Lu Hua reached out to turn the next page of the book. Kirton touched him with his elbow, "Hey, what are you doing?" ”

"Ah......" Lu Hua came to his senses, put his fingers into the frames of his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "This book is so attractively written, I was immersed in it unconsciously." ”

"Are you still addicted?" Kirton said, "You haven't forgotten the purpose of this book, have you? ”

"Of course I didn't." Lu Hua said, "But the protagonists in the story just now are clearly Henry II and Nostradamus, what do we really want to know about Mars?" Bart is only a supporting character in the whole affair - his role seems to be to foil the great prophet Nostradamus. ”

"But that's enough for us, isn't it?" Lancey said happily, "We learned about Mars through this story? Bart is nothing more than a villain who is good at flattery. He probably didn't have any real skills at all—if he couldn't even predict the fate of the king, how could he predict the fate of people hundreds of years from now? ”

"Back to the original question." Sean said to Lancey, "If Mars? If Barthes is really a liar with no real skills, how do you explain the fact that in his poetry collection he accurately predicted the great catastrophe that would occur in the next few hundred years? ”

"Well......" Lancey muttered, "I suppose maybe he's just guessed about the future, and he's just right?" ”

Kirton looked at her and said, "Lancy, now predict what will happen next weekend, and show me the 'Meng' one?" - Let's stop kidding ourselves, okay? ”

Lancy hung her head in frustration, her eyes glazed over.

"Alright, let's not guess." Lu Hua patted the other book in his hand—"Behind the Begging" by Madame Lapett—and said, "Isn't there another one here and Mars?" Bart about books? Maybe we can find something valuable in this book? ”

"yes, let's open it and take a look." Kirton said. Several people cheered up again and gathered around.

This "Behind the Begging" appears to be a collection of essays, and the whole book consists of more than a dozen separate chapters. Chapter 4 is titled "My Friend Mars?" Bart".

Here are some excerpts from this section:

(p.63) It is clear that not everyone who lives in the city of Paris can make a friend who lives in the Palais as much as I (note: Madame de la Pett herself), especially like Mars? Bart is such a person with a very high status in the royal family. He was not only a close confidant of the king, but also a scholar of great talent. He had a miraculous ability that made him an important position in the court as 'Royal Astrologer'. The king and his ministers would ask him for his opinion before making a major decision - enough to see Mars? Bart played a pivotal role in the palace. But no matter how envious or jealous others were, Mars's position in the court was still rock-solid and unshakable. The reason is that how many people can make predictions about the future just by looking at the sky and the stars, as he did? ”

(p. 66)...... My luck comes from Mars's love of literature, especially poetry. Perhaps because I am also a well-known name in Paris, the royal astrologer always likes to visit my home. My husband and I, as well as our young son, love this polite and always smiling guest. He had no scruples, and even allowed Voltara (Mrs. Lapet's youngest son) to sit on his lap, play with his goatee, and nickname him 'Uncle Goat'. My husband and I feared that Voltara's faux pas would make the great astrologer, who was all respected in the palace, angry, but Mars was amused to laugh - he was such an approachable person that he didn't feel the slightest inhibition or nervousness when dealing with him. What is even more commendable is that every time Mars comes, he will tell us some anecdotes and anecdotes about the palace, which obviously became the material for my future writing. Of course, he would also spend an entire afternoon sitting by the fireplace in my house reading the manuscript of my novel and offering his insights and feelings...... After many times, my relationship with the royal astrologer grew better and better, and we became friends who talked almost everything. ”

(p.68) That afternoon, Mars uttered something in my garden that shocked me, and I almost thought he was talking nonsense with a hot head, but his serious, slightly melancholy face made me feel that everything he said was serious. Maybe he really poured out his distress to me from the bottom of his heart? I can't make an accurate judgment, so I can only sort out the conversation I had with him in the afternoon at night-

Mars stared at an agave plant in a daze, and I thought he was thinking about something, so I didn't bother him. Unexpectedly, he suddenly said to me, "Lapet, you know what? In my heart, there is a secret that has been hidden for decades. I never told anyone but my deceased parents. Because, you know, you can't talk in the palace, and I can't find anyone I trust enough to trust you—until, I meet you—I feel that you are a man who listens to my troubles and keeps my secrets. Is that so? Lapet, you're someone I can trust, right? ”

I realized that no matter how I answered him, he would go on because his question sounded more like he was asking himself. In that case, why don't I let him relax and share some of his worries and sorrows? I said to him, "Mars, as your friend, it would be my honor and wish if I could help you share some of your troubles. Tell me anything you have to do, and I promise to keep it a secret for you. ”

