Rimbaud's girl

He looked at Arthur who was sitting next to Flaubert: he was too young, not tall, his handsome face, the light of soul shining in his poems, was not at all consistent with the shy smile on his face.

In fact, Zola didn't quite understand how "wonderful" it was, only that he couldn't write such brisk words himself.Arthur did not use overly gorgeous rhetoric, did not exceed the scope of commonly used words, but the artistic conception in his words - like the tropical sunshine in August, like the cold wind of the Arctic, wonderful and illusory, passionate and cold .

For a while, no one spoke again.

Arthur was happy at first, but then a little disturbed by the silence.He looked at Vitaly nervously.

Vitaly smiled at him, as if signaling that he should not be anxious or nervous.

He relaxes a little.

Turgenev said slowly: "It's wonderful, but many people may not understand it, and it may take many years before someone admits that you are indeed an excellent—no, a great poet."

Zola looked at him in surprise.

"A genius ahead of time is always more difficult, not easy to be recognized, not easy to be understood." Vitaly said.

"Do you understand?"

"Not all of them. But I know they're good. If Arthur was thirty now, he'd be another Baudelaire, nothing rare; but he'd write them at sixteen, Of course he was a great poet."

Arthur looked at Vitaly with a smile: he likes to hear his sister praise him best.

Turgenev smiled, "Baudelaire, indeed, is a bit of Baudelaire, but he has completely surpassed him. I have to say, I like it very much. Young man, be kind to your talent and make good use of it." Don't waste it."

"I will, sir," said Arthur hastily.

"You should try to submit an article to a newspaper or magazine, but I seriously doubt that those editors can fully understand your poetry." Turgenev added.

"I tried, but to no avail."

"That's normal. You're an 'outsider', you're not in any circle," Zola said. "You have to take time to 'fit' into a circle."

"I thought we were in the circle of 'Flaubert' now." Vitaly said briskly.

Turgenev laughed.

Flaubert laughed too, "Yes, you are right."

Zola also laughed, "That's right, that's right. I don't know the circle of those poets very well, but I think it's the same regardless of poetry or poetry. You need to have a way to publish it publicly so that more readers can know you and know you. works, but—”

He felt something was wrong.

"Oh, I've got some ideas," Vitaly said.

"What idea?" Zola asked.

She smiled sweetly, "Arthur needs a good agent, an opportunity, and some money."

"Money? You mean, print your own poetry books?"

"No. It doesn't take much money, and I can afford it myself. But I may need a few letters from you and Mr. Turgenev."

Turgenev looked at Zola, then at Flaubert, "Interesting. Tell me."

Vitaly's two weeks in Paris were busy every day.

I wrote some letters according to the list, and wrote targeted letters according to different recipients; with advertisements in newspapers and poetry collections, I wrote several editions of advertisements blowing rainbow farts, and asked Fulan to draw the posters on the advertisements , woodblock prints; with Draeel, ran to the newspaper office to discuss advertising prices;

Together with Arthur, I followed Zola to several literary and art salons, and the appearance of my brother was extraordinary, and he also had the nonchalant "good money" style of fashionable young people in Paris;

I wrote several reports similar to the "general drafts" of later generations, and sent them to several newspapers, three of which published her manuscripts, talking about Flaubert's young students.

Ernest de la Haer was living in the former room of Forlan, who had come to Paris to prepare for the university.He was a year older than Arthur, but already looked like an adult.

Draai soon became Foran's good friend, and the three young people often played together.

When Arthur wasn't free, Vitaly always called Draer to accompany her on errands.Arthur didn't quite understand what she was busy with, and he couldn't see any effect of her busy work in just two weeks.

"Don't worry, everything is under control!" She always looked mysterious.

In fact, it is not uncommon to say that Arthur needs "marketing".

In this era, literary and artistic works also need to be marketed. For example, publishers advertise in newspapers and poetry collections to be published, and the results are often pretty good.When a writer has one or several works that sell well, he basically doesn't have to worry about future sales.

