British writer

Running a newspaper doesn’t happen overnight.

Lu Shi is not in a hurry, what to do, first focus on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and occasionally write "The Fifteen Years of Wanli".

Just like this day by day,

Time came to the end of February.

...

February 27,

Wednesday.

Lu Shi wrote a book at his desk as usual.

Natsume Soseki read the supplement of "The Scotsman" while rubbing my belly.

He asked, "Lu, the serialization of "The Hobbit" is about to end in two weeks. Mr. Cooper didn't contact you?"

Lu Shi's pen paused,

"without."

Needless to say,

Cooper didn't ask, so Lu Shi naturally wouldn't take the initiative to mention it.

Natsume Soseki knew that Lu Shi knew it well, so he stopped talking about the serialization, and talked about the content of "The Hobbit", saying: "After reading the whole book, I think Gandalf is a very attractive character, but always It feels like he thinks it out."

Sometimes, he even thinks that Gandalf is a "human trafficker" who only abducts the protagonist.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"Don't be so strict with the logic of popular novels."

He turned and said, "Your "I Am a Cat" still uses cats as the first-person perspective~"

Natsume Soseki was speechless immediately.

The two chatted for a while,

At this time, there was a knock on the door outside.

Lu Shi opens the door,

I saw Montague James, a professor at Cambridge University, standing at the door with a hesitant expression on his face.

When he saw Lu, he finally let out a sigh of relief,

"I thought I was in the wrong place."

King’s College Cambridge provided professors with detached villas and garden houses, so James couldn’t imagine that Lu Shi would live in such a poor and simple way.

Just now, he repeatedly confirmed the address Cavendish gave him,

It's Blair Road, indeed.

He just knocked on the door.

Lu Shi led James into the room and moved a chair.

James looked around in shock, and then said: "Professor Lu, I thought you had a strong character before, and it was only natural that you didn't come to Cambridge University to teach. But seeing your current living environment, I really want to persuade you..."

Lu Shi poured tea for the other party,

"Professor James, if I wanted to change places, I would have done so long ago."

This is the truth.

With the unit price and sales volume of "Roger's Mystery", Lu Shi has already made a lot of money from royalties, and buying a house is no problem.

james curious,

"Then why don't you move?"

Lu Shi said: "Imagine, in the future, people introduced Braiya Road as Lu's former residence, 'In this dark, cramped room, the great writer Lu completed a series of works, until the book was worth his own life'. "

"puff!"

Natsume Soseki sprayed it,

Because what Lu Shi said was his original words.

James laughed,

"Professor Lu, you are really humorous. Self-assessment of 'a great writer whose writings are as good as his own', hahahahahahahaha..."

Natsume Soseki blushed even more.

He was absent-minded, and Rua's hand was a little careless.

My generation: "Meow~"

Showed his claws at Natsume Soseki.

James said: "Speaking of works, Professor Lu seems to be brewing a new book, and I am looking forward to it. I just don't know if it is a mystery novel like "Roger's Mystery" or a fantasy novel like "The Hobbit"?"

His eyes swept across the table, but he immediately moved away to avoid suspicion.

Lu Shi doesn't matter.

"Want to see it?"

James' eyes lit up, he didn't expect such a good thing.

He nodded repeatedly,

"Okay! I want to see it!"

A look of urgency, thirsty for knowledge.

Lu Shi was not worried that the idea of ​​"The Lord of the Rings" would be borrowed, so he handed over the manuscript of "The Fellowship of the Ring".

James read carefully,

Soon, he showed an expression of sudden realization, and muttered: "So...so..."

Lu Shi asked, "Is there any problem?"

James answered while still keeping his eyes on the manuscript,

"When I was reading "The Hobbit", I felt that the book was not finished yet, and there should be a follow-up. Unexpectedly, Professor Lu did not plan to write the second part, but started another story to make "The Hobbit" a success. A prequel."

Lu Shi nodded,

Tuo is always a writer with his own system, and his works can be slightly modified, but the expansion can easily become a continuation of the dog's tail.

In modern times, the movie "The Hobbit" has failed like this. A book has been made into three movies, and each movie has its own extended version.

As a result, although the length is very full, the content is extremely thin.

(This is the protagonist's opinion, not the author's.)

Lu Shi said: "I don't want "The Hobbit" to be too procrastinating."

James carefully chewed the word "procrastination\

,"After a long time, he asked: "Listen to what you imply, this "Lord of the Rings" is the real epic?"

"hiss……"

He gasped,

Obviously, he didn't expect Lu Shi to have such ambitions.

Lu Shi didn't answer.

James looked at him like a monster, and said after a while: "No wonder, this novel has similarities with Wagner's opera "The Ring of the Nibelungen". It is serious to become an epic."

