Rimbaud's girl

Arthur was a pretty boy, which made him very attractive to men and women, and girls liked pretty boys, too, and for that reason some of his frivolity was sometimes tolerated.

Vitaly seriously doubts whether Arthur has ever been in love.It's normal to like or fall in love with a beautiful girl, but his concept of love is more from books.

He is still young!It is not yet time to think about love.However, Verlaine... Arthur actually admires Paul Verlaine quite a bit. Of course, he is currently limited to Verlaine's poems.

Vitaly thought about it, but she didn't understand why Arthur Rimbaud would develop an indescribable physical relationship with Verlaine in the near future. Arthur was a delicate and beautiful boy, and Verlaine was only 10 years older than him. Already bald before old age——

In terms of appearance, she disliked Verlaine very much.

Young literary men in Paris don't seem to care about getting bald before they get old, what matters is talent.

Can admiration for talent turn into admiration for the person?It seems normal, but, Arthur is gay?As a sister, Vitaly did not see any obvious sexual orientation in him at all.Boys, it's normal to discuss beautiful girls. If you don't specify a girl, you can't be regarded as having "sexual awareness", let alone "sexual orientation".

It's a mystery.

It was exasperating that my son had run away again, but life had to go on.

Mrs. Rimbaud got up in the afternoon and continued to do housework and teach her daughters.

She didn't mention Arthur, and Vitaly wouldn't take the initiative to mention her brother.

As he had promised, Arthur wrote to Vitaly when he arrived in Paris, and the letter was delivered to Rimbaud's house on the third morning.

The letter was not long, and briefly stated that he had arrived in Paris and lived in a hotel, but he was careful not to write the name of the hotel; he said that he was going to find some poets tomorrow (that is, the past yesterday), and he also wanted to go to the newspaper office have a look.

Mrs. Rimbaud asked seriously: "What did he say?"

"He... is going to meet some famous poets, and hopes to find a job in a newspaper." Vitaly thinks that these things can be known to her mother.

"Looking for a job?" Mrs. Rimbaud was a little surprised. "He wants to find a job?"

"Well. I told him that as long as people want him, he can be a handyman who sends and receives letters. However, he thinks very highly of himself, and he won't want to be an office handyman."

"Then what does he want to do?"

"The writer."

"Is he good? I mean, a copywriter." Mrs. Rimbaud struggled to speak the new term.

"He writes very well, but he is too young, and the people in the newspaper may look down on him."

Mrs. Rimbaud pursed her lips in displeasure, "He is a smart boy, and people shouldn't look down on him because of his age."

Vitaly shrugged, and was immediately scolded by her mother, "What kind of strange action are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." She hurried away.

Vitaly went back to her room and wrote Arthur a reply.He did not write a return address, but he could leave the letter at the post office, and he would pick it up at the post office.She said she would wire him 100 francs from the post office, and he would set off for Dijon immediately.

It never occurred to Arthur that he didn't know anyone in Paris, just because he was a boy in a remote town, and those literary and artistic young men who had become famous or notorious would not look at him at all.

Even before he left the house, Vitaly knew that he was destined to return disappointed this time.

Enthusiasm and talent alone are not enough. Networks are also needed. He needs a "leader" who appreciates his talent.

Sure enough, Arthur's second letter arrived soon.He mentioned, not without dismay, that the poets in Paris ignored him, and that to some of them he copied his poems and sent them, but no one answered him, and he did not know where to find them.

Regarding the matter of going to Dijon, he said, why go to that man? "Mom" doesn't want to mention him, so don't make trouble for nothing.

Vitaly wrote back: Just because we call him Rimbaud!go go go go!If Captain Rimbaud will give you some money, you can stay in Paris for a while; if he doesn't give you a franc, well, she will never let him live so happily!

Maybe it was the experience in Paris that disappointed him, maybe it was the prospect of being rich that moved him. In short, after receiving the letter from his sister, Arthur really ran to Dijon.

Vitaly did not know what happened to Arthur in Dijon, and Arthur Rimbaud returned to Charleville after two weeks away from home.

Madame Rimbaud questioned him rather harshly, and he told him something about his time in Paris, and how he had almost lived in the streets, among thieves.Mrs. Rimbaud was a little disappointed and asked him what he wanted to do.

Arthur was a little dazed at first, and then said, "I want to be a poet."

Mrs. Rimbaud looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"—That is, people can't understand your writing, but they think your writing is great!" He laughed as he said it.