After all, this is not the era when the threshold for writing in the Internet age is lowered in the later generations. There are not too many writers who can insist on writing 10,000+ words or even hundreds of thousands of words. The writing speed does not advocate "fast", but advocates "quality", like Flaubert. It took 4 years to finish "Madame Bovary".Zola can be regarded as the fastest writer among the two generations of writers, at most the rhythm of one book a year.Writers all believe in sentences that have been honed over thousands of years, and there must be innovations and creations in them.

Literary theorists of later generations believe that from Jane Austen to Balzac, until Flaubert, the style of "realism" was stabilized, and Flaubert was the writer who perfected the genre of "realism", although he himself did not want to fixed into a genre.

Arthur is a diligent author who writes almost every day with few interruptions; he seldom revises his works, and he always completes them overnight, and after re-examination, he will directly burn some of the unsatisfactory works, never leaving " Imperfect" works.

Vitaly's plan is to promote "A Season in Hell" first, whether he prints it himself or has a publisher who is willing to publish it. The purpose of this collection of poems is not to "make money" but to "be famous"; after that, he will publish a collection of poems, Consolidate his popularity; it may not be too famous in the short term, but these poems are the foundation of his career, and the more time passes, the more shining;

Then he can announce that he will close his pen, not to stop writing at all, but to stop writing poetry and write instead; the best path may be to arouse dissatisfaction from relevant departments like "Madame Bovary", and even issue a ban and file a lawsuit. The court, this popularity can be said to be comparable to the launch of an aviation plane, and it will definitely fill up the expected value/fashionable value at once.

Arthur has no opinion at all about "my work may be banned by the government", and thinks it is very interesting, it can be done.He is already writing his first novel. Like many previous writers, he also chooses to write a semi-autobiographical one. It is said that he has written two chapters, but he still refuses to show it to Vitaly.

During two weeks in Paris, an unexpected guest came to visit.

The apartment where the Rimbauds lived did not have a kitchen for cooking, and Vitaly was dressed properly and was going out to lunch with Arthur and Drae at noon when there was a knock at the door.

There was a light knock on the door.

Arthur asked Draai: "Are you waiting for someone?"

Draer shook his head. "No. Is it Fran?"

"He wouldn't knock on the door like that." Fran's knock on the door was in a hurry, and he would call Arthur's name.

Arthur went to open the door, but unexpectedly, there was a strange boy standing outside the door.

The boy was obviously a little surprised, "—Sorry, is this Rimbaud's house?"

"Yes. Who are you looking for?" Arthur frowned instinctively: He didn't know this person, so he came to look for Vitaly?

"I'm looking for Mademoiselle Rimbaud. I'm Gabriel Oran, and you're Vitaly's brother, Arthur, aren't you?"

"Gabriel?" Vitaly walked over, also a little surprised, "Why are you here?"

Lunch for 3 turned into lunch for 4.

Gabriel is well dressed, the kind of "this suit is nice" and "this guy must come from a good family" kind of look. Paris at the end of July was hotter than London. He was wearing a well-fitting dark navy short coat and his calfskin shoes were well polished.

Vitaly hadn't realized anything yet, but Arthur had already looked at Gabriel with the eyes of "this kid might be my brother-in-law in the future".

What is the background of the Oran family, Vitaly told him before: a minor nobleman from the old empire, a trusted confidant of the abdicated emperor.Gabriel, the young master, lived a good life since he was a child, and his face has the innocence of a child from a good family background.

If the Second Empire hadn't collapsed, it would be impossible for the young master of the noble family to have any relationship with the daughter of an officer in Charleville, let alone marry in the future; but the empire was over, and the Oran family ran away with the emperor's family Abroad, his family is no longer a "nobility". In the future, as long as Vitaly has a suitable dowry, they can consider getting married.But of course, you have to pass the elder brother first.

Arthur looked at Gabriel with distaste: What can he do with such small arms and legs?

