原文标题：
Pasta Dreams and Flying Machines: Our Tuscan Adventure
意大利面梦想和飞行器：我们的托斯卡纳冒险
导引：A father takes his two young sons to Tuscany to savor pasta and the country’s rich history. Along the way, they discover that the straight path is not always the best path.
一位父亲带着他的两个年幼的儿子去托斯卡纳品尝意大利面和该国丰富的历史。一路上，他们发现笔直的道路并不总是最好的道路。
Last year, we had some leftover airline credit on Norwegian Airlines. On the day it was set to expire, in a panic, I asked my 4-year-old son, Holt, where we should go.去年，我们在挪威航空公司有一些剩余的航空公司信贷。在它即将到期的那天，我惊慌失措地问我 4 岁的儿子霍尔特，我们应该去哪里。
“I love pasta!” he said. “But not with red sauce.”“我喜欢意大利面！”他说。“但不能加红酱。”
In retrospect, perhaps I should not have organized an entire trip around trying to prove to my 4-year-old that he did, in fact, like pasta al pomodoro; he just didn’t know it yet. Yet how could I ignore that ancient proverb of Italy, chiseled above the gateway to every town: Sucus rubber omnibus dilectus, “All love red sauce.”回想起来，也许我不应该组织一次完整的旅行，试图向我 4 岁的孩子证明他确实喜欢番茄钟意大利面;他只是还不知道而已。然而，我怎么能忽视意大利的那句古老的谚语，这句谚语刻在通往每个城镇的门户上方：“Sucus ruber omnibus dilectus，”所有人都喜欢红酱。
Yes, Italy! We would go to Italy. At the time it seemed like such a good idea. Culture! Sun! Vespas! Ciao! It was only after buying the tickets that I remembered the problem with traveling with young children is that when it comes time to travel, you actually have to bring your young children with you.是的，意大利！我们会去意大利。在当时，这似乎是个好主意。文化！太阳！Vespas！再见！买完票后，我才想起带小孩旅行的问题是，当需要旅行时，您实际上必须带上年幼的孩子。
So, what do you do? Namely, do you ruin your life on their behalf? With kids in tow you cannot have long, lingering 20-course dinners. (You cannot have two-course dinners.) You cannot spend a whole day in an art museum scrutinizing the pathos of Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro. You cannot while away an afternoon reading Dante’s “Inferno,” downing six bottles of Chianti as Pavarotti belts his way through Tosca.那么，你是做什么的？也就是说，你是否为他们毁了你的生活？带着孩子，你不能吃漫长而挥之不去的 20 道菜晚餐。（你不能吃两道菜的晚餐。你不能花一整天的时间在艺术博物馆里仔细审视卡拉瓦乔明暗对比的悲怆。你不能花一个下午的时间读但丁的《地狱》，一边喝下六瓶基安蒂酒，一边吃着帕瓦罗蒂在托斯卡中穿梭。
The Duomo is a cathedral adorned in distinctive black and white stripes in the ancient walled city of Siena.大教堂是一座装饰有独特黑白条纹的大教堂，位于古老的锡耶纳城墙内。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
Preparation of pici pasta at Trattoria Osenna, in the town of San Quirico, Val D’ Orcia.在 Val D' Orcia 的 San Quirico 镇的 Trattoria Osenna 准备 pici 意大利面。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
In order for you to be happy, your children must be happy. If I’ve learned anything about living and traveling with children, it’s to keep things simple. Boil life down to its essence. Path of least resistance.为了让你快乐，你的孩子也必须快乐。如果我学到了关于与孩子一起生活和旅行的任何事情，那就是让事情变得简单。将生活熬炼到其本质。阻力最小的路径。
So, here was our entire agenda for our Italy trip in June: “Eat as much pasta as possible.” Full stop. Anything else that happened would be purely a bonus.因此，这就是我们 6 月意大利之行的全部议程：“尽可能多地吃意大利面。句点。发生的任何其他事情都纯粹是一种奖励。
