British writer

the next day,

early morning.

stockholm.

Although it is already early spring, the city has short days and long nights, and the average daily temperature is still fluctuating around 0°C.

Especially in the morning and at night, it is like winter in other low latitude areas.

Carl David Ave Wilson stepped on the dry lawn, making a "creaking" sound under his feet, and walked slowly towards the office in the pervasive darkness.

At this moment, someone greeted him: "Mr. Wilson."

Wilson turned around,

Before him was a young clerk at the Swedish Academy.

The clerk is holding a tin-plated thermos in his left hand, and a set of porcelain cups in his right.

"What's wrong?" Wilson asked.

The clerk said, "Would you like some coffee? I have some here."

As he said that, without waiting for the other party to refuse or agree, he directly used the small stone pier next to him as a table and poured a small cup of hot coffee.

Wilson breathed on his palm,

"Okay, let's have a drink."

He stepped forward, took the coffee, and took a sip.

In an instant, it was as if some kind of GPS device was installed in the body, and one could clearly feel the warm drink slipping through the esophagus and then falling into the stomach pouch,

Warmth then rushed to the limbs.

"Huh~~~"

Wilson breathed a sigh of relief.

The clerk asked: "You are in a hurry, are you going to the office?"

Wilson had just let out a breath, and now he seemed to hold it back,

He's going to the office now, yes,

But when I went, there was really nothing to do.

Because the Nobel Prize in Literature completely stretched the hips.

The clerk saw that Wilson was silent, so he asked curiously: "I heard that there was a science fiction novel that swept Paris a few days ago called "The Country Teacher", which received a lot of praise, and its author may be nominated for this Nobel Prize in Literature. prize."

Isn't that which pot is not opened and which pot is lifted?

Wilson looked depressed,

"That's Lu Shi's work."

Clerk: "..."

A strange silence lay between the two, as if a vacuum had been formed.

After a while, Wilson sighed and said, "Is there really such an all-rounder in this world?"

This sounded like a question, but it was actually talking to himself.

The clerk remained silent.

After a long time, Wilson put down the cup in his hand, glanced at the white belly that had appeared in the sky,

"Thank you for the coffee."

He walked slowly towards the office building.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the gate, he was stopped by the first seat of the Swedish Academy——Hans Ludwig Fussel.

I saw Fussell holding a telegram in his hand, and the expression on his face was not very good-looking.

Wilson asked, "Hans, why are you here?"

Fussell handed out the telegram,

"See for yourself."

Wilson leaned over and read: "

‘Dear Nobel Committee, colleagues from the Swedish Academy,

Thank you very much for nominating me as a candidate for the first Nobel Prize in Literature. '

...

"

There are more than a hundred words in the back.

This is the telegram that Tolstoy rejected.

Fussell said: "This telegram was sent from the Paris post office. After several rounds, it arrived in Stockholm in the early hours of last night."

Paris……

Wilson frowned.

"If I remember correctly, Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw are communicating on behalf of the London College of Economics and Economics at this moment. They are at the moment... um... Is this faked by them?"

"puff!"

Fussell sprayed on the spot, secretly thinking that Wilson is really imaginative.

He complained, "Carl, don't you have a fever?"

Wilson also felt that his falsified theory was too outrageous. He coughed awkwardly and said, "No, I was just joking. After all, could it be that Tolstoy was also invited to exchange ideas at the French Academy?"

"..."

"..."

The two were silent at the same time.

After a long time, Fussell asked, "Have you watched "The Country Teacher?"

Wilson nodded.

"An unprecedented science fiction work. Before, even if someone imagined the starry sky, they never tried to describe a developed alien civilization like that book. The most important thing is that the theme of the book is profound and connotative. If it is not a short story , may be able to..."

At this point, Wilson stopped,

He almost blurted out that Lu Shi's works could be selected for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Forssell glanced at him,

"I know what you want to say, but I think you are talking nonsense. From the perspective of the establishment of the Nobel Prize for Literature, it is difficult for science fiction to win. You should know that there is a gap in aesthetic taste between popular novels and serious literature. How big."

Wilson spread his hands,

"Ke Lu Shi's level is indeed..."

He couldn't continue, so he just spit out a dirty word: "Fuck!"

Afterwards, he said: "Who would have thought that such a powerful person would be offended."

Fussell further pointed out: "Besides, I heard that this short story appeared as a model essay. In other words, the French really want to create a literary award. In addition, Mr. Tolstoy is currently in Paris. You Would you say..."

