三十一章 、Maker(1/74)

    Chapte⛖🚘📩r1TheD🀩⛃🗬r🋍eam-Maker

    Nightfallslowlydesded.Dimitricouldn’tcealhisexhiration．Nightwasthehappiesttimeofthedayforhim，becausethenheakedreams．Dimitriwasah♇🆒omelesspersonaosleepingwhereverhecould．Butnowhewasgettingolderahe🄢⚺needofashelter.,soheputtogethersomediscardedoldboardsandtisandbuilthimselfamakeshifthomeinanarrowalley．WithcoldwindwhippingathisraggedovercoathepushedashoppingcartwhitainedallhisworldlypossessionsinfrontofhimandheadedtowardsafancyItaliaauraheariannaoftengavehimleftovers.Mariannathrustapaperbagathim,taininghalfasteakandsomepraasta．Dimitriwasetedandrushedhome，lookingforwardtoaluxuriousmeadreams.Joethebartenderlookedonwithjealousy．AfterDimitrihadleft,hesaidsarcastically，

    "Whyareyousogoodtohim，Marianna?Hei⚚sonlyahumanscum，burrowingthroughthegarbageslookingforfoodandclothes.Heisabum,sittingtherealldayfeedingpigeonsbytheke.Hemaynotevenlikeyou.Heprobablythinksyou’retoofat！""Howdoyouknow?"snappedMarianna."Dimitrimaynotknowhowtoexpresshimself，butheisapoetatheart.He’samillioterthanagood-for-nothingdrunkardlikeyou!"

    Mariannafirs🀩⛃🗬tmetDimitribesi🕈deagarbage.ThatdayDimitrifoundaursewhilehewasgoingthroughthegarbage.Ittaiwo-kar👴atdiamand

    3,000incash.Poorashewas,Dimitrididnotcovetwhatwasnothis.Hewaitedtherebythegarbageanyhourshopingtheownerwouldshowup.MeanwhileMariannahadfinishedherday’sworkandwasfranticallylookingforherpurse.Whenshecouldn’tfinditanywherei，sheintuitivelykhatJoe,whowasusuallyhalf-drunk，musthavethrownitintot🏿☋♝hegarbagebagtogetherwiththegarbage.Sherushedoutsideandbeganrummagingthroughthegarbagebagsfromtherestaurant.

    "Whatareyouupto?"askedDimitriicall⚚y.

    "Iamlooking🖋👈🆷formypurse”repledMariannawithoutlookingup.“Joemusthavetosseditoutwiththegarbage."

    "What’sthepurselikeandwhat’sinit?"Mariannastoppedshort,arayofhopegleamedinhereyesasshegavehimadetaileddescription.Dimitrihandedherthepurseandturogo.Mariannaranafterhimandtriedtopersuadehiminvaintotakesomethingasare🁂🂾🔝ward.ToDimitri,🗔🛓worldlywealthdidnotmeananythingsohereplied,

    "🂓🎘WhyshouldItak🏫🝃🈝ethissinceIdonotevenwantyandmohustheybecamefriendsandshealwayskeptchoiceb🁾🋙🙯itsofleftoversforhim.

    Dimitriwasacuriousexampleofararespeanbeing:absent-minded，carefree，notknowingwhathewasabout，andsatisfiedwiththemerefactthathecouldstillthinkahe.Hewasahalfbreed，withsomesortofAsianbloodbutdidnotknowwhohisparentswere.Heseemedtorememberbeinginschoolforafewyears，butwasnotreallyliterate.Heworkedforawhilebutdidnotdomuchof🙦anythihoughthewasmarriedothenmaybeheonlylivedwithawomanforawhile．Hewasnotsure．Hehadasocialsecuritynumberormaybehedidn’t．Hehadawidecircleofacquaintanoddingandsmilingtopeoplewhereverhewent，evenexgingjocurreMarks，buthedidn’thaveasinglefriend．

    Hewasonlyawakeinhisdreams．OnsunnydayshewouldgoovertothelongabandonedwoodendockatLakeMerritt,filthyandsmellywithbirdexcrement.Buthedidn’tmind．Birdstohimwereflyingmessengersfromheavenwhereallhishopeswere.Hewouldsitonthebehem，lettingthemflyaround🅂🃫himatleonhishead，shouldersandp．Hewouldstareatthemulti-coloredcloudsihroughthecracksofwhichleakedouttheughterofparadise.Whenduskwasn♑🇫🛞earhewouldgetupandgobacktohis,pushinghisshoppingcartinfrontofhim.