Our rough itinerary was to rent a car at the Rome-Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport and head up to Tuscany, spending three nights in the stunning Val d’Orcia region, where we would bounce around hilltop towns sampling the local pasta specialties. We would then flee north, to Siena and Florence. We would probably not see much art, if any. Our history lessons would be limited. We would eat pasta and then more pasta. We would turn pasta into a daily ritual, a prayer, a philosophical question, a prison sentence. We were either geniuses or fools. (Or both.)我们粗略的行程是在罗马菲乌米奇诺·莱昂纳多·达·芬奇机场租一辆车，然后前往托斯卡纳，在令人惊叹的 Val d'Orcia 地区度过三个晚上，在那里我们将在山顶城镇蹦蹦跳跳，品尝当地的意大利面特色菜。然后我们向北逃往锡耶纳和佛罗伦萨。我们可能不会看到太多的艺术，如果有的话。我们的历史课将是有限的。我们会吃意大利面，然后吃更多的意大利面。我们会把意大利面变成一种日常仪式，一个祈祷，一个哲学问题，一个监狱。我们要么是天才，要么是傻瓜。（或两者兼而有之。
Somehow we managed to survive the eight-and-half-hour flight to Rome trapped in a metal tube with our children and 200 other passengers.不知何故，我们设法在飞往罗马的八个半小时的飞行中幸存下来，与我们的孩子和其他 200 名乘客一起被困在金属管中。
The airport was complete chaos. We finally located our lost luggage and a car with four wheels and, after a two-hour drive, jet lagged and completely discombobulated, we pulled into the dream that is Chiarentana, a huge, ancient Tuscan farmhouse built around a cobblestone courtyard with a linden tree at its center. Chiarentana is on the sprawling La Foce estate overlooking a pastel valley of lavender and cypress trees. Olive orchards spill forth. Crickets buzz. The view from every window feels borderline illegal. Beauty has a way of simultaneously welcoming you and keeping you at arm’s length.机场一片混乱。我们终于找到了丢失的行李和一辆有四个轮子的汽车，经过两个小时的车程，时差和完全混乱，我们驶入了梦境，即基阿伦塔纳，这是一座巨大而古老的托斯卡纳农舍，围绕着鹅卵石庭院而建，中心有一棵菩提树。Chiarentana酒店位于广阔的La Foce庄园内，俯瞰着由薰衣草和柏树组成的柔和山谷。橄榄园溢出来。蟋蟀嗡嗡作响。每扇窗户的景色都感觉几乎是非法的。美丽有一种方式，既欢迎你，又让你保持距离。
Iris Origo, an Anglo-American transplant, purchased La Foce in 1924 and proceeded to transform what was then a collection of poverty-stricken farms into a vibrant place, constructing an astonishing formal garden at the main La Foce residence, and building a school for the farm children of the valley. During World War II she took in several dozen orphans, which she wrote about in the evocative and slender “War in Val d’Orcia, An Italian War Diary 1943-1944.”1924 年，英美移植者 Iris Origo 购买了 La Foce，并着手将当时贫困的农场改造成一个充满活力的地方，在 La Foce 的主要住宅建造了一个令人惊叹的正式花园，并为山谷的农场儿童建造了一所学校。在第二次世界大战期间，她收留了数十名孤儿，并在令人回味而纤细的“Val d'Orcia的战争，1943-1944年意大利战争日记”中写下了这些孤儿。
Outdoor dining at Trattoria Osenna in the village of San Quirico.在 San Quirico 村的 Trattoria Osenna 餐厅享用户外用餐。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
Chiarentana is now run by Iris’s lovely daughter, Donata. They sell several varieties of their own olive oil, including the frantoiano, which can transform a simple piece of bread into a gustative epiphany of earth and arbor and sky.Chiarentana 现在由 Iris 可爱的女儿 Donata 经营。他们出售几种自己的橄榄油，包括 frantoiano，它可以将一块简单的面包变成大地、乔木和天空的味觉顿悟。
