Rimbaud's girl

Gustave Flaubert, now 50 years old, has a solid body of middle-aged and elderly men, a round face, and a military-style mustache that older men usually wear, which looks very imposing.

The first time he met the Rimbauds was when Vitaly was talking about Emma, ​​the heroine in "Madame Bovary".

She thinks Emma is a frivolous and tragic figure, but the author writes this heroine obviously full of sympathy. "Emma longed for love, received an education beyond her class of origin, but did not receive a better education, and did not understand that men's nature is hypocritical and cruel. Her tragedy stems from her ignorance of human nature. Of course, To put it more practically, it stems from her lack of financial ability."

The older ladies agreed with her.A young girl aged 16 or 7 was not convinced, and asked her: "But you are just a little girl, how do you know... How can you say that men are hypocritical and cruel? Is there no good love in the world? ?"

"Yes, but 'true love' is always scarce, and most of the time requires a lot of external conditions, so Zola—oh no, that's why Charlotte Browning wrote Jane Eyre. A poor How can a girl love and marry a man whose social status is higher than hers? That man must first let his interfering wife die and be disfigured, and Jane must inherit her uncle's inheritance, so that she can 'love'. So of course , Money is the most important thing, love is not important."

The young girl was dizzy by what she said, and felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't refute it.

Whether it is "Jane Eyre" or "Madame Bovary", two different heroines, two different destinies, money accounts for a large proportion.

Vitaly added, "You can ask your brother and see what they say."

Mrs. Beverly touched her little face kindly, "You are such a smart girl. Where did you say you went to school last time?"

"Mr. Pestel is my teacher."

"Mr. Pestell? I thought—" Mrs. Beverly thought she should study with some governess.Vitaly's background was like that of Madame Bovary, who was born as a commoner and received a lady's education, but did not have the corresponding financial support.She didn't substitute Emma very sensitively. Although her analysis of Emma was somewhat biased and not comprehensive enough, considering that she was just a teenage girl, it was still acceptable.

Flaubert looked at the petite girl with interest.He could tell that her Parisian accent had an imperceptible provincial accent, very slight, and only a person like him who has studied the dialects and accents of various places can hear it.She was wearing this year's new long dress, and she was quite fashionable, with a braid behind her head and a colorful headband, and the length of the braid only reached below her shoulders.

She was short, petite, and pretty; beside her was a young boy who was also pretty, and they looked alike, and both had beautiful blue eyes.The attitude of the two is very intimate, and the body language is also very close.

Flaubert did not hesitate to judge that they were brother and sister.

Mrs. Beverly came over, "What? Are you interested in them too?"

"A little bit. How old is she?"

"14 is old."

"Where are the boys?"

"18 is old."

"So young!"

He didn't immediately ask Mrs. Beverly to introduce them to each other, but still watched secretly.Mrs. Beverly liked handsome young men and had introduced him to some, but most of them were not very interesting.He lives in the Crosva Manor on the outskirts of Rouen all year round, and his limited outings are usually to Paris for a short stay.He likes interesting people, preferably young people, who are reckless, enthusiastic, innocent, and have not yet lost hope in the world.

As a literary figure who has been famous for many years, many young people who are determined to go to literary and artistic creation want to get to know him and hope to get his support, even if it is just a social compliment.He does not hesitate to support his juniors, but the other party must have matching talents.

He first heard a poem read by Arthur Rimbaud.

"A black, E white, I red, U green, O blue: vowels,

One day I will reveal your secret life experience,

A, the black velvet bodice of the fly,

Flying buzzing around the putrid.

Shady bays; E, the naivety of steamboats and Upon,

The pinnacle of the towering iceberg, the emperor in white robes, the trembling of umbrella flowers;

I, bright red, coughed up blood, drunk

Or the smile on vermilion lips when angry;

U, the circle, the holy turmoil of the turquoise sea,

The tranquility of the pastures strewn with cattle and sheep, the alchemist

The serenity of a wise man is deeply embedded in the forehead lines.

O, singular -->>

The sharp horn of majesty,

Through the solitude of stars and angels;

—Oh, the purple gleam in Omega's eyes! "

The new form of poetry, called "The Vowels," was intelligible to almost no one.The guests in the salon reluctantly gave him a few sparse applause.

Flaubert observed the look of the young poet very meaningfully: the pretty boy was a little disappointed, but that look of disappointment was fleeting, and he bowed slightly to the audience very gracefully.