Tolstoy rejected the Nobel Prize for Literature, but accepted the prize from the Académie de France,

This slap in the face shouldn't be too loud!

If it comes true, then the Nobel Prize Committee for Literature will be completely disbanded, and everyone will go back to their respective homes and find their own mothers.

But the two wanted to break their heads, but there was nothing they could do.

As the saying goes, "It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married", it probably means such a feeling of powerlessness.

Wilson sighed,

"Forget it~ Forget it~ If you don't want to do this, come to my office for a drink."

Fussell: ? ? ?

"Drinking early in the morning?"

Wilson said helplessly, "Why don't you drink?"

Fussell complained: "I can see it, you want to lie down completely..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard hurried footsteps not far away.

A clerk came running quickly,

"Mr. Wilson, there is a telegram from Paris. But this telegram is on the line of the British Consulate. It may be urgent."

Wilson and Fussell looked at each other,

Hope rose in their hearts at the same time.

Wilson stepped forward quickly, unfolded the telegram, and found that the telegram was written in English, he couldn't help but feel even more excited.

He read it directly: "The telegram is as follows, 'Dear Nobel Committee, Swedish Academy...'"

Fussell frowned,

"Is this beginning any different from just now? Tolstoy is so deceitful that he wants to use the special line of the British Consulate to humiliate us."

Wilson silenced him,

"No! It's good news."

Fussell couldn't help being surprised,

He couldn't wait any longer, so he leaned forward and read the contents of the telegram.

——

Dear Nobel Committee, colleagues from the Swedish Academy,

Thank you very much for nominating me as a candidate for the first Nobel Prize in Literature.

It is true that there are many talented people in the European literary world, and my works are just "old-fashioned games", which are really worthless.

But please allow me to accept this nomination without humility.

Congratulations to Chunqi.

Your faithful Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

——

Fussell: ? ? ?

Wilson:? ? ?

Both of them were dumbfounded.

Two telegrams successively, why is there such a big difference in attitude?

After a while, Wilson came back to his senses and said, "This time, it's not Lu Shi and Bernard Shaw who tricked us, right? Look at this telegram, it's from the British Consulate..."

Fussell wasn't sure either.

"They should...should...shouldn't have such a bad taste, right?"

It's really confusing.

Wilson said: "Forget it, it's useless for us to think about it. We should send a telegram there first and ask carefully."

After speaking, he was about to order the clerk.

But Fussell stopped him and said, "Wait a minute. Before replying to the telegram, we have to confirm two things ourselves. First, if Mr. Tolstoy really agrees, what is our attitude?"

Wilson scratched his head,

"Then what else? Of course it's a celebration with fireworks! At least the first Literary Award hasn't been messed up."

Although these words sound a little nonsensical, they are indeed from the heart.

Fussell could only smile wryly,

"Secondly, don't forget, it's still just the preliminary evaluation stage. It doesn't mean that Mr. Tolstoy will win the award if he doesn't refuse the nomination."

Who else could this award be given to Tolstoy?

If it was given to someone else, the first Nobel Prize in Literature would inevitably be placed on the pillar of shame, and there would be no need to continue it in the future.

But Wilson also understood Fussell's worry, and said with a smile: "Understood, we still have to have our own reserve."

After speaking, he went to the clerk and arranged for the confirmation telegram.

...

Paris.

French Academy.

Tolstoy's dormitory smelled of cigarettes.

Three Frenchmen, Poincaré, Verne, and Roland, gathered around the table, happily playing Doudizhu.

Lu Shi, Bernard Shaw, and Tolstoy were watching the battle.

Tolstoy said: "The name of this game is really interesting, 'Fighting Landlords', peasants fighting landlords. I didn't expect Professor Lu to invent such a revolutionary and pioneering game. It would be great if the serfs could really stand up against the landlords. "

Verne said: "It is precisely because it is revolutionary that we like to play."

Poincaré threw two cards,

"A pair of 2. That's right! We're French!"

Lu Shi's head was full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

Bernard Shaw on the side acted as a substitute, complaining: "You guys obviously just like to play."

Poincaré argues,

Roland and Verne followed suit,

For a while, there was a commotion in the house, very lively.

Lu Shi looked at this group of literary giants, and couldn't help shaking his head, thinking that the famous people in history were indeed ordinary people, just like Hu Shi, they couldn't move their legs when they encountered the games they liked.

At this moment, Tolstoy approached Lu Shi and said, "Professor Lu, we talked about the Foundation before, do you remember?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"of course I remember."

