Shadow of great britain

In the musical instrument store, Elder stared at the suitcase held in Wheatstone's arms with wide eyes.

He frowned at first, then leaned down and put his ear against the suitcase. After listening for a while, Elder couldn't help but cover his head and exclaimed: "Damn it! Did you stuff a person in the suitcase? Also, Arthur, why does this voice sound a bit like you?"

Arthur held the pipe in his mouth, struck a match and lit it: "Because that's mine."

Elder held his face in his hands and suddenly exclaimed: "What do you mean?! Arthur, is your soul locked in this box? So, is the man standing in front of me now a human or a devil? ?”

Arthur took a puff of cigarette and blew out a smoke ring leisurely: "What do you think? What's the difference between the two?"

The red devil, who was looking at the wall full of musical instruments and enjoying them with great interest, heard this and couldn't help but smiled evilly and replied: "There is really no difference. Both are enemies of God. It's just that the devil did not defeat God, but humans Just defeated."

Arthur glanced at the red devil and then at the gramophone in front of him: "So, is this new invention a metaphor for man's victory over nature?"

The red devil just smiled: "Arthur, that's not what I'm talking about."

Arthur did not continue to talk to him, but turned his head and looked at Elder, who was shouting, and Wheatstone, who was too frightened by Elder's surprise and behavior to say anything.

He took out a brand new pipe from his pocket, pressed the tobacco carefully, and then stuffed it into the mouth of Wheatstone, whose lips were white and his temples were sweating.

Then, he hooked Whetstone's shoulder and said: "Come, my friend, take a breath first, and then explain the principle of the phonograph to this Oxford gentleman. After all, I am far inferior to you in the study of acoustics. ."

Wheatstone shivered and held up his pipe, then took a deep breath, but this not only failed to restore his calmness, but made him choke and hold his hands on the counter and cough repeatedly, as if he had consumption and was dying at any time. .

But Arthur didn't give him a chance to escape. He took out the flintlock pistol from the holster covered by his coat, and turned his index finger around the trigger guard. Then he only heard a snap and slapped the pistol on the counter. superior.

Arthur held Wheatstone's wrist with his hand expressionlessly, and pressed his palm against the cold barrel of the gun: "Come on, Mr. Wheatstone, touch this, it will give you the courage to speak. "

As soon as Wheatstone's sweaty hand touched the musket, his whole body trembled as if he had been electrocuted.

For just a moment, Wheatstone straightened his back, then calmly pushed up his glasses, and spoke to Elder seriously and rigorously.

"Sir, the main working principle of my phonograph is based on the principles of vibration and rotation. First, when recording, the sound waves are converted into the energy of the vibration of the metal needle, and the metal needle is used to engrave the sound waves on the tinfoil-wrapped On the wax cylinder, when playing, you need to turn it over..."

At first, Wheatstone was a little uncomfortable with it, but as the principles of the lecture deepened, he seemed to have forgotten the existence of the people around him, and began to describe the various structures of the phonograph and the problems that emerged during the development of this product. Questions related to what improvements he plans to make in the future.

But Elder became more and more confused as he listened. This scientific insulator neither understood acoustics nor mechanics. However, as a British gentleman determined to capture the heart of an aristocratic lady through science, Elder still adhered to the principle of "aspiration is not a matter of youth". , with the spirit of learning that ignorance is not an idiot, he raised his hand and asked.

"Mr. Wheatstone, may I ask..."

But before he finished speaking, he heard Wheatstone shouting loudly: "Shut up!"

The gentle-looking gentleman subconsciously picked up the musket on the counter, put it against Elder's chin, glared and roared: "Don't ask questions now. If you talk any more, I'll kill you with one fucking shot!"

Elder was so shocked that he broke into sweat. He looked to Arthur beside him, asking for help, but all he received was a helpless hat-tickling greeting.

Seeing this, Elder could only take a deep breath, showed a signature smile, and used his melancholy eyebrows and eyes to send a message to Wheatstone - Awesome, keep going.

Wheatstone finally lost his temper. After an unknown amount of time, he finally introduced all the principles of acoustics and the structure of the phonograph.

