Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Rumor had it that Alistair Oh was broke. His business had not succeeded. But when Amy saw his mansion, in a village outside Seoul, South Korea, she began pondering recipes for cheesy burrito fillings. "Dang! Whose palace?" Nellie blurted, as the limo pulled to a stop after their brief drive from the airport. A pristine white building stood gleaming atop a sloping, luxuriant lawn. The front path was decorated with orange and yellow chrysanthemums and led to a small grove of cherry trees and dogwoods, their leaves rustling in the breeze. Just being here, in this setting, made you want to smile. "Where is the main house?" asked Natalie, as

谣传阿利斯泰尔·吴破产了。 他的生意没有成功。 但当艾米看到他位于韩国首尔郊外一个村庄的豪宅时，她开始琢磨起司玉米煎饼馅料的配方。 “见鬼!谁的宫殿?”内莉脱口而出，他们从机场开了一小段车，轿车停了下来。 一座崭新的白色建筑矗立在一片繁茂的斜坡草坪上，闪闪发光。 门前的小路上种着桔黄色和黄色的菊花，通向一小片樱花树和山茱萸的树林，树叶在微风中沙沙作响。 光是在这里，在这种环境下，就让你想笑了。 “主屋在哪儿？”纳塔利问道

they climbed out. "Voilà." Alistair gestured dully toward the mansion. All day long he had seemed tired to Amy, a little off his game. "You mean, behind the pool house?" said Natalie. Ian elbowed her in the ribs. "My home is one of the few remaining perks from my days as a burrito magnate," Alistair said, as he walked up the drive. He was flanked by the Kabras and the driver, who held Dan and Amy's bags. "As is Mr. Chung, my driver. And Harold, my butler. Our cozy little team. Things used to be a bit more grand." "Ah, well, easy come, easy go— not that I actually know the feeling," Ian replied. "The house does have lovely… um, window moldings." "Thank you, they were imported from South America," Alistair replied. Dan leaned into his sister as they followed behind the others. "Window moldings?" he muttered. "What normal fourteen-year-old guy talks about window moldings?"

他们爬了出去。“瞧”。 阿利斯泰尔沉闷地指了指那座大厦。 在艾美看来，他一整天都很累，有点心不在焉。 “你是说，在泳池小屋后面？”娜塔莉说。 伊恩用肘撞了她的肋骨。 “我的家是我当墨西哥卷饼大亨时所剩不多的福利之一，”阿利斯泰尔边说边走上车道。 他的两侧是卡布拉夫妇和司机，他们帮丹和艾米提着包。 “我的司机钟先生也是。 还有哈罗德，我的管家。我们温馨的小团队。 过去的事情要盛大一些。” “啊，好吧，来得容易去得也快——其实我并不知道这种感觉，”伊恩回答。 “房子确实有可爱的……嗯，窗户装饰。” “谢谢，它们是从南美进口的，”阿利斯泰尔回答。 他们跟在其他人后面，丹靠在妹妹身上。 “窗户装饰？”他喃喃地说。 “一个正常的十四岁男孩会谈论窗户装饰吗？”

Amy shrugged. "Did you check the duffel?" she whispered. "Yes," Dan replied. "Rufus and Remus are still there." Amy took off her shoes and stepped onto the soft, freshly cut grass. A cool breeze tickled her nose and she burst out laughing, windmilling her arms as she spun in the grass on her good ankle. "Oh, great, I'm in South Korea and my sister has turned into Julie Andrews," Dan said. Oops. Amy dropped her arms. Now everyone was ogling her. She felt like she did in ballet class. Dumpy and uncoordinated and ugly. She glanced down into the clover, as if by staring hard enough she would disappear inside it. "What your sister is doing," Ian said, walking toward the house, "is called enjoying herself. Maybe you could learn from her, Daniel. It's refreshing." "Refreshing?" Dan said. "Amy?" Amy stuck her tongue out at her brother. Ian was smiling at her, which made her stomach

艾米耸耸肩。“你检查行李袋了吗？”她小声说。 丹回答说：“是的。”“鲁弗斯和莱姆斯还在那儿。” 艾米脱下鞋子，踩在柔软的新割的草地上。 一阵凉风吹得她的鼻子发痒，她哈哈大笑起来，用完好的脚踝在草地上旋转着手臂。 “哦，太好了，我在韩国，我妹妹变成了朱莉·安德鲁斯，”丹说。 哦。艾米放下双臂。 现在每个人都在向她抛媚眼。 她感觉就像在芭蕾课上那样。 又矮又不协调又丑。 她朝三叶草里瞥了一眼，仿佛只要她盯得够紧，她就会消失在里面。 “你妹妹正在做的事，”伊恩说着朝房子走去，“叫自得其乐。 也许你可以向她学习，丹尼尔。 这是让人耳目一新。”“提神吗?”丹说。 “艾米?”艾米对她哥哥吐舌头。 伊恩对她微笑，这使她很不高兴

churn, but she managed a smile back. Just to get on Dan's nerves. She stayed a few steps behind Ian as they crested the hill, until Amy could see the back of Alistair's house. It extended to a large sundeck overlooking a swimming pool and a vast lawn. To one side of the lawn, a stream wound its way through a landscaped rock garden that contained a pond stocked with goldfish. To the other side was a thick hedgerow that seemed to go on forever. "Tempting Tempura microwavable burritos bought me this," Alistair said, gesturing over the landscape. "Mostly beef." "Tranquil." Natalie nodded. "It really is amazing what you can do with a limited amount of space." Alistair raised an eyebrow. "Nothing like the Kabra estate, I hear." "We hated growing up there," Ian replied. "Every year one of us would get lost on the lush grounds, and they would have to send the homing poodles after us." "The what?" Dan said. Natalie sighed ruefully. "Some say it was an