    Thefirstthinghedidwhehomewastotakehisdirtyoldsleepingbagfromtheshoppingcartandspreaditoutatitsusualer．Theedhis"spoils"fromthegarbage．Apairofhalf-worntennisshoes，hissizeandstillserviceable．Whydopeoplethrowthesethingsaway?Hecouldn’tuand．Then，therewasashirt，quite．Yes，hecouldthrowhisdipidatedoneaway,andtomorrowhewouldputonhi🙦snewshirtandshoesandfeelquitedebonair．Hepyasariwhohadjustmadeamilliondolrs．HelighteduphiskerosenecookingstovetoheatupMarianna’sleftovers，andafterthissumptuousmealwouldgotobed．Hislifewassosimple．Toputitintoaformu，itwouldbe：limitedmaterialsneeds⛕🚏＝unlimitedsatisfa．Thatwasbecausethefocusofhislifewasnotwhenhewasawake，butwhenhewasasleep．Heytodaybecausehehadgatheredalotofmaterialtobewovenintohisdreams．Forhim，thiswasjustlikefeedinginformationintotheputertanizedandrepyedonthes．

    Whilehavinghisdinner，heweheeventsoftheday：Thatmhepassedanimposingofficebuilding．AbckRolls-Roycestoppedsm⚶🕺🎫oothlybeforeitandaliveriedchauffeurgotouttoopenthedoorforamaneandapipeinhismouth——obviouslyanold-fashioy．HewasallegedtobethepresidentofWorldBank．"Sowhat?"thoughtDimitri，"Ibeoooinmydreams”．Thenhepassedahigh-cssshoestoreforwomen,sellingshoesandotherleathergoods．Apairofglitteringtoelesssilverhigh-heeledshoesdispyedinthewindowcaughth🙾iseye．"Whatclotheswouldgowiththem？"hemused．"Astraplessroyalblueeveninggownperhaps，ingbi-skirt?Bothwoulddo”hedecided．Justthen，thesalesgirl’sarmreachedoutandtooktheshoesawayfromthewindowdispytotrythemonaer．Dimitriwascurioustoknowwhothewomanwas，sohewalkedtotheentraheshopandpeeredin．Thebrilliaoenailspeekingfromthesilvershoesmesmerizedhimandkindledfmesofprimitivelustfromwithinhimlikelightedmatchesthrownintoabarrelofgasoline．

    "MayIhelpyou?"avoicecol🋸🞊💛dly．Itwasthestoremanageringtodrivehimaway．

    "Nowayyouhelpme”mumbledDimi🕈triandpushedhiscartaway，thinkingmeanwhileab⛄🗳☂out"morematerialfortonight"．

    Heimmediatelyydowntosleepafterhisdinnerandinnotimeheseemedtoseeanobscuremoonintheskyshiningonawindingmountainpath．Ashlitteringformsuddenlyemergedfromthewoodsarouhandstartedwalkingtowardsadarkaesehousefurtheron．Itwasafreakish，ugly-lookingpygmywearingtheeborateesofthegDynasty．Hishatandcoatweremadeofmaterialwovenwithgoldthreadandwereshininginthemoonlight．thedoorofthehouse，whichletelydark，hedrewafoot-longkeyfromhispocketandtriedtofititintotheold-fashionedeselock．Hestoodontip-toesaledwiththelodkeyforalongtimebuttonoavail．Heflewihrewthekeyontothegroundandstompedonitagainandagain，makingsqueakysoundstoexpresshisflustration．Thenhecalmeddownabit，pickedupthekeyandtriedagain．Thistimeitworked．Hecarriedtheheavylockboriouslyintothehouseandclosedthedoor．Ititchdarkinside．Heopehetrunkothedoorandimmediatelytheroomlitupwiththebrilliahegemsirunk:pricelessdiamonds,rubies,pe🍶🌩🁲arlsandsapphiresallytherepiledinaheap．