He sat Gabriel across from Vitaly, but it allowed Gabriel to get a better look at her: she had grown taller, into a big girl, a beautiful girl.

Vitaly was unable to speak to Gabriel throughout lunch, interrupted by Arthur and Drae.The two of them didn't answer the conversation directly, but suddenly it seemed that there were a lot of things that had to be discussed at lunch time.She thought they were funny, and of course she could see that Arthur didn't want her to talk to Gabriel--it was funny!

Gabriel was not in a hurry to talk to her, and after being interrupted, he just looked at her and smiled.

He is so cute when he smiles!

Ah, I wonder why he suddenly returned to Paris?

After lunch, Gabriel followed them back to the apartment.

Arthur asked them to sit and talk in the living room, and Vitaly sent him out a few minutes later to go shopping, so he could only leave Drael to watch his sister and the young master.

Draer voluntarily sat down on the single sofa next to the couch, took a book to read, and said, "I have no choice but to do so."

"Would you like tea? Coffee?" The French love coffee, and there are cafes everywhere, but there is still a market for tea.

"No, you sit down." Gabriel smiled.

"Why are you here?" As soon as she saw him, she wondered if it was because of Verlaine.

Sure enough, he whispered, "It's about Holland Street."

"What happened?"

"He left suddenly a few days ago. I don't know when he left. My people can't always be around and stare at him."

She nodded with a heavy heart, "Does he know that someone is watching him?"

"Maybe. My people are not... not specialized in stalking."

"Don't worry, Ernest doesn't understand what we're talking about. Didn't you find out where he went?"

"Found it. He first went to Brussels, and then returned to Paris."

"Paris? What is he doing here?" she whispered, "reconcile with his wife?"

"Probably not."

"You can write and tell me."

"I didn't know you came to Paris. I went to Rouen first, and the letter was sent to Rouen. I knew you came to Paris, so I came here."

"Are you afraid of him doing something bad?"

Gabriel nodded, "You have to know what a desperate person will do—anything is possible."

"Despair? What have you done to him?" She covered her mouth in feigned surprise.

He laughed, "It's nothing, he was already in a desperate situation, no money, unstable job, meager income, and ruined reputation."

"What kind of cause, what kind of fruit, he should have thought of it, he should have thought of it long ago."

"I won't go to Oxford until September, and I will always be by your side during this time." He said very seriously, looking at her unblinkingly with a pair of dark brown eyes.

Draer coughed pretendingly.

"What if—that nasty guy never shows up?"

"I think he won't show up again by then."

Vitaly sighed, distraught, "I don't like having a time-bomb around me."

"What?" Gabriel didn't understand the word.He understands bomb-bomb, but what does "timing" mean?Maybe because she's an officer's daughter?

"Nothing." She stood up. "Where do you live? A hotel?"

"Hotel." He took out a hotel card from his pocket, with the hotel room number handwritten on it. "Tomorrow morning, I will pick you up. I know there are some very good women's clothing stores. Do you want to buy a skirt?"

No one doesn't like buying a new dress.

But there's bound to be someone in the way.

Based on the principle of "everything has to be reversed", as long as Gabriel says "beautiful", he will be able to pick out the fault, saying that this one is not good-looking, which makes her legs appear short; not good.Vitaly got angry in a few strokes, and was so angry that he decided not to buy it.

Gabriel was busy coaxing her, saying that they were all beautiful, tried a few, and bought them all.Very bold buy buy buy.

Arthur now regretted it again: Hi!Isn't this a chance for the young master to make her happy?

The female shop assistant was busy packing the skirt, putting it in a gift box, and handing it over to Gabriel's servant, who moved the gift box to the carriage and put it there.

"Are you hungry? Let's go eat," Gabriel said.

"Isn't it a little early for dinner now? What time is it?"

He took out his pocket watch, "It's past 11 o'clock, this time is just right, if you go late, there will be no good table."

They found a table by the window at a restaurant on the Champs-Elysées.

This time, Gabriel sat next to Vitaly.