The place bleeds history. But my son Holt did not care about any of that. He was intent upon setting up a cheap plastic bowling set in that magical cobblestone courtyard. He created an elaborate game with arcane rules that could only be played in this courtyard, under this linden tree. I tried playing with him, but got it all wrong.这个地方流淌着历史。但我的儿子霍尔特并不关心这些。他打算在那个神奇的鹅卵石庭院里摆一个便宜的塑料保龄球。他创造了一个精心设计的游戏，有着神秘的规则，只能在这个院子里，在这棵菩提树下玩。我试着和他一起玩，但全都错了。
“No, that’s the home pin,” he said, weary at such ignorance.“不，那是家常便饭，”他说，对这种无知感到厌倦。
There is something refreshing about watching the very young play in a very old place. We must care about history, but we must not care too much. The wheel of time spins.在一个非常古老的地方观看非常年轻的比赛，有一些令人耳目一新的东西。我们必须关心历史，但我们不能太关心。时间之轮在旋转。
On our first full day in Tuscany we headed to the restaurant Dopolavoro La Foce, just down the road.在托斯卡纳的第一天，我们前往不远处的Dopolavoro La Foce餐厅。
“Are you ready?” I asked Holt.“你准备好了吗？”我问霍尔特。
Tagliolini basilico e pinoli con burrata Maremmana, at Trattoria Osenna, San Quirico, Val D' Orcia,意大利面条罗勒和松子配 Maremmana burrata，位于 Trattoria Osenna、San Quirico、Val D' Orcia，Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
Pici al chinghiale, served at Trattoria Osenna,Pici al chinghiale，在 Trattoria Osenna 供应，Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
We ordered three pastas, including eliche with fresh ricotta and wild fennel. Eliche means propeller in Italian; the pasta is shaped like a spiral, or the path a propeller would make in the water. Holt enjoyed this information. Like many boys his age, Holt is fascinated by systems, shapes, how things work and don’t work; it seemed like his entire third year was composed simply of reciting a taxonomy of construction vehicles.我们点了三种意大利面，包括新鲜乳清干酪和野茴香。Eliche在意大利语中是螺旋桨的意思;意大利面的形状像螺旋，或者螺旋桨在水中形成的路径。霍尔特很喜欢这些信息。像许多同龄的男孩一样，霍尔特对系统、形状、事物如何运作和不运作着迷;似乎他的整个第三年都只是背诵了一本工程车辆的分类法。
Exhibit A: Eliche and propeller paths图表 A：Eliche 和螺旋桨路径Credit...信用。。。Drawings by Reif Larsen雷夫·拉森（Reif Larsen）的绘画
The pastas came. They were divine. Life shrunk to its simplest ingredients. We do not need much to be happy in this world: something to slurp, something to sip. Everyone sat very quietly eating, even Max, our youngest. We marveled at the path propellers make from our mouths to our stomach. Suddenly Holt held his fork aloft, eliche skewered on its tongs. “This is the best thing in my life!” he exclaimed.意大利面来了。他们是神圣的。生命缩小到最简单的成分。在这个世界上，我们不需要太多东西来快乐：可以啜饮一些东西，可以啜饮一些东西。每个人都非常安静地坐着吃饭，甚至包括我们最小的马克斯。我们惊叹于螺旋桨从我们的嘴巴到我们的胃的路径。突然，霍尔特高举他的叉子，在叉子的钳子上串了起来。“这是我一生中最美好的事情！”他惊呼道。
