British writer

Ask for a monthly pass.

This month, I have always been in the top 500 of the combat power list (i.e. the updated list), so I should be worthy~

￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥

the next day.

When Riku woke up, Natsume Soseki had already gone out.

Only me and Xiaolan are left in the room,

My rice bowl was placed next to the fish tank, and I feasted on the French smoked chicken and canned cat. From time to time, I raised my head and meowed to the little lazy guy in the fish tank, as if to show off.

Xiaolan was unmoved and stayed in the fish tank as always.

"Ha~"

Lu Shi yawned.

We looked up and saw the master getting up, so we rubbed our big face on the fish tank to wipe off the oil.

Xiaolan was so frightened that he immediately shrank.

We ran to the bedside,

"Meow~"

The legs of pajama pants when you thrust your cheek into the land,

Unfortunately, the oil was not wiped clean, leaving shallow marks.

Lu Shi pinched its face, then leaned forward and opened the window a small crack.

In London in February, the weather is getting warmer.

But the wind was still strong, and the sky was leaden gray, covered with thick clouds that made it difficult for sunlight to penetrate.

The trees on both sides of the street had withered leaves and only their bare branches swayed in the cold wind.

After Lu Shi washed up, he sat down at the table.

We are near,

"Meow~"

It brought a box of biscuits to the table.

Lu Shi smiled,

"The little guy has really become a sperm."

He opened the biscuit and ate it, then turned his attention to the manuscript of "The Rise of a Great Power: Russia".

The article is finished,

At the end, Lu Shi more or less predicted.

After Natsume Soseki read it yesterday, he felt that the content was somewhat ahead of its time.

For example, the so-called "public administration"

In his opinion, it didn't seem to be much different from the current tsarist autocracy, except that the emperor was replaced by a political party.

What is the use of this kind of revolution?

Lu Shi also predicted the conflict between Japan and Russia.

Since the Kangxi period, Tsarist Russia has shown extremely aggressive behavior.

But at that time, the Qing Dynasty's national power was at its peak, and it did not take much effort to defeat Tsarist Russia.

However, in order to settle the matter, Kangxi gave up the barren land in his eyes.

This gave Tsarist Russia a taste of the sweetness,

As the Qing court weakened, it increasingly regarded large tracts of land in the Northeast as its own.

And on the other side,

After the Sino-Japanese War, through unequal treaties, Japan forced the Qing government to cede territory and had a strong claim to that territory.

However, Japan, which had just experienced a war, no longer had the ability to launch another war, so it had to give in and force the Qing government to hand over 30 million taels of silver to end the matter.

In other words, there is a serious conflict of interest between Japan and Russia.

It would be strange not to start a fight under such circumstances.

Of course, this is not a simple game between two parties.

Just like Little Transparent——

Qing court.

Given Russia's control over the Northeast, if it were allowed to grow, the Qing government would definitely have no chance to take it back in the future;

Not to mention Japan, which had already forced the Qing government to cede its rights in the "contract".

The Qing court's helplessness was that it could not defeat both sides.

In this case, it is better to add fuel to the fire and let Japan and Tsarist Russia start fighting. Maybe there will be a chance to get something out of the fire.

Is there even the slightest possibility?

So in the end, after analysis and analysis, there will definitely be that kind of prediction.

But Lu Shi wrote about the "Russian-Japanese Conflict" instead of the "Russian-Japanese War". The reason was that the British

Balfour didn't know where he made the mistake. After reading "The Nature of Japanese Civilization", he just discounted the preferential policies for Japan in the trade network, which greatly weakened Japan's development speed.

So, if a war really breaks out, will the outcome change?

"hiss……"

Lu Shi had one head and two heads.

Who wouldn't have a headache when thinking that they might actually change major history?

But, having said that,

Considering the industrial output and the strength of the army and navy, Japan still seems to have a greater chance of winning.

After all, data doesn’t lie.

But last night, Natsume Soseki broke out in a cold sweat after reading it.

He was extremely disgusted with war. After reading "Russia", he felt more and more that Japan's decision to expand through force was wrong.

Lu Shi put the manuscript away,

I don’t know if Nicholas II would have similar thoughts like Natsume Soseki after reading the article.