She ordered and handed Arthur the menu—if it was Gabriel first, his brother would be very upset again.oops!Arthur is really good at tossing people!

Gabriel didn't seem to care who got the menu first, and he whispered to her, asking if her order was enough.

"That's enough, what about you? What do you like to eat?" The length of the letter is limited, and I won't talk about what kind of food I like to eat.

"You ordered exactly what I like to eat."

Arthur nearly threw the menu in his face: Brat!My sister won't be moved by such a clichéd flattery!

But Vitaly smiled at him so happily.well!Sure enough, when girls grow up, they will fall in love with some brats!

Flaubert took three young people to Paris, and took three young people back to the Crosval Manor: Foran was replaced by Oran.

Oran is very well-bred. He received an aristocratic education since he was a child. He is about to go to Oxford to receive higher education. He is a good boy with all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique and beauty.He brought from London two sets of tennis rackets and two barrels of tennis balls, and the fledgling sport quickly became popular among young Englishmen.

There is no lawn suitable for playing tennis in Crosswald Manor. Master Oran ordered the gardener to repair a tennis court on the lawn, and took Vitaly to play tennis for two hours every day.

The floor-sweeping long skirt is not suitable for playing tennis. Vitaly went to a tailor shop in Rouen to order four pairs of men's all-cotton trousers, and bought half a dozen men's all-cotton shirts by the way.

Flaubert enjoyed the sport, but he was not flexible because of his age.The family doctor didn't let him do too much exercise because of his illness.

Arthur was nervous about Vitaly, and tried to keep them from being alone together as much as possible.Vitaly was worried about Verlaine, who didn't know where he was, and barely noticed it.

"Run up and run up." Gabriel briskly ran backwards facing Vitaly.Vitaly lacked running practice, and Gabriel dragged her out for a run before breakfast every day, and Arthur could only accompany her.

"Did you run a little longer today?" She said out of breath.

"Not too long, just ran 100 meters more."

"100 meters? You lied to me again."

He laughed, "Maybe 200 meters."

"I can't run anymore." She slowed down.

"Take a break, but don't stop all at once." His steps also slowed down, and he reached out to grab her arm naturally.

"Hey! Let go!" Arthur hurried up a few steps.

Gabriel let go quickly.

"You have to work out, you're too skinny."

"I've eaten a lot, but I just don't gain much weight or height." She said annoyedly, "I want to grow taller."

"I see that you have grown quite tall, much taller than when you were in Luoshi Village."

"I haven't reached 1 meters yet, at least I have to grow here—" She gestured on his arm. "How tall are you? You don't seem very tall, and Arthur isn't too tall either. I like boys taller. It looks good in a suit, and it looks good in a tennis suit."

Arthur stared at her in disbelief.

"Then I have to grow taller." Gabriel looked at her with a smile, "Vitale, you are 15 years old."

"Yes. What's the matter?" This person is so strange, he clearly knows that she has just passed her 15th birthday for more than a month.

Arthur thought their conversation was a little strange, and he hesitated to interrupt them.

"I was planning to come back to you in the summer, I..." Gabriel quickly glanced at Arthur, "Girls can get married at the age of 15 with the permission of their parents, you—don't let Mrs. Rimbaud do this I asked you to marry someone a long time ago. I..."

He blushed and lowered his voice, "Should I talk to you alone?"

Arthur stared at him dissatisfied: Damn it!

But Vitaly actually smiled, "You think too much, I won't get married early."

Gabriel had an expression of "I can finally relax", "That's good."

Arthur didn't know how to face this problem: the young master didn't behave in any manners, and he talked to Vitaly very seriously; the fact that he came from a country across the strait showed that he really took Vitaly seriously.

He was a little conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want his sister to be too close to this noble young master, but it seemed that there was nothing to object to?The Oran family should have a lot of money. Gabriel is the only child in the family, and all the property should be his. Vitaly will live well in the future.

He felt as if he had overlooked something, but he couldn't remember what he had neglected.