British writer

Three days later.

The little girl Zena Dyer arrived at Adelphi Girls' School in a carriage.

The weather has started to get hot and muggy,

The sun shines through the sparse clouds at the school gate,

The ancient plane trees on both sides of the road have lush branches and leaves, like huge green parasols.

Zena jumped out of the carriage,

Just at this time, her best friend Bar Sherlotto also arrived at school.

The two met each other.

Ba'er immediately came up and lowered her voice,

"Zena, have you seen "The Little Prince" yesterday? I almost didn't buy it! I finally got it after the price increase."

Because there are two publications a day, all the machines in the printing plant of "Mirror" are running continuously.

As a result, several machines broke down.

On the first day, a special evening newspaper with a children's literature edition was issued, and a full 70,000 copies were printed;

The next day it dropped to 50,000 copies.

It can be said that a reward is hard to come by.

Fortunately, Lu Shi was acquainted with the two editors-in-chief of The Scotsman and the Manchester Guardian and was able to borrow a printing press. Otherwise, even the normal supply of the Mirror would have been problematic.

Of course, these will not affect Zena,

Because she was familiar with Lu Shi, she had her own way.

"Of course I watched it."

She asked curiously: "What? What do you think of the ending of "The Little Prince" yesterday?"

Ba'er sighed like a little adult,

"well……"

Inexplicably and subtly sentimental.

Zena was surprised,

"What's going on?"

Ba'er replied with a straight face: "Don't you think the fox is pitiful? When the little prince left, the fox cried, but he said to the fox, 'You can't blame me, you asked me to tame you.' This... this He’s obviously a scumbag!”

Zena:? ? ?

"So, you think The Little Prince is a love story?"

Baer asked back: "Isn't it? A love triangle between the little prince, the rose, and the fox."

"Ah this..."

Zena was at a loss for words, and after a long time she said: "I have more contact with Professor Lu in real life, and I really don't think he can write love stories."

Bar shook her head and said, "Then what is "Roman Holiday"?"

Zena retorted: "But "The Little Prince" is children's literature!"

Ba'er glared dissatisfiedly,

"Who said children can't understand love? I didn't expect you to be so boring."

Zena: "..."

He was speechless.

She could only hold the other person's hand,

"Hey Bar, I was wrong~ You are right! "The Little Prince" can indeed be understood as a love story!"

Ba'er raised her little nose proudly,

"That's pretty much it!"

The two chatted and entered the campus together to the classroom.

As soon as I entered the door, I heard a lot of noise inside.

"I think the little prince didn't like the fox, so he chose to leave."

"Heartless man!"

"That would be a bit too much for him to say. There is no right or wrong when it comes to love."

"But the fox is so sad, because what the little prince said is indeed the truth, she can blame no one, but she can only blame herself for being tempted."

…

Zena was confused;

She couldn't understand,

Why do these girls under ten years old read "The Little Prince" as a love story?

But soon, she recalled "Lolita" written by Lu Shi,

Isn’t this what Luo is like in the book?

He is obviously young and naive, but he insists on pretending to be an adult.

It is precisely because we are at this age that we have all kinds of fantasies about love.

Zena couldn't help but snicker, remembering that during the drama, Professor Lu, Mr. Xiao, and Mr. Barry discussed together,

What they were worried about still happened——

Children really like to think too much.

After Zena and Bar sat down and discussed for a while, Mother West walked in slowly.

Grandma's mood doesn't seem to be very high.

She looked around,

"Today, we are going to have an outdoor lesson."

The students looked at each other,

Discussions arose everywhere,

"When did Miss West become so good?"

"I can only say that old women sometimes have good intentions."

"It's rare."

…

Mother West slapped the podium,

Snapped--

"Everyone be quiet!"

She cleared her throat and said: "Today, our outdoor class is to study flowers and plants. The task is to go to the school garden and eradicate all the roses...ahem...I mean, observe the rose root system and make it specimen."

For a moment, there was silence in the classroom,

"..."

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere became extremely weird.

Aunt West's face turned pink.

She raised her voice,

"Why don't you reply? Are you confused about this mission?"

