Shadow of great britain

People have a special habit of always trying to make some sense of everything they do.

——Heinrich Heine

If he hadn't had a long-term relationship with Heine and just learned about this German liberal poet who was famous in Europe from newspapers and magazines, Arthur would probably be like the citizens and students in Göttingen, who liked Heine and treated him Those who like him go crazy, but those who hate Heine firmly believe that this guy is a traitor to the entire German nation.

Only by stripping away Heine's literary image and actually getting along with this guy can we realize how interesting Heinrich Heine was. Yearning for the freedom of the French Revolution, but ideologically shackled by deep-rooted German concepts, he had fantasized about heroic and heroic charges countless times, but he still couldn't give up the high-end meals at the Vejle Hotel in Paris.

When there is no shortage of money, he expresses his views radically.

When you are short of money, be more restrained.

Various treacherous identities created his treacherous character.

The Jewish father came from Hanover and grew up in the wild Rhineland. When he was a child, he was a subject of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a subsidiary of the First French Empire, and later became a citizen under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Prussia. His educational experiences at the Universities of Berlin, Bonn and Göttingen brought him different trends of thought.

Therefore, at the end of the story, he became a realistic German philistine version of a liberal.

Having said that, Arthur still remembered that the reason why Heine gave "On the Romantics" to "The Englishman" a little later than the deadline was because he was busy editing the article "The Current Situation in France" to introduce the situation in France to German readers. .

If everything goes well, Heine originally planned to start serializing this article in the Augsburg Telegraph in September this year.

Unfortunately, the Frankfurt garrison incident squeezed Germany's already poor publishing space even more tightly. Heine's "The Current State of France", which was obviously unlikely to make money, was naturally rejected.

Arthur had just praised Heine a few times in his mind, but he didn't know if this guy was equipped with a telepathic device, or if his natural tongue-tied physique came into play.

He soon began to comment sharply on his hometown of Dusseldorf: "Arthur, it was definitely a wise choice for you to come to me to learn German. Because my father taught me besides the story of Jolly the hound. , which is the pure Hanoverian dialect. You must know that the German language spoken in the city of Hanover and the surrounding areas to the south of the city is the purest in Germany.

This was a great advantage for me, since my ears had been accustomed to standard German pronunciation from early childhood through the example and precept of my father. But in Düsseldorf, where we live, the city residents speak the annoying gibberish of the Lower Rhine region.

These dialects are more or less tolerable in the city of Düsseldorf, but in neighboring Cologne they are downright disgusting. If we use Italian as an example, in the typical poor pronunciation of German, Cologne has a Tuscan accent, and even Cologne's puppet show sounds like a conversation in another language.

How should I describe it to you? It sounded like the crackling sound of two rotten eggs, and you could smell the smell inside. You can detect the transition from the language of a Dusseldorfer to the croaking frogs of a Dutch marsh.

Of course, I do not want to deny the unique beauty of the Dutch language in the slightest, I just admit that my ears are not suitable for appreciating them. As for the German in Düsseldorf, perhaps the language is really just a degenerate version of Dutch, as some patriotic linguists in the Netherlands claim. "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but raised his eyebrows and replied: "Heinrich, I advise you to keep your voice down when you say this. It is not that there are no Dutch students on the Göttingen campus."

"You don't need to remind me of this." Heine said: "I saw it when I passed by the pond just now. A bunch of Dutch people were having a meeting lying on the lotus leaves."

Of course Arthur knew that he was troubling the Dutch, but there was nothing he could do about it, because the British didn't have a good impression of the Dutch either.

After all, in London, even an ordinary AA system is called the 'Dutch method'.

As for Dutch, it's obviously worse. 'Double Dutch' is used to describe nonsense in English.

Heine said and stood at the window and observed: "But as you said, the University of Göttingen is not without its merits. There are many international students here, including British, French, and Russian students. of……"

Arthur reminded emphatically: "There are even American ones."

"Yes! There are even American ones." Heine laughed heartily: "I thought you, a British gentleman, would drive them out of the campus as soon as you took office."

"Oh! My dear Heinrich, I will not deprive others of their right to education. Even if he is an alien."

Heine looked at Arthur with a smile: "You told me earlier that you were not a narrow-minded nationalist, but now you start to discriminate against Americans?"

"Heinrich, this is your fault. I am not discriminating against Americans."

Arthur poured a cup of hot black tea and held it in his hand: "Please believe that an authentic British gentleman will not let you see it when he discriminates against others. If you see it, there are only two possibilities, either this The English gentleman is a fake, or you may be mistaken.”

"Which one do you belong to?"

Arthur didn't want to answer this question. He pushed the document on the desk forward: "I don't know, but I think you should take a look at this. This letter may well explain your guess about the Dutch language and the Düsseldorf dialect."

