Shadow of great britain

Julia was cold but not heartless,

Withdrawing your trembling delicate hand from his,

Finally, he squeezed his hand gently again,

Although it is light, it is intoxicating.

It takes a lot of thinking, it’s hard to be at peace,

A heart is really unpredictable.

——George Byron, "Don Juan"

Every place has its own customs, and people in every place have their own favorite drinks.

In Europe, Brussels in Belgium consumes the most beer, Stockholm in Sweden consumes the most spirits, Amsterdam in the Netherlands loves gin the most, Constantinople consumes the most coffee, and London is the home of whiskey.

Of course, the English claim is that they invented whiskey, and the Irish and Scots obviously have different opinions on who actually invented whiskey.

If the English must say that they invented whiskey, the Scots can at some point give up the honor of inventing whiskey and instead support the Irish in competing with the English on the whiskey issue.

The English also know that they are at a disadvantage in this regard, because the drunkards in England will never be as good as those in Ireland, so whenever the Irish raise the question of who is the inventor of whiskey, the English have to give the name back to the Irish. At the end, he added coldly and pretended to be generous: "Give this honor to the poor Irish, who have never invented anything else since they invented whiskey."

The English, Scots and Irish all drink whiskey, but what about the French?

At least as far as Arthur could see, at least the French in Paris loved absinthe the most.

Perhaps due to the arrogant temper of Parisians, they strive to be first in everything, even drinking. Parisians are second to none when it comes to drinking.

In Paris, even ragtag people like to live and drink.

If Diogenes, the ancient Greek philosopher who lived in a barrel, was resurrected, he would probably be very willing to live near Place Maubert in Paris, which suits his temperament.

Just like Diogenes' famous saying - the sun also visits filthy places, but it is not tainted by it.

Although the people who often come here are not rich, this does not prevent them from enjoying themselves like rich people.

There are pubs everywhere near Mobel Square, but although they are all pubs, everyone calls them different names.

The places for the upper class to drink are various private clubs that are not allowed to enter by strangers, while the places for the middle class to drink are various time-honored brands, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Robespierre, Danton, etc. The popular Le Procope.

The taverns near Place Maubert are neither private clubs, nor are there any glamorous celebrities. Even the names Parisians call them are unpleasant. The taverns here are collectively called wine tanks, and their signs are very simple and crude. The most popular taverns here are called 'Mianzi' and 'Slaughterhouse'.

"Suburban restaurants, carnival restaurants, green leaf wine shops, small wine shops, a cappella taverns, retail hotels, wine barrels, wine merchants, wine vats, and Camel Gang wine shacks, I prove to you that they are all good places. I am a carpe diem person. Although I often eat at the Vejle Hotel for forty sous, that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to wrap a naked Cleopatra in a Persian rug. Oh... mine tonight. Where is Cleopatra? Oh, beautiful girl, hello!"

Arthur was sitting in front of the dirty and oily bar with a glass of barley wine. While he was sipping, he was staring at the drunk Alexandre Dumas not far away. The fat man was sexually harassing the girl at the next table.

Heine probably didn't come to this kind of place very often, but this sharp-tongued poet felt weak in his legs at this critical moment.

He sat cautiously next to Arthur. Seeing Dumas's performance, Heine just wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl in: "It's really fucked up! Alexander, this guy drank too much not long after he arrived. He is now Just like an ordinary gangster, how can he look like he’s carrying out his mission?”

"Heinrich, Alexander is in good condition. A womanizer is suitable for a place like this. Although Alexander is just playing his true character, I think he did a good job."

Arthur's eyes scanned the corners of the tavern, and he was also choosing a target to attack: "Speaking of which, you know why you have a handsome face but can't catch up with your two cousins, and even though Alexander is a fat man, , but there are still many ladies and ladies who are crazy about him?”

Heine's hand holding the wine glass suddenly paused. He turned to look at Arthur and sincerely asked for advice: "I would like to hear the details."

"There is a saying in Machiavelli's "The Prince": I have always believed that it is better to be bold than to be cautious and suspicious. Because fate is like a woman, if you want her to obey you, you must beat her , abuse her. We can see that fate is more willing to be conquered by those who dare to do things than those who act calmly. Therefore, fate will favor young people just like women. And older people, young people are less cautious, but instead, they are more rough, and it is this roughness that can subdue her more boldly."