From that very successful first lunch things became a bit wobbly. My children, like most children, do not sit at tables for extended periods of time. Why sit at a table? Tables are boring, flat things that cannot be slapped, climbed upon, taken apart without reprimand. Children wonder: Why do adults always sit at tables for hours and hours, talking and not talking?从那次非常成功的第一顿午餐开始，事情就变得有点不稳定了。我的孩子和大多数孩子一样，不会长时间坐在桌子旁。为什么要坐在桌子旁？桌子是无聊、平坦的东西，不能在没有训斥的情况下拍打、攀爬、拆开。孩子们想知道：为什么大人总是在桌子旁坐上几个小时，说话而不说话？
My children preferred hanging out with Bertoldo, the depressive, wise donkey of Chiarentana who bleats at the sadness of mortality each morning. Holt loves a good patch of sand from which he can narrate the history of the universe. Max loves a good door threshold. Or a ramp. He will spend half an hour opening and shutting a door or running up and down a ramp. But neither of them will sit at a table for very long. Oh no.我的孩子们更喜欢和贝托尔多（Bertoldo）一起出去玩，贝托尔多是基阿伦塔纳（Chiarentana）的一头抑郁而睿智的驴子，每天早上都会对死亡的悲伤咩咩叫。霍尔特喜欢一块好沙子，从那里他可以讲述宇宙的历史。马克斯喜欢一个好的门槛。或者一个坡道。他会花半个小时打开和关上一扇门，或者在坡道上跑来跑去。但他们俩都不会在一张桌子上坐很长时间。哦不。
Children light candles in the Duomo of Siena.孩子们在锡耶纳大教堂点燃蜡烛。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
On our second day, Holt also made the declaration that he hated all old buildings. This did not bode well for our trip. He made this announcement after we visited the geometric Horti Leonini Garden in the village of San Quirico d’Orcia and came across a medieval tower that had been destroyed by the Nazis as they retreated from the countryside during World War II. In Holt’s mind, all old structures would fall down on top of us. Entropy was inevitable. He woke up in the middle of the night completely inconsolable.第二天，霍尔特还宣布他讨厌所有的旧建筑。这对我们的旅行来说不是个好兆头。在我们参观了圣奎里科·德·奥尔恰（San Quirico d'Orcia）村的几何形状的Horti Leonini花园后，他宣布了这一消息，并发现了一座中世纪的塔楼，该塔楼在第二次世界大战期间被纳粹从乡村撤退时被摧毁。在霍尔特的心中，所有的旧建筑都会倒在我们身上。熵是不可避免的。他在半夜醒来，完全无法安慰。
Exhibit B: The Horti Leonini Garden展品B：Horti Leonini花园
“I hate old buildings!” he wailed over and over. “I want to go home!” In the gloaming, Bertoldo, the donkey, commiserated.“我讨厌老建筑！”他一遍又一遍地哀嚎。“我想回家！”在一片悲观中，驴子贝尔托尔多抱怨道。
Times travel coverage. When our writers review a destination, they do not accept free or discounted services or, in most cases, reveal that they work for The Times. We want their experience to be what you can expect.《泰晤士报》旅行报道。当我们的作家评论一个目的地时，他们不接受免费或打折的服务，或者在大多数情况下，他们透露他们为《纽约时报》工作。我们希望他们的体验是您可以期待的。
Here’s more on our standards and practices.以下是有关我们的标准和实践的更多信息。
We did not follow the logic of the toddler. We did not go home. We ate more pasta. So much pasta. In San Quirico, village of the fallen tower, we savored homemade pici al cinghiale at Trattoria Osenna. This is pasta made from a sumptuous ragu of wild boar. It will change your life.我们没有遵循蹒跚学步的孩子的逻辑。我们没有回家。我们吃了更多的意大利面。这么多意大利面。在倒塌的塔楼村圣奎里科（San Quirico），我们在Trattoria Osenna品尝了自制的pici al cinghiale。这是用丰盛的野猪肉酱制成的意大利面。它会改变你的生活。
