British writer

Russia, Saint Petersburg,

Catherine Palace, master bedroom.

There is a fire burning in the fireplace,

Bi Bi Peo Pei——

The room was warmed by the scorching heat, resisting the cold outdoors that constantly penetrated the walls.

There is a luxurious bed in the center of the room. The four pillars are made of high-gloss metal and covered with exquisite golden decorations, like dots of stars.

The bedding is made of the highest quality silk, smooth and soft, as if it could wrap you in a cloud.

Nicholas II woke up from his sleep in the middle of the big bed,

"Huh~"

He let out a slow breath.

Compared to Moscow, St. Petersburg is actually at a higher latitude, but because it is close to the sea, winter is less painful.

This is why he lives in the Catherine Palace rather than in the Kremlin.

Of course, the more important reason is that the construction here is more luxurious.

The layout of the palace is exquisite, and the exterior facade is fresh and soft, filled with feminine and charming charm, which reminds people of the sensuality, extravagance and extravagance of Empress Catherine during her lifetime.

In comparison, the Kremlin seems too rigid.

Nicholas II extended his arm out of the bed curtain and waved, silently giving instructions.

The palace maid approached, slowly bent down,

"His Majesty?"

Only this title really annoyed Nicholas II.

"What do you want me to do? Water! Give me water!"

The palace maid couldn't help being startled,

"I go now!"

She held up her skirt and trotted to the side to get a pot of water, mixed it with honey, and then carefully placed it in the Tsar's hand.

Nicholas II propped himself up and sipped,

"Why is it so hot!? You can't do simple things well. Are you a pig!?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his expression changed.

boom--

The water glass was thrown out.

The palace maid quickly knelt down and wiped the floor without saying a word.

"..."

When the tsar was angry, begging for mercy and confessing sins would only increase his presence and arouse thunder and wrath.

Only silence is the best self-protection.

In fact, the palace maid knew that the reason for Nicholas II's rage was nothing more than that word——

pig.

Unfortunately, the main characters in "Animal Farm" are all pigs.

The palace maid glanced at the bedside subconsciously,

There is a book there——

"Chao Wen Dao".

In fact, there are three science fiction novels in it;

"Rural Teacher\

,""Chao Wen Tao\

,""Animal Farm".

Either a short story or a novella,

All very exciting.

The reason why the maid knows this is because she read the first two articles for Nicholas II.

The Tsar sat in an armchair, either listening to a book or eating fruit with his eyes closed.

Regarding "The Village Teacher", Nicholas II had a very cold evaluation.

His original words were: "This book is a fantasy of the Yellow Peril. The Chinese rely on modern education to save the earth? How is that possible? I would rather believe that the Kremlin was charged by the Cossack cavalry."

The attitude of the Tsar and the Kaiser towards East Asia was well known;

However, Kaiser Wilhelm has recently changed and no longer mentioned the Yellow Peril theory, which annoyed Nicholas II.

The Chinese say: "Virtue is never alone, it must have neighbors."

The Tsar felt that he was a bit "lonely" now.

As for "Chao Wen Dao", Nicholas II's evaluation surprised the palace maid.

On the one hand, he thinks those scientists are selfish;

To pursue one's own interests and ideals, to ignore the needs of others and the high investment of the country and the nation is a complete traitor;

On the other hand, he believes that scientists should dedicate themselves to the country and promote development with personal sacrifice, which is natural.

The palace maid felt from the bottom of her heart,

Your Majesty the Emperor, you are worthy and established.

Of course, this attitude must never be shown,

She still knelt down carefully to collect the broken pieces of the cup without raising her head.

Nicholas II was angry for a while, but he didn't know what he was thinking. He picked up the book on his desk by some strange coincidence, turned to the part of "Animal Farm" and read it again.

He has ordered the book to be banned,

The reason is simple. He feels that there is some allusion to "Animal Farm".

At this moment, there was a knock on the bedroom door,

An announcement came from outside: "Your Majesty, Lord Witte wants to see you."

Sergey Witte.

Nicholas II had a headache when he heard this name.

From a certain perspective, Werther was a reformer and believed that a constitutional monarchy should be implemented and all classes should be given rights.

This naturally conflicts with imperial power.

However, Werther was not as annoying as other reformers.

Because he is very conservative and moderate, he can even be evaluated as "loyal".

