Rimbaud's girl

She is a younger sister, and there are many topics that cannot be discussed in depth with Arthur. In the final analysis, she is too young. If she tells him about "love", he may not take it seriously at all; she can't stay by his side all day. That was too tiring. Arthur has a heart that yearns for freedom. Once he experiences the joy and freedom of being free from his family, he will no longer endure his family restraining him in the name of love.

There may not necessarily be love between him and Verlaine. Verlaine seduced him, but also gave him freedom. He may regard Verlaine as a rare example of an older man in his life-he said in a letter to her before Well, Verlaine is "poor brother"—Verlaine's status as a "poet" undoubtedly has a halo, and being his literary guide also has a halo. The shameful Verlaine took advantage of these.

In future generations, this is equivalent to sexual harassment in the workplace.

Arthur had to separate from Verlaine, but he had to realize that the relationship between the two of them would not last long and would not be conducive to his realization of his ideals.If she talks too much and does too much, it will appear that she is too controlling, and it will arouse his disgust; if she doesn't talk deeply enough, he will think it's no big deal, which literary giant doesn't have any messy things?

In short, it is troublesome now, very troublesome.

In Vitaly's life, there are not only studies and family members, but also friends from far away.

During her time at Dijon, Gabriel Oran left the Charleville countryside for Calais and sailed for England.Before leaving, he sent some books in the small villa to Lambaud's house in Charleville, specifying to leave them for Vitaly, and left her a letter; then he sent her a letter from Calais and arrived in London After that, almost 1 letter per month.

In the letter, he said that he had learned boxing, dance, and a lot of things in his life in England. A rich boy had to learn everything he had to learn. He also asked her how she was doing in English and sent her a letter to learn English. The book was sent in English, and before Christmas, I sent her a photo of him.

In the black and white photo, the young man held his head high, wearing a well-fitting suit, with a round face and delicate features, he was a handsome young man.

She put Gabriel's photos together with her brother's in a special album.

This year, the economic conditions of Rimbaud's family improved greatly. Before Christmas, the whole family went to the only photo studio in Charleville to take single photos and family photos, and Arthur was absent.

Vitaly sent photos of his family to Arthur, asking him to put them on his desk and wardrobe, look at them every day, remember that his family loves him very much, and wish him all the best in Paris.

She did not mention Verlaine in her letter, nor did she press him to know what stage his fame had reached.

According to her understanding, what Verlaine can do is actually not bad. After all, if you want to become famous, you must have opportunities besides excellent works. Literary and art magazines are only niche magazines with limited readers and limited space. Seniority, Arthur's work will not be arranged so quickly.It's just that she hated Verlaine, so she deliberately guided Arthur.

In her opinion, it is easier to become famous as a poet, but if she wants to make more money, for Arthur who has no money and no connections, the most suitable path should be to turn to creation after becoming a poet and becoming a poet. writer.

As a genre of literature and art, poetry has a much longer history than poetry, but it is a literary form that only emerged in the 17th century. Many literary figures wrote poetry in the early days of their creation, but many people found that they were not expected to be poets. , and then turned to creation.

Being a writer has a better chance of success than being a poet, which is Vitaly's conclusion after studying the creative careers of some of France's literary giants in this century.Both poetry and creation talk about "talent", but creation can also be trained to improve skills, while poetry is highly dependent on talent.

Talent is unpredictable.

And those who have talents should not waste their talents, nor should they waste their lives.

Arthur had a gift for writing poetry, and if he did, he should be able to write well.As for herself, she hadn't figured out what to do yet.

poetry?Talking too much about "talent", she may not have this talent;?It was fun, but the creative process was tough and lonely, and she wasn't sure she could stand it.

News from Paris came from time to time. Mathilde's life was miserable, and she and Vitaly became pen pals with frequent correspondence.She said that Verlaine hardly stayed at home, and she didn't like the crying baby George. She was exhausted physically and mentally, disappointed in marriage and love, but as long as he was willing to come home, she would let the past go.

Vitaly understands her thoughts. After all, divorce is a very important thing in this era. Mathilde will not think of divorce until she is completely disappointed; besides, there are children, if a child can have a father, or A little better.Referring to the children of Rimbaud's family, if Captain Rimbaud could be a responsible father, Arthur would not be easily lost in the care of older men.

At the end of January, Mathilde's letter arrived in Charleville again. There were a few drops of water on the letter paper, which were Mathilde's tears.She said sadly that Verlaine would have a big fight with her every time she came home, and once threw little George heavily on the bed. She was terrified, lest Verlaine would drop the child to death; Frustrated, she actually lit her hair with a candle, half of her hair was scorched, but fortunately her parents came to rescue her; Verlaine was drunk, but still knew that she had caused a catastrophe, so scared that she left Nick that night 1 Lay Street; and the next day, Mathilde finally left Paris with her father.

Vitaly couldn't help sighing: Look, this is the pain of finding a scumbag!