To Sir Arthur Hastings:

When my pen tip wrote the word 'Sir' on the letter paper, Arthur, my heart was extremely sad.

How can I describe my feeling?

I think the lethality brought to me by this word is no less than that brought to you by the bullet under the Tower of London.

Damn! Arthur Hastings, 24 years old, is a junior knight!

Arthur, when I received Alexander's letter before, I once thought you were ahead of me. But a few weeks later, the arrival of the new letter made me realize that you were indeed ahead of me. However, the way they walked was obviously different!

Oh! No!

God! Buddha! Allah! How can you treat me so badly!

Oh! No!

Father! Pastor! Monk! Witch! Imam and Imam!

Have you fulfilled your duty as messengers of God and returned my prayers to the gods and Buddhas you believe in!

Oh! No!

Arthur! You...how can you rob me of the honor that should belong to me!

I, Elder Carter, should be the first knight in the history of the University of London to be awarded the knighthood!

I...

Ahem! Sorry, Arthur, Elder just took my pen away and scribbled on the letter paper while I was in the toilet. There is not much letter paper left on the ship, and we haven't had time to dock in the nearby city to replenish it, so I won't change the paper. I'm really sorry to ask you to delete Elder's whining when publishing the new issue of "The Beagle's Voyage Diary".

Back to the point, on December 17, 1832, we rounded Cape Santiago and entered the famous La Mer Strait.

Through the thin clouds, the outline of the rugged and desolate Staten Island was vaguely visible.

In the afternoon, we anchored at Dacheng Bay. As soon as we entered the harbor, we were welcomed by the island's native people with a very Fuegian style. Several Fuegians were lying on a rock protruding into the sea on the shore, their bodies half hidden by the dense forest. When we passed by, they jumped up, waving their tattered cloaks and giving a loud shout. Then they ran along the shore to follow the boat.

As it was getting dark, we saw their campfires and heard their screams again. The harbor was half calm sea water and half surrounded by mountains. On the round and low slate hills, there was a dark and impenetrable forest that extended to the water's edge.

At a glance, it was obvious that this was completely different from anywhere I had ever seen. Strong winds suddenly rose at night, and the strong winds from the deep mountains swept over our heads. At this time, it would be uncomfortable if the ship was out on the sea. So, like those who had come before us, we could not help but shout "It's done!", which is why this bay is called Dacheng Bay.

In the morning, Colonel Fitzroy sent a few people to communicate with the Fuegians. When we were close to the shore and could hear shouting, one of the four local natives on the shore came to greet us and shouted loudly, directing us where to land the boat.

When we landed, the natives looked a little nervous. They kept talking and gesticulating quickly. This was undoubtedly the most strange and interesting sight I have ever seen in my life. I didn't expect that there would be such a great difference between uncivilized savages and civilized people.

Perhaps it is because people are more capable of improving themselves that the difference between primitive and civilized people is greater than the difference between wild animals and domestic animals.

The leading native old man seemed to be the head of the family, and the other three were strong young men who looked about six feet tall. As for the women and children of the tribe, they hid.

These Fuegians are completely different from the short, pathetic fellows further west in South America. They seem to be closer to the Patagonians near the Strait of Magellan.

Their attire is also very distinctive, with camel-skin cloaks, with camel hair outside, thrown over their shoulders, exposing as much of their copper-red bodies as they do of their bodies.

They have a white feather headband wrapped around their heads, which more or less holds together their thick, black, tangled hair.

There are two large horizontal bars on their faces, a bright red one between their ears, and a pink and white one above parallel to it, and even on their eyelids.

How can I describe these guys standing together...

Arthur, do you remember "The Free Shooter"? You, me and Elder, the three of us once went to see it together.

These guys standing together look like the devil in "The Free Shooter".

It is not easy to deal with these natives. Although their attitude is very humble, their expressions reveal suspicion and surprise. Because we don't speak the same language, we can't communicate.

Therefore, whenever this happens, we have to ask Elder Carter, our multilingual master, to come out. I don't know why, but Elder has this talent. He can quickly get along with the locals wherever he goes.

He can drink and ride horses with the gauchos and entertain each other, and he can also joke with the local soldiers and call them brothers. Even the local famous gentlemen and ladies here look up to him and think that this young man from England is sincere, knowledgeable and loving.

As expected, Elder solved the problem that Colonel Fitzroy couldn't solve as soon as he arrived.

Elder took some red cloth from the ship and gave it to them. The natives took the red cloth and immediately wrapped it around their necks, and then they became friends. The Tierra del Fuego people express friendship by patting each other on the chest and making a clucking sound, just like when a person feeds a chicken.