The students shook their heads repeatedly and said in unison: "No!"

Aunt West was very satisfied;

"Okay, let's go now."

After saying that, he walked out of the door immediately.

The classroom was quiet for a while, and then extremely suppressed laughter could be heard.

Everyone is trying to keep a straight face.

Bar said: "Unexpectedly, Miss West also watched "The Little Prince" and developed a hatred for roses."

Zena made a silent gesture,

"Shh! Don't let her hear it."

Mother West never married, so she was called "Miss West" by the students behind her back, which was a mockery.

Zena sighed in her heart,

It seems that more people can read love from "The Little Prince" than imagined.

She asked: "Ba'er, why do you only focus on the love triangle? There are obviously many philosophical sentences in it! For example,"

She pointed out examples,

"

'All adults were once children, but unfortunately only a few remember it. ’

‘The stars shine so that everyone can find their own star one day. ’

‘It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. ’

…

"

These sentences are indeed very philosophical and thought-provoking.

Bar sighed,

"But I think there are more sentences about love. And I can also give examples,"

She also started to list,

"

‘There may be five thousand flowers like you in the world, but you are my unique rose. ’

'It is precisely because you spend so much time on your roses that your roses become so important. ’

‘When you really like someone, you will think a lot and it is easy to do stupid things and say stupid things. ’

…

"

Finished a long list.

On the surface, these words seem to be related to love.

Zena pondered,

If you continue to argue with Ba'er like this, it will definitely become endless.

But she didn't want to refute at all.

With a thousand readers, there are a thousand Hamlets,

Professor Lu certainly doesn’t mind children’s divergent ideas.

The two chatted for a while,

suddenly,

Boom——

There was a banging sound at the door.

Aunt West poked her head out.

"Why haven't you taken action yet! Hurry up! Don't wait any longer!"

The students quickly got up and walked out together.

Bar whispered: "Miss West must have been emotionally hurt before. I think maybe it was the French who did it."

Zena said "Huh?"

"Why French?"

Baer spread her hands,

"You see, when Sir Lu wrote "The Little Prince", he used it bilingually, with French at the top and English at the bottom. It seems to be a hint that the original text is French and the English is just a translation. But it was clearly serialized in a British newspaper ,Why is this?"

This was said in a rhetorical tone, and no one needed to answer at all.

Therefore, Zena wisely chose to remain silent.

As expected, Bar continued: "The reason is very simple! Only French people would do such things as the little prince, and British gentlemen would not be able to do them."

"puff!"

Zena laughed.

…

Cambridge, King's College.

In the conference room, several old British professors, including Chancellor Cavendish, looked serious.

There is a manuscript spread out on the round table,

It is "The Little Prince".

After being silent for a while, Cavendish asked, "What do you think?"

No one answered.

Cavendish had to ask again: "What do you think of this fairy tale?"

This time, James spoke,

"I also write children's literature, so I have some say. I firmly believe that "The Little Prince" will become the most dazzling monument in the history of literature and one of the brightest stars in the sky."

This is no exaggeration.

The original author of "The Little Prince"——

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,

With this book, he entered the Panthéon in France, and his name is engraved on the stone tablet on the side of the sculpture at the end of the hall, along with Voltaire, Rousseau, and Hugo;

Lyon's airport is named after the author;

Before the introduction of the euro, fifty franc notes also bore the author's face.

The French official explanation of these actions is of course to commemorate the author,

But interestingly, the French people identify him more as a fighting hero than as a writer.

James continued: "Frankly speaking, Sir Lu has many excellent creations, but "The Little Prince" is the most unique. It is children's literature and is destined to influence many children and become many people's childhood memories."

The professors nodded unanimously,

At the same time, the atmosphere in the conference room became more serious.

Just because "The Little Prince" is bound to become a very influential presence in the literary world, a question will become extremely acute——

What is the first language of "The Little Prince"?

"I don't want it to be in French," Cavendish murmured.

James smiled bitterly,

"But, I heard from someone in the Mirror that this fairy tale is the first French version."

"Tsk..."

Cavendish was speechless;

"You think I don't know? Her Royal Highness the Princess has also revealed similar information."

