Cronología de la muerte

Capítulo 15

Jumarin immediately agreed: "Things will be completely different."

Her voice was elegant, tinged with various accents: she was born in my hometown of Shanghai, spent her childhood in São Paulo, was taught by a British teacher, and studied at the University of Paris. She had originally come from a wealthy family, but their fortunes had declined while she was in South America. Jumalin, as a professional curator, acquired art for private collectors. She had some potential clients in Milan, a perfectly valid reason for cancelling the trip to the Kingdom of Lanna. But her twelve-year-old daughter, Esmi, had long dreamed of helping orphans in the Kingdom of Lanna, and would certainly protest if they were to go to Italy's fashion capital instead.

Good heavens, how did I know all this?

I don't understand it myself. Their thoughts seem to be mine; their motives and desires, guilt and regret, joy and sorrow—like colorful goldfish. When they speak, their genuine feelings flood my brain like water. Buddhism says of this: "Other people's thoughts."

With this ability, I can hear what my friends are thinking.

Mrs. Rocco Massey said, "I kept asking myself, why go to the Kingdom of Lanna?"

This stung her husband, Mr. Dwight Massey, who decided to go without his wife's consent. But she never said no, because she was busy with a crucial research project.

She let her husband arrange the itinerary, but added, "Wouldn't it be nice to go to the Galapagos again? We can study species there." She was about to publish an academic book, with species as its main topic. She was an evolutionary biologist, a Darwinian, and a supporter of MacArthur.

Her husband, a performance artist and former student, is 31 years old, two years younger than his wife. He primarily studies the differences between men and women in their nervous systems, "usually referring to differences in IQ," Mr. Massey would explain, "not differences between parts of the brain."

He is assisting another scientist in studying how squirrels hide pine nuts—squirrels hide pine nuts in about a hundred different places and can find them again months later. So what methods do female squirrels use, and what methods do male squirrels use? Which method is more effective?

Ten years ago, when Dwight was a 21-year-old graduate student, he began to admire his female professor, Rocco. Eventually, their teacher-student romance turned into a boring marriage. Both were avid athletes, so they had a lot in common. But if you met them for the first time, you might think the same thing I did: they didn't seem like a couple. She was muscular, strong, round-faced, intelligent, and friendly; he was lean, impulsive, and carefree. She radiated confidence; he seemed more like an oppressed person.

Mrs. Rocco Massey said, “To the Kingdom of Lanna? It’s poor and corrupt there.”

“Rocco hit the nail on the head. But when we signed, it seemed like things were improving there,” Jumarin interjected. “Go, even when most of us are against it…”

Mr. Marseille interrupted her again: "Do you know what kind of people blindly follow the crowd? It's those who treat eating hamburgers like abusing cattle. Boycotting won't help anyone..."

He longed to visit the Kingdom of Lanna. Over a century earlier, specifically in 1883, Mr. Marseille's great-great-grandfather had gone to the British colony of Lanna, abandoning his wife and seven children in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. He worked for a British timber company in Lanna, and, as the family story goes, he was ambushed and killed by locals on the banks of the Mandala in 1885. Dwight was fascinated by his great-great-grandfather and deeply captivated by his ancient legends.

"What's the point of not doing something?" he continued to argue. "Does not eating beef mean we're protecting cattle? And what's the point of not going to the Kingdom of Lanna?"

"Can we have a more rational discussion?"

Vera interrupted him; she didn't want to hear any more heated arguments. She thought Mr. Marseille was clever, but the kind of person who was self-important, which was often worse than being stupid and ignorant.

“The standard in South Africa—” Jumarin began.

“Because the rulers were white and so wealthy, they were unaware of the theft,” Mr. Massey continued. “American standards don’t apply to the Kingdom of Lanna. Most of Lanna’s trade was with other Asian countries. Why would they care about our decisions?”

“We can change our route and go to Nepal.”

The speaker was Mo Fei, an old friend of Berhali.

Mark Murphy was interested in Nepal because he owned a bamboo plantation near Salina and wanted to find productive tree species in the Nepalese lowlands. His full name was Mark Murphy, and he and Berhali were both over forty and had both been through failed marriages. For the past four years, they had traveled together during their winter holidays.

Murphy believes his fifteen-year-old son, Rupert, will love Kathmandu, just as he did when he was a teenager. But his ex-wife would be furious if she knew he was taking their son to the "barren lands." During their custody battle over Rupert, she accused Murphy of drug use. Convincing her to allow him to take Rupert on vacation to China and Lanna was a war.

Preparing for the trip (2)