Grasp the farming script in the famous book

"A professor from Germany?"

After listening to Mrs. Kirk's introduction, Roland was inevitably a little interested.

Although the producer blocked her memory of the original book, Roland still had some impressions: Germany, professor, surname Barr or something... Could it be that this is the "airborne" from the original book?

"He's a very interesting guy, just a bit more slovenly."

Mrs. Kirk is a very talkative lady. She knows every tenant who has lived here like the back of her hand, and she can talk endlessly.

"His elder sister married and came to the United States, but it is a pity that both the husband and wife passed away, leaving two nephews unattended to raise. The professor came to the United States and took in his two nephews. But I heard that a while ago he I have completed the adoption procedures and returned to Germany with my two children."

Roland took a look at the situation in the room, and thought to himself: The evaluation of "ragged" is really accurate.

She has roughly pictured in her mind the image of a "professor" with tousled hair, baggy jacket with buttons missing, and glasses.

At this moment, on the back of the armchair in front of her, there are still two men's long socks hanging. There are quite obvious holes in the bottom of the socks and traces of random stitching with threads.

Mrs. Kirk immediately put away the pair of socks in annoyance, and threw them into the laundry basket outside the room, saying, "I should ask them to clean up this room first..."

"Joe, Beth, my children, you can check the things in this room at will. Please keep the books as much as possible. The professor said they are all valuable. Throw away other things when they are useless. Anyway, Professor Barr will never Back to New York."

Roland was surprised: What... never going back to New York again?

This... "airborne", how could it be possible?

But to Roland at this moment, Professor Barr is just a character relayed in his mouth.Roland didn't even have a reason to be "surprised" by him.

Roland could only salute Mrs. Kirk together with Beth, expressing their gratitude to the lady for her shelter and hospitality.

Mrs. Kirk left immediately, saying that she would speak to them at dinner time and see how they could be of help.

Roland and Beth hurried to let go

Unpack and start cleaning this attic.

They quickly cleaned out the items left by Professor Barr—all of them were books, and they seemed to be published in recent years, mainly in English.

Roland guessed: The owner of this book may have left these books here because he had to travel long distances with two children, so he couldn't carry too much luggage.

Professor Barr may have also told Mrs. Kirk that these books are valuable things, and asked her not to throw them away, in case she could meet a "destined person" who likes these books in the future.

The image of that Professor Barr in her mind suddenly became more vivid.

She casually opened a book to the title page, only to see someone signed it with a pen: "Frederick Barr, bought in New York, Sam's Bookstore."

It turned out that the professor's full name was Frederick Barr.

Roland held the book, and she had almost completely outlined the entire image of this man.He is kind, easy-going, unkempt, and sometimes even sloppy... But he is well-learned, well-mannered, and patient with students... But on academic issues, he will insist on his own point of view, and he will not Ken shaken...

Beth had already dusted another book, and gently opened the cover.The little girl gave a soft "ah" and greeted Roland: "Joe, look..."

Beth finds a photo in the book, which shows a man in his 40s and [-]s. His face and facial features are not particularly handsome, but he is very angular. With a pair of glasses, he has a unique temperament, which makes people People are fascinated.

Roland took the photo, turned it over, and immediately saw a line of signatures in the same handwriting: "Frederick Barr, photographed in New York, June [-], [-]."

The person in the photo is wearing a heavy woolen coat-although this photo was taken in summer.

Roland guessed: either the summer was very cold that year, or the professor was really out of pocket.

She put down the picture, and together with Beth silently, they made the room tidy.

While tidying up, Roland straightened out his thoughts: In this "original plane", the incarnation of the original author, Joe, probably didn't really meet such a Professor Barr, at least he didn't get along with him face to face.

But the professor left many traces, enough for Joe to imagine such a

A flesh-and-blood figure.

In the days that followed, many things happened that confirmed her conjecture.

For example, on the afternoon of their arrival, Roland and Beth saw a young maid struggling to carry a basket of coal to the fifth floor—winter is coming, and the fireplaces in the whole house need to be lit for heating.

Seeing that the maid was struggling too much, Roland and Beth took the initiative to help. The maid thanked her a lot, wiped the sweat from her brow, and said, "It would be great if Professor Barr hadn't returned to Germany."