The old man first patted Elder, and then walked up to me. After repeating this gesture of friendship several times, he patted my chest and back three times to end the ceremony. Then, he exposed his breasts and asked me to return the favor. After I did the same thing, he seemed very happy.

According to our conception, their language cannot be said to be well spoken. Captain Cook, when he first arrived, likened the language to a person clearing his throat, but certainly not with as many raspy, gruff, creaky sounds as a European clearing his throat. If I had to describe what European language this language is more similar to, then I can only say that it is a more turbid Dutch, which is double Dutch in the literal sense.

This group of indigenous people are particularly good at imitating. No matter if we cough, yawn, or make any strange movements, they will immediately imitate us. When Elder saw this, he deliberately winked and made a grimace. He thought that others could not imitate it, but the grimace made by one of the young men from Tierra del Fuego was so vivid that he looked exactly like Elder.

Moreover, although we cannot learn their language, they can accurately repeat every word of every sentence we say, and even when we ask them a few days later, they still remember it. We Europeans all know how difficult it is to distinguish the sounds of a foreign language. For example, who among us can understand an American Indian sentence of more than three words?

But for these indigenous people, learning a foreign language seems effortless. I have heard before that the Kaffi people, the indigenous people of South Africa, also have this habit. The indigenous people of Australia are also famous for this. They can imitate and repeat the walking posture of anyone, and people can recognize who they are imitating at a glance. .

That night we lit a bonfire among the tribe, the crew sang, and Elder, wanting to be noticed, showed off a waltz he had practiced for years for London dinner parties. But what was unexpected was that a local young man also learned to dance a short section after seeing Elder's dance steps.

Although his dancing is very rusty, I assure you that giving Elder a week to learn a new dance would not have made him so good.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention it. There are actually three Tierra del Fuego natives on board, but they are not from this island. Speaking of the origins of these indigenous people and scientific expeditions, we have to go back to the last scientific expedition mission of our captain, Colonel Fitzroy.

Colonel Fitzroy visited Tierra del Fuego in 1826 with the Explorer and Beagle. At that time, the Tierra del Fuego people stole a ship of the scientific expedition team and had a conflict with the crew. To this end, Colonel Fitzroy took some natives as hostages to pledge the stolen ship.

Later, he brought several of the natives back to England together with a child he bought with a pearl button. He also educated them at his own expense and gave them religious enlightenment. According to the colonel, sending these Tierra del Fuego people home was one of his main wishes in applying for this navigational scientific expedition mission.

At first, Fitzroy brought a total of four Tierra del Fuego people back to England, but one of them unfortunately died of smallpox. The three guys on board now are: York Cathedral, Jamie Button and Fuego Little Basket.

York Minster is a mature man, not tall but with a stocky build and great strength. He was introverted, taciturn, sullen, and became manic when excited. However, he had a very close relationship with several friends on the ship, and his intelligence was not bad, at least higher than Elder, who had never won a card game with him.

Jamie Button was best loved by everyone, with a kind face, a smile all day long and a very compassionate attitude towards the suffering of others. When the waves were big, I would always get a little seasick. He would often come over to care about me and comfort me plaintively, saying: "Poor! Poor man!"

But he grew up in the water, so it was so funny to see other people getting seasick, so he had to turn around and laugh. After laughing, he turned around and continued: "Poor! Poor people. !”

In addition, Jamie is also very patriotic. He likes to brag about his tribe and country. He likes to proudly pat his chest and say that there are many trees there. He disparages all other tribes as Elder disparages France. He is also similar to Elder in that although Jamie is short and fat, he always appreciates his appearance. He often wore white gloves, had his hair neatly cut, and would be sad for a long time if his carefully polished shoes were stained.

Some time ago, a little Indian boy from the Rio Negro came on the boat. He was very cute with a smile. Everyone liked this boy very much. The young boy soon discovers Jamie's vanity and laughs at him. Jamie was very jealous of the attention this little boy received, and he didn't like being laughed at, but he couldn't let go of his gentlemanly demeanor, so he could only turn his head rather contemptuously and said condescendingly: "This is really nonsense."

This scene can often make everyone on the ship laugh. Elder especially likes to tease the two of them. It was not until the two imps were pissed off that they quickly took out the supplies they had bought at the port and begged for mercy. For the sake of candy and cans of fresh beef, Jamie and the Indian boy would always forgive the guy.

As for the last Fuegian child, she was a beautiful little girl. She has a gentle and introverted personality. Although she is often unhappy, she learns things very quickly, especially languages. Our previous docking times in Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo were very short, but she had already learned a lot of Spanish and Portuguese words during this time. As for her English, it's even worse. If you don't look at her appearance, word order and grammar issues, and just listen to her accent, you will definitely think that she is a child born and raised in London.