The girl teased that he should write some poems that the husband and wife could understand, such as the works of those poets of the Parnasian School.The boy didn't take it seriously, but he didn't argue with his sister either.

Mrs. Beverly said kindly to the boy, don't worry, his poetry must be excellent, it just takes time for more people to accept it.

Flaubert knew that with Mrs. Beverley's level of cultural appreciation, she didn't understand the boy's poetry either.

Later in the evening, the hostess finally introduced Arthur Rimbaud to Flaubert.

Arthur is not like many young people who "have long admired the name" of his predecessors, and he will not flatter him. On the contrary, he has the arrogance of a little genius.Flaubert was surprised that he actually received a formal system of higher education at the University of Paris. Many years ago, Flaubert studied law at the University of Paris, but he dropped out due to illness and returned to his hometown after only a few years of study.

All his life, Old Flaubert never forgave his son for not studying law and embarking on the path of literary creation. He always felt that writing was not a "serious thing", let alone a "profession".With young Arthur, Flaubert was quite indulgent, thinking that a gifted young man was allowed to be a little arrogant.Besides, if Arthur really flattered him, he would look down on him instead!

Flaubert chatted with the Rimbaud brothers and sisters for nearly an hour, then left Mrs. Beverly's house, and took them home in his own carriage.The brothers and sisters live in an ordinary house, but the location is not bad. It seems that they are not very well-off, but they are a passable family.It is difficult for families that are too poor to have geniuses in literature and art, because the pressure of survival is too great, and children cannot receive education, and it is unlikely for families with wealth to have geniuses in literature and art, because they are too rich and only need to learn How to spend money is enough, many people will choose to waste their talents even if they are very smart.

The probability of geniuses appearing in those who are too poor or too rich is too small, and the vast majority of literary and artistic geniuses come from families with small assets and the middle class, which is inevitable in the objective environment.

Flaubert himself was born in the upper middle class. His father was a doctor, and his grandfather was also a doctor. The doctor earned a lot of money. Flaubert’s family was well-off. After the old Flaubert died, he left him a manor. He lived with his mother and niece. In Crosswa Manor, I lived for more than 20 years.

Seeing Vitaly reminded him of his niece Caroline.Caroline is married and is now Mrs. Conmanville. She is the daughter of Flaubert's sister Caroline. Caroline Flaubert died of postpartum hemorrhage after giving birth to her daughter at the age of 21. Flaubert adopted her I lost my niece.

Ah, little Caroline!She was lovely in her teens, delicate and beautiful as a flower, she brought him so much joy and was a light in his boring country life, since Caroline got married, Crosswale Manor has been even more boring up.

Flaubert's letter arrived at Rimbaud's home at noon the next day, inviting the Rimbaud siblings to dinner at his Paris apartment.

Flaubert envied them both for being favored by Flaubert, saying that if he could get a dinner invitation from Manet or Degas, he would be very beautiful.

As we all know, no matter what industry you are in, it is necessary to be appreciated by famous seniors.

"Look! Mr. Flaubert's invitation!" Vitali triumphantly waved the stationery to Arthur.

Arthur took the letter paper and read the letter very carefully from beginning to end.

Last night at Mrs. Beverly's they certainly did not meet Flaubert "by chance" or read the poem "Vowels" "by chance".In order to find suitable candidates, Vitaly collected almost all the information of those literary bigwigs who lived in Paris and often came to Paris.

Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Alexandre Dumas have all been on Vitaly's list; Dumas fils, who has the same name as his father, was first excluded from the list because of his worrying personality; Zola was busy He wrote his masterpiece handed down from generation to generation, and rarely came out to socialize or attend salons, and was immediately removed from the list; Hugo is 70 years old this year, and he is already seventy years old, and because he sympathized with the Paris Commune before, he is now living in seclusion in the suburbs of Paris.

Vitaly chose and chose, thinking that Flaubert was of the right age, had no wife and children, and the literariness and ideological nature of his works had long been familiar and accepted by Arthur, so it was very suitable for him to be Arthur's literary tutor.

Once you have chosen your mentor, you have to choose how to approach him.There are so many literary salons in Paris, and there is always someone who knows Flaubert. The Rimbaud brothers and sisters entered the salon of Mrs. Beverly's house without much effort, and then waited patiently for Flaubert to appear.

Regarding his sister's ability to achieve the goal as planned, Arthur said "high, really high".After Arthur broke up with Verlaine, he gradually became estranged from the Parnasian poets. They had no better middlemen and could only rely on themselves.