After finishing the "Rise of Great Powers" series, Lu Shi took a sip of water, ate biscuits, and began to think about "Lolita".

In fact, what he originally wanted to copy was "Lord of the Flies".

There is no other reason,

The book "Lolita" is hard to change.

First, the geographical and historical background,

The United States in the 1950s was the period of rapid development. The protagonist Lolita could go to summer camp, and Humbert even had a car that could carry two people on a trip.

But in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century,

Summer camp?

Sorry, the new gadget that originated in the United States in 1885 has not been popularized.

This is especially true for cars.

The list goes on and on.

The second is the profound literary foundation of the original author Nabokov.

Lu Shi once gave an example when communicating with Mengsen:

"

'Lolita, Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.'

"

Munson’s assessment at the time was:

"The entire article is almost exclusively composed of words starting with the two sounds "l" and "s". This use of alliteration is one of the most elegant writing methods in English. "

The most outrageous thing is that Nabokov is actually a Russian writer, and English is not his first language.

Lu Shi had no problem translating this kind of writing.

But if it were adapted...

Well, there is no chance of it for a while, and it needs to be polished.

But it’s not impossible to understand if you think about it.

Nabokov's alma mater was Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied French and Russian literature.

For the next 18 years, he continued to create in Berlin and Paris.

After that, he moved to the United States to teach, and the universities that hired him are:

Wellesley,

Stanford,

Cornell,

Harvard,

…

All are heavyweight universities.

No matter how many books Lu Shi had read and translated, it would still take a lot of effort to adapt such an outstanding work.

What is even more valuable is that Nabokov is not simply showing off his words;

That opening statement, in just a few words, conveyed Humbert's twisted sense of self-righteousness and affection.

In addition to the background and text, the third most difficult aspect of "Lolita" was mentioned in class yesterday -

Moral Hazard.

Not mentioning the relationship between stepfather and stepdaughter, even if "Lolita" is regarded as a romance novel, it would be troublesome.

When the novel was just finished, Nabokov repeatedly encountered obstacles at the publishing house.

In his own words:

"Lolita was an abomination to a few elderly and ill-read people."

To put it simply, there are too many erotic descriptions;

In terms of openness, Zola's "Nana" is simply the stinky younger brother compared to "Lolita".

As a result, the novel was banned in the United States,

Interestingly, the same is true in the UK.

Some commentators on the former said:

“Aging Europe seduces young America.”

One critic of the latter said:

“Young America seduces aging Europe.”

Both sides are at each other's throats.

But this matter should not have been serious at the beginning of the 20th century.

After all, Britain is still the world's number one hegemon.

Lu Shi fell into deep thought,

If you really want to write it, then for the erotic part, the yardstick should be "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "Ulysses", which have also caused worldwide controversy.

The fact that both books were successfully published shows that they are not under the sensitive line of readers.

He couldn't help but murmur to himself:

"Some content should be deleted or deleted... ugh... why does it look like an online novel~"

My generation: "Meow~"

He looked at Lu Shi curiously.

The little guy has never seen his master show such a troubled expression while writing a book.

Lu Shi touched its head.

"go for meal."

I rubbed Lu Shi's elbow with my cheek again, then jumped up and down to the fish tank, and patted the glass with the meat ball in my palm.

Puff——

Xiaolan slowly poked his head out and looked at me.

Lu Shi couldn't help but laugh,

This cat and turtle is really amazing.

He turned his attention back to the book, lost in thought,

To write "Lolita", you first have to consider where to place the background.

Lu Shi muttered:

"Perhaps, France?"

France is relatively open compared to other countries.

In the original history, "Lolita" was approved by Olympia Publishing House in Paris and published.

But France also has problems -

religion.

Even fifty years later, it would be very difficult to publish the story of the stepfather and stepdaughter in a country where the majority of the people are traditional Catholics.

What's more, at this point in time?

But then again, Catholic scandals are not just old or young;

Priests claim to be the guardians of morality and the pillars of faith, but they have been unable to control the lower body for hundreds of years. There are always numerous cases, and they seem to have no position to criticize others.

Lu Shi pondered,

I also considered the United States, Britain, and even Tsarist Russia and Germany.

In the end, I still feel that I have to catch France, a sheep, to pluck the wool until it is bald.

But the language still has to be English.