Roland immediately imagined Professor Barr as a good person who could let go of all airs and help others with physical work.This kind of enthusiasm across classes is rare in the plane.

Another example is at the dining table in this big house, when people laugh at someone who eats fast and a lot, they will laugh at him: "Why are you like Professor Barr?"

And the children in this house were most fond of comparing Professor Barr with anyone else.

But when Mrs. Kirk hoped that Roland and Beth could serve as governesses and take care of these children, these little ones protested together: "We want Uncle Bal."

Another little one slowly crawled in front of Roland, forcing Roland to hug her up.The little thing patted Roland's face with his saliva-smeared little hands, and asked her, "Where did Uncle Baal go?"

Roland: This...

She immediately and automatically filled Professor Barr's mind with an image of a child king.

In the end, Roland was lucky to escape the terrible fate of being a governess alone, and she, Beth and another governess took up the "responsibility" of raising all these children together.

The gentle and careful Beth would spend two hours a day with a maid to take care of the daily life of these children.

Roland is responsible for giving these little ones "physical education lessons", taking them to hide and seek, acting as soldiers in formation, and riding a wooden horse... When she is close to being exhausted by these boundless little guys, there will be another young and kind lady Come and take her class.

When the young lady saw Roland in distress, she would comfort her with great sympathy: "Don't be afraid, your current appearance is much better than that of Professor Barr."

Roland: ...

Professor Bhaer, what a famous (unlucky) character you really are?

Of course, after she heard all these stories

After the incident and evaluation, Professor Barr was almost alive in her mind, even though this character had never appeared in front of her.

He is a "real" person imagined by an author out of thin air, but there are traces to follow.

But because there is no real appearance, all the good and gentle advantages, and those small defects such as sloppy, can be arranged on this person one by one.

Both Roland and Beth got used to the big house - the small society - quickly.

New York is an amazing place where people come from all over the world.

It's the same in this big house, people speak English with various accents.

Their identities and occupations vary.Some people go out early and come home late, while others do the complete opposite.

Some people are born with the enthusiasm given to them by rural life, while others have lost their innocence and look at people with the unique indifference of "urban people".

The big dining table in this house is the direct condensation of this "small society".

One dinner is served in this house every day, and it is served for a limited time, and it will be gone if it is not in time.So, at mealtimes, sitting at the large table in the restaurant, you can meet almost everyone who lives here.

At first, Beth was too shy to go to the table and dine with so many people.

But Roland half-forced her to go with him.When Beth sat down, it seemed to Beth that everyone at the big table was absorbed in eating, and that no one was looking at her.A young and apprehensive heart gradually let go of it.

There are all kinds of people sitting at this table, bachelors who like to talk, young couples who are newlyweds, housewives with children, and old people who are used to smoking or reading newspapers at the table...

Beth was very timid, but with Roland's encouragement, she was able to gradually face up to those "neighbors", observe their "big city style", and have fun in this observation.

Roland and Beth, however, are greeted with something special "welcome" in the house.

Once she and Beth finished eating, she helped the maid to clear away the used plates, so she was last behind.

As she and Beth left the dining room, two young men were rearranging their coats and hats with their backs to them.

One of them said, "Who are those two new girls? Maids? Why do maids sit with us and eat?"

The other laughed suddenly: "I heard that it's Mrs. Kirk's friend who came to New York to work as a tutor."

"I see." The first man who spoke finished straightening his coat and hat, and when he turned his head, he saw Roland and Beth coming out, and knew that their conversation was overheard by the Lord.

But he didn't stop talking, but stared at the two girls and continued, "So it's an old hat from the country."

Beth's little fair face flushed bright red.She has never experienced such face-to-face teasing, and she didn't know how to deal with it for a while, but her self-esteem made her try to raise her head, even though there were already bright tears in her eyes.

Roland smiled, and she looked at the two men with interest.

Facing her smile, the men couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

"I think you don't want to offend me and my sister."

Roland made a face at the two men, pulled Beth upstairs, and left the two young men downstairs in a daze.

Beth had recovered somewhat of her composure when she returned to the attic.

