[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

On the second day, Yi Nan did not go directly to the library of Alexandria as planned. A Roman soldier at the port came to deliver a letter for the engineers in the army, telling Yi Nan that he could be found by the port.

Inan learned from the soldiers that Vitruvius was the chief military engineer of the Sixth Army of Rome, a talent whom Caesar attached great importance to.It is because of this that Caesar affectionately called him "Marco".He came from a wealthy family, could speak several languages, but was willing to join the army as a "commander of the civilians"-the Roman soldiers respected him very much.

When Inan arrived at the port, he saw Vitruvius standing on the shore.There is a drawing board in front of him, and he is drawing.

The drawing board used by Vitruvius is similar to the wooden board he used to record on the banks of the Nile, except that this drawing board is larger, flatter, and has a smoother surface. It is set up with an easel and is suitable for painters to sketch.

However, Vitruvius used chalk made of gypsum for drawing, which was dyed in several colors, some dry and some wet, so the color blocks drawn were also deep and light, which increased the expressiveness of the picture.

Inan knew this kind of chalk painting. After the painter finished painting, he would apply a layer of varnish on the surface of the wooden board, so as to permanently retain the color of the plaster.

She didn't make a sound, but stood behind Vitruvius and watched him paint.

What he painted was Alexandria in the morning light, the masts lined up, the sailors carrying wooden oars ready to go to sea, the seabirds soaring in the sky...

The paintings by Vitruvius already have the rudiments of perspective painting in later generations. The nearby ships are huge, while the distant ones are just a small point. The trestle starts from the pier and extends far away.

Inan suddenly leaned forward, and she saw a small back on Vitruvius' drawing board——

That's her.

She has a slim figure and distinctive Chaldean costumes, that's definitely her.

In the picture, she is walking alone on the street next to the pier in the early morning.The painter painted it so finely that it seemed that even the reflection of the fabric on her body was depicted—but it was not the morning light, and the direction of the light source seemed to be wrong.

Yi Nan stared at her for a long time before he realized: Vitruvius actually copied the back view he saw when he parted from her last night onto this drawing board.

He has an excellent memory, and he can draw it just as he has seen it.

She turned her head slightly, and saw that although the artist was holding a piece of chalk, he seemed to be painting diligently, but in fact, the man's face was as red as a ripe persimmon.

——This person probably didn't expect to be caught by the "model" himself on the spot, so he got caught.

Yi Nan couldn't help laughing, and said good morning to him: "Mr. Vitruvius, hello!"

Vitruvius's face was still red, and he didn't know where to drop the chalk in his hand. After a while, he said: "You can call me 'Marco'."

"Then you can also call me 'Yi Nan'!" Yi Nan observed him, to see if the name would remind him of something.

"Yinan, okay. I'll call you Yinan." Vitruvius murmured, finally regained his composure, and gently landed the chalk in his hand on the drawing board.

"Marco, can you give this painting of yours to me after it's finished?" Yinan asked.

Vitruvius was already somewhat at ease, but when he heard this sentence, his hands stopped again.He took a deep breath before saying, "This painting is not good..."

"It looks good to me! I like it very much." Yinan retorted.

"I," Vitruvius took a breath and said the truth, "I want to keep this painting for myself as a souvenir, and in a month I can..."

The man thought very simply: after one month, the one-month "binding" between him and Yi Nan would automatically expire.He hurried back to Cairo to continue his unfinished project;

But he didn't want to forget his time in Alexandria so easily. He wanted to keep something with him so that he wouldn't forget these... such a short and beautiful experience.

Yi Nan was a little sad at first: she saw her back in this painting, which was quite out of place with the surroundings—just as she suddenly appeared in Vitruvius's life, it was actually just as abrupt.

But hearing the man say that really made her laugh.

"Dear Marco, then I ask you to make a painting for me, and then present it to you, isn't that enough as a souvenir?"

Vitruvius nodded hurriedly: This is indeed enough.

He had already stopped chalk and looked up and down at the woman beside him: this is a woman with the perfect figure in the world.Although he already has all the data of her figure, what an honor it would be if he could face her and draw a picture of her with his own hands...

The two looked at each other, suddenly thought of going together, and turned away with blushing faces.

No one dared to speak, Vitruvius grabbed the chalk and began to paint the sky all over the wooden board—it was clearly a blue and clear sky, but it was almost overcast by him in an instant.

Unexpectedly, the woman let out a "chi" laugh in his ear again, and left a sentence: "I'll wait for you in the big library."

