Running a newspaper does not happen overnight.
Lu Shi was not in a hurry and just did whatever he needed to do. He focused on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy first and occasionally wrote "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli".
Just living like this day by day,
It’s the end of February.
…
February 27,
Wednesday.
Lu Shi was sitting at his desk writing a book as usual.
Natsume Soseki was rubbing my belly while reading the supplement of The Scotsman.
He asked: "Lu, the serialization of "The Hobbit" will end in two weeks. Mr. Cooper didn't contact you?"
Lu Shi's pen paused.
"without."
There’s no need to explain things thoroughly.
Cooper didn't ask, so Lu Shi naturally wouldn't take the initiative to mention it.
Knowing that Riku Toki knew what he knew, Natsume Soseki stopped talking about the serialization and instead talked about the content of "The Hobbit", saying: "After reading the whole book, I think Gandalf is a very charming character, but always It feels like he comes up with something every time he wants to.”
Sometimes, he even thinks that Gandalf is a "human trafficker" who specializes in kidnapping the protagonist.
Lu Shi chuckled,
"Don't be so strict with popular logic."
He turned to say: "Your "I Am Cat" also uses the cat as the first-person perspective~"
Natsume Soseki was speechless.
The two chatted for a while,
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside.
Lu Shi opened the door,
I saw Montagu James, a professor at Cambridge University, standing at the door with a hesitant expression on his face.
When he saw Lu Shi, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought I was looking in the wrong place."
The residences provided for professors at King's College, Cambridge University, were all single-family villas and garden houses, so James could not imagine that Lu Shi would live in such hardship and simplicity.
Just now, he repeatedly confirmed the address Cavendish gave him.
It's indeed Burya Road,
Then he knocked on the door.
Lu Shi introduced James into the house and moved a chair.
James looked around in shock, and then said: "Professor Lu, I thought you had character before, so it was natural not to come to teach at Cambridge University. However, seeing your current living environment, I really want to advise you..."
Lu Shi poured tea for the other party.
"Professor James, if I wanted to change places, I would have done so long ago."
This is the truth.
With the unit price and sales of "Roger's Mystery", Lu Shi has already made so much money from royalties that he can even buy a house.
James was curious,
"Then why not move?"
Lu Shi said: "Imagine that in the future, people will introduce Buraya Road as Lu's former residence, 'In this dark, cramped small room, the great writer Lu completed one work after another until he wrote a full-length book.' "
"puff!"
Natsume Soseki sprayed,
Because Lu Shi said his exact words.
James laughed,
"Professor Lu, you are so humorous. You describe yourself as a 'great writer with numerous works', hahahahahaha..."
Natsume Soseki's face turned redder.
He was absent-minded, and RUA's hands were a little careless.
My generation: "Meow~"
He showed his claws to Natsume Soseki.
James said: "Speaking of works, Professor Lu seems to be preparing a new book, which I am very much looking forward to. I just don't know whether it will be a mystery like "Roger's Mystery" or a fantasy like "The Hobbit"?"
His eyes glanced at the desk, but he immediately moved away to avoid suspicion.
Lu Shi didn't care.
"Want to take a look?"
James's eyes lit up, he didn't expect such a good thing.
He nodded repeatedly,
"Okay! I want to see it!"
He looked eager and thirsty for knowledge.
Lu Shi was not worried about the idea of "The Lord of the Rings" being borrowed, so he handed over the manuscript of "The Fellowship of the Ring".
James read carefully,
Soon, he showed a look of realization and muttered: "So that's it... That's it..."
Lu Shi asked: "Is there any problem?"
James answered while still looking at the manuscript.
"When I was reading "The Hobbit", I felt that the book was not finished yet and that there should be a follow-up. Unexpectedly, Professor Lu was not going to write a second part, but instead started a new story to make "The Hobbit" a sequel. A prequel.”
Lu Shi nodded,
Tuo Lao is a literary giant with his own system. His works can be slightly modified, but expansion can easily lead to a continuation of the story.
In modern times, the movie "The Hobbit" was such a failure. Three movies were made from one book, and each movie had its own extended version.
The result is that although the duration is very full, the content is extremely thin.
(This is the protagonist’s point of view and has nothing to do with the author.)
"I didn't want The Hobbit to be too draggy," Lu said.
James chewed the word "procrastination" carefully.
After a long while, he asked: "From what you said, is this "The Lord of the Rings" a true epic?"
"hiss……"
He took a breath,
Obviously, he didn't expect Lu Shi to have such ambitions.
Lu Shi didn't answer.
James looked at him like a monster, and after a while he said: "No wonder, this is similar to Wagner's opera "The Ring of the Nibelung". It is serious to become an epic."
The reason why I say this is because "The Ring of the Nibelung" was started in 1848 and completed in 1874, which took a total of 26 years.
The duration of this creation is very "epic".
And the content of "The Ring of the Nibelungs" is also very exciting,
What brothers are jealous of each other?
What friend betrays,
What marital chaos,
…
Such a complicated relationship has a very good taste.