For example, every winter, Werther would advise Nicholas II not to move to St. Petersburg, because staying in Moscow would strengthen his control over the eastern part of the empire and would not weaken the imperial power.

Such advice is almost like a royalist.

But Nicholas II sneered at this,

The east of the empire?

Isn’t it Siberia, the “paradise” of exiles?

Strengthening control there will at best increase the annual potato output by dozens of tons, which is of no use.

That barren land could not even grow anti-imperialist and anti-feudal rebels.

Nicholas II felt that the Catherine Palace was more comfortable to live in.

He sat up,

"Help me get dressed."

The maid quickly stood up, wiped her hands, and helped the tsar put on his home clothes.

Then Nicholas II said: "Let him in."

The door was pushed open immediately,

Standing at the door was a middle-aged man with a beard, about fifty years old.

He wears a suit and tie, a collar clip, a bow tie, and a sparkling medal on his right chest, making him look very formal.

This person is none other than Werther.

Nicholas II waved his hand and asked the maid to retreat.

When Werther entered the house, he frowned slightly when he saw the water stains on the ground, and walked around calmly.

"His Majesty."

He bowed.

Nicholas II said "hmm" and asked: "Is it done?"

Werther nodded,

"Yes, everything that should be sealed has been sealed."

The two people's eyes fell on the book at the same time.

The room fell into silence,

"..."

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere is a bit weird.

After a while, Nicholas II spoke: "Although this book looks decent, in fact... the first two articles are just cover, and "Animal Farm" is the core. Take it out and print it separately, and it will only be two pages. Thirty thousand words, no different from those anti-thief pamphlets on the street.”

Witte: "..."

No comment on this.

Nicholas II snorted softly,

"This Lu is the author of "Guns, Germs and Steel," right? His attitude towards us was clearly very good before. Why has it changed now?"

Werther touched his nose,

My heart said,

The Tsar really puts money on his face.

In that book, Lu Shi did have a positive evaluation of Russia, but he focused on Peter I and Empress Catherine.

Why should Nicholas II be compared with those two?

Werther whispered: "Actually, "Animal Farm" is not necessarily..."

Halfway through his words, Nicholas II raised his hand and interrupted: "Who is the novel about? Can I tell?"

"Ah this..."

Werther was speechless again,

Frankly speaking, he really didn't think the Tsar could see it.

Nicholas II asked: "Who is the translator?"

Werther replied: "It's Leo Tolstoy."

"Tsk..."

Nicholas II was speechless,

"I see. It's the Tolstoy who wrote "Resurrection"..."

He looked at the cover of "Chao Wen Dao\

,"There are only original works on it, no translated names.

I thought it was strange before,

Because for a foreign language novel, translation is very important and can even be considered a part of the creation.

With this credit, there is no reason not to sign it.

But looking back now, Tolstoy's operation was normal.

Because "Resurrection" he wrote was also listed as a banned book by Nicholas II, he would not sign his name when translating "Chao Wen Dao" and try to keep a low profile in order to pass the test safely.

But this is wishful thinking,

Compared with "Animal Farm", even "Resurrection" becomes amiable.

Nicholas II whispered: "Then the old man should go to Siberia to dig potatoes."

He looked at Werther,

"Have you taken care of it?"

Werther said "Uh..." and then said: "Tolstoy has just won the Nobel Prize for Literature and his reputation is booming. Now attacking him will hinder the international view."

Nicholas II had a dark face;

"It's so disgusting..."

Werther continued: "Furthermore, His Majesty may have misunderstood."

Nicholas II was surprised and said: "Misunderstanding? What can I misunderstand?"

Witte replied: "The book "Chao Wen Tao" is not only in Russian, but also in German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish... all these versions do not have the signature of the translator."

Nicholas II was confused;

"What!?"

He was puzzled and said: "You mean, it was all translated by Lu himself...well...that's impossible! You just said that the Russian version was translated by that old man Tolstoy. And, which writer? Can you understand so many languages?”

Witte smiled bitterly and said: "It seems that the translators did it voluntarily. They felt that their signatures had lowered the value of the book "Chao Wen Dao"."

Nicholas II was even more confused after hearing this.

Didn’t Tolstoy just win the Nobel Prize?

Is this also pulling down?

Moreover, those writers identified Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky as Taishan Beidou!

Nicholas II mused,

"So, Lu has such a status in the literary world?"

Werther nodded helplessly,

"right."

After hearing this, the tsar suddenly had two heads and two heads.