The reason for saying this is because the creation of "The Ring of the Nibelungen" began in 1848 and was completed in 1874, a total of 26 years.

The length of this creation is very "epic".

And the content of "The Ring of the Nibelungen" is also very exciting,

What brothers fight against the wall,

what friend betrayed,

What marital chaos,

...

Such a complicated relationship is very positive,

The feeling of "epic" came to my face.

Lu Shi said, "I'm not Wagner."

James was taken aback for a moment, and then said apologetically, "I didn't think about what I said."

In "The Ring of the Nibelungen", there are strong racial tendencies and Christian overtones. After reading it, Nietzsche broke up with the author Wagner.

And when Lu Shi gave a speech "I Have a Dream", he is naturally not the same person as Wagner.

James continued to read,

Suddenly, his movements stopped, and he read in a low voice, "1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline."

It turned out that the manuscript of "Fifteen Years of Wanli" was also caught in it.

Lu Shi is not worried if he is discovered,

He is now the "founder of modern historiography", and it is nothing to have historical monographs.

What's more, James doesn't know Ming history, so he can't see one, two, three, four.

James returned the manuscript, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Professor Lu, you have such works as "Guns, Germs, and Steel". It's normal to write a monograph on history, but...it's not easy to write, right?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"really."

"Fifteen Years of Wanli" is based on characters as clues,

These include:

The supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Wanli, the scholar Shen Shixing, the first assistant Zhang Juzheng, the model bureaucrat Hai Rui, the liberal intellectual Li Zhi, and the anti-Japanese hero Qi Jiguang.

Although it is more biographical than chronological, it still needs a lot of historical data to support it.

Lu Shi did know that the original author Huang Renyu had a problem with citing historical materials, but he was confused about how to modify it.

Without history books, everything is a castle in the air.

James studied the Bible and had a deep understanding of similar things,

He said: "Professor Lu, you can go to the library of the British Museum and have a look. There, you should be able to find what you want."

Lu Shi was stunned,

"The British Museum?"

James showed an embarrassed expression, nodded and said: "Yes, it is the British Museum. There are collections and books from all over the world, but because there are many non-English classics, translation is difficult, so they can only be shelved."

The looting of cultural relics did not violate international law until the 20th century.

But whether this matter is moral, anyone with a discerning eye can understand, otherwise Mr. Hugo's "Letter to Captain Butler Regarding the Expedition of the British and French Allied Forces to China" by Mr. Hugo would not be included in the text.

Lu Shi couldn't help thinking, thinking about cultural relics.

James was silent when he saw Lu, and he became more embarrassed, and continued: "Professor Lu, no matter what research you want to do, you can come to Cambridge University, the laboratory, the library, and open the door for you at any time."

Lu Shi came back to God,

"Is this an invitation?"

Unexpectedly, James nodded and admitted: "I came to you for two things, and this is one."

Lu Shi smiled calmly and didn't answer.

James had expected this to happen.

Cambridge University made an open invitation with full sincerity, but Lu Shi did not respond.

This attitude is itself denial.

However, students from Cavendish to various colleges in Cambridge hoped that Lu Shi could teach at the school, so James had the cheek to try again.

Lu Shi said, "What's the second thing?"

James asked: "Professor Lu once mentioned that Mrs. Curie will win the Nobel Prize, so should she know about the Nobel Prize?"

Lu Shi replied: "Nobel is a famous military equipment manufacturer and inventor of diatomaceous earth explosives. Of course, he is also a chemist, engineer, and inventor. However, didn't he pass away four years ago?"

James looked at Lu Shi strangely,

When most people mention Nobel, the first thing that comes to mind is a Swedish chemist.

Luckily, Lu Shi first thinks about "manufacturer of military equipment" and "inventor of diatomaceous earth explosives", which is really different from ordinary people.

James said: "Mr. Nobel has indeed passed away. But he made a will, used most of his estate as a fund, divided the annual interest into 5 parts, and established the Nobel Prize, which is divided into physics prize, chemistry prize, physiology prize and so on. Or five awards in medicine, literature and peace, awarded to those who have made great contributions to mankind in these fields from all over the world."

Lu Shi's eyes widened, and then he remembered something,

Although the Nobel Prize has been prepared for many years, the movement is quite big, and everyone in the academic circle knows that,

But isn't 1901 the first year the Nobel Prize was awarded?

He stared at James,

"Professor James, you don't want to say that the Nobel Prize needs me?"

James nods,

"Yes, I came this time to invite you out of the mountain."

Lu Shi:? ? ?

Puzzled,

"I'm Chinese, and the Nobel Committee wants to give me the Nobel Prize in Literature?"

As soon as this remark came out, James immediately sprayed,

"Pfft! Cough cough cough..."

