Chapter 54 53

【scholar】 It took me three hitch rides to get from Akureyri to the Eastfjords.I hitchhiked along the shore of a crater lake, columns of lava rising from the black water; I waited for an hour in a foggy black gravel desert with only yellow mileage signs on the gravel road. The previous one who gave me a lift was a young man with long hair who said he worked as a waiter in a restaurant.There was a little girl in a child seat in the back seat.The road winds through hills covered with green moss and brown turf.We also had to stop twice because the little girl got motion sickness because the road was so winding.Finally, the road descends into a valley, and the circular road joins a smaller road that leads east.

I'm going south.The driver said: But you have to go in the direction of the sea.There is a small hotel further down the road.i can drive you there Just go here.It is easier to hitch a ride at the intersection. The driver looked at me with a concerned expression. Remember, he said: the hotel is just around that bend. I waited on the shoulder of the road going east, kicking rocks to pass the time.The rain started to fall again, and it didn't take long for it to blow sideways into my hood.I paced the shoulders to keep warm, and walked in circles on the asphalt twenty yards wide.I've got all my clothes on and layered them with great proficiency.Three T-shirts, two shirts, a coat; two light trousers; two pairs of ordinary socks, plus a pair of thick woolen socks; military overcoat, a scarf, and a fur hat.

Raindrops turned into hail.I turned my back to the wind, and the hail beat rhythmically against my coat like a series of shotgun shots.I look at my watch.Eighty minutes had passed and there was still no car.The tempo of the hail hastened.Except for the long and thin asphalt road in front of me, there is no trace of civilization around. Tomorrow I will lose those possessions.I try not to think about it, but it's hard to do.I kicked a black stone off the road and wondered if I had lost everything long before I left California, if I should have known I would end up trembling on this highway anyway.Perhaps Ashley never had a chance to succeed, either with Yin Mozhen or with that mountain.Perhaps no matter what he does, the ending will be the same, that is, he will be left alone in the white world of the highest mountain in the world.A person's luck is limited, as long as it runs out, it will be over.People have known this before, and after all these centuries, our situation is still the same.

I turned and faced the road.A silver sedan was idling before my eyes.The driver lowers the power windows.He wore thin-rimmed glasses and looked to be in his late forties.He spoke softly in Icelandic at first, then switched to English. what are you doing there? I got in the car.The car accelerated, and the driver was busy adjusting the controls on the dashboard. Is it warm enough? Enough, thank you. The ice melted off my shoulders, forming damp circles on the coat.The driver shook his head. What a great time to hitchhike.I thought you might be a ghost standing there.are you from germany

Only the coat is.I am from California. Sunny California.He murmured: Why did you leave? I probably shouldn't have left. If only I would stay. The driver turned the vent toward me. This year's hail came too early.He said: You are out of luck. I know. The driver told me he was a librarian at a university in Akureyri.He grew up in the Eastfjords and was driving to his parents' house, just north of Seydisfjordur.We talked about books, so I told the librarian I was reading The Legend of Niall.He seemed pleased to hear that, so I told him some of the things I was investigating as well.

Isleville.He repeated my words.Never heard of it.But I don't really know anything about jewelry The librarian looked at me. There is one thing I don't understand.Why is that English woman here? That's the problem.There is no motive. The librarian grinned.There must be at least one reason for coming to this country. what is it It's so far away from everything. The librarian shifted into low gear and the small engine rattled as we climbed a steep mountain pass.He said the hills were inhabited centuries ago, but the few remains of most settlements are little more than a few stones among the haystacks.We discussed the countless stories of humanity lost and recorded, and we talked about the one I was chasing.Librarians believe that if one story survives, a thousand others will disappear from human memory as completely as the dead.

Imagine if the English lovers you speak of hadn't written letters.He said: Who would have known they ever existed? We drove over high mountains, past dark green ridges dappled with snow.The librarian said that when he was a child, an old woman got lost after chasing stray sheep into these mountains.He said it was autumn and a thick fog obscured all visible landmarks.The old lady can walk very well.At dusk, he wandered deep into the mountains, slipped on a rock, and broke a leg.She could not walk, and the nights were long and dark with freezing rain. Did she survive? The librarian nodded.

She is wearing traditional clothes.thick wool.It keeps warm even when it gets wet. He said it took the searchers two days to find the old woman, and when they found her, she didn't mention the lost animal, but that she had had special dreams about a secret hidden among the hills and ridges.As if she was attracted by something, like Nykur's legend, a water horse that tempts one to ride on, and then rushes into the eddies of the lake to drown. The old lady, I said: She lived here when you were a child? The librarian shrugged.I was in junior high school at the time.1977 or 1978.Not sure if you're thinking about it, but she's not British.She's Swedish and came here before the war

Can you turn down the heat? The librarian turns the temperature control knob from red to blue.I asked the old lady when she died and he said he wasn't sure because she sold the farm and moved away not long after that.The librarian emphasized that she was Swedish and spoke Icelandic with a Swedish accent.He said her husband had passed away a long time ago and she was living with a caregiver from the same country. can i open the window certainly. I lowered the window half way and felt the cold wind blowing on my face.We climbed the pass, and then I could see the ocean in the distance, and the water in the fjord was black and bright between the narrow strips.We rounded the bend, and then the sea disappeared again.

The librarian looked at me. Are you motion sick?Do you want me to stop? I'm fine.I just need some fresh air.Listen, have you ever met this old lady? I've seen it a few times.Not many people live here.I tell you, she's not British.I am very sure. Have you been to her house? once.I have only been to the doorstep. The librarian explained that his father, a bibliophile, had bought a private library in an estate sale.This library has foreign books, some of them in French.His father knew that the old lady could read French, so he asked his son to bring the book. I suddenly felt a tremor.The sky began to fall.

can you stop The librarian nodded, stepped on the brakes, and stopped in the middle of the road.He turned on the warning lights, but we haven't seen another car since he picked me up.The triangular light on the dashboard flickered on and off.I got out of the car and took a few steps off the road, but I fell on the lava and got a small gash on one hand.I stood up and looked at the blood on my palm. The librarian approached cautiously. How are you? Um.i just need some fresh air I tried to calm down, took slow, deep breaths, looked up at the clouds, and tried to fix the position of the sky and the ground.I turned to face the librarian. what does she look like What? that old lady.what does she look like I have no idea.silver hair.blue eyes. Did she accept the book? The librarian shook his head.He took off his glasses and took a tissue from his pocket to wipe the lenses. She returned all but a few.I am very upset.Those books are heavy, and I have to move them back. What books did she leave behind? He shrugged.That was a long time ago. The librarian put on his glasses and looked at me with curiosity and concern. I'm just a little motion sick.I said: But I'm fine. We go back to the car.I lower the back of the chair and the librarian inserts the key into the lock.There was a chime, reminding me that I hadn't fastened my seat belt.The librarian frowned. I think she kept Baudelaire.It could also be Hanbo. The librarian started the engine, and we continued toward the sea.I lean against the headrest and close my eyes. It is poetry.He said.