He knows the urinary nature of these writers who use their pens as knives and kill people with soft knives.

After banning "Chao Wen Dao", I don't know how much saliva is waiting for me later. A mouthful of saliva can drown someone.

nausea!

It’s so disgusting!

But Nicholas II didn't mind it. After all, he was not afraid of being bitten by lice, and he did not seal books once or twice.

But even so, he was still a little unhappy,

"When it comes to arrogance and extravagance...ahem...in short, compared to Peter the Great and Empress Catherine, I am very restrained. Why am I being so vilified?"

Peter I had 1 wife and 39 mistresses.

There are as many as 425 court ladies who have had relationships with him and which are well documented.

And Empress Catherine is said to have met thousands of people.

In front of them, Nicholas II felt that he was simply an innocent boy.

Werther coughed lightly,

"Your Majesty, maybe "Animal Farm" isn't satirizing you?"

The implication is that the tsar took his position and acted on his own.

Nicholas II frowned,

"Huh? That's the irony of Kaiser Wilhelm II? No, I didn't hear that Germany sealed this book..."

Werther heard all the black clues in his head,

￣□￣｜｜

The Emotional Czar knows that the act of sealing a book is self-inflicted.

Werther whispered: "Your Majesty, there are some important characters in the book. For example, 'Napoleon', who do you think it symbolizes?"

In the novel, Napoleon is a pig;

As one of the leaders of the revolution, he skillfully seized the fruits of the revolution and became the leader of the manor.

The Tsar's face turned black,

"I."

Werther said "Uh..." and said cryptically: "To be honest, Your Majesty, I don't think you are worthy of being compared to the Napoleon in the novel... I mean, you may be more like the supporting character who appeared at the beginning - Mr. Jones. .”

Jones was the old owner of Manor Farm.

The Tsar's eyes lit up,

"Huh? Then I'm a human?"

Witte: "..."

grass!

In my heart, ten thousand horses of grass and mud were galloping past.

He didn't expect Nicholas II to have such a strong sense of involvement, so he simply stopped asking introductory questions and directly gave the conclusion.

"Your Majesty, I feel that "Animal Farm" is not alluding to Russia."

Nicholas II was confused;

"Then...which country is that?"

Witte said: "Humans being driven out symbolizes the fall of the old snobbery; the rise of pigs symbolizes the new power; the horse following the pig symbolizes the ordinaryness of those who believe in power..."

"etc!"

Nicholas II interrupted: "Wait a minute!"

He suddenly realized,

"I understand!"

Werther sighed,

"Your Majesty, do you understand again?"

Nicholas II nodded,

"The humans in "Animal Farm" are the Windsors; the pigs are the two houses; "The Seven Commandments" are the "Bill of Rights"; the horses are the common people...hiss...it's true when you say that, the horses were finally sold to slaughter by Napoleon Horse dealers and common people were sold... This is so damn real."

Werther didn't answer.

In fact, "Animal Farm" can symbolize many countries in Europe,

Because everyone’s process is similar.

The most ironic thing is Russia, because Tsarist Russia is even still under the rule of Mr. Jones~

Nicholas II had a headache;

"So, now the question is, what will happen if we block "Chao Wen Dao"?"

Werther didn't answer.

The book was sealed by the Tsar and has nothing to do with me.

…

"The book has been sealed?"

Churchill looked confused.

At this time, he was in Wodehouse's office, along with Lu Shi and Wodehouse.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Yes, it's closed."

Churchill's face nearly broke out in laughter.

The seal is almost equivalent to official certification, equivalent to admitting that Russia is Animal Farm.

This operation cannot suppress the spread of books. On the contrary, it will have the opposite effect. It will arouse people's curiosity about reading, transfer it from the ground to the underground, and spread faster and more covertly.

The most terrible thing is that "Chao Wen Dao" is not "Resurrection".

It is the work of Lu Shi and has been published in many languages ​​in Europe.

Imagine that when the novel is published in other countries, there is a sentence written on the waist:

——

The first of the ten most banned books in Russia, a nail in the heart of Tsar Nicholas II that could never be removed.

Chinese literary giant XXX kindly translated and highly recommended it.

——

"hiss……"

Churchill took a breath,

It’s too explosive!

He couldn't help but pat Lu Shi on the shoulder,

"Professor Lu, your books have been selling well overseas. For example, "Roger's Mystery" and "No Survival" have sold well. There must be 20,000 to 30,000 copies. But compared with "Chao Wen Dao", tsk... It’s not enough to watch at all.”