As soon as his mouth closed, he lay on the counter as if exhausted, breathing heavily.

Arthur leaned on the edge of the counter, smiled, clapped, and affirmed: "Mr. Wheatstone, aren't you doing well? You see, giving a speech is not particularly difficult. You were just giving a speech. What kind of emotions did you feel?"

Wheatstone closed his eyes and covered his pounding heart. His mind was a little dazed: "I...I'm just a little scared...and then suddenly a little angry. I hate giving speeches, but you insist on forcing me to do so." He asked me to do this, so I was very angry...after that...after that, I talked about so many things in a confused manner."

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "Congratulations! You have captured the essence of the speech. A successful speech requires emotion. Fear is an emotion that can be used. Of course, anger is also an emotion that can be used. For the audience Basically, all you have to do is convey your emotions. Infect yourself first, and only in this way can the audience feel you."

After saying this, Arthur said to Elder, who was beside him with a face of rejoicing and wiping sweat with a handkerchief: "Did you just feel Mr. Wheatstone's fear?"

Elder stared at this and said: "Nonsense! Who can be without fear when being held by a gun?"

"Then did you feel Mr. Wheatstone's wrath?"

Elder banged his fist on the counter and emphasized: "How can you not be angry when you are held to a gun for no reason?"

Arthur smiled and held Wheatstone's hand: "Congratulations, Mr. Wheatstone. Although the gramophone still has many flaws, at least you have completed special training in speech."

"Is...is it?" Wheatstone asked instead: "But...I may be able to face a small audience, but if it is the size of the lecture hall of the Royal Society..."

Arthur shook his finger slightly when he heard this: "Mr. Wheatstone, have you forgotten what I said? When you feel scared, touch this thing."

He pushed the flintlock pistol he had in front of him toward Wheatstone.

Wheatstone stared at the gun blankly and scratched his head: "Mr. Hastings, what do you mean?"

Arthur said: "Although I think the current version of the gramophone is just like what you said, there are still many shortcomings, such as the wear problem of the tinfoil wax disk, and for example, when recording the human voice, it needs to be as far away as possible. You have to be as close as possible, otherwise the sound will not be much louder than a mosquito.

But in any case, these defects also point out the direction for future improvements. I believe that with your wisdom, you will be able to gradually solve these problems easily. So, for the sake of this great new invention, I'll lend you this gun for now.

If you are daunted by the Royal Society's speeches, or if they catch you again, touch this gun. Although there are no bullets in this gun, it will definitely give you enough courage.

Or to take a step back, even if it doesn't give you courage, it can at least make others feel scared. Do you think this is the truth? "

Although Wheatstone was shy, there was no problem with his intelligence. He instantly understood what Arthur meant.

The bitter look he had just now disappeared, and Wheatstone's face was filled with an expression like the bright sunshine that may not be seen once a year in London.

He said enthusiastically: "Come on, Mr. Hastings, I almost forgot to tell you. Although the gramophone is currently not good at recording human voices, there is still no problem at all if it is recording a piano piece.

Thanks to the mechanical transmission and sound amplitude issues you mentioned to me before, in my spare time, I built a piano that can be connected to the phonograph needle. As long as it is the music that pops up on that piano, it can be played. Recorded onto a gramophone turntable.

I wonder if you can play the piano? Look, if you have time today, why not try your hand at playing a song? It doesn't take much time to carve a turntable, and after you've finished carving it, see if you can...that's it...just be generous and let me go.

I beg you, please don’t take me to the party on Sunday, right? Of course, the final choice is yours, but if you choose not to bring me, in addition to the gramophone and turntable, I can also give you an exclusively customized violin. "

Arthur held his chin, looked at Wheatstone with interest, and asked, "Is this a bribe?"

"Bribery? No, no, no! What are you thinking about?" Wheatstone waved his hands and denied: "How could you forget! This is friendship. You gave me a pistol as a gift in return, isn't it reasonable for me to give you a violin?"

Arthur thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, Charles, take me to see the piano that can record records first, and I'll think about the rest."

When Wheatstone heard this, his hanging heart finally fell to the ground. He quickly made way to the back room and said with a smile: "Arthur, please come this way."