She sympathizes with Mathilde and hopes that she can make up her mind to divorce this time.

Arthur often wrote to her, but said little about Verlaine, only about himself, that he had written some new poems, which he had carefully copied and sent to Vitaly.

Mathilde's letter came again one day in February, saying that she had filed a separation application with the court and made some demands on Verlaine. After a period of thinking, Verlaine decided to go home and promised to send Arthur to his home. Sent back to Charleville, Mathilde decided to forgive him.

Vitaly showed Mathilde's letter to Mrs. Rimbaud. Mrs. Rimbaud always thought that Mathilde was "Miss Jiao from a rich family" and disliked her very much.She wanted Vitaly to visit Arthur in Paris, who she thought was just a young fool, not yet ready for her motherhood.

It was still cold in Paris in February. Vitaly was carefully wrapped in a woolen scarf, wearing a tweed coat, a boy's bowler hat on her head, and a pair of cotton-lined cotton linings on her hands. woolen gloves.

Arthur wasn't doing very well, but he wasn't hungry, he wasn't running around, and he lived in a small apartment.

My sister came to Paris again, still because of him. He was a little embarrassed, opened the door to let her in, and took the scarf, hat, gloves, and coat she took off graciously, and hung them on the coat rack by the door.

"Who came with you? Uncle?" Arthur asked knowingly.Mom wouldn't leave home easily, and Charles was too unreliable, so of course her uncle must have accompanied her.

"Hmm." Vitaly responded casually and closed the door.

Then he took out a birch stick from his coat pocket on the coat rack, about the thickness of two fingers, and slapped Arthur across the face.

Arthur was stunned at first: he had never been beaten by anyone except the bad boys at school!

He stretched out his hand to block it, and realized that his sister was angry, so he had to dodge and retreat into the room, "Vitale, Vitaly!"

Vitaly ignored him, and kept pumping her hand dozens of times, until the wooden stick broke, and then stopped.

"Why hit me?" Arthur asked aggrievedly.

"Because you're stupid!" Vitaly rolled her eyes rudely.She was short and not very strong, but the wooden stick still left a few light red marks on his face and hands.

"Why am I stupid?" He was puzzled.

"You're about to be abandoned!" Vitaly said angrily, "Verlaine has gone home, hasn't he?"

He nodded nervously.

"how about you?"

"I—I—" he was confused and bewildered, "I don't know, he wanted me to go back to Charleville, and I got into a big fight with him."

Now Vitaly felt that he was pitiful again: in fact, he was just a child, who panicked when encountering things that were not within his consideration, and didn't know what to do.

"I thought he listened to you for everything."

Arthur can -->>

Compassionately, "I'm out of money—" He touched the light red mark on the edge of his palm. Because of blocking the wooden stick, the edge of the palm was hit many times, and now it is slightly swollen.He looked like he was being bullied, which made people feel distressed.

"I told you to save money!" Vitaly was unmoved, "Also, look at you! Doesn't Verlaine love you? What exactly does he want?"

"I do not know."

She felt tired all of a sudden, and raised her forehead, "I originally thought that your cleverness could be used in other ways. Even if you want to break up, you have to be the one who doesn't want him!"

I really hate iron and steel, "Our family can't have another person who is abandoned by others. Verlaine is too ugly, I don't like him. He refuses to take good care of you, and I don't like him even more. No, I'm still very Hate him! I'm going to hire some guys, get a sack, put it over his head, and beat him to death!"

She gestured as she spoke, almost making Arthur laugh.

"Be serious!" Vitaly glared at him. "My brother is far more talented than he is, and it doesn't have to be—be his lover to be 'famous'. You know, you can die drunk on absinthe, people You can say that's your artistic temperament; you can also hang out with courtesans, or even fool around with low-class whores, people will only say that you are too romantic; but if you are in love with a man, you have to think about it. Will a bad reputation keep you from being famous?"

Arthur was stunned, on the one hand because his sister actually discussed this kind of thing with him, on the other hand because he had never thought about the last question.

He wants to be famous, why does he always go to Paris if he doesn't want to be famous?He's not ashamed to admit it, and it's not something to be ashamed of, most people need a mentor or guide to become famous.But he never thought too deeply. He didn't know how to achieve the goal of "being famous", what to do, and what to do.

He wants to have "freedom", but what exactly is "freedom"?He also has no specific concept.For now, being able to leave Charleville is the "freedom" he wants.

He looked at Vitaly in confusion, and murmured, "Is that so?"

"Don't forget that France is still a Catholic country. What does it say in the Bible? Verlaine should be stoned to death." angry.

Arthur said flatteringly, "Does your hand hurt? Let me see."

She rolled her eyes again, "It doesn't hurt."

Arthur hurriedly moved a chair for her, and asked her to sit down in front of the heating stove, "Sit down quickly, enjoy the fire, and don't freeze."

