Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 As rich Cahill superstars went, Fidelio Racco was definitely on the B-list. Maybe even the D-list. Google had heard of him, but a search for his surname placed him below Racco Auto Body in Toronto and Trattoria Racco in Florence, and only slightly ahead of the Rack O'Lamb Irish Chop House in Des Moines. The multimillionaire merchant might have been hot stuff in the eighteenth century, but the composer he had driven to the poorhouse had fared much better in the eyes of history. Although he was no Mozart, Racco's great wealth had founded Collezione di Racco, a private exhibit displaying the treasures and artwork Racco collected during his world travels. It was there that Amy and Dan decided to continue their search the next afternoon, leaving Nellie at the hotel with Saladin and several varieties of Italian cat food.

在富有的卡希尔超级明星中，费德里奥·拉科绝对是二流明星。 甚至可能是D-list。b谷歌听说过他，但在搜索他的姓氏时，他的名字排在多伦多的Racco Auto Body和佛罗伦萨的Trattoria Racco之后，仅略高于得梅因的Rack O’lamb Irish Chop House。 这位百万富翁商人在18世纪可能是个红人，但在历史的眼光中，那位被他赶进济贫院的作曲家的境遇要好得多。 虽然他不是莫扎特，但拉科的巨额财富创立了拉科学院，这是一个私人展览，展示了拉科在世界旅行中收集的宝藏和艺术品。 就是在那里，艾米和丹决定第二天下午继续他们的搜寻，把内莉和萨拉丁留在旅馆里，还有几种意大利猫粮。

Maybe the change of country would lead to a change of fortune in ending the hunger strike. The exhibit was located in Racco's eighteenth-century home, which rubbed Dan the wrong way right from the start. "Racco house, Mozart house," he grumbled as they marched along the cobblestone streets. "Boring house would be more like it." Amy was losing patience. "Why do you always have to say that? Boring this, boring that! If this house gives us the next clue, it's the most unboring place on the planet." "Amen to that," Dan agreed. "Bring it on, the sooner the better." "We're getting close," Amy promised. "I can smell it." Dan wrinkled his nose. "All I smell is canal water. Man, I might never get it out of my nasal passages." Venice really was a great pedestrian city, if you knew where you were going, Amy reflected. The walk to Collezione di Racco was only twenty minutes. That modest distance brought them from

也许国家的改变会导致结束绝食的命运的改变。 这次展览在拉科18世纪的家中举行，这从一开始就让丹产生了误解。 “拉科的房子，莫扎特的房子，”当他们沿着鹅卵石街道行进时，他嘟囔着。 “无聊的房子更像。” 艾米失去了耐心。“你为什么总是这么说？” 这个无聊，那个无聊！如果这所房子能给我们下一个线索，那它就是这个星球上最无趣的地方。” “阿门，”丹表示同意。 “来吧，越快越好。” “我们快到了，”艾米保证说。 “我能闻到。”丹皱起鼻子。 “我只闻到运河里的水。 天哪，我可能永远都不能把它从我的鼻腔里弄出来了。” 如果你知道你要去哪里，威尼斯确实是一个伟大的步行城市，艾米想。 走到拉科学院只需要二十分钟。 这段距离把他们从

their shabby hotel to a large stone mansion in what was obviously a very expensive part of town. "I guess the ripping-off-Mozart business paid pretty well," Dan commented. "It wasn't just the money he made from Mozart," Amy explained. "The guy was a major player in international trade. He had fleets of ships all over the globe." Dan nodded. "Our old-time cousins were such big shots. What happened to all the loser Cahills? You know, regular Joes like us who never got rich and famous." At the front entrance, they were greeted by a statue of Fidelio Racco himself. If the likeness was life-size, the millionaire merchant had been very short — only an inch or two taller than Dan. Most surprising of all, though, Racco was strumming a mandolin, and his open mouth seemed to imply he was singing. Dan's eyes narrowed. "Another Janus?" His sister nodded. "That would explain why Mozart came to him to import that special steel. He figured he'd be safe with someone from his

他们破旧的旅馆变成了一座巨大的石头大厦，这显然是镇上的一个非常昂贵的地区。 “我猜剽窃莫扎特的生意赚得相当不错，”丹评论道。 “这不仅仅是他从莫扎特身上赚到的钱，”艾米解释说。 “这家伙是国际贸易的主要参与者。 他的船队遍布全球。” 丹点了点头。“我们以前的表亲都是大人物。 卡希尔家的窝囊废都怎么了？ 你知道，就是像我们这样的普通人，永远不会变得富有和出名。” 在正门，迎接他们的是费德里奥·拉科本人的雕像。 如果雕像是真人大小，那么这位百万富翁商人就非常矮——只比丹高一两英寸。 然而，最令人惊讶的是，拉科正在弹奏曼陀林，他张开的嘴似乎暗示他在唱歌。 丹眯起眼睛。“另一个两面神?”他妹妹点点头。 这就解释了为什么莫扎特会找他进口那种特殊的钢材。 他觉得和他的朋友在一起会很安全

own branch." "Bad move, Wolfgang," Dan said sagely. "Never trust a Cahill." They entered the mansion and paid the hefty admission fee of twenty euros. Even now, centuries after his death, Fidelio Racco was still overcharging people. They toured the exhibit's various rooms, which housed most of the riches of the eighteenth- century world — silk, heavy brocades, and pottery from the orient; silver and gold from the Americas; diamonds, ivory, and spectacular wood carvings from Africa; and exquisitely woven carpets from Arabia and Persia. "This stuff is amazing," Amy whispered to Dan. "Only a Janus could have such incredible taste!" The decorative arts were dizzyingly impressive, but the information display explained that most of Racco's great wealth had come from less glamorous commodities — teas, spices, and a rare Japanese steel alloyed with wolfram, which had the highest melting point of any metal. "For sure that's the steel Racco was selling to