Everyone sighed deeply:

"well……"

James said: "It's not that I can't understand it. In the story, the attitude of the little prince towards the rose and the fox is something that only French people would do!"

This joke immediately lightened the mood;

Everyone laughed.

After he stopped laughing, Cavendish said: "The Little Prince can contribute to the world of English literature. We cannot give it up to the French so easily."

Everyone agreed that the word "adding bricks and mortar" is too conservative.

"The Little Prince" will definitely be the crown jewel of literature.

James spread his hands,

"But the facts are the facts. We can't just say what we say, right? After all, Sir Lu is the original author. What is the first language of "The Little Prince" can only be determined by what he himself said. Who are we to point fingers?"

The corners of Cavendish's mouth curved,

"Huh huh... you don't understand this. Sir Lu also publicly made a wise saying, 'After a work is published, it does not completely belong to the author himself. The reading experience of the novel needs to be constructed by the author and the reader together.'"

The professors were all a little confused and communicated in low voices.

"Sir Lu said this?"

"I didn't print it... um... I remembered it. At that time, after the premiere of "The Hunt", Sir Lu went to Adelphi Girls' School to teach. Those were indeed the exact words of his speech!"

"Yes! Yes, yes! I remember! At that time, he also said, 'This is also the reason why literary criticism plays an important role in literature.'"

…

Cavendish clapped his hands,

"OK OK!"

He brought everyone's attention back to himself,

"It is true that "The Little Prince" was first written in French. This is an indisputable fact. But this does not mean that its first language is French. Because, from a publishing point of view, it was published bilingually in the "Mirror" together with English. The pattern started to be serialized.”

This point is still objective.

The professors did not object.

Cavendish showed a satisfied expression and continued: "So, we have to return to literature after all. Is the English version of "The Little Prince" better? Or the French version? This is the essence of the problem!"

James suddenly realized,

"Mr. Superintendent, do you mean to use literary criticism to prove that the English version is better than the French version..."

Cavendish smiled;

"Everyone! Please work hard to keep "The Little Prince" in the English-speaking world!"

The scene was quiet for a while at first.

Subsequently,

"That's it!"

All the professors suddenly agreed.

…

at the same time,

In Paris, at the Collège de France, a similar scene occurred.

Many big shots gathered together,

On the large conference table, several copies of the children's literature edition of "Mirror" were spread out.

Someone whispered: "Tell me, what is the first language of "The Little Prince"?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone gave the answer:

"Of course it's in French!"

Poincaré on the side explained: "Although there is no relevant evidence, according to logic, since the Mirror is an English newspaper published in London, its content should naturally be in English as much as possible. This is consistent with common sense."

The implication is very obvious,

The use of French in "The Little Prince" in "Mirror" shows that the first language can only be French and there is no other choice.

Roland pondered: "In that case, we should require that the single volume be published in Paris first."

This is true.

Unfortunately,

"Some people won't agree."

Poincaré pointed out very clearly, "Because "The Little Prince" is destined to go down in history and be sought after around the world. And the British are used to being shameless and will definitely try their best to rob it."

Roland scratched his head,

"This is troublesome. Lu is Dae-young's KBE now."

Poincaré spread his hands,

"Professor Lu is the KBE of Great Britain, that's true. But equally, he is also a corresponding academician of our Académie Française!"

"Ah this..."

Roland was a little confused.

"Is it now?"

Correspondence academicians should wait until the end of the year for evaluation.

The other professors looked at each other with embarrassed expressions.

Poincaré said: "Rules are dead, people are alive. Moreover, you have all read the content of the story, the little prince, the rose, the fox... There is a romance unique to the French in it. Its first language It can only be in French.”

Someone sighed: "It won't be that simple."

Poincaré snorted.

"It is precisely because of complexity that we have to face difficulties. Isn't French the most elegant and beautiful language in the world?"

These words instantly inspired everyone.

Roland whispered: "Mr. Poincaré is right! We must prove that French is the most suitable language for "The Little Prince"!"

Everyone echoed:

"English?!"

"What a piece of shit?!"