Authors: Cornelia Funke
The Thief Lord (27 page)
"Your tortoises, of course!" Scipio wandered into Victor's office and sat down on one of the visitor's chairs. Victor went into the kitchen to fetch some lettuce for his pets.
"Weren't you surprised when I appeared so suddenly in front of Barbarossa's shop?" Scipio called after him. "You walked past me on the Accademia Bridge. Only you were so lost in your own thoughts that you didn't see me. So I decided to shadow you, just for the fun of it. Admit it, you didn't notice a thing. That proves what a first-rate detective I would be."
"It proves nothing," Victor grumbled as he squatted down next to the tortoises' box. "It only proves that you seem to think the job of a detective is jam-packed with all sorts of excitement. The truth is, it's mostly boring."
Victor flung the lettuce at his tortoises and stood up. "And anyway, I can't pay you much."
"Doesn't matter. I don't need much."
"You'll soon get bored."
"We'll see."
With a sigh Victor dropped into his desk chair. "I'm not having your name on the sign."
Scipio shrugged. "I'll need a new name anyway. You don't really think I'm going to run around Venice as Scipio Massimo?"
"Fine. Here's one last condition." Victor fished a mint out of his desk drawer and popped it into his mouth. "You will tell your father."
Scipio's face darkened. "What am I going to write to him?"
Victor shrugged. "That you're all right. That you're going to go traveling. That you'll look in on them in ten years or so. You'll think of something."
"Darn!" Scipio spluttered. "OK, I'll do it. If you teach me how to be a detective."
Sighing, Victor folded his hands behind his head. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather take over Barbarossa's shop?" he asked hopefully. "Ida and I are looking for someone. You would get half of the earnings. The other half you would have to send to Barbarossa in his new home. That's what we agreed."
Scipio wrinkled his nose at the prospect.
"What? Stand around in a shop all day and sell Barbarossa's junk? No, thanks! I like my idea much better. I'm going to be a detective, a famous detective, and you're going to help me become one."
What could Victor say? "Fine. Then you'll start tomorrow morning, while I'm off having breakfast with Ida."
53 And Then...
Half a year later, Victor did put Scipio's name on his door, although he put it in slightly smaller letters.
Nobody, not even Prosper, ever asked Scipio whether he regretted having gone on the merry-go-round. However, maybe the new name he had given himself, the one he put on Victor's door, already gave the answer: Scipio Fortunato, the fortunate one.
Just as he had promised Victor, Scipio wrote a postcard to his father. Signor Massimo never suspected that his son was living only a few alleys away from him in a flat that was hardly bigger than his own study, and where Scipio was happier than he had ever been in the Casa Massimo. Sometimes he visited Riccio and Mosca in their new hideout. He usually gave them some money, although they seemed to be coping quite well by themselves. They wouldn't tell Scipio how much was left of the counterfeit cash since, as Riccio put it, "You're a detective now, after all." Mosca had found work with a fisherman on the lagoon. Riccio, however -- well, Scipio suspected that he had gone back to pickpocketing.
Scipio saw Hornet, Prosper, and Bo more often. He and Victor visited Ida at least twice a week.
One night, as autumn approached again, Scipio and Prosper decided to go back to the Isola Segreta. Ida lent them her boat and this time Scipio found his way immediately. The island looked unchanged. The angels were still standing watch up on the wall. But this time there was no boat at the jetty and no dogs barked as Prosper and Scipio vaulted over the gate. They called out in vain for Renzo and Morosina in the stables and in the old house. Even the pigeons seemed to have disappeared. When the two had finally fought their way through the labyrinth of brambles and reached the clearing beyond, they found nothing but a small stone lion, almost hidden beneath the fallen autumn leaves.
Prosper and Scipio never found out whether Renzo and his sister disappeared the same night the merry-go-round was ruined. During the following years they would keep asking themselves if perhaps Renzo did find a way to repair the merry-go-round and if, somewhere, they were doing their rounds again: the lion, the merman, the mermaid, the sea horse, and the unicorn.
Anything else? Ah, yes -- Barbarossa...
Esther carried on believing for quite a while that he was the most wonderful child she had ever met -- until she caught him stuffing her most precious earrings into his pants pockets and then discovered in his room an entire collection of valuable items that had mysteriously disappeared. Tearfully Esther sent him off to an expensive boarding school where Ernesto became the terror of his teachers and fellow pupils. Dreadful things were said about him: that he forced other children to do his homework and to clean his shoes, that he even encouraged them to steal things, and that he had given himself a name that everyone had to call him.
It was "The Thief Lord."
Glossary
THE THIEF LORD
Accademia, Galleria dell'
Academy of Fine Arts (biggest gallery and museum in Venice)
angelo
angel
arrivederci
good-bye
avanti
let's go; forward
basilica
chapel
Basilica St. Marco
private chapel of the Doges until 1807 when it became St. Marks Cathedral
basta
enough; that will do
benissimo
excellent; very good
bricocola/briccole
wooden post that marks shallow areas in the lagoon to prevent crafts from running aground
buonanotte
good night
buonasera
good evening
buongiorno
good morning; good afternoon (a greeting)
buonritorno
have a good return trip
coffee
calle
alley; street
campo
open square
Campo Santa Margherita
St. Margaret's Square
cara
my dear
Carabiniere/ Carabinieri
policeman/police
casa
house
chiuso
closed
Doge
chief magistrate
dottore
doctor
fondamenta
paved walkway beside a canal
gondola
famous flat-bottomed taxi boats of Venice
gondolieri
driver of a gondola
grazie
thank you
isola
island
lira
Italian monetary unit
palazzo
palace or large building
Palazzo Ducale
Palace of the Doges
pasticceria
pastry shop
pazienza
patience
square
Piazza San Marco
St. Marks Square
ponte
bridge
pronto
ready; hello (only when answering the telephone)
Rialto
market district by the Grand Canal in Venice
sacca
bag
salotto
sitting room; reception room
salve
hi; hello
scusi
excuse me
siyes
signora/signore
Mrs.; Madam/Mr.; Sir
all right; fine; okay
vaporett/vaporetti
waterbus/waterbusses
vietato Vingresso
no entry; no admission
Clara's Letter: The Story Behind
The Thief Lord
The Thief Lord
in German. Titled
Herr der Deibe
(literally,
The Lord of Thieves),
the book was an enormous success in Funke's native Germany. But with the help of a plucky young reader named Clara, the novel made its way to the shores of England . . . and, after that, America! So it's thanks to this Clara that you now hold a copy of
The Thief Lord
in your hands.
