Continuation of "Gone with the Wind"

Chapter 110 Seven Philosophical Dialogues

It's just that although the teacher is teaching etiquette, the teacher lacks the necessary patience.Scarlett wanted to be quick in everything she did. The speed of this kind of slow work and careful work was increased several times under her hands. There was only one demonstration, and Paul was required to go through it once.If she made a mistake, she corrected it swiftly and decisively. Paul felt that he had completely become a puppet at the mercy of others, and he was always worried about whether the string tied to his body would be pulled off.He wanted to stop several times and let himself have a rest, but seeing Scarlett's expression, he didn't dare to make this request.Scarlett's expression is not scary at all, her eyes are calm and indifferent, but it is this kind of look that is completely incompatible with her style of doing things that makes Paul nervous involuntarily, especially Scarlett's eyes are always fixed on him, not at all. The one with the shift, Paul thought she was staring at him at first, but later he realized that she was not looking at him alone, the light shining in those green pupils had already penetrated his body, and casted towards the other person. Far away, somewhere he doesn't know.

It's just that he wouldn't think that Scarlett was distracted but still staring at his bluff, look, he got nervous and made a wrong move, his green eyes narrowed slightly, and two lightning-fast glances nailed him in place . "How many times have I told you that bowing is not done like this. It should start before the lady curtsies to you. Keep your back straight, keep your heels together, don't be so rigid, keep your toes apart, and look at me. Don't mess your hands Move it, just put it at the trouser line, yes, don’t put it in front of the belly, that’s what women do. Slow down, why is your head so low? It’s not to apologize, raise your head up. Don’t be too fast, lift it up The speed of bending is a little slower than that of bending down, and you have to learn to cooperate with the girl who salutes you."

"Isn't it just pretending to be in front of others, why is it so troublesome?" Paul muttered in a low voice, but Scarlett overheard him.According to her previous temper, she should get angry, but she knows that getting angry at this time will not solve any problems, so she can only reason with Paul patiently.

"Etiquette is for others to see, but you also have to see others. You have to think about it this way. If you see that others are not polite to you, will you be angry?"

"I've been used to it for a long time, and I'll be even angrier if others show me so many useless hypocrisy." Paul boldly replied, holding his head up and ready to be beaten. He was really tormented.

"You..." Scarlett was so angry that she almost wanted to hit him, but she held back.There was no trace of fear in Paul's dark brown eyes, just a light she knew well, like lightning piercing the gloom.This light, which represented a strong questioning of established norms, had disappeared in her own eyes for a long time, and she never expected to find it in the traditional eyes of the Robillards. This different light made her quietly let go of the slaps she was about to raise.

But all "different" will eventually become "nothing different".Scarlett knew very well that if she wanted to get a pass to the upper class, she had to follow the rules of the upper class, and she must not let her own temperament go her own way. She herself was the best negative example, and Rhett could be another.This kind of thinking made her feel very contradictory: if her previous actions were wrong, then the decent people in the south who cling to the rules were right, but the fact that the reconstruction of the south would not admit this; Yes, it means that the whole south is wrong, so why does she let Paul learn from these outdated products that are destined to be eliminated?

This kind of inner conflict is really unnecessary for Scarlett. After all, no matter whether it is voluntary or not, she has already made her own choice, and it is impossible to change it.But in order for Paul's training to be successful, she can only try her best to recall what her mother said when she taught herself, and find a feeling of persuading others to be kind and courteous: "People have various habits, so they have different habits. Each person is different. But no matter how different two people are, they will have similarities. Find out these similarities and turn them into things that everyone recognizes to coordinate between people The relationship is etiquette. Do you understand?"

"Not at all." Paul poured cold water on her, "There are so many things in common between people, so could it be that the bad things in common are also etiquette?"

"Of course it is." Scarlett wondered how he had become so clueless.

"Then what is good and what is bad?" Paul raised his eyebrows, folded his arms around his chest, and asked in a very formal tone.

Scarlett had nothing to say.Paul was clearly arguing with himself, and no one could get a standard answer to this kind of question.But she couldn't help thinking about it when she was sulking, not just to answer Paul's question.In the past, whether it was herself or others, she felt that she had done a lot of bad things and was not a good person. She still felt pain and suffering in her heart from time to time.But now I think about it carefully according to Paul's words, and I did some things wrong: such as defrauding Rhett for Tara's tax money, deliberately breaking up Suellen and Frank, hiring prisoners to work and allowing Johnny to abuse them , slandering other lumber dealers, and selling worm-eaten lumber to others as inferior ones. She knew that she was doing something wrong without being accused by others. She knew it from her mother's teachings, but she used " I'll think about it tomorrow" as an excuse to push them into the depths of my memory along with other people's accusations - I can only blame my brain for being too good to forget.