Lu Shi could make some changes to other novels, but "Lolita" could not be changed.

He put his hands on the typewriter, but couldn't press it down. Finally, he dragged a few pieces of manuscript paper from the side and started writing by hand.

swish swish——

The room was filled with the sound of pen scraping against paper.

After I finished eating, I carefully jumped onto Lu Shi's table and looked at it curiously.

Then it jumped down,

The warm body wrapped around Lu Shi's ankles.

In this way, Lu Shi kept writing,

I don’t know how much time had passed, but someone opened the door of Burya Road.

The cold wind blows,

The paper on the table was blown up and made a soft sound.

Natsume Soseki's voice sounded: "Lu, have you already sent "The Rise of the Great Powers: Russia"? Do you want me to help... um... you are writing a letter?"

He was already close to the table, but when he saw Lu Shi writing with a pen and paper, he quickly moved away to avoid suspicion.

Lu Shi shook his head,

"It's not a letter, it's a novel."

Natsume Soseki was confused.

In the past, Lu Shi would always use a typewriter when creating, which would cause paper jams every time because the speed was too fast.

what is it today?

Natsume Soseki was stunned for a long time and said worriedly: "Are your knuckles hurting? Sigh... I told you a long time ago, don't type so fast! I realized that when I was writing "I am a Cat", that thing It can’t be used for long!”

Current typewriters are purely mechanical, without electromagnetic assistance, and the hardness of the keys can be imagined.

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"It has nothing to do with that."

Although he was answering the other party, his eyes did not leave the manuscript paper in front of him.

After hesitating for a while,

brush--

Two whole lines were crossed out,

Rewrite!

Natsume Soseki was shocked when he saw this scene.

Does Lu Shi also revise the text when he writes?

Of course, he had never been able to finalize a draft before. After typing it out on a typewriter, he would proofread it again with a pencil.

But those are minor revisions.

Crossing out two lines like this means that there is a problem with the structure of the sentence or even the paragraph, or it does not meet expectations.

This is extremely rare in Lu Shi's creations.

It happens occasionally in "The Lord of the Rings", but even in the first book "None Survived", this kind of situation definitely never happened.

Natsume Soseki was inevitably curious.

"what type?"

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"I told you yesterday about the stepfather and stepdaughter. Those little female students thought I wanted to write it, the archbishop thought I wanted to write it, and Zena even said that if the script was adapted, Phyllis could Playing the leading role..."

Natsume Soseki laughed dumbly.

"Sometimes it becomes like this. Everyone thinks that if you want to write, there is nothing you can do."

Lu Shi shrugged,

"Not really. No one can force me now."

With his extremely high status in the literary world, the media world, and the education world, and because he is KBE, I am afraid that even if Edward VII comes in person, he will have to ask for books in a good voice.

Natsume Soseki became even more curious,

"Can I see it?"

Lu Shi was surprised,

"Aren't you always afraid of being spoiled?"

Natsume Soseki spread his hands,

"Of course I'm afraid of being spoiled, but now that you're like this, I won't be able to sleep if I don't read it."

Writing by hand instead of using a typewriter shows that Lu Shi attaches great importance to this novel, and also shows that he still has uncertainty in his heart and needs to revise it from time to time.

A novel like this must be read first.

Lu Shi nodded,

"Fine."

Natsume Soseki took the manuscript paper and began to read,

"

‘

Lolita, Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.

Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap,

at three, on the teeth.

Lo. Lee. Ta.’

"

As soon as he finished speaking,

Lu Shi laughed "Pfft!"

In fact, before Natsume Soseki had finished reading, he was already laughing, but he didn't make a sound.

He forgot that Natsume Soseki was Japanese.

There are many weird things about Japanese English.

for example,

Pronounce "R" as "L";

Pronounce "tion" as "bear" and "congratulation" as "congratula bear";

pronounce "er" as "ar" and "center" as "centar";

…

After Natsume Soseki read a passage that had a strong sense of rhythm, the sense of rhythm became even stronger. It was like the peashooter in "Plants vs. Zombies", firing "chug, chug, chug".

Natsume Soseki was embarrassed,

"my question."

Lu Shi didn't answer.

You can't say "Lolita" is obscure and hard to pronounce, right?

