Rimbaud's girl

Mrs. Rimbaud didn't beat her children, but her stern look and her strict education methods made the children afraid, and only the boys dared to resist, especially Arthur, the mother's favorite.But he was also afraid, and as long as his mother threatened him that he would never come back if he didn't come home, Arthur would go home obediently.

Vitaly understood her mother, but didn't agree.But she is just a child and cannot change her mother.She can only comfort herself, at least Mrs. Rimbaud has a little property, and she will not let the children starve and freeze, but it is much better than many poor people.

Mrs. Rimbaud is conservative and frugal. She never expresses her love for her children verbally, and sometimes complains that the children are too annoying.Single motherhood is exhausting, but how?She chose the path herself. She was blind and chose a very unreliable husband, and now she has to bear the consequences.

Marriage is not worth the loss for a woman. If you can't find a reliable man, you might as well be single.

To be a good housewife, you need to learn more than doing housework, cooking, and learning to manage accounts.Mrs. Rimbaud's mother died when she was very young, and she was the only girl in the family. Girls without a mother had a relatively difficult life in the process of growing up, and many housework was learned by themselves.Her teachings to Vitaly were particularly strict. Because she herself had no mother to teach, she was delayed in her marriage, and she was very unwilling for her daughter to waste her youth on marriage.

She treats Vitaly as an adult, and will tell her everything, for example, how much is the monthly living expenses in francs, and it is best to control the daily expenses within 5 francs, preferably 4 francs, and 120 francs a month To 150 francs, about 1500 francs a year, it is best not to exceed 200 francs; the children should try their best to keep healthy and not get sick. Medical expenses are an additional large expenditure that cannot be strictly controlled.

The dowry of 3 francs has been used from the year of marriage to the present, and there is not much left. If Mrs. Rimbaud had not inherited some real estate in Roche Village after the death of her grandfather, there was real estate rental income.

Vitaly asked tentatively, "Did father give us living expenses?"

Mrs. Rimbaud first looked at her with a straight face, and after a while, she reluctantly said: "I gave it a few years ago."

"How many years has it been given? Why didn't it be given later? Doesn't he have an officer's allowance? I remember that the captain's allowance in the army is not small."

"It's not a little, but—" Mrs. Rimbaud sighed sadly, "don't ask this. Come, let me see your embroidery."

Vitaly showed her the little cloth she was embroidering. "Are you...divorced?"

Mrs. Rimbaud just took the small piece of cloth, and looked at her daughter in shock, "What are you talking about! Divorce? My God! Where did you come up with these weird ideas!"

"He doesn't give living expenses, why don't you ask him for it?"

Mrs. Rimbaud pursed her lips, "This is not something you should ask."

"I'm his daughter, so he should give me the living expenses for raising me. If he doesn't want to have children, he shouldn't get married."

"Vitale!"

"Mom, you are so talkative. Just like I was in the monastery, if you are too talkative, those girls will bully you, they will take your hair tie away, and they will ask you for pocket money. If you don't give it, they will bully you." They'll get together and beat you up at night."

Mrs. Rimbaud felt annoyed and amused, "So that's why you are sent back every two months?"

Vitaly shrugged, "They always bully me because I'm thin and small. Mom, I don't want to go to convent school." She took the opportunity to make a request.

"Don't you want to go to school?"

"I wanted to go to a school like Charleville College, not a convent school. The nuns wouldn't let me read, they thought I was too poor and looked down on me."

"Why? The nuns are humble and friendly. They are servants of God."

Vitaly curled her lips, "But they also have to eat, drink, and sleep. They are just 'people', and people have shortcomings. Mom, I don't think the monastery will let us go back before the end of this year. Do you study at home? I heard that if you learn shorthand, you can go out to find a job in the future. To learn shorthand, you must learn to spell. The nuns don’t teach much vocabulary. They say that as long as you can write letters that others can understand Now, girls don't need to learn much. This is obviously not right."

Mrs. Rimbaud hesitated, "You are still too young to talk about looking for a job. In the future, each of you four children will share the land in Luoshi Village. You and Isabel are girls. It would be best if you have more money in your hand." Having benefited from her own inheritance from her natal family, she would have thought that it would not be uncommon for her daughter to inherit her inheritance in the future.This point was agreed by Vitaly.