While tossing the coin, Arthur said: "Of course, I don't mean to tell you to hit women. Heinrich, I mean, you are too timid. You can't always make up your mind. So the action is always slow. You told me before that when you finally made up your mind to pursue your cousin bravely, you found that one of them was already married and the other was engaged. Just when you hesitated, Alexander. This bold and shameless person has already taken action.”

Heine snorted disdainfully: "You say I'm cowardly? I dare to write a book and accuse Metternich of having hemorrhoids on his butt. Is there anyone braver than me in the world?"

"Yeah! That's why I don't understand." Arthur grabbed the coin that was thrown into the air: "Are your two cousins ​​more intimidating than Metternich? If so, both of them He should be the Prime Minister of Austria.”

Heine blushed and argued: "I'm not as incompetent as you think. In fact, I wrote love letters to them before they got married, but I was rejected. They said they only regarded me as their brother. In this situation ,what can I do?"

"What should I do?" Arthur raised his eyebrows: "Don't you have quite a lot of Jewish brothers and sisters? If Alexander was in your position, he would go through the genealogy the next day to find his next sister, and what about you? , two trees will hang you to death.”

"Oh! Arthur!" Heine was furious when Arthur said that. He immediately retorted: "I'm not tied by two pieces of wood. That's the job of guys like you! I've heard what Alexander said, You plagiarized Jesus and staged a resurrection in London!”

Arthur was not angry, but nodded happily: "Yes, my first performance was very successful."

"Are you making fun of my unsuccessful first performance?"

"Heinrich, I didn't say that. I know that poets think very divergently, but don't think too much about it. You have probably lived in Prussia for too long, so your thinking is exactly the same as that of the Prussian government. No matter what you hear, Everything I see seems to be a mockery of the government.”

"I……"

Heine was choked by Arthur and couldn't utter a complete sentence. After holding it for a long time, he drank the beer in his glass in one gulp, put a finger on his collar to loosen his tie, and then gave Arthur a middle finger. , slammed the table and said: "Let me show you today, there are things I don't do not because I don't know how to do them, but because I don't want to."

After saying this, Heine withdrew his stool, with a blush on his face and plunged into the group of girls: "Ladies! I'm so excited today, I want to write a poem for you!"

Seeing this scene, Arthur just curled his lips slightly: "Most people are only one finger away from madness. When he starts pointing at things with his middle finger instead of his index finger, people around him will think you are a cynical guy. This is a really strange thing.”

Agares leaned against the bar and burped. The red devil mocked maliciously: "Oh, my dear Arthur, you encouraged Heine to break into the world of flowers, but what about yourself? You are just Push him out to block the arrows, while you hide behind and enjoy a moment of peace in the midst of a dangerous battle."

Arthur glanced at him: "Come on, Agares, your level of provocation has no effect on me."

"Really? You think I'm not stating the facts, but irritating you? If that's the case, why are you sitting here?"

Agares put on his glasses, took out his thick parchment book and flipped through it. Suddenly he pointed at one of the pages and shouted: "Oh, I know! Really superb fishermen often Just sit on the shore and wait for the fish to take the bait! Arthur, are you thinking of this? By chance, there were a few stupid fish that wanted to take the bait themselves."

After Agares said this, a burst of pink smoke exploded and disappeared without a trace.

Arthur didn't hold back when he saw this. Since arriving in Paris, the Red Devil has often disappeared intermittently. According to Arthur's understanding of him, this guy probably went out to steal wine. France is the main producer of many good wines. The significance of Agares coming to Paris is almost the same as that of Barr entering a public toilet.

However, the reason why Arthur did not rush to find someone to attack did have his own considerations.

There are indeed many charming girls here. Arthur didn't like them naturally not because they were not beautiful enough, but because their relationship with the criminal leader Gwawe was not close enough.

But in a pub where hormones are everywhere, it does seem too strange to sit and drink alone.

If he didn't want to reveal his secret, after drinking this glass, Arthur would have to turn into a hard-working bee to collect honey.

Arthur swung the wine that was about to reach the bottom of the glass twice, and was about to drink it all in one gulp.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of coins hitting the bar.

"Have a beer, Edmund, don't pick at Soso, and give me more honey."