Unexpectedly, my simple words made Mars look very moved, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He mustered up the courage to look at me and said something that surprised me:

"Lapet, I'...... In fact, there is no ability to look at the stars at all. Every time I pretend to look up at the stars and celestial phenomena in the sky mysteriously, I feel exactly like you ordinary people - those countless stars scattered in the sky are like soybeans scattered in a dustpan at random to me, messy, disorderly, without rules at all, and meaningless! Honestly, the most I can tell when I'm stargazing is that it won't rain the next day, oh – but I'm the chief astrologer of the royal family – isn't that a great irony? ”

No doubt, I was stunned. I'm not sure if my ears are wrong, but I'm sure it's good for Mars? What does it mean for Bart. I was dumbfounded and said, "Mars, what do you mean...... But you've made accurate predictions many times before. For example, didn't you predict the unrest in the south for the king last year? ”

Mars? Bart shook his head slowly and said, "No, you didn't understand what I meant. I mean, I'm just an astrologer with a name, and the reason is that I don't know anything about astrology. I don't even think that the stars in the sky have anything to do with the people and things on earth - but just because I'm not a qualified astrologer doesn't mean I don't have the ability to predict the future. ”

I really didn't understand what he meant. The truth is that I was even more confused (I thought astrology was the only way to predict the future before I heard him say the following), and I looked at him blankly.

Mars sighed and explained to me, "Ever since I was a kid, I've noticed something different about me. I always have weird dreams that will soon become reality. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but as time went on, I realized that this was a special ability that I was born with. Lapet, you know, I was born in the countryside of Vernon. In order to escape poverty, at the age of 25, I came to the Palais Royal in Paris alone and considered myself an astrologer. In order to convince the king that I had a knack for foreseeing the future, I told him some things I had seen in my dreams, and lied that they were the result of astrological predictions—of course, these things came true soon after, and I naturally gained the king's appreciation and trust—God forbid, I was just trying to make a living with this special ability, and I didn't expect to be so used by the king that he made me the chief astrologer of the Crown! Lapet, you understand what I'm worried about, right? What would happen if the king found out one day that I didn't know anything about astrology and had been deceiving him for so many years? ”

Mars? At this point, Bart was already pale and trembling. I stared at him and spent a full five minutes accepting and understanding what he had just said. I don't know if I'm wrong – to be honest, my brain is dull and dull. I said to him, "Mars, I don't understand, do you really know astrology – so what's the point?" As long as you can help the king predict what might happen in the next few decades—I don't think he cares what method you use. Isn't it the best proof that you have won his trust and reuse in the palace for so many years? In my opinion, it would be fine if you told him directly that your prophecy came from what he saw in his sleep—he might find it magical and interesting. ”

Mars seemed to be taken aback by my words, and he said with a pale face, "No, Lapet. You obviously don't realize the difference between astrology and dream prophecy. Astrology is a high-level and mystical form of prophecy that is recognized by people, and it represents a profession that is worshipped and revered. But what do you think when a man tells you that he can see in his dreams what is about to happen in the future—and almost all of them are disasters? ”

I was stunned for a moment, and I somewhat understood what he meant.

Mars's face was bloodless: "Yes, you thought of it too, right?" People will see this man as an ominous messenger, a heretic, and a devil! Even think of it as a wizard who can do some kind of evil spell - think that this person is the one who brought the disaster! Lapet, I don't want to be burned on a cross, or tied to a stone and sunk to the bottom of the water - you now understand why I have hidden this secret in my heart for so many years! Originally, I was going to take it to the grave completely, but I couldn't stand it after holding it in my heart for so many years! That's why I told you about it. ”

I don't know if he was excited or scared - he was shivering. I was so mixed with emotions that I couldn't describe it, so I stood there for several minutes without speaking. It wasn't until I remembered something I'd heard recently that I decided to enlighten him with this: "Mars, I've heard that a local doctor has recently come from Laon (the name of the French place), and it seems to be called ...... Nostradamus. This man can cure the plague in a wonderful way, and he can also predict the future of man and natural disasters. I don't know how he did it, but I'm sure he's not an astrologer either—Mars, a man who is very active in the city of Paris right now, and is not considered a heretic or a wizard, but is respected and admired by many people—so if you have the same abilities as him, you don't have to worry about what you just envisioned, do you? ”

