little miss austin

Alice couldn't repair her relationship with Oliver, which made Ivo secretly happy.Oliver may not hate her or be angry with her, but he may not know how to continue to get along with her, so he timidly chooses to ignore her as if she does not exist.

Hmph, he used to be like this, timid, afraid of failure.He wants everything to be perfect, he wants to be a perfect lover, he wants to pursue a perfect lover, only to find out that Alice is not what he imagined, and he is horrified.

Alice is so cute!She didn't blame Oliver at all for not telling her about his going to the army, and caring for him, otherwise he would have written him several letters without replying.

How could Oliver not write back to such a lovely Alice!

However, Oliver's timidity is his opportunity, so he doesn't care about him!

As for Byron—

"Alice, what I told you last time is that it's time for you to correctly understand a man's body." Face to face, the voice was as low as possible, but she could hear it clearly.

"Well, then what?"

"I think you need a model."

"Great idea. So who to talk to?"

Byron was aggrieved, "Is there any need to find someone else? Can't I?"

"You?" She squinted at him, "Can you do it?"

He exclaimed, "Why can't I? I'm in good shape!"

"Forget it." Alice pushed him away, stood up, and walked away.

Byron's relationship with Alice was sometimes close and sometimes distant. For example, in Cadiz they were very close. Alice went swimming at night, and Byron always went with her; in Casablanca, Byron had a crush on a 14-year-old Italian boy, often take him out to play.

There is nothing to say about Byron's aesthetic vision. The Italian boy's name is Andrea, who looks like Narcissus in Greek myths and legends, delicate and beautiful.He came to Casablanca with his mother and aunt for vacation. He was the only boy in the family and had two twin sisters, both very beautiful.

Alice also likes Andre very much, who doesn't like a beautiful and shy boy?

As for the twin sisters, Christie and Angelica, they also spend a lot of time with their younger brother, so in fact, Byron was dating all three at the same time.

The twins are 17 years old, youthful, beautiful and lovable.

Byron was a British nobleman, and his companions were also rich and well-mannered. Andre's mother didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and encouraged her children to play with Byron and the others.

Byron dotes on Andre very much, and spends most of his time with the beautiful boy, but there is no public intimacy, just doing everything together, eating and playing, he teaches Andre how to play English cricket, how to taste fine wine, Taught him to dance the popular British minuet.

Andre likes Byron very much, but obviously he is more interested in Alice, so he often becomes Byron, Andre, Alice, Ivo, and the twins play together.

Julian and Evan basically do everything together.The cousins ​​court the twins, but they can't figure out who is Christie and Angelica.The twins love to play "guess who I am" with them.

The month in Casablanca was very happy, eating, drinking and having fun all day long.Away from England, from Iberia, from all troubles.There is hardly any news about the Napoleonic Wars in Morocco, people here don't care about wars.

Alice forgot about writing, company, family, Oliver, etc., except when writing letters.

It's like a vacation!

It is said to be "traveling", but it is actually a super long vacation, and it is very fun to have fun if you have money.

They spent Christmas in Casablanca and had Christmas dinner with André and his family.After Christmas, Andrea and the twins boarded a passenger ship with their mother and aunt and returned to Italy.Andre was very reluctant to leave, and made an appointment with Byron to meet in Rome.

After Andre's family left, Alice and her party also left Casablanca.

The climate in the south of the Atlas Mountains is dry and cool, because it is winter and there is no rain.There are some rivers, but they are all bypassed as much as possible.Half of the time on the road, Alice will ride a horse, and when she is tired, she will return to the carriage to rest. The scenery along the way is indeed very different from England and the Iberian Peninsula, but it is also a bit aesthetically exhausting to see too much.In particular, they were robbed by a group of Berber robbers on the way. If they hadn't brought a lot of rifles wisely, and everyone except a few maids would shoot, it's hard to say what would have happened to them. encounter!

The situation looked dangerous at the time!

A group of Berbers came riding around, holding machetes, and someone started shooting from a long distance.

The Moroccan guide they were looking for immediately collapsed in fright.

Hobhouse immediately ordered everyone to dismount, and Alice also got out of the carriage, and asked the coachman to surround several carriages, and the women stayed in the carriage.The male servant took out the rifle from the carriage, reloaded it nervously, and handed it to the hostesses after reloading.