"I know, Clara, when did I miss you?"

The bartender put down the glass he was cleaning, turned on the tap on the wine keg, and poured a full glass of beer. Then he flicked his wrist against the bar, and the beer passed in front of Arthur's eyes and landed next to him.

Arthur's eyes slanted, and a girl came up on the stool where Heine was sitting just now.

This girl cannot be said to be very beautiful, but she is very charming. There was rouge around her blue-grey eyes, her dazzling white breasts, and the folds of her petticoat could be seen under her sexy short skirt. Her corset outlined her body lines very clearly. Under the skirt are lotus-like thighs, and the snow-white stockings are like lotus leaves wrapping lotus roots.

"Do you know that it is rude to peek at others like this?" The girl named Clara smiled slightly. Although her words were intended to blame, there was no hint of blame in her tone.

"Especially when a girl is thinking about something." Arthur did not refute, but agreed with the other party.

"How do you know that I have something on my mind?" Clara took a sip from the beer glass that she couldn't close with both hands: "Huh... Do you have something on your mind too?"

Arthur stared at his bottomed wine glass, shook his head slightly and said: "It doesn't matter whether I have any worries or not, my life is over. Why make myself uncomfortable in the last moments of my life?"

"Huh?" Clara looked at the young handsome guy in front of her: "Are you sick?"

Arthur smiled self-deprecatingly: "I have suffered from the most incurable disease in the world."

Clara suddenly stood up in fear when she heard this: "Are you infected with smallpox or cholera?"

Arthur waved his hand: "Madam, don't be afraid. I just contracted the disease of poverty. This disease is not contagious."

"Hahaha." Clara's laughter was like a gust of wind chimes, and she sat back again: "You are really interesting. Your poverty disease is not an infectious disease, but it is an epidemic in Paris. The poverty disease There are so many people, do we all have to die?”

"This is different." Arthur held his head and said, "I owe someone ten thousand francs, and I can't repay the money no matter what. The creditor threatened me that if I don't repay the money, he will send me to prison. "

When Clara heard this, she seemed to think of something, and she comforted: "So you want to commit suicide because you owe ten thousand francs. Then you are really a child who has not grown up. You neither understand people nor are sensible. "

Arthur turned his head and looked at her: "Why did you say that."

Clara took a sip of beer: "Sir, the value of a person's future depends entirely on his own estimate. You estimate that your future is worth less than 10,000 francs. However, if I have money, I will bribe you more than Pay this price."

"Come on." Arthur said frustratedly: "I can't do anything. If I had known this, I should have learned a trade instead of going to university to major in history."

"Are you a college student?" Clara straightened up when she heard that Arthur had gone to college: "I guessed it, your temperament doesn't look like someone who should be drinking here at all."

"You flatter me too much." Arthur laughed at himself: "In these days, people who know the past are not valuable. Everyone only pursues people who can grasp the present or predict the future. Because of this, the two charlatans and fortune tellers Every career is very profitable.”

Clara leaned her head on the bar with both hands and tilted her head to look at him: "You said you are a college student studying history, but I see that you are not very familiar with history. There are actually two parts of history: one is official, and the other is a lie. The History of Man is used as a textbook and is read to the Crown Prince. The other is a secret history, which can reveal the true causes of national events. It is a shameful history.

Let me tell you in a few words an anecdote that you don't know. There was an ambitious young priest who wanted to enter politics, and he groveled for one of the Queen's cronies. The confidant appreciated him and gave him a seat in the State Council, which was equivalent to the rank of minister. One evening, a man who thought he was zealous wrote to the ambitious young priest, saying that his benefactor was in danger.

Because the king believed that he had been deceived by the queen's cronies, he was furious, so he planned to kill him when the cronies entered the palace the next morning. Let me ask you, kid, what would you do if you received this letter? "

Arthur thought for a while and then said: "Notify my benefactor immediately."

"You are so naive." Clara smiled: "The actual situation is that the young priest was thinking that if the queen wanted to kill my benefactor, he would definitely have to die. This letter came too late. So he still As usual, he slept until noon and allowed his benefactor to be killed by the queen. "

"He's such a beast."

Clara said helplessly: "All big men are beasts. The man I just mentioned is Cardinal Richelieu, and his benefactor is Marshal Donkel. Look, you said you studied history in school, But the history taught in schools is all empty content, just some dates and facts, and most of them are even quite unreliable.

