Rimbaud's girl

"Yes, go to him. Where is he?"

Arthur thought for a moment, "Should live in Dijon."

"Where's Dijon?" She pulled out an atlas.

"Codor."

"Is it far?" She turned to Côte d'Or.

"It's far away, farther than from Charleville to Paris. Dijon is more than 290 kilometers from Paris."

Vitaly took out a wooden ruler and drew on the page of the map of the whole of France. Indeed, Dijon is a little farther from Paris.Charleville is northeast of Paris and Dijon is southeast of Paris.

"Why did he run so far?" Angry.

"He is a Burgundian. To be precise, his ancestors were Provençal, who later emigrated to Burgundy. He was born in Dole, near Dijon."

In other words, it is a normal choice for him to return to his hometown to live after retiring, but how can he forget that he still has 4 children in Ardennes?

Vitaly never thought of this "father" at all.Unlike her two older brothers, the boys were rather bitter about not having a father in their lives.Captain Rimbaud was just a man who provided sex, he had never lived with his wife and children for a long time, and his affection for the children might not be as deep as that of the military dogs raised in his military camp.

I heard from Frederick that his father had quarreled with his mother several times before he left home. Captain Rimbaud was not as "gentle-tempered" as many people said. He threw things at his mother when she was only 2 years old. Much, don't remember; Frederick was 7 at the time, remembers it well, he was terrified.

Vitaly frowned seriously, "I don't care if you want to go to Paris. I can also give you 100 francs, but there are conditions."

"What conditions?" The young man was overjoyed when he suddenly learned that the travel expenses had been paid.

"First, you have to take time to go to Dijon to see if your father is still alive. If he is still alive, ask him for money."

Arthur looked troubled.

"Don't think that asking for money is a shameful thing. It's painful to have no money. He let his mother give birth to us, so he should be responsible for us! I don't want him to live alone so happily. Besides, who knows if he has What kind of lover?"

Arthur quickly covered her mouth again, but said with a smile: "It seems that you didn't study very well in the monastery."

"Secondly, write to me as soon as you arrive in Paris. If you don't have enough money, I can send you money. But don't think that my money is endless, and don't think that you can not pay me back in the future."

"Don't worry! I'll write to you as soon as I get off the train."

"Also, don't hang out with those 'bad bastards.'" Vitaly said the word "bad bastard" like their mother. "You have to swear that you will never fall."

"You have to clarify, what is 'degenerate'."

"That is... even if you are poor enough to sleep under a bridge hole, don't be a thief." She picked up a ruler and tapped his right hand lightly, "Your hand is for writing poems, not for picking out other people's wallets." .”

"I swear, I will never fall." Arthur raised his right hand solemnly.

Indeed, my sister was right, no matter what he did, he would never allow himself to become a street thief.

"So, can you give me the money now?"

"Not yet. Wait until tomorrow. I will see off uncle tomorrow. When I'm not at home, you can find a time to slip away."

"Give it to me now," insisted Arthur.

"Okay. Remember, you can only leave when I'm not at home." She took out her purse and poured out five 5-franc Napoleon gold coins from it, as well as sous and centimes of various denominations Coins, totaling 20 francs. "Take a carriage with small change, and the ticket to Paris is a little more than 10 francs. If you eat, you can just buy bread for breakfast and lunch, and you can go to a restaurant for dinner at night. Don't eat too expensive, just eat enough. Don't drink, I heard Paris The price of all kinds of alcohol has risen now, and it is very expensive. 20 francs are enough for your round trip, and you can live in Paris for a week.”

"Only for a week." Arthur sighed sadly.

"If you can find a job in a newspaper or magazine, as long as the other party can provide board and lodging. Don't always think that you are very smart and just want to be a writer. If you want, you can start with odd jobs and work. Start by sending and receiving letters. You’re a kid, and they’re not going to make you a grown-up job all of a sudden.”

Arthur was a little unconvinced, "I'm already 16 years old."

He was a little puzzled: "Why do you seem to know a lot?"

"These are not military intelligence, you can find out by reading more newspapers. Alright, you should go to bed." She waved her hand to send her brother away.

Before leaving, Arthur smiled and kissed her on the cheek, and said in a low voice, "My good sister."

Alas, in short, it is the arrogance of the second-year boy, so I must go to his holy place to pay homage.The last time he went to Paris, he was put in prison as soon as he got off the train -->>

, it means that you have never been to Paris, so you have to go there before you are willing to be reconciled.

He probably hadn't written a letter to Paul Verlaine at this time, but he had already expressed his appreciation for Verlaine.He had old friends, some of whom were his teachers, and they all adored this bright and handsome boy.Vitaly can't tell what influence these young men have on Arthur. Arthur's growth environment lacks the guidance of older men, he has no father, and the two uncles are unreliable, so theoretically he should be easy to be willed. Influenced by strong older men.