Pici is the local style of eggless peasant pasta; it is like plump, irregular strands of spaghetti, stretched out by hand. The term pici comes from the Italian word “appiciare” which is the ancient action of rolling and coaxing out those long, lumpy strings. The owner of Osenna, Luca, told us his mother, the chef, could stretch a single strand of pici to over six feet long.Pici 是当地风格的无蛋农民意大利面;它就像丰满、不规则的意大利面条，用手伸展。pici 一词来自意大利语“appiciare”，它是卷起和哄骗那些长而块状的绳子的古老动作。Osenna的老板Luca告诉我们，他的母亲，厨师，可以将一根皮西拉长到六英尺多。
“You could wrap it around your whole body!” said Holt. Luca said this was not traditional but he would convey the idea to his mother.“你可以把它包裹在你的整个身体上！”霍尔特说。卢卡说这不是传统的，但他会把这个想法传达给他的母亲。
Exhibit C: The rolling of the pici图表 C：pici 的滚动
Alla Vecchia Bettola is a Florentine restaurant with communal tables and iron pots hanging from the ceiling.Alla Vecchia Bettola 是一家佛罗伦萨餐厅，设有公共桌子和悬挂在天花板上的铁锅。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
After several days of drifting through the villages of the Val d’Orcia, a life I could easily adjust to, we headed north to one of the true gems of Italy, Siena, an ancient walled city of winding passageways and bountiful gelaterias that is a perfect size for kids and adults alike. We walked up the hill and suddenly found ourselves face to face with the Duomo, that jaw-dropping cathedral adorned in its distinctive black and white stripes.在Val d'Orcia的村庄漂流了几天后，我很容易适应这种生活，我们向北前往意大利真正的瑰宝之一锡耶纳，这是一座古老的城墙城市，拥有蜿蜒的通道和丰富的冰淇淋，对孩子和成人来说都是完美的尺寸。我们走上山坡，突然发现自己与大教堂面对面，那座令人瞠目结舌的大教堂装饰着独特的黑白条纹。
I winced, wary of Holt’s allergy to antiquity, but he was awed by the intricacy of its facade, replete with biblical scenes, grumpy lions and saints frozen in various karate poses. Inside, we marveled at the giant mosaic covering the entire church floor and the Piccolomini Library, filled with an array of huge, illuminated manuscripts that took the breath away. On our way our of the cathedral, Holt wanted to light a candle.我畏缩了一下，担心霍尔特对古代的过敏，但他对其错综复杂的立面感到敬畏，充满了圣经场景、脾气暴躁的狮子和以各种空手道姿势定格的圣徒。在里面，我们惊叹于覆盖整个教堂地板的巨大马赛克和皮科洛米尼图书馆，里面装满了一系列巨大的、发光的手稿，令人叹为观止。在我们去大教堂的路上，霍尔特想点燃一支蜡烛。
“Every day you come here to bless God,” he said, completely out of the blue. Then: “This is my favorite building in the world.”“你每天都来这里祝福上帝，”他说，完全出乎意料。然后：“这是世界上我最喜欢的建筑。
The city is famous for its Palio di Siena, a 400-year-old manic horse race that circles the Piazza del Campio. Twice each summer 10 horses and riders representing the various “contrade” or districts of the city run pell mell around a temporary clay track.这座城市以其锡耶纳派力奥（Palio di Siena）而闻名，这是一场拥有400年历史的狂躁赛马，环绕着坎皮奥广场（Piazza del Campio）。每年夏天，10匹马和骑手代表城市的各个“contrade”或地区，在临时的粘土赛道上奔跑。
The formal garden at the main La Foce residence in the Val D' Orcia region of Tuscany.位于托斯卡纳 Val D' Orcia 地区的 La Foce 主要住宅的正式花园。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