She suddenly raised her head and looked at Roland: "Joe, I understand. The weaker I am, the more they will look down on me unscrupulously. Joe, what should I do to be like you..."

Roland reached out to touch her long soft golden hair and said, "You don't need to do anything, I will protect you if you have it."

"However, you have to remember that your dignity always comes from yourself, not from other people's vision and evaluation of you."

"As for those two guys..."

Roland couldn't help laughing.

It is indeed very interesting to observe other people at the dinner table.She had noticed early in the morning that these two guys were a bit picky about their diet, and they ate a lot—in other words, they were two "gluttons" who pursued a little bit.

This coincides with Roland's plan - she feels that she is not good at raising children at all, but she can be of great help in the kitchen work.

At this moment, she couldn't help but want to tell the residents in this house: Please try not to offend her - she will be the chef in this house

.

Roland quickly talked through Mrs. Kirk, and changed from a tutor to a kitchen helper.

On the day she first started cooking, the original cook bowed down and voluntarily resigned from the position of chef, and Roland replaced him as assistant, in order to learn a few things from the "chef".

The residents in the big house immediately discovered that the chef had been changed, and the quality of the food had improved. Although the ingredients looked exactly the same, the taste of cooking was much better than before.

People here come from all over the world, there are Germans, French, Irish, and southerners who came to the north after the war to make a living.They come in a variety of flavors.

Since the change of chef, people can taste a dish of "popular taste" and a dish with local characteristics every day.

Roasted spring chicken, stewed beef with red wine, seafood risotto... All kinds of ingredients can be bought in this emerging metropolis, so the various foods that Roland has cooked in various dimensions are all one by one. The pieces are presented here on the dining table.

Whenever she came out of the kitchen with a long-handled spoon and a tall chef's hat, and asked the residents about the taste of the dishes, the residents in the building paid respect to Roland.

The two men who had teased Roland and Beth before could only stare blankly at the plate in front of them.

On the plate in front of them is always a dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage.

Roland would greet them and ask courteously, "Is the taste okay?"

"I heard that this is the hometown dish of the two of you. The chef and I specially prepared it for you two."

The two men nodded helplessly: Because even the mashed potatoes and cabbage are much better than the previous cooks. They will be served with diced ham and poached eggs. Couldn't complain or complain to Mrs Kirk.

But the question is, seeing other people's daily dinner time become "happiness" time, but they can only enjoy "well-prepared" mashed potatoes and cabbage day after day?

"Miss March... two Miss March..."

The man who spoke rudely earlier couldn't bear it anymore, and apologized to Roland and Beth in front of the entire restaurant.

"I was wrong, Miss March can cook delicious food from all over the world, how could it be'

What about the old hats from the country? "

This guy finally came to his senses, he was the one who had said something carelessly, and the words "rural old hat from the countryside" had hurt others.

So he stammered: "I myself... I'm an old hat...Miss March, please forgive my blindness..."

There was only one feeling in his heart: these two young girls really shouldn't be offended, but who would have thought that they would have such abilities, and they couldn't be seen on the outside at all.

If you apologize sincerely, you can get the opportunity to taste delicious food like others-this apology is definitely worth it.

His companion also stood up: "Professor Barr persuaded us before leaving. He said that all people in this world, regardless of occupation or status, have their own strengths and should have equal status. It's a pity that we just listened. , did not really listen to his words. Until today..."

To this day, Roland taught them a lesson.

Roland raised his eyebrows: Professor Barr again?This professor's three views are quite upright.No wonder it can become a loyal and reliable positive image in the pen of the original author.

"Miss, we were indeed wrong last time."

The two apologized together.Roland asked Beth to come forward and accepted the two apologies.Since then, the meals of the two have been on the right track.

The residents in the whole big house have gained two valuable life experiences:

One, don't offend the chef.

Two, don't offend anyone easily, because you don't know if she/he will be a good cook or not.

The author has something to say: The original author of "Little Women" did add an "airborne" to the heroine in the article under the editor's suggestion, Professor Barr.The prototype of this professor is said to come from a scholar that the author Luisa met while traveling in Europe.In the "original plane" in this article, the image of this "airborne" still comes from a down-and-out professor living in New York.The various "anecdotes" he left behind became Joe's source of inspiration.