There was some firewood and a few coals in the hearth.Coal is more expensive, and firewood is a little cheaper. There is a basket of charcoal, a square stack of firewood, and a small pile of coal in the corner.

Vitaly asked him how he ate for the past two months.Verlaine returned to Paris at the beginning of January, and has been living with him since then. Verlaine paid for most of the food expenses. The small inheritance would have been enough for them to last two years, but they were too good at drinking, and the gatherings of friends were always Taking turns to pay the bills, Verlaine became very generous when he had money in his pocket—because his wife’s family had money, and he was used to spending money lavishly—Verlaine didn’t panic until the money was almost exhausted, realizing that it was impossible to continue like this; , Mathilde's legal representative sent him a summons, asking him to appear in court, because Mathilde had scars on his body, proving that he had abused his wife.

Verlaine suddenly woke up briefly from the pleasure of the flesh, and realized that something was wrong.

After listening to Arthur's narration, Vitaly pieced together the two things and formed a complete story: So, Mathilde is not really disappointed yet, and she still wants to save her husband and marriage; Verlaine is not very clear Whether you want to save your marriage, but you want to save your wife's money is certain.

real**!

Vitaly cursed in her heart.If he could stop harming Mathilde, she would still admire his courage.Of course he couldn't harm Arthur anymore.

She pondered for a while, trying to decide what to say.Arthur has to understand that Verlaine is unreliable, otherwise, this rebellious boy in the second grade may be the more you hate Verlaine, the closer he will be to Verlaine, without him, just to tell you that objection is invalid.

"What does it look like to be a mature, socially-compliant man? Define it," says Vitaly.

Arthur looked at her puzzled, "Why do you ask this?"

"Quick answer. Answer whatever you think."

"Be able to make money and take care of your family. Be honest, brave, kind, and upright." He compared his father.His father was supposed to take care of them, but he ruthlessly abandoned them. This was the pain in his heart.

"Is Verlaine a man who conforms to the norms of society?"

"He is not."

"What about you? Are you?"

"Me neither, I'm underage."

"Verlaine abused Mathilde and almost killed little George. Is he a qualified husband and a qualified father?"

Arthur was startled. "What? What did he do? I thought he was just talking to Mathilde—"

"What are you talking about? He can beat his wife, and that's nothing, is it?"

He hastened to say, "I didn't mean that. He shouldn't have done this to his wife and children."

"You know that this society still despises men who abandon their wives and children? Why does Captain Rimbaud never visit us in Ardennes because he is afraid of being criticized. Verlaine is also afraid of this. Why does he compromise now and return to his home , is afraid of being seen as a loose man, a coward who abandons his wife and children."

Arthur looked shocked.

"Don't you think his character is not 'good' at all? Does he love you? Does he love Mathilde? Yes, he can say that he loves you, but he also loves Mathilde, Or just love her body. But he will also only love your body, not your soul." She checked his expression, "Do you love him?"

"Love?" Arthur chuckled. "I don't know what 'love' is."

Vitaly really wanted to touch her forehead: Brother is indeed a ruthless guy.It's kind of stupid, but it's really ruthless.

"What if Verlaine stays with Mathilde from now on and never wants you again?"

"Then let him go to hell!" He said coldly.

"Yes, to hell with him!" she agreed. "He can't do what he wants. If he wants to go home, he sends you back to Charleville; if he wants to see you, he comes to see you. He Think about things too well!" She was indignant, "How could you always decide your whereabouts and your whereabouts according to his wishes? Anyway, no, absolutely no, he is manipulating you, every time you Obedience makes him more confident: you can't do without him, you love him!"

Arthur was a little impatient, "I didn't fall in love with him!"

"Then why are you with him?"

"That's—that's because...he was very nice to me, the only one who listened to me."

Vitaly was furious, "You fart!"

"Vitale!"

Her expression softened a little, but she still looked disdainful, "If he really loves you, he shouldn't be thinking about the Fleville family's money while wanting to possess you—yes, it's 'possession'! You are in his heart It’s far less cute than gold coins, if you don’t believe me, you can ask him next time.”

She stood up, "I'm going back to the hotel first, if Verlaine comes over at night, you can ask him if he would like to take you away now, to - to Marseilles, or even further, to London, Rome, or Casablanca. If he agrees immediately, then I believe he loves you. If he says a lot of sweet words to you, but refuses to take you away, don't be polite, just slap him in the face a few times. "

Arthur was almost amused by her again.

After Vitaly returned to the hotel, she wrote a letter and sent it to No. 14 Nikolai Street, saying that she would take Arthur home tomorrow, and her mother was going to send Arthur to Antwerp, Belgium as an apprentice, and it might not be for many years. Will go back to Paris again.

She did not mention Paul Verlaine a word.

Verlaine went to see Arthur that night, and the two drank a few glasses of absinthe in a nearby tavern.

Arthur used a knife to drill a hole in the center of Verlaine's right palm. The blood flowed on the wooden table, and quickly seeped into the grain of the wood.