Vitruvius mechanically stood in front of his easel, took a piece of worn linen, wiped it vigorously on the wooden board, and finally wiped "cloudy" into "blue and clear" again.He let out a sigh of relief, and when he looked back, the woman's figure had disappeared into the bustling crowd at the port.

He felt lost.

The Library of Alexandria - the "sacred place" that Vitruvius risked his life to protect.

When the young engineer saw Yinan, he was holding the painting he had made at the port in the morning with both hands. The wooden board had just been varnished, and the results of Vitruvius' hard work all morning were tightly protected under this layer of varnish. under.

Yinan nodded, thanked Vitruvius, and asked him to put down the "Morning View of Alexandria" first, and then come with her.

"Do you need me to introduce you to the Library of Alexandria?"

Before coming, Vitruvius prepared a draft and thought about how to introduce this library with the largest scale and richest collection to her—at least not to lose to the keeper of the lighthouse in Alexandria, right?

Unexpectedly, Yinan directly took Vitruvius's hand and led him through a long alleyway of the large library, turning one corner and another.

Vitruvius suddenly felt that he had been fooled: when the woman brought him here, she kept saying that she wanted someone "who was familiar with the great library" to accompany her.But now it seems that this woman is very familiar with the big library.

But asking him to pull his hand away—the young Roman was a little bit reluctant.

"arrive!"

Yi Nan stopped happily, looked up at a slightly oriental building in front of him, and turned to look at the young man beside him.

"Here?" Vitruvius exclaimed, "I know this place, but I never had the chance to enter it..."

Before he finished speaking, his eyes widened: he saw Yi Nan stepping forward and showing the badge she had been hanging around her neck to the staff guarding this place.

"Please come in, both of you!" The gatekeeper bowed deeply, his face full of reverence.

Vitruvius froze on the spot: ...is this okay?

After a long while, he patted the back of his head and thought: That badge allows her to freely enter and exit the Alexandria Lighthouse, why can't she also freely enter and exit the "forbidden area" of the Great Library?

When he looked up, he saw that Yi Nan was already in the room.The gatekeeper was looking at him strangely.Vitruvius hurriedly quickened his pace and walked into this "treasure house".

This is really a "treasure house".

Vitruvius stepped in, and saw that the hall was quite bright: the roof was inlaid with mica sheets and a skylight made of small glass, from which the light leaked, illuminating the bookshelves full of scrolls on the surrounding walls, next to which were wooden bookshelves. The ladder seems to be waiting for people to use it.

Under the skylight in the middle of the room, there is an empty table for users to read, and beside it is a lamp stand fixed on the table, which is used to place oil lamps at night.

Yi Nan was already standing in this room, looking at him with a smile, and stretched out his hand, as if saying: Please, please read as you like.

Vitruvius has visited this building more than once, and he has always been curious about what kind of books are stored in it, but has never been allowed to enter.Every time the gatekeeper told him that this was a "private library" and he could not enter without the owner's permission.

Even during the Battle of Alexandria, the building was actively and closely guarded against loss.When Vitruvius led people to put out the fire, the people here understood the principle of "cold lips and teeth", and they also participated in the fire fighting operation together.

Today, the building finally opened the door to Vitruvius. Without being polite, he reached out to put it on the shelf, randomly took out a scroll drawn on parchment, and slowly opened it.

Yi Nan was beside him, smiling slyly.

When the scroll unfolded bit by bit in front of Vitruvius, he suddenly gasped and recognized the city painted on the scroll:

"Is this the whole picture of Babylon?" asked Vitruvius.

The map depicts a huge city with several extremely magnificent city gates and a tower reaching to the sky.A big river runs through the whole city.Vitruvius recognized at a glance that this was the capital of the Chaldean Republic: Babylon.

But he couldn't be sure, because the writing on it was: cuneiform.He can't read it at all.

"Look, is there anything special about the bookshelves on both sides?" Yinan saw that he was embarrassed, and smiled and suggested to him.

Vitruvius raised his head, only to realize that the design and construction of the bookshelves in this hall are completely symmetrical.Looking closely, even the scrolls placed on the bookshelf seemed to be placed in exactly the same position.

So he stepped towards the opposite side, pulled out a corresponding scroll from the same position just now, and opened it carefully.The young man immediately let out a cheer: This is a complete picture of the city of Babylon that is exactly the same, the only difference is that all the notes on the scroll are in Greek.

He raised his head in surprise and looked at Yinan, only to see that the other side was nodding to him, confirming his guess: this is a Chaldean architectural library annotated in cuneiform and Greek.

Vitruvius excitedly began to search for the Greek index, and the more he looked, the more excited he became - he saw that almost all the architectural drawings, mechanical analysis, and engineering calculations of almost all large Chaldean buildings were preserved here.As big as the Tower of Babel in Babylon, as small as the water wells and drains used by residents in ordinary cities... there are records and drawings here.