But for other things, although she was criticized by others, she didn't think she had a reason to do it at the time, but thinking about it now, she doesn't think it was wrong to do it.For example, she openly danced with Rhett during the mourning period - otherwise she and Rhett would not have a chance to get acquainted; doing business with northerners with a big belly - it is true that black people were attacked and Frank was killed because of it, but at that time only They were willing to buy her lumber, and the Northerners weren't so bad, by now--if it weren't for Rhett's business--that they were a lot more fun to deal with than the bigots of Atlanta.

Thinking of Rhett, Scarlett suddenly remembered what he said to herself: "Your moral standards have been mixed up. You are like a thief who was caught on the spot. You don't regret stealing things, but you are very, very Regret to sit in class." "You could have treated Frank better—unless you changed someone. But you were born to bully those who let you bully, the strong are born to bully, and the weak are born to submit." "People always think It's embarrassing for you to be an opportunist, especially for those who have the same opportunity and don't reach out to grab it." His sarcasm was merciless, because he caught his own character weakness, knowing that he At that time, there was no other way to go, so I could only grab someone else's way, and at the same time, I felt uneasy about it, but it was impossible to give way to others-this is called a hypocrite.

Scarlett soon realized that she was wrong, and she was led astray by Paul's words.She quickly stopped her thoughts and focused her energy back on training Paul.He was still waiting for his answer, but even if he explained his question clearly, it would not help to regulate his behavior, so Scarlett wanted to divert the topic: "Well, I will tell you when you learn it." The reason was bad enough, but she really didn't know much about the way to coax children.

"Please, Miss Scarlett. I'm not a three-year-old child." Paul put his hand down and put it in his pocket with disdain.

"I know you are not a three-year-old child." Scarlett had an idea, and just followed his movements to instill the etiquette teaching into it. "But as a gentleman, even if a lady says something wrong, she should not point it out in person, but should pretend not to hear, or help smooth things over, so as to show her demeanor."

"Forget it, I'm not interested in these." Paul turned his face to the other side.

"Your behavior is not in line with etiquette. You are sixteen this year. When I was young, I saw that the boys around you who were not as old as you have become veterans of courting girls."

"I know that the most courteous people must be the most." Paul turned his head around.She said another layer of meaning that she didn't say, and the expression on her face was not as tense as before.

"Good vision." Gerald's boldness made Scarlett speak directly. "Then have you ever paid attention to a girl?"

"No." He insisted on answering, but the slightly flushed face still did not escape Scarlett's eyes. "I don't care about that either."

"I know, you must think that you are not polite enough to please girls." Scarlett provoked him on purpose,

"That's not true!" Paul argued hastily, "In New Orleans, there were quite a few girls who liked me, and I didn't have to chase them. I just stuck behind me all day, and I was so annoying."

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be so charming." Scarlett smiled and saw that the blush on his face deepened a little, and she thought it was amused. "Among so many girls, isn't there one you like? Or is the girl you like not among your suitors?"

"No. I, I—" Paul was dumbfounded, and he didn't know where to put his hands in his trouser pockets.

"Okay, don't be brave." Scarlett saw that the fire was almost ready, and began to shrink the encirclement. "Boys as old as you must have their own little thoughts. I won't ask who it is. You can know it yourself. But I have to tell you clearly that if you still want girls to like you, you have to Learn to be like a gentleman. Remember, what touches people's hearts is good. Also, it's one thing to be polite on the outside, but another thing to be polite in your heart. You just asked me what is good and what is bad , Now you remember, only superficial etiquette is bad, and it is also bad to be decent but superficially rude, and only polite and decent at heart is good."

Paul felt that there was some truth in her words, but he was not completely convinced.Strangely enough, he was now less resistant to what Scarlett was about to teach him, just because of these few otherwise unremarkable chitchat.

Scarlett is not good at summarizing incisive philosophies, but it is still possible to extract some useful experiences from life.Seeing that her persuasion had an effect, she was also happy in her heart.