Natsume Soseki said in a deep voice: "Lu, you don't have to feel guilty. I know very well that this is my problem. Don't forget the purpose of my coming to London..."

"Study English."×2

The two said in unison, then looked at each other and smiled.

Natsume Soseki said: "To be honest, I have read a lot of English novels and poems. Among them, there are many people who show off their words, but being able to show off at the beginning... No, this should not be regarded as showing off."

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"It doesn't matter, you can continue reading and tell me how you feel about these few thousand words, so I can use them as a reference."

Natsume Soseki couldn't help but exclaimed, "Huh?"

"You won't write anymore?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"I won't write for now, I just want to take a break. Writing with pen and paper is a bit tiring."

"hiss……"

Natsume Soseki took a breath,

"Lu, I think you should write. Your novels have never disappointed anyone, so I will definitely want to continue reading until the end. If I don't have to read it by then..."

Hearing what he meant, he actually wanted Lu Shi to be 996.

Lu Shi's head was full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

"You're a bit of a bastard! None of the capitalists are as bad as you."

Natsume Soseki smiled and said,

"That's not the case. The capitalists are still worse than me. Didn't you go to the rudder? Listen to what happened to those workers..."

Lu Shi glared at the other person and interrupted: "Hurry up, don't waste time!"

Natsume Soseki raised his hands in surrender and said: "Okay, okay!"

After giving the military salute, he continued reading.

As a result, the more he read, the more frightened he became, and he vaguely felt that he might be witnessing the birth of a real masterpiece.

"Roger Mystery" and "The Lord of the Rings", aren't they good?

Of course it looks good!

But after all, it is a lower-level book whose purpose is to sell well. Even if it can be called a "masterpiece", its ideas and connotations are still slightly inferior after all.

So, what about "The Way of the Morning", "Animal Farm", and "The Hunt"?

Undoubtedly profound enough, but still missing the mark.

And this "Lolita", judging from the first few thousand words alone, may be able to put Lu Shi on par with those giants.

"Huh~"

Natsume Soseki took a deep breath and murmured: "It's so well written."

When he turned to Lu,

"This is a novel, right? With just one beginning, I can't judge the plot. After all, the story of a stepfather and stepdaughter is too difficult to write."

Lu Shi understood,

"It's okay. Just keep talking."

Natsume Soseki added: "As for writing, I won't comment too much. I'm pretty good at writing in Japanese, so forget it in English."

Lu Shi said: "Then let's talk about emotions and characterization."

Natsume Soseki pondered for a moment,

"Humbert, the 'I' in the novel, seems to be deeply in love with Lolita. But for some reason, I always feel...well...I can't tell."

Lu Shi said for the other party,

"Awkward? Do you feel awkward?"

Natsume Soseki said "Yeah".

"I do feel like there's a dissonance in that love."

Lu Shi smiled,

"That's right! Do you remember "Yes! Prime Minister"? There are three protagonists, Humphrey, Jim, and Bernard. How did we evaluate Bernard at the time?"

Natsume Soseki suddenly realized,

"It's a matter of perspective!"

It stands to reason that as the Prime Minister's personal secretary, Bernard should also be a very capable person.

But in Yes! Prime Minister", he appears almost characterless.

There is no other reason. The entire "Yes!" "Prime Minister" cannot be viewed simply as a script, but as Bernard's memoirs.

He polished himself in his memoirs!

Lu Shi raised the corners of his mouth,

"So, does Humbert really love Lolita..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door suddenly.

Margarita shouted from outside: "Professor Lu."

Hearing her voice, Natsume Soseki suddenly slapped his forehead,

"I forgot to tell you! Today, I met Her Royal Highness at school discussing advertising with Mr. Kandinsky and Mr. Picasso. She asked me to bring you a message, saying that she would come to visit in the afternoon."

As he said that, Natsume Soseki looked at the manuscript reluctantly.

"I originally wanted to read it a second time."

This guy is a bookworm,

No wonder I forgot about Margarita after reading the novel.

When Lu Shi packed up his manuscripts and picked up "The Rise of a Great Power: Russia", he hesitated.

Finally, he said: "Send it to Petersburg."

Natsume Soseki asked: "Shall I help you?"

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"No, I'll do it myself. Let's take care of Mr. Picasso's affairs first."

After saying that, he went to open the door.