"Are these... all true?" Vitruvius said incoherently.

When he was a teenager studying abroad, he went to Chaldea himself, and was amazed at the magnificent city.But he never imagined that he could have access to the blueprints of these great buildings—what's more, the architecture of Chaldea, which inherited the Greek architecture he learned, was very different from the perspective of artistry and practicality. slidely different.

Yi Nan took him into a real treasure house.

"Oh, I only have a month—"

This is the first thing Vitruvius thought of.Holding the index in his hand, he tapped the scroll with his slender fingers, already drawing up a reading order in his mind.He quickly set up the wooden ladder, climbed up the bookshelf, took several scrolls down, stacked them on the desk in the middle of the hall, and started reading.

At this time, he had completely forgotten about Yi Nan.

He completely forgot who brought him into this treasury, forgot that he was in the library of Alexandria, he even forgot that he was the chief engineer of the Sixth Army, and he had a military position on his shoulders—he had already put everything together. Leaving his mind behind, he completely immersed himself in the splendid civilization of Chaldea...

Yi Nan walked out of the hall lightly, and whispered a few instructions to the gatekeeper.

This mysterious hall in the Alexandria Library is an important backup of the Babylonian Library. In addition to the backup, in order to promote exchanges between different cultures, Inan also specially arranged for translators to translate These are translated into Greek.

This backup site was so important that Yi Nan rushed over when he heard the news of the Battle of Alexandria.

The gatekeeper who guards this "backup" here has been here for many years and is very familiar with the Library of Alexandria and the entire city.It didn't take much effort to deliver everything Yi Nan needed.

As an engineer in the Roman army, Vitruvius could read Greek books very freely in addition to Latin.In addition, this is his own interest, Vitruvius reached out to the table while reading, and seemed to want to record some of what he saw.

He reached out to touch something, and when he looked up, he saw that there were more blank scrolls beside the desk.A transparent glass bottle full of ink is placed on the corner of the table, and next to it are several quill pens ranging from new to old, with different degrees of wear - the owner here is too careful and thoughtful, because I don’t know what kind of feathers he is used to As for the pens, I simply prepared one of each and sent them together.

Vitruvius was only grateful for a second, and the next moment he threw away all irrelevant thoughts and continued to frantically read and record... He wanted to read all the unfamiliar content into his heart within the limited time, Make notes——

From then on, he began to study crazily and forget food and sleep.

Inan would come to this library at regular intervals, take Vitruvius's hand out of this hall, and watch him gobble his meals to fill his stomach; she would also hold his hand and lead him along the shore of Alexandria. Go, blow the sea breeze——At first Vitruvius only found it troublesome, although he was very grateful;

But he soon discovered that Yi Nan was very familiar with the records on those parchment scrolls, and he could ask her about any vague records he encountered.

As a result, the bystanders became participants, and Yinan was "hijacked" by Vitruvius and forced to join his daily reading life.

He is a very persistent learner, and he can't tolerate half a grain of sand in his eyes.He didn't allow himself to ask questions for too long, so Yi Nan gradually became a companion from day to night from the supervisor of the three meals at the beginning.

Soon she also had a floor bed of her own in this hall, and Yi Nan would wake up suddenly in the dead of night, staring sleepily at the bright light in front of the desk.She will see an unchanging figure from behind.

"It's still the same!" Yi Nan sighed.

She vividly remembers Herod reading by candlelight in the Babylonian archives.

Sometimes she just woke up, and when she opened her eyes, she met her pair of bright amber eyes, full of curiosity: "Yinan, please help—how ​​should I interpret this sentence?"

Once Yi Nan was so confused that she rubbed her eyes and replied, "Yes, boss, here is the answer for you."

After a while, she realized - she seemed to be in a daze, thinking of the other party as "scientific madman" Daniel.

An unprecedented idea suddenly popped up in Yinan's mind: If the magnetic field can last from ancient times to modern times, could it be...

Vitruvius was waiting for her with the parchment in his arms: "Yinan..."

Yi Nan was still in a daze—shocked by the possibility she had inadvertently thought of.

Vitruvius leaned in front of her and stared at her seriously: "Can I ask you again..."

Yi Nan: "Yes, yes, but can you let me take a good look at you first?"

Vitruvius heroically decides to sell his hue in order to "learn".He pursed his lips, opened his eyes wide, approached and looked at the woman squarely.

Yi Nan made a request: "Can you put on a serious and fierce look?"

Vitruvius: ...?