The horses were not war horses. When they heard the gunshots, they jumped up in fright. The men all got off their horses, let the horses go, and found shelters such as rocks on the side of the road.

Hobhouse commanded calmly and led his companions and servants to repel the Berber bandits.This small group of robbers didn't expect that these foreign young masters took weapons, left a dozen corpses behind, and fled in a hurry.

No one was hurt except for a footman who was shot in the arm.

It was the first time for the young masters to encounter robbers, and it was also the first time to actually shoot at a living person. They were all excited and had no psychological barriers.Grant led his black servant to examine the bodies. The tall black man picked up a machete and poked at the bodies one by one to make sure they were really dead, terribly dead.

Byron happily ran to Alice and said, "Look! I hit at least three people!"

"How is it different from hunting prey?" She said lightly.

"It's really a little different-I know that I should say at this time, they are human beings, and I shouldn't take their lives without authorization, but if I don't kill them, it will be us who die. At this time, we can't pay attention to anything Human rights, the right to life, I still understand this truth.”

"I heard that people who kill people for the first time will have a little psychological fluctuation."

Byron frowned, "I don't understand what that means."

"Were you scared when you shot?"

Ivo replied from the side: "Scared, terribly scared! Look! My hands are shaking all the time." He stretched out his hands, and they were shaking really badly.

"It's normal for you to be afraid. It's not normal for George not to be afraid." Alice held his hand.

Byron muttered: "What's wrong with me? I'm perfectly normal! Ivo, you coward!"

Only Byron and the tall black servant were not afraid. Although Alice had a rifle, she didn't shoot, and she didn't know if she was afraid.

Hobhouse didn't dare to stay, and asked the servants to retrieve the lost horse.

"We've got to get out of here fast. If it's just the advance party, we're doomed. We've got too few men and not enough guns."

Grant also said: "We have to go quickly, pack light, throw away all the luggage, just take the money."

Alice was the first to shout, "No! You can't drop your luggage!"

Byron also shouted: "How could it be possible to drop the luggage!"

Hobhouse touched his forehead, "Then ask the maid to pack some necessary luggage as soon as possible, and throw away all the useless ones. We will rush to Oran as soon as possible, and take a boat from Oran to Algiers."

The maids were busy packing their luggage, throwing away all the items that could be bought in Oran, and the young masters refused to drop their clothes. 100 shirts would take two full suitcases.Alice's clothes couldn't be thrown away casually, but in the end, she picked out a whole suitcase of clothes and threw them away.

The carriages were reduced to two, most of the horses were found, and some were not found. Fortunately, there were not so many carriages to pull the horses.

Before evening, they were on their way again.

The tall black servant stayed at the end, and after they walked a certain distance, they set fire to the abandoned carriage, the robber's corpse, and the suitcase.They brought a lot of wine, but they couldn't take all of them away. Some of the high-strength wine was used as a combustion aid.

Byron looked back at the thick smoke from the lit carriage, and couldn't help sighing, it's a pity for the wine.

"Okay, don't sigh, when you get to Oran, you can buy another 30 bottles of wine." Alice said.

"Don't buy him alcohol, he's been drinking too much recently." Ivo said hastily.

"Not much at all! I have been very restrained in drinking these few years, okay?" Byron muttered dissatisfied.

Hobhouse also said: "You must drink less."

Byron sighed, "If you can't drink, life will be a lot less fun!"

"You have so much fun."

"Life is alive, you should enjoy it, regardless of whether you have money or not, enjoy it first! It's like drinking and eating delicious food."

"It's like, Andre, isn't it?" she said.

"Of course! Don't say you don't enjoy it, young body, bright youth, isn't this the most beautiful thing in the world?"

"When a man is a teenager, he won't like a woman of the same age—a girl, but when you are over 20, or 25, you will focus on teenage boys."

"Dare you say you don't like Andre?"

"I like it, who doesn't like beautiful boys?"

"So just admit it!"

"Admit what?"

"Admit that you also like bright boys."

"It's a general taste, okay. Ivo, Grant, do you like Andre?"

Both Ivo and Grant nodded.

Ivo said: "Beauty is a universal standard. A beautiful human body is a creation of God. It must conform to the aesthetics of most human beings, so it is called 'beauty'. The natural scenery is beautiful, even the endless desert is beautiful. Beautiful, the sea is beautiful, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, the poems full of rhythm are beautiful, the youthful and fit body is beautiful, and 'beautiful' things can make people feel happy."

