impolitely by the young man in front of him, the wise man did not take it as disobedience and was still amiable. "You should know that my original manuscript is on this ship, and that is where my soul rests. Wherever it is taken, I will go."

Ruth: "Is that so, you have been living in your poetry collection for so long?"

Umar: "Yes. After my body dies, it has been lodged in the manuscript, so please keep my manuscript, otherwise, my soul will wander around and become a lonely ghost gone."

Ruth: "If I had access to your poetry, I would protect it with my life. You are a great poet with extraordinary wisdom. Your poetry is the 'highest example of ancient Persian poetry' ..."

Umar laughed, "Haha, this laurel crown was given to me in your era, and it is brand new. I really cannot accept this honor with peace of mind. In my era, there were many outstanding poets, and I Not the best of them all. But, luckily for me, I owe it all to your wonderful translator, Fitzgerald, whose beautiful translation made my poems widely circulated, so, I Half of the glory received should be his."

Ruth: "As far as I know, Fitzgerald's translation is not entirely faithful to your original text, and is largely his own creation. He falsifies your work and puts your name on it. You Are you not angry?"

Umar: "No, no, no! The translator is the second author, and he has the right to enrich the original work with his own understanding and make it perfect. I am very grateful to Fitzgerald Love, absolutely no dissatisfaction."

Ruth: "Reading your poems, I think you must be very lucky to live without worries and drink and have fun all the time. I think people like your poems precisely because everyone expects to live like this, without worries, drinking and singing !"

Umar's expression was a bit complicated, "Maybe, maybe not. Indeed, there have been people who have given me selfless support, so that I don't have to worry about life, and I can concentrate on scientific research and literary creation. But if my life is perfect , carefree, and inaccurate. Everyone has their own troubles, even if he is the lucky one in your eyes. I also have a lot of things that don't go my way, and I have to drink to get rid of my worries."

"Enthusiastically in love with the wine in the glass, and in love with the sound of silk and bamboo", Ruth read out two lines of poems in "Rubaiji".

"My child..." Umar paused, and said with a heavy tone: "Life is short, and the poems I wrote are just to remind people to cherish the precious time, enjoy life, and enjoy themselves when I see it. Whenever I see people Seeking troubles for myself, obsessed with money, power, and fame, unable to extricate myself, and fighting endlessly, I am very sad. They don't understand the true meaning of my poems, they just hang on to those poems.

"Child, remember my words, enjoy this only life, otherwise when your body dies and your soul wanders, you will regret it. I want to remind you that this world is unpredictable, and everything in front of you is fleeting. It's fleeting, don't think you can have it for a long time, control it as you like. You wake up, and you can lose it all. Remember my words, it's all coming to an end, and on your final journey, make yourself happy , to leave the brightest memory for the boundless and dark future."

Ruth panicked. "What do you mean by the end? Is something bad going to happen?"

Umar: "Forgive me for not being able to say clearly. You are both lucky and unlucky. You are living in a golden age, enjoying unprecedented prosperity and peace. Human beings have become stronger than ever, confident that they can conquer the world and control their own destiny But in the face of nature, human beings are always weak, and human beings are very limited in ability and cannot compete with the mysterious nature at all. Therefore, as the lucky ones, you are also facing the greatest misfortune, and the end of your life journey is also It will be the end of this era. I have seen the future, the whole world will be plunged into the abyss of war and misery, and the power at the disposal of human beings will be used to kill each other and destroy itself."

Ruth looked at the poet and the prophet in amazement, "Sir, you scare me!"

Umar said apologetically, "I am sorry to tell you all this, but I am telling the truth. I can only wish you luck and hope you survive the catastrophe. You are so lovely and someone will take care of you , Fate is impermanent, and the ending is often beyond our expectations." After saying that, the old man turned around and walked into the shadows.

Ruth called out anxiously, but couldn't make a sound. She woke up from her dream, and her pajamas were soaked in cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)