However, although they all spoke English, they could understand most of what we said. But if we want to ask them about the living habits of their compatriots, it is still extremely difficult. The reason is that they cannot understand the simplest selective questions. Anyone who often works with children knows that if you ask a child whether something is black or white, they will not be able to answer. Because the concepts of black and white coexist in their minds. And the same is true for these Tierra del Fuego people.

After landing, it was interesting to observe the reaction of the natives when they saw Jamie Button. They immediately saw that he was different from the rest of us, and murmured among themselves on the subject for a long time. The old man also had a long talk with Jamie, seemingly inviting him to live with them. But the languages ​​of the various tribes in Tierra del Fuego seem to be different, so Jamie doesn't understand their language very well, and he is very ashamed of his compatriots.

After York Minster came ashore, they also recognized him and thoughtfully told him that he should shave, even though he only had about twenty fine hairs on his face. They carefully examined his skin color and compared it with ours.

One of Elder's arms was exposed, and they were astonished and admired its whiteness. No offense to Elder, but I have to say that the reaction of the natives was similar to that of the monkeys we see for the first time in a zoo.

There are two or three officers in our team who are shorter and more delicate-looking. Although they also have big beards, they are obviously regarded as ladies by the Fuegians. The tallest Tierra del Fuego man was clearly pleased with the attention his height attracted. When he was compared back to back with the tallest sailor, he managed to get to a slightly higher ground and stand on his tiptoes.

He also opened his mouth to show his teeth and turned his face sideways for everyone to see. All these movements were performed with the sprightliness of a guy at a social party trying his best to attract the attention of the ladies. I dare say that this guy must think he is the most handsome man in Tierra del Fuego. This shows that a person with Elder's character is not uncommon even among the simple Tierra del Fuego natives.

What is it that makes us so different from the Tierra del Fuego people? In terms of behavior, character and temper, I really don’t think there is much difference between Elder and the ‘most handsome’ gentleman in Tierra del Fuego? I know that many people may say that this is because we are God’s chosen people and therefore have a natural, higher level of wisdom. But I must warn that similar excuses were used by the Spaniards and Americans to massacre native peoples.

In my opinion, the biggest difference between people is not God’s chosen people, but whether they have received proper education. This was evident in the striking differences between the three Tierra del Fuego natives on board and the local natives, who could communicate with us simply after receiving a few years of proper education. If they receive a British education from the time they are born, then I have no doubt that they will become authentic British gentlemen and ladies.

charles darwin

January 28, 1833, in Tierra del Fuego

"Oh! What an amazing insight." Heine joked: "According to Mr. Darwin's point of view, the only difference between humans and primitive humans is whether they have received education."

Arthur shook his head slightly and said: "Actually, it's more than that. Charles had previously revealed an even more astonishing point of view to me in a letter. It's just that that point of view was too astonishing, so we did not publish it in "The British" ”

Heine leaned forward with interest: "What's your point of view?"

Arthur touched his chin in embarrassment. After all, he was not sure whether Heine's big mouth would make trouble: "Although there is no conclusive evidence yet, Charles speculates that there may be some kind of affinity between humans and monkeys. Relationships, or in other words, humans are overeducated monkeys.”

Heine was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then he patted his thigh and laughed loudly: "If this is really the case, if monkeys can talk one day, they will probably say: humans are just transformed monkeys, and humans are monkeys that have gone bad. Just like German is a kind of bad Dutch according to the Dutch opinion. But if people are really changed from monkeys, then monkeys are really smart, even smarter than us, because they gave up speaking in order not to speak. Being treated as a human being and being forced to work.”

Arthur didn't expect Heine to accept such a point of view so quickly, but looking back, this guy's religious beliefs were not firm, so he only regarded this point of view as an interesting topic at best.

But Arthur knew very well how much commotion this topic would cause in the entire natural history circle. Even the influence of this topic would not only be limited to the world of natural philosophy, but would also alarm the Archbishop of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and even people as far away as His Majesty the Pope in the Vatican.

Because a few years ago, Charles Lyell of the Geological Society of London speculated in "Principles of Geology" that the age of the earth may be as high as millions of years, which attracted massive attacks from the church.

Because before Mr. Lyell boldly proposed the theory of uniformitarianism, the academic community generally followed the view that James Asher and John Lightfoot calculated the age of the earth to be 6,000 years based on the Bible.

In the church's view, although Lyell's theory of uniformitarianism was a geological study on the surface, it was actually digging the foundation of theology and denying God's creation.

And Darwin's view was obviously more sinful because he even denied creationism.

Arthur was just racking his brains to figure out how to deal with this problem, when suddenly he heard a knock on the door.

"Sir, Mr. Faraday and others from the Royal Society have arrived. Do you think we should go over and entertain them?"