"I didn't ask you to write a small essay." Byron said with a smile: "God's creation is reserved for those who can appreciate it, so it's only natural that I like beautiful boys."

That's right.

"Admiration or liking is right, but—" Ivo said, "That shouldn't be considered 'love'."

"Why can't it be considered 'love'? I love you, I love Alice, I love Augusta, and I love Andre. There is no essential difference."

"Can you love many people at the same time?"

"Love is not either or, and there is no limit. I can love all of you. It's not difficult."

Ivo frowned, "Your love is too much."

Byron raised his eyebrows at him, seemingly very pleased with himself.

The exquisite Chinese porcelain tea set can be discarded, 100 shirts can be discarded, the typewriter and the words written during the journey can not be discarded-and the stack of family letters tied with lace is equally important.

So although they dropped a lot of stuff, Alice took the typewriter.

One day in March 1810, Athens.

After Alice finished writing the letter to her mother, she took the letter paper out of the typewriter drum, checked the spelling, wrote her name and today's date by hand at the end, folded it, took out the wax and seal, lit the candle, and melted it. Painted wax, poured it on the letter paper, and stamped it with a seal.

I have been writing letters all morning, and a small stack of sealed letters was quickly placed on the table.

"Kate, take the letter to the post office."

"Here we come!" Kate put down the skirt in her hand, got up and took the letter.

Sending a letter is not difficult. Go to the post office and hand it over to the staff, and you will be charged by the piece. You can take out a few coins from your purse, and the staff will collect the required postage, without saying a word.

They have lived in Greece for almost 3 weeks.Greece is probably a must-visit place for every European youth to travel abroad, and it will be a place for Internet celebrities to check in and travel to find their roots in future generations.Especially for college students like them, who study either literature, philosophy, or history, all of which are closely related to ancient Greece, and a visit to Greece becomes a part of "retrospecting history".

Compared with the wartime atmosphere of Portugal and Spain, and the exoticism of Morocco and Algeria, Greece has a kind of serenity like a paradise, with the humid and hot weather of a typical Mediterranean country, and cultural heritage that other countries do not have—when you casually Wherever you go, there are cultural relics, all of which have appeared in myths and legends, literary works, and biographies. That feeling is really wonderful.

Greece is not currently a Catholic or Orthodox sovereign country. After the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, Greece was ruled by the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years. The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic country, so Greece is now an Orthodox country controlled by an Islamic country.

The American War of Independence not only caused Britain to lose the largest colony outside its borders, but also inspired the colonies and occupied countries of other countries. Those nations and countries that were deeply enslaved and oppressed suddenly understood that they could fight for freedom.The resistance movements across Greece have actually been sparks that have been gathering energy.

The French Revolution also gave confidence to the Greek people, and many foreigners would voluntarily join the Greek independence movement.

But in Athens, the capital of Greece, this revolutionary fervor is not yet evident.

Byron lived in Athens in the house of Mrs. Macri, who was the widow of the former British consul in Greece. The Macri family was used to living in Greece. Mrs. Macri still lived in the original residence with several children.Byron shared a guest room with Hobhouse, and Alice and several others rented a nearby villa, not far away, a 15-minute walk away.

There are three young daughters in the Markley family, ranging in age from 3 to 15. They are all very infatuated with the young and handsome Byron. Byron also has a love for the three sisters. He especially likes the youngest named Trey. Sha girl.

But just like he loves Andre, he and Teresa don't have any overly intimate behaviors. His love is more like an appreciation of "beauty", the instinctive attraction of youthful and delicious flesh.

Teresa was beautiful, just beginning to develop, secondary sexual characteristics not yet prominent.That kind of beauty is like a rosebud, you know she will be gorgeous when she is in full bloom, but now, all her beauty is still contained in the thin body of a teenager.

People like Byron are destined to be sentimental, but also ruthless.For example, they canceled their trip to Tunisia, took a boat from Algiers directly to Genoa, crossed the Italian peninsula, did not go to Rome, but went to Venice, stayed in Venice for two weeks, and then took a boat from Venice to Albania, from Albania Enter Greece by land and arrive at Athens.