但她还是挤出了一个微笑。 只是为了惹丹生气。 当他们登上山顶时，她站在伊恩身后几步远的地方，直到艾米能看到阿利斯泰尔家的后面。 它延伸到一个可以俯瞰游泳池和广阔草坪的大日光浴平台。 在草坪的一边，一条小溪蜿蜒流过一个岩石花园，花园里有一个池塘，里面养着金鱼。 另一边是一片茂密的树篱，似乎没有尽头。 “诱人的天妇罗微波卷饼给我买了这个，”阿利斯泰尔指着窗外说。 “主要是牛肉。”“宁静”。 娜塔莉点点头。“在有限的空间里，你能做的事情真的很惊人。” 阿利斯泰尔扬起眉毛。 “我听说跟卡布拉庄园一点都不像。” “我们讨厌在那里长大，”伊恩回答。 “每年我们都会有一个人在郁郁葱葱的场地上迷路，他们就不得不派贵宾犬来追我们。” “什么?”丹说。娜塔莉伤心地叹了口气。 “有人说这是一种

abusive childhood, but we didn't know any better." Nellie emerged from the house. Behind her was a uniformed butler with six soft drink bottles, which he set on a table next to six wooden chairs. "Thank you, Harold," Alistair said as the butler bowed and went back inside. "If Toyotomi Hideyoshi had had his way, this land would be Japanese. He intended to conquer all of East Asia, and he had never failed. Some say he meant to build his grandest palace here in Korea, to give birth to an heir who would take over the kingdom. He would also build great vaults and hiding places. Hideyoshi was one of history's most notorious collectors—" "I knew I liked the guy!" said Dan. "According to family lore, he collected the most valuable item of all," Alistair said. "One of the clues to the Cahill family secret, which we still seek five centuries later." He sighed. "No Ekat has ever found it. No one suspected it was in Korea. But our parchment will lead us there, if we know how to read it."

虐待的童年，但我们不知道什么是更好的。” 内莉从房子里出来。 她身后是一个穿制服的男管家，手里拿着六个软饮料瓶，放在一张桌子上，旁边是六把木椅。 “谢谢你，哈罗德。”阿利斯泰尔说，管家鞠了一躬，回到屋里。 “如果丰臣秀吉（Toyotomi Hideyoshi）按照他的方式行事，这片土地将属于日本。 他打算征服整个东亚，他从未失败过。 有人说，他打算在韩国建造他最宏伟的宫殿，以便生下一个继承人来接管他的王国。 他还会建造巨大的金库和藏身之处。 丰臣秀吉是历史上最臭名昭著的收藏家之一——”“我就知道我喜欢这个家伙！”丹说。 阿利斯泰尔说：“根据家族传说，他收集了所有藏品中最有价值的一件。” “卡希尔家族秘密的线索之一，五个世纪后我们仍在寻找” 他叹了口气。“没有猫找到过它。 没有人怀疑这是在韩国。 但我们的羊皮纸会指引我们去那里，如果我们知道怎么读的话。”

"Dude, I'm on it," Dan said. "How do we get started?" "Unfortunately," Alistair said with a yawn, "I cannot function after a rough, sleepless flight. Will you kindly grant an old man a half-hour nap in his own bed? Harold will feed you until then. Please stay close by and do not wander." "Of course," Amy said. Alistair waved to them and walked into the house. "Food, drink, magazines, TV, TiVo, Internet, handheld devices?" Harold asked. "Warcraft?" Dan blurted. Harold smiled. "Second door on the right." As Dan scooted inside, Natalie settled into a lounge chair with the Korean edition of People magazine and Nellie worked her iPod. Ian was staring out into the yard. "What's that?" he asked. "Wh-wh-what's what?" Amy said. He pointed to a dense hedgerow that contained a narrow gap. "Is it a hedge maze? Come on, let's

“伙计，我正在处理，”丹说。 “我们怎么开始呢？”“不幸的是，”阿利斯泰尔打了个呵欠说，“经过一次颠簸的、失眠的飞行后，我无法正常工作。 你能让一个老人在自己的床上睡半个小时吗？ 在那之前哈罗德会喂你的。 请留在附近，不要四处走动。” “当然，”艾米说。阿利斯泰尔向他们挥了挥手，走进了房子。 “食物、饮料、杂志、电视、TiVo、互联网、手持设备？”哈罗德要求。 “魔兽?”丹脱口而出。哈罗德笑了。 “右边第二个门。” 丹飞快地跑进屋里，娜塔莉坐在躺椅上，拿着《人物》杂志的韩文版，内莉摆弄着她的iPod。 伊恩凝视着外面的院子。 “那是什么？”他问。“Wh-wh-what是什么?”艾米说。 他指着一处茂密的树篱，树篱里有一个狭窄的缺口。 “是树篱迷宫吗？”来吧，我们走