From Barry Cunningham, the Publisher of The Chicken House -- the British company that published
The Thief Lord --
here is the magical story of Clara's unforgettable letter:
Back in 2001, I received a wonderful letter from a bilingual young book lover living in England. The letter was addressed to "The Editor who published
Harry Potter."
In it, eleven-year-old Clara Baganel George wrote that she wanted to know why her favorite German children's author wasn't published in English. Clara had just finished reading Cornelia Funke's
The Thief Lord
with her German mother. In her letter, Clara recounted the story in vivid detail and wrote an intriguing list of the novel's best "ingredients" for a very special and delicious book!
Two orphaned brothers
*
A gang of runaway children
*
A mysterious robbery
*
A greedy junk shop owner
*
A kind detective
*
A big secret about the Thief Lord
*
A brave and warm-hearted lady
*
A lost and magical carousel
Who could resist? I tracked down the novel. Cornelia Funke, it turned out, was already one of Germany's best-selling children's book authors. Her book, filled with fantastically rich detail and gripping storytelling, can only be called a classic. We made our offer and the rest is history -- the critics shared Clara's enthusiasm and the book has now sold more than half a million copies worldwide . . . and the movie is in the making. "We have also gone on to publish more great novels by Cornelia Funke, the astounding
Inkheart
and
The New York Times
number one bestseller
Dragon Rider.
Clara and Cornelia are now firm friends, and Cornelia actually asks for Clara's opinion on all her new work! So remember . . . next time you send a letter, you might just change your destiny!
Thank you, Clara, for sharing Cornelia Funke with all of us!
Barry Cunningham, Publisher, The Chicken House
Q&A with Cornelia Funke
Cornelia Funke has become one of today's most beloved writers of magical stories for children. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and children. The following is an interview with the bestselling author:Q:
Where did the idea for
The Thief Lord
come from?
A: I first had the idea for
The Thief Lord
when I was -- where else? -- in Venice! While I was there, I remembered how, as a child, I always wanted to be an adult. So I decided to write a story about a boy who so strongly longs to be a grown-up that he pretends to be one . . . and makes others believe he is! And Venice, of course, helped me to tell the story. In fact, I think of the city as a main character in the book.
Q:
Why did you choose to set the novel in Venice ?
A: You can't physically visit Hogwarts, or Neverland or Middleearth. But you can certainly travel to Venice. I wanted to show my readers that there is a magical place in their world that they can actually visit.
Q:
Where did you get the inspiration for the characters ? Did you
model Prosper and Bo on anyone you know?
A: Well, Bo is almost an exact copy of my son, Ben, when he
was five years old. And, yes, I met boys very much like Prosper
when I worked as a social worker -- boys who take on the role
of the father, when the real father is either absent or
neglectful.
Q:
Who is your favorite character in the novel?
A: Scipio is certainly the most dashing character. But, as a girl reading this book, I think I would have fallen in love with Prosper. And the other favorite character of mine is Victor.
Did you put yourself in the story as a character in any way?
A: Not really. I am maybe a little bit like Ida, but I would never have dared to go to the
Isola Segreta
at night!
Q:
Do you have tortoises at home?
A: Sadly, I do not. My dog would either mistake them for
bones to chew on or a toy to bite into!
Q:
Do you ever wish you could turn back time and be a child again?
A: I don't. As a child, I always wanted to be an adult and now I finally am! Being an adult is very freeing: I can realize my dreams, I don't have to go to school (though I admit that I enjoyed school). I can move to any place I like, I can stay up late if I wish, watch any movie, have my own family, children, a husband. . . . No, I wouldn't ride the merry-go-round.
Q:
Why a magical carousel ?
A: By chance, before writing the book, I came across a photo of a very old merry-go-round in a wild Italian garden. That photo gave me the inspiration for the magic carousel in the book.
Q: The Thief Lord
was translated from German to English. How
did it feel to read the book in English?
A: "Wonderful. Enchanting. I read the English aloud to myself.
Q:
How do you feel about
The Thief Lord
being made into a film?
A: I am excited about it. I have high hopes for it. But even if it doesn't quite live up to the book . . . there will still always be the original book for readers to return to.
Did you enjoy being on the set of the movie ?
A: I loved being there and seeing the characters come to life. It was such a special thrill to walk across the Piazza San Marco with the actors portraying Prosper, Bo, Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, and Scipio. Another very special moment was when I watched the actor playing Victor feed the pigeons to trap Bo.
Q:
What do you wish for the children in
The Thief Lord
in the
future?
soul and heart. I wish them friends, love, the feeling of
belonging, and protection when they feel sad or weak . . . but
I know it will be hard, especially for Riccio and Mosca.