So Byron did not propose to go to Rome to meet Andre, but just wrote him a few letters.

Among the group, Hobhouse was the one who decided to plan the itinerary. The men always took care of Alice because of their gentlemanly demeanor, but in fact, Byron was the most favored one. They would go wherever Byron wanted to go. Where to go, he is the one who decides the itinerary, and Hobhouse can be said to be very fond of him.

Alice thinks the location doesn’t matter because she can go wherever she wants; Grant’s main purpose is to increase knowledge and travel experience, and it’s the same wherever she goes; Julian and Evan broke up with them in Venice and said they would travel all over Italy, and then Then go to Athens.

As for Ivo, he doesn't care if he follows Alice anyway.

Byron began to formally write poems in Venice, wrote all the way, and basically finished writing after arriving in Athens. It is a collection of long poems called "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage".

Alice still hasn't started to write a new book, but has written a lot of materials and travel notes. She told Kate that she can leave the clothes in the suitcase and don't lose the manuscript.

She has not decided on what to write next because she is at a juncture: what direction is she going to develop in the future?

To say that a writer can write about any subject matter has nothing to do with writing style, but has something to do with literary literacy and the subject matter he is good at, and has something to do with imagination and observation.Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is known as "the earliest science fiction". She has other works, but they are not as famous and powerful as her debut novel. In fact, "Frankenstein" is not very entertaining. What is still discussed is "human nature", which is a topic that most current novels will talk about. "Frankenstein" uses a novel and absurd story to tell an old topic, and the success achieved is beyond everyone's expectations.

British literature of this era mainly belonged to the Romantic school, and Gothic novels also belonged to Romanticism.

Poetry is elegant, while novel creation is not popular and vulgar. Some famous novels are mostly satirizing social phenomena or monarchy, such as Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe published in 1719, Swift’s 1726 Gulliver's Travels, published anonymously, has the characteristics of the times.

The theme of Jane Austen's creation is extremely single, but she is best at the English rural love stories. She never worries about "what to write next".And her style is actually not romanticism, it is different from almost all novel writers nowadays, and it is self-contained.

Alice's previous works were also romantic novels, and the problem with her was that she could write about almost everything—except poetry—but she had no particular favorite subject.Beckford said before that she can't always write gothic novels that are particularly romantic. She has to try other themes and find what she is best at.

She tried to write a few short beginnings, 1000 words or 2000 words, but they were not satisfactory.

"Actually, if George doesn't mind, I'd like to use him as the protagonist." She half-jokingly said to Ivo.

Ivo looked up from the typewriter. "I don't think he'd mind. He'd even be happy. But what story are you going to write?"

"Just a happy young man, having fun and looking for his true love."

Ivo laughed all of a sudden, "He has too many loves. It's too easy for him to fall in love with anyone, as long as the other person is beautiful."

"Mr. Beckford said that I should write about things I am familiar with, life and people around me. Writers describe characters and events, except for imagination, most of them draw materials from their own lives."

"If a hundred people tell the same story, there will be a hundred different stories, or even more. It all depends on how you want to write and how you choose materials."

"What about you? Don't you want to try and write something?"

"Me?" He smiled, "I can't compare to George in writing poetry, so let's forget it—don't laugh, George is the kind of 'genius' my professor said. The poems you write after days of hard thinking are more beautiful. I think this is really a kind of talent, too enviable, and I can’t even envy them.”

"That's true." Alice absolutely agreed with this point.Byron's poems have also been jointly identified by countless readers and scholars over the past 200 years. The creation of poetry pays more attention to "inspiration" and "talent" than the creation of novels.Fiction writing can still be improved by writing and learning, but poetry is a literary form that depends purely on talent, and you can’t be jealous.

"As for writing something else, it's okay for me to write some comparative literature papers, but it's also difficult for me to write novels. I think I'm the kind of reader who only knows how to appreciate silently."

He took the letter paper from the typewriter drum, "I can't give you any better advice, but first of all, to create something, you must have the urgency to write something, right? It doesn't mean that if I decide to write something today, I can start writing right away." I wrote it. It’s always difficult at the beginning, but it’s not difficult when you think about it.”

The author has something to say:

* Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1719), the earliest wilderness survival and farming essay.

*Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726), published anonymously.

* "ChildeHarold's Pilgrimage" seems to be translated as "Master Harold's Travel Notes".