But this is not absolute.

In fact, there is nothing for her to worry about her brother's future. He has his own ideas, and no one in the family, including his mother, can control him, let alone his father who doesn't know where he is happy and happy. Thinking of him, she still feels very sad. Not angry: Why can this man not give a penny of child support?

She knew that Captain Rimbaud had retired from the army, and there should be a retirement bonus for retiring; officers who participated in battles would also receive war bonuses. Captain Rimbaud had participated in many battles, and speaking of which, he should have a lot of bonus savings, enough to support him in the war. Dijon has a decent retirement life.

She considered whether to suggest to her mother to go to her father to ask for maintenance.

The next morning, Vitaly sees Uncle Felix out.

She asked her uncle quietly, "Has Captain Rimbaud given our mother our living expenses all these years?"

Felix thought for a while, then shook his head, "I haven't heard your mother mention it. Why did you suddenly think of him?"

"It's just—" she sighed old-fashionedly, "Arthur has been very disobedient during this period, and his mother was very angry, but his mother was reluctant to beat him. I think, if father was at home, maybe he would not be like this now. "

Felix curled his lips, "I was not at home when she got married, otherwise I would have disagreed. Your grandfather was too anxious to marry her, worried that she would not be able to marry, and would stay at home as an old maid."

"Uncle!" In fact, what my uncle said was right. Mrs. Rimbaud was 27 years old when she got married. In rural areas in remote areas of France, she is an absolutely older unmarried young woman, and she must be pointed at behind her back. , Said that the daughter of the husband's family became an old maid, and no one wanted it.

"Oh! Don't tell your mother." Felix smiled apologetically, "Uncle hasn't had a drink for two days, and his mind is not very clear."

That's what alcoholics say.Vitaly ignored him, "After a month, the weather will be warmer and the city will be more stable. Come and pick me up. I want to live in Luoshi Village for a few days."

"Okay, write me a letter when the time comes, and I'll come pick you up in a carriage." Felix agreed wholeheartedly.He has a light carriage with two horses. It is not the kind of carriage without a roof that is often used to pull goods in the countryside, but a carriage that can take people. He usually drives this carriage when he enters the city. People, there is no need for a coachman, just be a coachman yourself.

Mrs. Rimbaud was reluctant to buy a carriage. The carriage is very expensive. In this era, it is a big item and a luxury for the family.If you travel far away, you usually take a public carriage and walk closer by your legs.

After seeing her uncle off, Vitaly hurried to the kitchen, her mother was going to teach her how to work.

The chores are never-ending, and there are tons of things to do every day.Things in the kitchen, from cleaning kitchen utensils to mopping the floor, from how to choose vegetables, meat to cooking, everything has to be learned.Isabel is not yet 11 years old, but she has already started to learn to do housework.Vitaly entrusts her sister to do the cleaning of the kitchen utensils. After dinner in the evening, the sisters also mop the kitchen floor, and the living room floor twice a week.

To wipe the floor means to kneel down on the floor and wipe it with a damp rag.

It’s okay in summer, but it’s really cold to wipe the floor in winter!

The current houses are still made of wood, and the floors are all wooden boards. There is no floor wax, and the floors are kept clean by hand wiping.Ordinarily, the floor of the living room should be wiped every day, but the water is too cold, so even if we use warm water, the water in the bucket will become cold before half of the living room is wiped.In this era, there are no rubber gloves lined with cotton. Vitaly’s little hands are red with cold and have frostbite. She can only cry and ask her mother, can she wipe it less often, and just use a mop to wipe the floor? up.

I already have a mop, just a wooden pole with some rags on it. It is useful, but Mrs. Rimbaud thinks that the mop is not clean enough to wipe the floor, so she doesn't like to use it.

Mrs. Rimbaud couldn't bear to look at the red and swollen little hands of her two daughters, so she reduced the frequency of mopping the floor.

Boys basically don't need to do housework, at most they just keep their room clean, they don't need to do laundry, and they don't need to wipe the floor.This is really unfair!

Mrs. Rimbaud's philosophy is that men don't need to do housework, housework is only a woman's job, and she wants to educate her two daughters well so that they can become competent housewives and good wives and mothers in the future.

Vitaly tentatively mentioned once that she wanted to go to university in Paris in the future, but was asked by her mother, what is the use of going to university?Aren't you going to get married and have kids?Any woman can have children, even without going to college.As for marriage, of course it is also a woman's necessity, a woman's destiny.

Vitaly didn't dare to talk back, and said, look at what kind of husband you have found.