We were in Siena a week before the first Palio of the summer, and the clay had just been laid, and rickety bleachers erected all around the racetrack. Imagining the screaming hordes, we sneaked through the ropes into the middle of the piazza, the still-wet clay sticking to our stroller’s wheels. We were practically the only ones in the whole square, a moment of perfect serenity. Holt pretended he was a horse. Max pretended he was Holt.我们在夏季第一届派里奥比赛前一周到达锡耶纳，刚刚铺设了粘土，赛道周围竖起了摇摇晃晃的看台。想象着尖叫的人群，我们通过绳索偷偷进入广场中央，仍然湿漉漉的粘土粘在婴儿车的轮子上。我们几乎是整个广场上唯一的人，一个完全宁静的时刻。霍尔特假装他是一匹马。麦克斯假装自己是霍尔特。
Later, after eating a divine tagliatelle al pesto made from zucchini and almonds and a simple, flawless spaghetti al pomodoro e basilico (Red Sauce!) which Holt declared was “pretty O.K.,” we wandered through the green oasis of L’Orto de’Pecci, once the site of a psychiatric hospital and now a cooperative garden with a little restaurant, resident peacocks and a sculpture of a giant steelhead that you could walk inside called “Open Mind” by Justin Peyser. Everyone was happy: This was art that you could slap.后来，在吃了由西葫芦和杏仁制成的神圣意大利面条和简单、完美无瑕的意大利面 al pomodoro e basilico（红酱！）后，霍尔特宣称它“还不错”，我们漫步在 L'Orto de'Pecci 的绿洲中，这里曾经是一家精神病院的所在地，现在是一个带有小餐厅的合作花园， 常驻孔雀和一个巨大的钢头雕塑，你可以走进去，贾斯汀·佩瑟（Justin Peyser）称之为“开放的心灵”。每个人都很高兴：这是你可以拍打的艺术。
We probably should have just stayed in Siena. It is like that other ancient Italian proverb: Libentissime cum liberis uno loco se continere. “When your kids are content, don’t move an inch.” But my wife had never been to Florence and so we headed up the winding autostradale for the last leg of our trip.我们可能应该住在锡耶纳。这就像另一句古老的意大利谚语：Libentissime cum liberis uno loco se continere。“当你的孩子满足时，不要移动一寸。”但我的妻子从未去过佛罗伦萨，所以我们沿着蜿蜒的高速公路前进，开始了我们旅行的最后一站。
Museo Leonardo Da Vinci in Florence is where children can crank and pull at his inventions.佛罗伦萨的列奥纳多·达·芬奇博物馆（Museo Leonardo Da Vinci）是孩子们可以曲柄和拉动他的发明的地方。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
Our Airbnb was in Oltrarno, the hip, Brooklyn-like Florentine neighborhood just south of the River Arno, filled with little eateries and shops selling artisanal rucksacks and handmade puppets.我们的 Airbnb 位于奥尔特拉诺，这是一个时尚的、布鲁克林式的佛罗伦萨社区，位于阿尔诺河以南，到处都是小餐馆和商店，出售手工背包和手工制作的木偶。
Our first day we ventured into the sweaty scrum of central Florence and were quickly repelled by a tsunami of tourists. Florence in the high season is a nightmare. You cannot breathe, you cannot move. Our whole family grew quite cranky until we bought some gelato alla stracciatella. It has been proven by science that gelato is the cure for all ills, including gout, gunshot wounds and existential despair.第一天，我们冒险进入佛罗伦萨市中心汗流浃背的喧嚣，很快就被游客的海啸击退了。旺季的佛罗伦萨是一场噩梦。你无法呼吸，你无法移动。我们全家都变得相当暴躁，直到我们买了一些冰淇淋 alla stracciatella。科学已经证明，冰淇淋可以治愈所有疾病，包括痛风、枪伤和生存绝望。
We didn’t even try to make it to the Uffizi Gallery or see the famous sites. My traveler alarm bells kept going off: We were missing out on the Caravaggios! But you are always missing out with kids. That is kind of the point. The beauty is in the miss.我们甚至没有试图去乌菲齐美术馆或参观著名的景点。我的旅行者警钟一直响着：我们错过了卡拉瓦乔！但是你总是错过孩子们。这就是重点。失去的总是最美的。