Mrs. Rimbaud's attitude was a bit strange. She probably thought it a shame to go to Dijon to ask her husband for money?Or, too much trouble?She didn't bite to death and never discussed it.However, this matter is not urgent for the time being. When Vitaly plans to go to Luoshi Village next month, she will ask her uncle for his opinion.If possible, she would persuade her uncle to take her and Frederick to Dijon. Frederick was the eldest son, and he should do something for the family.

Arthur didn't know when he ran away. It was not until lunch time that Mrs. Rimbaud found out that her youngest son was not at home.

>He took a few clothes, and the velvet jacket he wore to school, and Mrs. Rimbaud went through the closet, her eyes were red with anger.

"This bastard!" She was annoyed and helpless, "Vitaly, go to the train station and look for it! Frederick, go with Vitaly."

Frederick put on his coat reluctantly, took Vitaly out, and went to the train station.

They boarded a stagecoach on the street to the train station.The public carriage is the public transportation of this era. The carriage is very long and can accommodate a dozen people; the roof can also accommodate several people.In order to save money, young men usually choose to ride on the roof.It's winter now, it's too cold, and saving money is not about saving money. Frederick and Vitaly sat in the carriage.The coachman let Frederick sit on his lap with Vitaly in his arms, thus saving a seat, and charged only one and a half seats.

Charleville is not big, and Rimbaud's house is not far from the train station, which will arrive in ten minutes.Frederick and Vitaly looked around the train station, but of course they couldn't find Arthur.

"Mama shouldn't have sent us to him, I say. He must have been on the train to Paris long ago," muttered Frederick.

"You have to come and see."

"It's a waste of money!" he yelled.

"Let's go, let's go home, I'm hungry." They came out before they had time to eat lunch.

"Have you brought any money? Let's go home after eating out." He said pitifully, "I can't get enough of two buns."

Vitaly rolled his eyes: How angry!Why are brothers like this!They all knew that she had some private money, and always wanted her to spend it every time. Frederick mainly wanted to eat more secretly outside, and Arthur asked for a lot. Besides eating, he also wanted to have a little money to buy books.

"No. If we eat out and can't eat at home, my mother will know that I have money."

"Don't worry, I will definitely eat up my lunch!" The developing boy has a very good appetite, so he doesn't have to worry about not being able to eat at all.

"We can walk back and save money on the car. We can eat a little bit on the way."

"Okay. If you can't walk anymore, I can carry you on my back."

They passed the bakery on the way and bought two almond soufflés and four baguettes that came to be called baguettes.

"The baguette is for dinner." She let her brother hold the paper bag containing the baguette, and then gave him an almond soufflé. "Eat it quickly."

The brothers and sisters failed to find Arthur who sneaked away, and Mrs. Rimbaud had no choice but to accept the reality.She didn't say anything to the children, but just told them to eat quickly.

The meat delivered by Felix yesterday was cut into half a sausage and steamed today. A child can only share a few slices.Vitaly didn't like sausages, so she shared them with her siblings.She has money in her own hand, and she is going to secretly go to a restaurant to have a good meal in a few days, so she doesn't care about the little meat at home.

Alas, it is still happier to have money, and you can eat whatever you want!

After dinner, Isabel was sent to clean up the table and wash the dishes.Madame Rimbaud was not feeling well, so she went to her room and lay down.Vitaly poured a cup of hot water for her mother, added a little orange jam to taste, and sent it to her room.

Madame Rimbaud lay in bed, distracted, and did not speak to her daughter.

Vitaly carefully exited the room, closed the door, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Back in his room, he took out Arthur's book and flipped through it.

She couldn't quite understand his textbooks, and Arthur, although a gifted child, was not a good teacher; let alone Frederick, who was basically the bottom of the class.She wants to go to Charleville College, and many contents still need to be explained by the teacher, such as the Latin that Arthur learned, for example, the teacher will teach poetry appreciation and creation.

Arthur had written some poetry, both in Latin and French, a lot of which was childish, but which had shown his talent and brilliance—

"At the age of 17, don't care about anything,

——A beautiful evening, coffee house

The cups and cups are intertwined, and the light and shadow are flickering with noise!

—Go for a walk in the green linden woods.

Smells the linden trees, on a charming evening in June!

The air is soft, people close their eyes:

There is a sound in the wind, - the city is near -

The fragrance of grape vines and the aroma of beer..."

This little poem called "Legendary Stories" has four stanzas and less than 20 sentences. It was written on the way away from home last year. It is said that he saw a beautiful girl on the train and fell in love with her. girl -