So Yi Nan moved closer with his nimble eyes, staring intently at Vitruvius, which made him a little flustered for a moment.

Although he didn't quite know what he was panicking about.

"I look like you said when I was reading, why don't you... let me go back and read for a while?" The panicked person hurriedly begged for mercy.

Yinan couldn't help laughing out loud, and he was completely awake.

She realized that for this possibility to be confirmed, she would have to solve the puzzle herself and return to modern society.

Vitruvius doesn't have any memories of her yet, and it seems unwise to let him get involved at this point.

So she dragged Vitruvius to his desk, sat next to him, and said boldly: "Come on Marco, if you have any questions, just let me go... I promise, these writings for your future It must be of great benefit.”

Yinan witnessed the scene where Vitruvius "swallowed" a library within half a month.During these two weeks, Vitruvius read all the parchment scrolls in this special library, and made a box full of notes himself.

After he finished reading all the "Books of Chaldea", he slept with his head covered for a day and a night, and after waking up he was a lively hero again.

And the one-month period agreed between Inan and Vitruvius is coming soon—in fact, neither of them knows how to part with each other.

"In two days, I will leave Alexandria and return to Cairo..." Vitruvius came to say goodbye to her, but he couldn't continue in the middle of the sentence. After holding back for a long time, he finally choked out three words "thank you".

"If you want, you can stay in Alexandria to continue your studies. There are many drawings of Greek architects in the library, which I think will be helpful to you." Yinan suggested, "Marco, with your consent Next, I can speak to Julius for you."

This proposal was obviously very tempting to Vitruvius, so he hesitated for a moment before saying: "Thank you for your suggestion, but you need to understand that I am a soldier with a responsibility on my shoulders, and I have no choice but to obey orders during my service. For the vocation."

Yi Nan seemed to have expected the "ruthless" rejection of the man in front of her, she couldn't help raising the corners of her mouth: "Okay——"

The reason why she borrowed Vitruvius' time for "one month" from Caesar was because she had already thought it through very thoroughly.

According to her understanding of this man: one month is not enough for him to fall in love with her, but she can lay the best foundation for his future.

That's a slow soul.

He will always need to get along for a while, and then give trust, and only after full trust will he give affection.

And there is no doubt that she loves him, after all, this kind of emotion has become extremely mellow after a long period of precipitation.

But it was precisely because of this feeling that she wanted to accomplish him wholeheartedly.

He is none other than Vitruvius, the Vitruvius who wrote the Ten Books on Architecture.

With Sal's precedent, she felt that she couldn't bear another loss—but she could leave on her own.

As for the task of "Retracing the Civilization Project", Yi Nan always believed that it was her own business, and the other party had never been obliged to help her complete it.

Even if she is wasted in the world, even if she misses the whole era...it is she who is striving to move forward.

However, before that, she felt that it was necessary to draw a perfect ending to this encounter.

"See you in the library tonight."

She ran away without saying a word, leaving Vitruvius scratching the back of his head, at a loss.

Did he say something wrong? — Vitruvius thought, he saw deep sadness in Inan's eyes.Again he felt that this sadness had something to do with him.

He did not wait until evening, he went early to the library of the Alexandria library.

He looked up at every volume of parchment he had read on the bookshelf, and for some reason, the original full sense of accomplishment suddenly disappeared.He felt as if he had missed something—

His eyes fell on the simple couch in the room.He knelt down on this couch, stretched out his hand, and tried to feel her temperature, and there was a vague fragrance on her body...

He just sat there motionless.The beam of light irradiated from the skylight changes from vertical to oblique, moves slowly and disappears slowly.

The door of the library was opened a crack, and the dim light came in.The library's loyal custodians were startled to discover that Vitruvius was already inside.

But they said nothing, they sent the lamps to the desks, and they set up easels in the room.They sent all the tools that Vitruvius always needed to paint.

Only then did Vitruvius realize that she had indeed made an appointment with him to ask him to draw a painting for her, and she would give this painting to him as a souvenir.

The administrators all dispersed, leaving him alone in the room.

There seemed to be a voice outside the door, she was asking: Marco, are you ready?

Vitruvius nodded, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

The heavy wooden door made a creaking sound, and the elves belonging to the night quietly sneaked into this temple of knowledge, like a light and hazy smoke.

Through the tears, Vitruvius saw the most perfect figure in his eyes - the one he had measured with his own hands, and he once affirmed that it was the great gift of creation.

Yinan smiled and nodded at him, and gestured for him to pick up the paintbrush in his hand.

She is perfect now.

There is no extra modification.

Only a linen handkerchief tied around her left wrist was her only ornament.

clothing.