自己的分公司。”“做错了，沃尔夫冈。”丹睿智地说。 “永远不要相信卡希尔家的人。”他们进入大厦，付了20欧元的高额入场费。 即使是现在，在他去世几个世纪之后，费德里奥·拉科仍然在向人们收取过高的费用。 他们参观了展览馆的各个房间，里面陈列着18世纪世界上最丰富的东西——丝绸、厚重的锦缎和来自东方的陶器；美洲的金银；来自非洲的钻石、象牙和壮观的木雕；以及来自阿拉伯和波斯的编织精美的地毯。 “这东西太神奇了，”艾米低声对丹说。 “只有双子星才会有如此不可思议的品味！”装饰艺术令人眼花缭乱，但信息展示解释说，拉科的大部分巨额财富来自不那么吸引人的商品——茶叶、香料和一种罕见的日本钢，这种钢的熔点是所有金属中最高的。 “当然，这就是拉科的目标客户

Mozart," Amy said positively. "Wolfram," Dan mused, a far-off look in his eye. "I've heard of that from somewhere." Amy was skeptical. "Are you sure you're not thinking of Wolfgang?" "No, wolfram. Grace told me about it." He rounded on his sister. "You're not the only grandchild she told stuff to, you know." Amy sighed. "All right, what did she say?" He looked stricken. "I was sort of tuning her out." "That's why she told most of it to me — because she knew you'd forget it all." They wandered through a hallway of exquisite carved and gilt furniture from all corners of the world, which dead-ended in a round room. At the center, bathed in blue light, stood a polished mahogany harpsichord. "I'm out of here," said Dan. "This is starting to look a lot like you-know-who." Amy put a grip on his arm strong enough to splinter bone. "It is you-know-who! It says right

“莫扎特，”艾米肯定地说。 “沃尔夫勒姆，”丹若有所思地说，眼中流露出一种遥远的神情。 “我在什么地方听说过。” 艾米对此表示怀疑。“你确定你不是在想沃尔夫冈吗？”“不,wolfram。 格蕾丝告诉我的。”他对他妹妹大发雷霆。 “你知道，她不是唯一一个对你讲故事的孙子。” 艾米叹了口气。“好吧，她说什么了？”他看上去很伤心。 “我有点不理她了。” “这就是为什么她把大部分都告诉了我——因为她知道你会忘记的。” 他们漫步穿过一条走廊，走廊上摆满了来自世界各地的精美雕刻和镀金家具，尽头是一间圆形的房间。 在大厅中央，一架锃亮的红木羽管键琴沐浴在蓝光中。 “我要离开这里，”丹说。 “这看起来很像那个人。” 艾米紧紧抓住他的手臂，力气大到能把骨头都捏碎。 “是那个人！”它说对了

here — this is the instrument Mozart played at his performance in Racco's house in 1770!" "There's only one problem: It's a harpsichord. It doesn't tell us what D > HIC means. And it has nothing to do with cake, in French or any other language." "Still," Amy insisted. "Everything we've been through has been leading us to this instrument. It's going to give us the next clue. I'm sure of it." Dan reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a wadded, crumpled napkin. "Good thing I wasn't wearing these pants when we went into the canal." Amy was confused. "What's that?" He unfolded the napkin to reveal the train logo. "The only thing to do with a harpsichord is play music. This is music." He turned it over, and there was the version of KV 617 he had reproduced on the train. Amy had to keep herself from cheering. "Dan, you're a genius! We take a musical clue from Ben Franklin and play it on Mozart's instrument!" They looked around. The harpsichord was

这是莫扎特1770年在拉科家里演奏的乐器！”“只有一个问题：这是一架羽管键琴。 它没有告诉我们db> HIC是什么意思。 在法语或其他语言中，它与蛋糕无关。” “不过，”艾米坚持说。“我们所经历的一切都把我们引向了这台仪器。 它会给我们下一个线索。 我敢肯定。”丹把手伸进牛仔裤口袋，掏出一张揉皱的餐巾。 “还好我们进运河的时候我没穿这条裤子。” 艾米很困惑。“那是什么?”他打开餐巾纸，露出火车的标志。 “用羽管键琴唯一能做的就是演奏音乐。 这就是音乐。”他把它翻过来，上面是他在火车上复制的KV 617版本。 艾米不得不克制自己不去欢呼。 “丹，你真是个天才！”我们从本·富兰克林那里获得音乐线索，用莫扎特的乐器演奏！”他们环顾四周。 拨弦键琴是