You know Joan of Arc, you know the Sun King Louis XIV, what is the use of knowing Richelieu? You didn't know there was a time when Britain and France had the chance to be ruled by the same royal family so that our two countries could beat the crap out of all of Europe. You know that the Medici family jumped from an ordinary small businessman to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, but do you know what methods they used to become aristocrats? "

Arthur's mouth was half open in surprise. Although his previous emotions were somewhat of a performance, the surprise at this time was not a performance.

This girl is indeed very different from the ‘Cleopatra’ rolled up in a blanket that Alexandre Dumas pursued.

"you……"

Clara saw Arthur's confused look and couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Do you feel that you spent so much money to go to college, but all the studies were in vain?"

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "Miss, you are simply more knowledgeable than the professor. If I could have met you earlier, maybe I wouldn't be in this situation."

Clara held the wine glass and clinked it with Arthur: "You are really good at joking. I can't even recognize a few words. How can I be worthy of the word "erudite".

Arthur frowned and asked, "Are you being modest?"

"no."

Clara shook her head and said: "These things I said were all said to me by a regular customer in the past. He is a very knowledgeable person. Like you, he also went to college and worked as a lawyer and reporter. When I first met him, he was still very depressed, but I could tell that he would become prosperous sooner or later. I am not as good at telling history as he does, but I know how to read people, and he did become prosperous later on. But after he became successful, he never came here again.”

As soon as Clara finished speaking, she saw several girls passing by.

When they saw Clara sitting next to Arthur, they couldn't help but joked: "Clara, once you have lost your memory, are you thinking of helping cultural people again?"

Clara glared at them: "What does it have to do with you? I can spend the money I earned on whoever I want."

After hearing this, Arthur waved his hands and refused: "Madam, my hole is ten thousand francs, you can't fill it up."

When Clara heard this, she was very happy by Arthur's reaction. She raised her hand and slapped Arthur: "You kid has a pretty good idea. When did I say I would spend money for you?" ? Even if you want me to pay, you have to spend more on me today!"

Arthur raised his palm in horror: "I have no money, I can't even pay the rent."

"Then you still come here to drink?"

"I can still afford to drink wine, but I can only drink a few drinks at most. After drinking these few drinks, I plan to sleep under the bridge tonight."

Clara rolled her eyes at him when she heard this. It seems that this down-and-out college student is indeed a poor man.

Seeing her expression, Arthur put his hands on his knees and clenched his teeth. Suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, he pushed the wine that the bartender had just brought in front of Clara: "I'll treat you to a drink." One cup.”

"I'm not going to ask a poor man to buy me a drink."

"No, I just want to invite you. Even if it's for what you just said, although you also quoted it."

Clara looked at Arthur's serious look, smiled softly, and then took the wine glass: "Well, it seems you are not completely ignorant."

After saying this, she picked up the wine glass and started to drink.

But as soon as the wine glass was brought to her lips, Clara felt uncomfortable everywhere, as if someone was stabbing her mouth with a nail. She rolled her eyes and finally discovered the source of her discomfort.

The college student just looked at her eagerly, still holding his bottomed wine glass in his hand. His longing eyes, coupled with his slightly twitching Adam's apple, made Clara full of anger.

She drank half of the drink, then raised her hand and wiped her mouth: "Looking at your poor look, you don't look like a scholar at all. Forget it, just buy me half a glass today."

After saying this, she pushed the wine glass back.

At the end, she did not forget to sarcastically say: "Little thing, you will definitely become a big shot in the future. Asking a lady for a drink is like killing you. You are one level higher than that guy's beast." level."

Arthur held the wine glass that Clara pushed back and breathed a sigh of relief. He asked seriously: "Can I understand what you just said as a compliment?"

Clara said angrily: “What do you think?”

"I feel very happy chatting with you. At least I no longer have any thoughts of suicide." Arthur said this, and his mood became depressed again: "But the matter of 10,000 francs still needs to be resolved, otherwise in a few days , I’d have to go to debtor’s prison.”

Arthur suddenly paused and asked cautiously: "Well, Miss Clara, do you have any jobs that are suitable for me? Running errands, driving carts, working as cattle or horses for you, I can consider it as long as it pays."