Wodehouse nodded,

"When it comes to marketing, we have to look at the great Emperor Nicholas. He is so good at advertising that Her Royal Highness's advertising company has to step aside."

They asked the Royal Publishing House to estimate it.

Today, "Chao Wen Dao" can easily sell 200,000 copies worldwide.

This is all thanks to Nicholas II.

He really,

I cried to death.

Churchill held the cigar in his left hand and stroked his increasingly rounded belly with his right hand, saying, "Of course, there are still some details that need to be confirmed."

He looked at Lu Shi,

"Professor Lu, who is the translator of the Russian version?"

Lu Shi said: "Tou Weng."

Churchill just took a puff on his cigar and choked.

"You mean Mr. Tolstoy?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"Well, he volunteered to help. The French version is Mr. Poincaré and Mr. Verne, the German version is Professor Monson, the Spanish version is Mr. Echegaray, the Polish version is Mr. Sienkiewicz..."

This long list of names sounds outrageous.

Churchill was speechless;

"I originally thought you could make a lot of money from "Chao Wen Dao", but now I think I thought too much. The translation fees you have to pay for these people are not low, right?"

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"It's free. They don't charge any money, or just a nominal fee of a few pounds."

Churchill: "..."

I'm speechless,

I thought to myself, Lu Shi is really a monster!

Wodehouse on the side said: "Winston, are you surprised?"

Churchill rolled his eyes at him.

"Aren't you surprised?"

Wodehouse nodded,

"Not surprised. I have known Professor Lu for a long time. I have seen this kind of thing so much that I have long been accustomed to it."

It turned out that he was already numb.

Churchill was speechless.

He returned to the subject,

"The risk we want to eliminate lies in translation. Your "Animal Farm" is full of irony, symbolism, metaphor, and innuendo, and Mr. Tolstoy is a compassionate and revolutionary person. Will he take advantage of this opportunity... "

What follows is not stated explicitly.

But Lu Shi knew that the other party was worried about Tolstoy bringing in private goods.

In this way, the Tsar's seal was not unreasonable.

Lu Shi fell into memories,

After a while, he said: "It must have done some localization."

This kind of thing is very common in the publishing world;

For example, in "A Brief History of Humanity", the author Yuval Harari mentioned examples such as Confucius and Confucianism in the Chinese version.

In European countries, these examples became Aristotle.

Doing so will help with promotion.

Churchill pondered,

"There won't be any problems with Mr. Tolstoy's translation, right?"

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"You know, I have always admired honesty, expressiveness and elegance. But in Russia..."

To be honest, he couldn't guarantee it.

After all, Nicholas II had been in a literary prison for more than ten years, and his basic skills were to find faults and find faults.

Churchill frowned,

"In this case, we can only...well..."

He suddenly paused, as if he remembered something, and said, "Professor Lu, your book "Animal Farm" is not alluding to Daying, is it?"

"Ah this..."

Lu Shi was embarrassed,

"There is no~ no specific target of allusion."

Churchill remained skeptical;

"Is it really?"

Lu Shi waved his hands repeatedly,

"Really! What do you think? I have already written "Yes! Prime Minister", so why add fuel to the fire again?"

Churchill: "..."

Wodehouse: "..."

The two looked at each other.

Lu Shi did not mention "Yes!" Prime Minister" Not bad,

As soon as they mentioned it, they couldn't help but think of the classic saying:

"Daying has always been a bad person when it comes to being a good person."

If "Animal Farm" is alluding to Britain, then he is indeed no longer a human being.

They are all animals!

This is the particularity of political allegory,

Everyone can see their own reflection in it.

Churchill muttered: "The reputation of the House of Commons has always been bad. It is called a 'zoo', which is unavoidable. However, if Britain is suitable, then France is also suitable, and there are Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands... There are many similar countries. went."

Lu Shi quickly followed the words,

"That's right! I don't even know why Emperor Nicholas is joining in the fun! What does it have to do with Russia?"

Churchill couldn't help but laugh,

"His letter must be none of his business. Why don't you bring it upon yourself~"

The evil authorities in the book are pigs;

As a result, the Tsar took the initiative to claim it.

Who would have thought of this?

Churchill took another puff on his cigar and said: "In any case, Animal Farm is about Russia, and this view will definitely become a consensus."