Sherlock Hong: The Scroll of Greatness by Don Bosco

Author:Don Bosco
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789814721639
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International

CHAPTER 10

The next morning, I was in a hurry to get out of the house and start my own investigation. I urgently wanted to find out more about the missing scroll. Who could have stolen it? What would they do with it? Was this really part of some bigger conspiracy in the colony? Would I be able to recover the Scroll?

But, to my dismay, I remembered that I first had to sit through four hours of lessons with my tutor Miss Priya. I groaned at the thought of her arrival.

As you might recall from my earlier reports, she is the daughter of a school principal in India. She has read an unbelievable number of books and also speaks six languages fluently, including Hokkien. Once she has enough money saved, she plans to sail to the United States of America to study medicine at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Until that day, she has agreed to be my tutor, at least, while Pa figures out what to do with me.

Miss Priya arrived punctually at seven in the morning. Mother spoke with her in the main hall, probably to tell her about my visit to the police station.

Meanwhile I sat on the floor and crossed my fingers as I chanted over and over again, “Today’s lesson will end quickly! Today’s lesson will end quickly!”

Later, as we settled down at my table, Miss Priya pulled a book out of her bag and pointed out a passage for me to read for the day.

It was about an Arab explorer named Muhammad al-Idrisi, who lived eight hundred years before our time. He had travelled across many parts of Asia and Europe, and a king in Sicily named Roger the Second was so impressed with his adventures that he paid al-Idrisi to create the most marvellous map of the world ever.

In the year 1154, al-Idrisi was finally done with his task and he published his masterpiece, The Book of Pleasant Journeys into Faraway Lands. In Latin, it was known as Tabula Rogeriana, or The Book of Roger, after Roger the Second. For many centuries this was widely respected as the most accurate and detailed work of its kind, the greatest map in the world.

To my surprise, I felt something stirring inside me as I read the passage aloud. I was inspired by the tale, and wished in my heart that I could do something in my life that was equally glorious.

“Just imagine, it took al-Idrisi fifteen years to complete his work and deliver the map,” Miss Priya said when I reached the end. “He was dedicated to his quest and refused to abandon it no matter how difficult or impossible it appeared at times.”

I nodded thoughtfully and tried to imagine how al-Idrisi might have felt as he presented his finished work to the king. Was he proud? Relieved? Exhausted?

Miss Priya stared into my eyes for some time before she continued.

“Be patient and wait for your moment,” she said, her voice suddenly sounding like a haunting whisper in a strange dream.

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