He coughed violently, quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and after a while he calmed down the heaving of his chest, and said, "Professor Lu, that...er..."

He hesitated, as if he didn't know how to speak.

Lu Shi said, "It's okay, just speak up."

James was so full of sweat on his forehead that he said after a while, "Professor Lu, although this year's first selection of the Nobel Prize, this award has a high prize money and great influence, and has attracted worldwide attention. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences is the awarding body for physics and chemistry, the Karolinska Institutet is for medicine and physiology, the Swedish Academy is for literature..."

Lu Shi waited quietly without interrupting the other party's background introduction.

Finally, James said: "All in all, the selection process for the Nobel Prize is extremely complicated. The complexity of the process means that it takes a long time, so it needs to be nominated as soon as possible. And Professor Lu became famous in November last year, so..."

The implication is that Lu Shi is not among the candidates at all.

Lu Shi also recalled at this time,

The selection cycle of the Nobel Prize in Literature is very long, which can be described as "protracted".

Hundreds of primary candidates;

Choose another fifteen to twenty people;

Final round of five.

The judges of the Swedish Academy even had to read all the works of the last five people, and the time-consuming cannot be short.

Lu Shi said: "That's right, those works of mine, such as "And Then and There" and "Roger's Mystery", have nothing to do with literariness, but nothing to do with it. They are definitely not eligible for the Nobel Prize for Literature. .”

Think about the early winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature and their works, which one is not full of literature?

Popular novels whose sales are king are definitely not going to work.

Lu Shi said, "Since that's the case, why does the Nobel Prize in Literature need...well...could it be for translation?"

James nods,

"Yes, exactly."

Lu Shi was a little surprised,

"If I remember correctly, the academicians of the Swedish Academy should be proficient in multiple languages. Romance and Germanic languages ​​are the main ones, including German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, etc., as well as Danish, Icelandic, and Norwegian. Nordic languages ​​such as English. Are so many languages ​​not enough?"

Seeing that Lu Shi was so familiar with the whole review, James knew he had found the right person.

He whispered, "There are Indian works."

Lu Shi's scalp was numb,

"India? Hindi? How can I..."

He complained in his heart that the other party really regarded himself as a Doraemon that could be fulfilled by wishing.

James let out a "hmm" and said, "There is a writer named Tagore who wrote a collection of poems and a play, which seems to be called... "The King and Queen". He opposes the restoration of the privileges and backward customs of Brahmin priests."

Lu Shi was even more speechless.

"Is Tagore's works written in Bengali?"

James said: "You know all this? Could it be that you really understand Bengali?"

Of course Lu Shi didn't understand Bengali,

He has only read through the English and Chinese versions of "Gitanjali", "Flying Bird Collection", "Gardener Collection", and "Crescent Moon Collection" and translated them accordingly, so he knows which language the original text is in.

Lu Shi said: "The Nobel Committee likes Tagore, isn't it because his plays are against Indian feudalism?"

This question directly embarrassed James.

He twirled his beard and smiled, "Professor Lu is really sharp."

Lu Shi had no choice but to think that Europeans are all similar, one or two like to play tricks on others.

He said: "Tagore himself has the experience of studying in the UK, so let him translate it himself. Besides, if you leave it to me, it will be translation at most. How unreliable translation is, there must be a lot of people who do writing work."

James is not a translator, so he is unavoidably curious.

"The translation is really unreliable?"

Lu Shi gave an example: "There is a word in Chinese called 'Yi'. Your British translators don't know where to get the text, and define it as 'barbarian (barbarian)'. In fact, 'Yi' is just a Chinese character." The word sex should be translated as 'foreigner (foreigner)'. Because of this, the two countries have also used swords."

Of course James doesn't understand this,

But when he looked at Lu Shi, he made an oath and was immediately convinced.

He sighed helplessly,

"I thought I could ask Professor Lu for help, but now I think it's too simple for me."

Suddenly, he sat up straight as if thinking of something, and said, "If that's the case, then please ask Professor Lu to help with the initial evaluation."

Lu Shi asked, "Isn't that the job of the Swedish Academy?"

James shook his head,

"No, the Swedish Academy of Letters is only responsible for the second and final rounds of review. The initial review has to screen hundreds of authors, and there are too many bibliographies involved. How can the Swedish Academy be busy? The Nobel Committee selects 15 authors from a hundred people. People, submit the list to the Swedish Academy."

Lu Shi murmured in his heart,

Is that how the Nobel Prize is judged?

Or did the time travel lead to a change in the review of the Nobel Prize?

Lu Shi tentatively said, "It seems that Cambridge University has a certain right to comment."

James smiles,

"Professor Lu, I'm sorry to trouble you. The Nobel Prize needs you."