这个春节我终于有了整块时间来看儿子写的英文小说，准备进行润色后给他出版。2010年开始到现在，儿子已经狂写了15万字的作品了，我还从来没有真正好好从头到尾看过一篇完整的（也怪他，受个什么启发就开写，写的过程中又被启发，于是放下前一个开始写下一个，所以故事很难有结尾）。

我先看的是他2010年初的作品，给他从故事和语言上提了一大堆意见。他很虚心，但同时暗示我应该看他现在的作品，于是，今天，我让他把这个春节一直在忙着写的小说Marduk River and the Code of the Dragons（Marduk River和龙之密码）给我读一读，他的进步让我吃惊，无论是从故事编写手法到语言的细腻程度来看，让人佩服。做妈妈的，难免不客观，所以拿出来晒一晒，并且遵照儿子的嘱托，一定写上：版权所有，翻版必究。

Chapter 1

A Message from an Unknown

London. The sky was really dark and cloudy today.

Marduk River was standing on the pavement right next to the River Thames. His skin was palely white and his hairs were deep black. He was wearing a deep black coat and grey trousers with a pair of shiny boots. His hands in leather gloves were holding a thin and clean walking stick. A black hat was on top of his head. He had two eyes with different colours – the left eye was blue and the right eye was green. There were four large wooden boxes next to Marduk’s feet. Behind Marduk was the Tower Bridge. He was facing the Tower of London.

“Good morning, Mr. River.” A very tall and strong man said to Marduk.

“Ah, it’s nice to see you again, Peter Smith.” Marduk smiled and said. The man called Peter Smith picked up Marduk’s boxes and put them onto a taxi waiting for them. Then they both got into the taxi and the taxi drove away.

“So, how is Mexico?” asked Peter.

“It was amusing,” laughed Marduk. “I’ve made a lot of progress this time. I’ll go straight back to Westminster and do some more researches.”

Well, that was Marduk River. He lived in Westminster and he was a professor at Oxford – though he only stayed in Oxford for two months a year. He taught “the Science of the Knowledge between Natural and Supernatural”. He had only one student who was ill these days.

But Marduk wasn’t at all worried about the number of his students. He loved to explore. He had been to thousands of places and he could speak more than nineteen languages. He was now trying to find the evidence of the existence of supernatural powers. This time, he went to Mexico to explore the ancient ruins of Aztecs. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell anyone about this trip – even his neighbour Peter Smith – because this trip was so awful.

The taxi stopped by Marduk’s house. His house was full of odd things. Peter Smith helped him take the four boxes into the living room and left as quickly as possible –Mr. Smith didn’t like dogs, especially big ones … Marduk had got one.

Marduk looked around his living room and “office”. The house remained the same as when he had left – even the amount of dusts. The deep red carpet with the picture of a western dragon – Marduk bought it two years ago from a Pakistan merchant – was lying in the middle of the living room with a table on it. On the table there was a wooden mug and a statue of an Indian god named Shiva. A big brown sofa was in front of the table. This sofa was facing a big television – the television was also on a table. Right next to the television were a few disksand a glass box. Inside the box was a scorpion Marduk brought back from Egypt.

The book shelves occupied half of Marduk’s living room. There were all sorts of books in them – novels, biographies and autobiographies, history books, science books…… -- Marduk believed that everything could have something to do with his topic of interest.

Marduk’s office was as big as the living room – these two rooms were parted by a wall and a big door with blue curtains. Marduk put all his collections of ancient things in the office. A huge map of the world was hanging on his newly- painted wall. A Chinese Pi-Pa (a kind of Chinese instrument which looked like guitar) was lying on a large wooden chair. There were three swords on another wall – they were all real ones.

“I’m back, Leo.” Marduk patted his big and hairy dog “Leo” and said. Then he breathed and walked back to the four boxes. He opened all of them and took out four large rocks with Aztec words and letters on them.

The iphone rang in Marduk’s pocket.

“This is Marduk River,” he answered it.

“How are you, Marduk?” It was Marduk’s brother, Jason River. Jason was a rich merchant in Nottingham.

“Can’t be worse,” Marduk groaned. “The Spanish really did a lot of damages to the ruins when they first got there. What about you? Is America interesting? I don’t think so.”

“I would rather go to Mexico,” Jason groaned. “I’ve already left Heathrow. I’ll come to your house in fifty minutes.”

“See you,” Marduk switched off his phone. He sat flat on his sofa and stared at the four rocks. They seemed to be shining. Marduk thought that was because his eyes weren’t so good.

He felt bored. As a way to both relax and to do something, Marduk found the 20Q in one of his drawers and started playing it. He thought of a dragon and started answering questions.

Marduk was sure it wasn’t the problem with his eyes this time. When he pressed the “yes” button for an actually unknown question, , a line of red word appeared on the small screen.

I AM AN UNKNOWN

Marduk stared at the screen. What happened to this 20Q? Was it broken or something?

I KNOW YOUR NAME. YOU ARE MARDUK RIVER. YOU NEED MY HELP.

Marduk was terrified. He hoped that this little machine was just broken now. The words coming out from it were starting to be more terrifying.

YOU HAVE TAKEN THE FOUR ROCKS FROM THE TEMPLE OF AZTECS.THEY ARE THE KEYS TO GREAT POWERS YOU CAN NOT UNDERSTAND.

“Who are you?” Marduk asked. He wasn’t sure if the “unknown” could hear him or not.

I AM AN UNKNOWN. YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE POWER YOU FOUND. YOU NEED TO FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS. I WARN YOU: THE WORLD IS IN GREAT DANGER.YOU NEED TO LEAVE THIS HOUSE IMMEDIATELY.

Marduk was truly terrified this time. But he still didn’t trust the machine. He believed that he must do something to find out if this 20Q was broken or was there really something “unknown” talking to him.

I KNOW YOU DON'T TRUST ME. BUT I AM YOUR ONLY HOPE. YOUR RESEARCHES ARE HEADING INTO THE TRUTH.BUT THE TRUTHS ARE ALWAYS CRUEL. THE WAYS OF COMMUNICATION IS ALWAYS LINKED WITH THE CHANGES OF CIVILIZATIONS.

Marduk almost stopped breathing. He was becoming more surprised than being more terrified. This unknown thing’s words had inspired him. His researches were now focusing on the topic of links between communications and supernatural powers – a change of energy. He was once stuck at finding the connections between the evidence he had found and his predictions.

And now everything was clear. The unknown inspired Marduk. But terror was also rising in Marduk’s heart.

YOU MUST LEAVE THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW. YOU SHOULD KNOW WHO IS LOOKING FOR YOU. YOU CAN USE YOUR BROTHER’S CAR TO LEAVE.

The unknown was right. Jason’s car stopped in front of Marduk’s house. Marduk must do something now.