Instead, we headed to the small Museo Leonardo da Vinci, where the kids could crank and pull at all of his inventions, including what looked like the world’s first bow flex exercise machine. They were very happy. In one corner stood Leonardo’s helicopter, which resembled the eliche propellers we had eaten that first day.取而代之的是，我们前往小型的莱昂纳多·达·芬奇博物馆（Museo Leonardo da Vinci），在那里，孩子们可以摇晃和拉动他的所有发明，包括看起来像世界上第一台弓形弯曲锻炼机的东西。他们非常高兴。在一个角落里停着莱昂纳多的直升机，它类似于我们第一天吃的螺旋桨。
Exhibit D: Leonardo’s failed helicopter图D：莱昂纳多失败的直升机
Villa Il Castagno Wine Resort is near Siena.Villa Il Castagno Wine Resort度假村位于锡耶纳附近。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
“It didn’t work,” I said to Holt, pointing to the helicopter. “It couldn’t fly.” This felt perhaps more tragic to me than it should, a metaphor for our times. Good ideas that never take off.“它没有用，”我指着直升机对霍尔特说。“它飞不起来。”对我来说，这也许比它应该更悲惨，是我们这个时代的隐喻。好主意永远不会起飞。
“That’s O.K.,” said Holt. And it was.“没关系，”霍尔特说。确实如此。
To complete the famous Dead Scientist Museum Double, we visited the first-rate Museo Galileo (just past the foolish hordes waiting for hours to get into the Uffizi!) It’s a rich space filled with cosmographic spheres, a pantheon of cannon-size telescopes, sensuous maps of the heavens, and two of Galileo’s actual fingers.为了完成著名的死亡科学家博物馆双倍，我们参观了一流的伽利略博物馆（就在等待数小时进入乌菲齐美术馆的愚蠢人群旁边！这是一个丰富的空间，充满了宇宙球体、大炮大小的望远镜万神殿、感性的天空地图和伽利略的两根实际手指。
One exhibit, in particular, caught my eye: a marble run with two paths of descent, the first a straight decline and the other a longer, lazy bend called the brachistochrone curve that goes down and then up again.其中一个展品特别引起了我的注意：一条大理石滑道，有两条下降路径，第一条是直线下坡，另一条是更长、懒惰的弯道，称为臂时曲线，先下降，然后再上升。
By all appearances, the straight line, the shortest path, is the quickest route to the bottom. Right?从表面上看，直线，最短的路径，是到达底部的最快路线。右？
Exhibit E: The Brachistrochrone curve图表 E：臂时距曲线
Nope. Galileo discovered it was the brachistochrone curve, which, despite being longer, delivers the ball first. And as I watched Holt put marble after marble down each path, testing and retesting the hypothesis, I began to irresponsibly apply such principles to our little Italian adventure. The straightest way is not always the best way. Rather, by weathering the natural curves of life, by going down and then up, by lingering at the doorway for half an hour as Max joyfully closes and opens the door again and again, you are actually taking the more efficient path.不。伽利略发现这是腕时线曲线，尽管它更长，但它首先传递球。当我看着霍尔特在每条路上铺上一块又一块的大理石，检验和重新检验这个假设时，我开始不负责任地将这些原则应用于我们的意大利小冒险。最直的方式并不总是最好的方式。相反，通过经受住生命的自然曲线，通过下降然后上升，在门口徘徊半小时，当马克斯一次又一次地快乐地关上和打开门时，你实际上是在走更有效的道路。
Boboli Gardens is a tiered Florentine paradise of ancient statues, geometric fountains and rambling hedgework.波波里花园（Boboli Gardens）是一个分层的佛罗伦萨天堂，拥有古老的雕像，几何喷泉和漫无边际的树篱。Credit...信用。。。Susan Wright for The New York Times苏珊·赖特（Susan Wright）为《纽约时报》撰稿