    Itwasargeregurroom,lihsturdytrunksonbothsides．Thepygmyjumpedaroundopeningthistr🉹unkandtha👧🋎tuntiltheyen．Hejumpedontoadeskattheendoftheroomandlookedattheimmehspreadbeforehim．Sometrunksheldgoldingots，goldsandgolds，rings，bracelets；others，silver．Hecrossedhislegsetedlyandshouted："HowrichIam!”Justthenahugepythonslitheredsoundlesslyoutfromtheerofthedarkroomandwounditselfroundandrouablewherethepigmysatcross-legged．Ohepython，thepygmyflewinteandscreamedshrilly，

    "Wherehaveyoubeento?Youweresupposedththereguardireasures！Ihadtoopenthedoormyselfandalotoftroubleitcausedme!”Hegrewangrierashespoke．Onseeinghimsoangry，thepythonuncurleditselfandturoaseductiveagnakedwoman，andlikeMedusa，shehadhairofsnakes．Shekbeforehimandaskedfivehepygmypulledoutawhipfromunderhisbeltandcrackeditonherinfury．Shecriedandkowtowedtobeghimforpardon．Redweltsappearedonhersnowwhiteskin．Shelookedathimbeseegly．Thepygmystoppedandturoacreaturewiththestrongmuscurbodyofamanbuttheheadofamonster．Oneeyewasinthemiddleofhisfadtheotheratthebackofhishead．Therewasarhinoceroshornoopofhishead．Hepulledthewomantoherfeet．The🝙🋣🛆gemsandtreasuresintheroomthenturomulti-coloredclouds，driftingandfloatingintheroom．Someofthemcametogetherandformedasoftmattressforthetwomoomakelove．Attheheightoftheirlove-making，theybothtransformedagaintohugepythowiogetherinaricableknot．

    "Dimitri！Dimitri！！"Marianna’sboomingvoicetohisdream．Hewokewithastartle，hisbod🐝ystillglisteningwithsweat，tofindMariannashakinghim．Whenheopenedhiseyessleepily，theseductiveagfemalemonsterwasgoneandbeforehimwasMarianna’sfat，affabletenance．"You’redreamingagain!”shesaid．Dimitrismiled．Hefoundthathispantsithnoalemission．

    "Howeyoudido🀩⛃🗬getyourdini🋸🞊💛ght?"

    "ButIdid．Yougavemeshrim🋸🞊💛psa😢ndsteak🀰🀚．"

    "Thatwasthedaybe💫🔲foreyesterday．Aren’tyouhungry?"

    "What！I”vesleptforsolong？Nowthatyoumentionit，I’mstarved!”saidDimitrian⛄🗳☂dheheardhisstomachgrowlinprotest．Mariannahand🙏🉘edhimacupofhotchocote．

    "Thereisfrieddhamsandwithebag．Heatitupa．Why’tyoustayawakeandfindsomeworktodoinsteadoflivinginyo🎖👆urdreams?"shescolded．"Whydon’tyoueandliveinmygarage?Youwo🃹n’tbeinanybody’swayandyou’llhaveadetroofoveryourhead.”

    "No，thankyou，ma’am．Thanksfortheoffer，butI’m👙🉕usedtoithere．Tomethemosti☦mportantthingistokeepupmyvitality．Thankstoyou，Ihaveenoughfoodtosustainmyphysicalhealthandkeepupmybrainactivities．Therestissuperfluousandmeannothingtome．"