Only then did he find it difficult to explain to his mother why he wanted to be a poet.Dan-->>

Tali was different. She understood the "why" right away and supported him.

He sneaked away again, but still got little punishment.

He went back to his room and lay on the bed without taking off his shoes.Half an hour later Vitaly came in.

She closed the door carefully, leaning against the door with the chair next to the desk.

First, she said disgustedly: "Take off your shoes! You must know that it is very cold to wash sheets in winter."

Arthur hummed twice and continued to lie down.

She had to do it herself, "You are so dirty!" and helped him take off his shoes.

"Wash your feet!"

He just sat up, took off his smelly socks, and soaked his feet in the wooden bucket beside the bed.

"Oh, it's so comfortable!"

Although there is a nagging and strict mother in the family, which makes him want to escape all the time, but with such a well-behaved and hardworking sister, the family is not too bad.

"Tell me, did you go to Dijon? How is Dijon?" Vitaly felt distressed as she thought about her 100 francs: In just half a month, 500 francs of the 200 francs given by her uncle went away.

"Dijon is not bad, much better than Charleville." The north of France is relatively poor, and because of the war, it was poor and dilapidated; the rich south is different, and Dijon is very comfortable.

"Have you seen Captain Rimbaud?"

Arthur's face darkened for a moment, "I see."

"What did he say?"

"He said he didn't have any money and that money bought a house."

Vitaly snorted, "What else? Does he have a lover?"

The siblings had lowered their voices to speak, but now, Arthur simply whispered in her ear: "Yes."

Vitaly was not surprised at all: "If he has never had a lover, I admire him as a man."

"There is a boy about 10 years old living in his family, but I don't know whether it is the child brought by the lover, or - our younger brother." When he said the word "brother", his expression was very cold.

A lot of information!

After Captain Rimbaud retired, he had a lover!and kids!

Do the math, Captain Rimbaud is 57 years old this year, he retired at the age of 50, but he actually left Charleville 10 years ago.Vitaly would not believe that a 47-year-old man left his wife and had no other women around him for so many years.

It's normal to have a lover, and no one can control it, but to have such a big illegitimate child?Arthur estimated that the child's age may not be accurate, but it is very likely that after Captain Rimbaud left Charleville, he had another child with another woman.

Anger rose in Vitaly's heart.

"And then? He sent you away without giving you a penny?"

"He gave me 100 francs." Arthur said with a mocking look on his face. "I want to throw those five gold coins in his face!"

Vitaly said hurriedly, "Don't throw it away!"

Arthur smiled, "I didn't throw it away. Here, here you are."

He took out a money bag, "You put it away."

Vitaly accepted the money bag with a serious face, "I have calculated, even if the living expenses of our four children are 4 francs a year, it will be 1000 francs in 10 years from Isabel's birth; before Isabel was born, it would be 1 francs; , decreasing year by year, a total of at least 7 francs should be paid in seven years, less interest, and he should pay a total of 3500 francs in child support."

"Oh! That's a lot of money!" Arthur exclaimed.

Vitaly felt the need to teach her brother home economics.

"Our family of five now spends about 1500 francs a year, which should have been paid by Captain Rimbaud. Now I have reduced it to 1000 francs a year, which is already a preferential price."

"What is 'preferential price'?" My sister sometimes said some super fresh words.

"It's just—don't interrupt! I haven't calculated the salary and alimony he should pay to his mother. Raising children is not only a matter of money, but also a huge energy. What? You think the sheets and clothes are your own Washed, dried and folded, jumped into your closet?" Vitaly stared at him, "You should learn to wipe the floor and wash the sheets, so that you will know that housework is not easy."

Arthur hurriedly hugged her shoulders, smiled flatteringly and said, "I know, I know, you work hard every day."

She snorted, "Do you think I should ask him for the money?"

Arthur's face darkened again, "Of course I should ask him for it! If he can't afford it, let him sell his house!"

Huh, this feeling is a bit wrong.Arthur usually doesn't care about money. He knows that money is very important, but money is not that important.So this time, was there some kind of stimulation from Captain Rimbaud?

But thinking about it, Captain Rimbaud treated his own child, a beautiful boy with his own surname, and sent him away with only 100 francs. Anyone would be angry, let alone Arthur, who was not a "good boy" at all.

Arthur is now a rebellious young man. To put it mildly, he is a "naughty boy", but to put it bluntly, he is a "bad boy".