"Unfortunately, I don't have the same abilities as him." Mars looked dejected and said, "Lapet, how could I not know that this man is so famous in the city of Paris now?" In fact, I not only knew him, but also met him. ”

"You've met Nostradamus? What do you talk about? ”

"Talked a lot. Through talking to him, I learned that he, like me, did not use astrology to predict the future—but he had a completely different way of predicting the future. I saw the future in my dreams, but Nostradamus didn't have to sleep at all, just meditated in a quiet place, and I could see the magical pictures of the future world that came to mind. He was a strange man. And in my conversation with him, I learned that some of his prophecies about the future were exactly the same as what I saw in my dreams! It can be seen that he and I are probably on par with each other. But sadly, there's a fundamental difference in our abilities—"

I looked at Mars eagerly, waiting for him to continue.

Mars sighed sadly: "Nostradamus foresaw all that would happen in the future, both good and bad; But I can only foresee a variety of different disasters. That is to say—"

He approached me, stared at me with sad eyes, and whispered, "I have almost never had a sweet dream, and every night of my life has been spent in the company of nightmares. ”

I gasped a few times in horror at what he said, and I covered my mouth with a shocked expression: "You ...... every night Will you have this kind of nightmare that heralds disaster? Will there be so many disasters in our future? ”

Mars reassured me by saying, "Don't worry, Lapet. The disasters I dream of don't necessarily happen today, some may happen in a few decades, and some even in a hundred or two years from now – that's not worth worrying about. I am even more worrisome in my present situation than this—Nostradamus can use his powers of foreknowledge to heal people, to ward off disasters, and to tell people interesting things about the future, which makes people revere him as an oracle; But as for me, as soon as I opened my mouth, it was all about some terrible catastrophe—and compared to him, had I not become a messenger of the devil? ”

I asked with concern, "Have you ever told anyone about these great tribulations you dreamed of?" ”

"Of course not. But I recorded them all and kept them in a secret place in my house. ”

I thought about it for a moment and came up with a question: "Mars, what if...... You can only predict future disasters, so what do you do when the king asks you about other things? ”

Mars? Bart let out a few dry wry smiles: "Lapet, after talking for so long, you finally understand my embarrassing situation!" —as you say—because of the king's great use and trust in me, he now asks me to make a prophecy in 'astrology' before making decisions on many important matters, in order to hear my opinion. Think about it, how hard it was for me! If he were to ask me something about war, or turmoil, or who was going to die, I would have told him accurately; But if he were to ask me questions like, 'Mars, help me figure out when my lovely cousin will get married and have children,' what do you think I should say? ”

"And how did you actually answer that?"

"Oh......" said Mars, shaking his head helplessly and bitterly, "what else can I answer?" Do you tell him the truth—'I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I have no way of knowing about such happy and beautiful things'? - I didn't just pretend to observe the starry sky, and at the same time think quickly in my head about how to deal with him, and in the end, I had to bite the bullet and count it as a crossover. ”

"But ......," I said, frowning, "what do you do if you don't make up what you say in the end?" ”

Mars sighed wearily and said, "Fortunately, so far I haven't had any major mistakes. Even when I made mistakes, I obscured the past by clever explanations—and, because I had made up for the mistakes I had made in the 'good predictions' because I had made up for the mistakes I had made with regard to the 'good predictions,' the king still had great trust in me. ”

I breathed a sigh of relief for him: "That's great, Mars - what do you have to worry about?" ”

Mars? Bart frowned, and said thoughtfully: "Lapet, you have not lived in the palace, and you do not know the cruelty and horror in it. Reputation, status, and power are all illusory and unreal, and there is a gap between honor and disgrace. It is not surprising that you may be high and admired today, and tomorrow you will become notorious, worthless, or even lose your life – all depending on the mood, likes and dislikes, and fickle character of the supreme power...... Nothing lasts forever, I know that. ”

I asked softly, "Are you scared...... Sooner or later, the king will find out that you don't know astrology at all, and blame you for the crime of deceit? ”

Mars hung his head silently and said in thought, "I'm not just worried about this...... In fact, I've seen some of the things that are coming in the future...... These things determined my tragic fate in the future......"

Mars? At this point, Barthes stopped, his whole being eclipsed, and his expression was pathetic to the onlookers, as if they were in a desperate situation. I couldn't bear to talk to him about it anymore, so I diverted the subject: "Mars, you just said that you foresaw in your sleep a few hundred years from now?" I'm curious to know – what will happen to us in the next few hundred years? ”