Our last evening in Italy we skipped into the Boboli Gardens just before closing. The evening sunlight was loose and pillowy. We were almost completely alone; the masses toiled in the city beneath. The Boboli is a tiered Florentine paradise of ancient statues and geometric fountains and rambling hedgework. In one clearing we came across a strikingly modern sculpture: a clean, white marble oval entitled “Secret of the Sky,” by Ken Yasuda. The perfection of the form was startling against the wilds of the surrounding greenery.我们在意大利的最后一个晚上，我们在关门前跳进了波波里花园。傍晚的阳光松弛而柔软。我们几乎完全是孤独的;群众在下面的城市里辛勤劳作。波波里（Boboli）是一个分层的佛罗伦萨天堂，拥有古老的雕像，几何喷泉和漫无边际的树篱。在一片空地上，我们发现了一件引人注目的现代雕塑：一个干净的白色大理石椭圆形，名为“天空的秘密”，由安田健创作。完美的形式与周围绿色植物的荒野形成鲜明对比。
“It’s like a gem turned sideways,” Holt said. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” When you are 4, there is no such thing as hyperbole.“这就像一颗侧向转动的宝石，”霍尔特说。“这是我见过的最酷的东西。”当你 4 岁时，没有夸张这样的事情。
Nearby, we found a magical little restaurant, Alla Vecchia Bettola, with communal tables and iron pots hanging from the ceiling. They managed to seat us despite being packed with Florentines. After 14 straight meals of pasta, this would be our last.在附近，我们发现了一家神奇的小餐馆，Alla Vecchia Bettola，天花板上挂着公共桌子和铁锅。尽管挤满了佛罗伦萨人，他们还是设法让我们坐下。在连续 14 顿意大利面之后，这将是我们的最后一餐。
By this point, the four of us were used to things. We were like a well-oiled machine. As soon as we sat, we ordered the children’s meals. The kids tolerated the tableness of the table. Max did not demand his customary ramp exercises. We had our iPhone apps at the ready but did not need them. We all seemed to sense this little experiment was coming to an end. A group from Quebec at our table remarked how well behaved our children were.到这个时候，我们四个人已经习惯了。我们就像一台运转良好的机器。我们一坐下，就点了孩子们的餐。孩子们容忍了桌子的桌子。马克斯没有要求他进行惯常的坡道练习。我们已经准备好了 iPhone 应用程序，但并不需要它们。我们似乎都感觉到这个小小的实验即将结束。我们桌上的一群来自魁北克的人评论说我们的孩子表现得多么乖巧。
“They are not like this normally,” I said. “They have been trained. Like seals.”“他们通常不是这样的，”我说。“他们已经接受过培训。就像印章一样。
The restaurant hummed. Locals laughed and made intricate gestures with their fingertips that meant all was not lost.餐厅嗡嗡作响。当地人笑着用指尖做出复杂的手势，这意味着一切都没有丢失。
I had one more bite of ravioli. And then I was done. I had finally overdosed on Italian food, something I did not think was scientifically possible.我又咬了一口馄饨。然后我就完成了。我终于过量地吃了意大利菜，我认为这在科学上是不可能的。
“Down,” said Max, pointing at the ground.“下来，”麦克斯说，指着地面。
And down we went. We had taken the wandering path and arrived at this moment, just in time.然后我们下去了。我们走的是徘徊的小路，在这个时候到达了，正好赶上。
关于作者：
Reif Larsen is the author of the novels “I Am Radar” and “The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet,” which was adapted into a feature film, “The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet.”
赖夫·拉森（Reif Larsen）是小说《我是雷达》（I Am Radar）和《TS Spivet选集》的作者，这两部小说被改编成故事片《年轻而天才的TS Spivet》。