Tolstoy sighed: "You know, because of the emperor, there has never been a similar organization in Russia. I have no idea about such a thing."

Needless to say he is a Russian,

The French and British present were very interested in how to do charity,

The rest of the people pricked up their ears, even the sound of poker slamming became softer.

Lu Shi asked: "Tuo Weng, you said earlier that you planned to distribute all your assets to farmers?"

Tolstoy nodded,

"right."

There was no need for Lu Shi to say anything, Verne next to him shook his head and said, "I said that the other day, this will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause."

Of course Tolstoy also knew,

That day, he talked about his donation because he talked about France's efforts to improve people's livelihood and reduce children's tuition fees.

He now faintly feels that the root cause of the problem lies in education.

Lu Shi said: "There is a Mr. Liang Qichao in China who said in his speech, 'If young people are wise, the country will be wise; if young people are rich, the country will be rich; if young people are strong, the country will be strong'." Yes, just ask me to write textbooks."

Tolstoy was silent,

Unexpectedly, even the weak Qing court knew that education was the top priority.

"I see," he said.

Poincaré said: "I am afraid that the cost of establishing a university..."

I didn't say anything later.

Roland took over the conversation: "Professor Lu said just now that 'the wisdom of the young is the wisdom of the country', and it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go to university."

Tolstoy said: "No university? What's the use of that?"

Roland said: "Germany started compulsory education when it was still Prussia~ Ah, speaking of it, why did compulsory education not start in Britain, which had just completed the industrial revolution, but Prussia, which was economically backward?"

Roland began to pay attention to this matter when he was at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.

But thanks to Bismarck, the iron-blooded prime minister, when it comes to Prussia, everyone seems to be concerned about fighting and fighting, and there is little talk about education.

On this point, Bernard Shaw is the one who has the most ground to complain about,

He said: "Compulsory education requires a big government and huge public financial expenditures. The British Empire is a feudal and free country. Where can we get this huge expenditure?"

God Meow's "feudal freedom"!

Everyone laughed.

Shaw spread his hands,

"Don't think I'm joking. In my heart, the UK is like the opening sentence of "Yes! Prime Minister", 'Daying has always been inappropriate in terms of inappropriate people'. Lu summed it up quite well."

In fact, the UK had the Primary Education Act in 1870,

As for the lack of implementation...

It can only be said that there is such a thing.

Lu Shi also said: "No matter how you look at it, it is elite education for the aristocrats that is in line with British characteristics, rather than universal compulsory education."

Tolstoy asked: "Primary education is so important?"

The rest nodded together.

Lu Shi further said: "Russia now has a characteristic - it is so poor that there are only people left. When there are only people left, what else can you do with these people? One is to fight wars, the other is to farm, and the third is to be Do you want to engage in education? You won’t be fooling them into making a revolution…”

Everyone was amused again,

Because Russia is indeed full of revolutionary fire now.

Bernard Shaw said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult."

In 1763, Frederick William II promulgated the "Ordinary School Regulations", but the compulsory education laws encountered great resistance in the actual implementation.

especially in rural areas,

Farmers believe that it is more important for children to participate in labor on small farms than to go to school.

For example, Prussia acquired the Eifel region in 1815 and began to implement compulsory education there. However, it ushered in two decades of violent protests by the local rural population against children going to school.

Tolstoy said in a deep voice: "Tall buildings rise from the ground. Only when the foundation is laid, can the country..."

Before the words fell, there was a knock on the door outside.

"Gentlemen, there is a telegram!"

Tolstoy was a little surprised,

"So fast?"

They had just submitted the telegram to the British Consulate the night before, and George Bernard Shaw came forward and asked the consulate to help send the telegram.

Verne jokingly said: "I'm afraid Stockholm can't help it~ I finally caught the straw, we can't let it slip through our fingers, right? Now let them kneel down to Mr. Tolstoy, and they all One hundred willing."

Tolstoy waved his hands again and again,

"Not so~ not so~"

Although he was very humble on his lips, he couldn't help but blush.

Lu Shi went to open the door.

Unexpectedly, the clerk at the door said, "Professor Lu, just right, this is a telegram for you."

"For me?"

Lu Shi was stunned, opened the telegram,

In an instant, a shocked expression appeared on his face, he turned his head to look at Bernard Shaw, and blinked subtly.

Bernard Shaw leaned over and swept his gaze,

I saw that it said: "Your Majesty is seriously ill, return quickly."

Lu Shi said: "This exchange is over. We need to book the nearest boat back to London. Please bear with me."