The "epic" feeling hits my face.
Lu Shi said: "I am not Wagner."
James was stunned for a moment, and then said apologetically: "I didn't think about what I said."
There are strong racial and Christian overtones in "The Ring of the Nibelungs". After reading it, Nietzsche severed ties with the author Wagner.
Lu Shiyou's speech "I Have a Dream" is naturally not the same type of person as Wagner.
James continued to read,
Suddenly, his movements stopped and he whispered: "'1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline'."
It turned out that the manuscript of "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" was also included in it.
Lu Shi was not worried if he was discovered;
He is now the "founder of modern history", and having a historical monograph is nothing.
What's more, James doesn't understand the history of the Ming Dynasty, so he can't tell one, two, three, or four.
James returned the manuscript, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but ask: "Professor Lu, you have books such as "Guns, Germs, and Steel". It's normal to write a historical book, but...it's not easy to write, right?"
Lu Shi nodded,
"really."
"The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" is based on characters as clues.
These include:
The supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty was Emperor Wanli, scholar Shen Shixing, chief minister Zhang Juzheng, model bureaucrat Hai Rui, liberal intellectual Li Zhi, and anti-Japanese hero Qi Jiguang.
Although it prefers to be a biography rather than a chronology, it still needs a large amount of historical data to support it.
Lu Shi did know that the original author Huang Renyu had problems citing historical data, but he was confused as to how to modify it.
Without history books, everything is just a castle in the air.
James studied the Bible and had a deep understanding of similar things.
He said: "Professor Lu, you can go to the British Museum library and have a look. You should be able to find what you want there."
Lu Shi was stunned,
"The British Museum?"
James showed an embarrassed expression and nodded: "Yes, it is the British Museum. There are collections and books from all over the world, but because there are many non-English classics, it is difficult to translate, so they can only be shelved."
Until the 20th century, the looting of cultural relics did not violate international law.
But whether this matter is moral or not, anyone with a discerning eye will understand. Otherwise, Mr. Hugo’s “Letter to Captain Butler on the British-French Allied Forces’ Expedition to China” would not be included in the text.
Lu Shi couldn't help but think deeply and consider the cultural relics.
James was silent when he saw Lu, becoming more and more embarrassed, and continued: "Professor Lu, no matter what research you want to do, you can come to Cambridge University, the laboratories and libraries will open the door to you at any time."
Lu Shi came back to his senses,
"Is this an invitation?"
Unexpectedly, James nodded and admitted: "I came to you for two things, and this is one of them."
Lu Shi smiled calmly and said nothing.
James had expected this,
Cambridge University made an open invitation with full sincerity, but Lu Shi did not respond.
This attitude itself is rejection.
However, students in Cambridge, from Cavendish to all colleges, wanted Lu Shi to teach at the school, so James had the nerve to try again.
Lu Shi said, "What's the second thing?"
James asked: "Professor Lu once mentioned that Madame Curie would win the Nobel Prize, so she should know about Nobel?"
Lu Shi replied: "Nobel is a famous military equipment manufacturer and the inventor of diatomite explosives. Of course, he is also a chemist, engineer, and inventor. However, didn't he pass away four years ago?"
James looked at Lu Shi strangely,
When most people think of Nobel, the first thing they think of is the Swedish chemist.
It would be better for Lu Shi to first think about "military equipment manufacturers" and "inventors of diatomaceous earth explosives". They are indeed different from ordinary people.
James said: "Mr. Nobel has indeed passed away. But he made a will to use most of his estate as a fund, divide the annual interest into 5 parts, and establish the Nobel Prize, which is divided into Physics Prize, Chemistry Prize, Physiology Prize Or five prizes in medicine, literature and peace, awarded to people from all over the world who have made significant contributions to mankind in these fields."
Lu Shi's eyes widened, and then he remembered something,
Although the Nobel Prize has been in preparation for many years, there is quite a lot of noise, and everyone in the academic community knows that,
But wasn’t 1901 the first year the Nobel Prize was awarded?
He stared at James,
"Professor James, you don't mean to say that the Nobel Prize needs me, do you?"
James nodded,
"Yes, I came here just to ask you to come out."
Lu Shi:? ? ?
I can't understand it at all,
"I am a Chinese, and the Nobel Committee wants to give me the Nobel Prize in Literature?"
As soon as this statement came out, James immediately sprayed,
"Pfft! Cough cough cough..."
He coughed violently and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth. It took him a while to calm down the ups and downs in his chest and said, "Professor Lu, um... um..."
He hesitated, as if he didn't know how to speak.
Lu Shi said, "It's okay, just tell me what you have to say."
James was holding back the sweat on his forehead. After a while, he said: "Professor Lu, although the Nobel Prize is selected for the first time this year, the prize money of this award is very high, the influence is also great, and it attracts the attention of the world. The Swedish Royal The Academy of Sciences is the awarding body for the physics and chemistry prizes, the Karolinska Institute is the awarding body for the medicine and physiology prizes, and the Swedish Academy is the awarding body for the literature prize..."
Lu Shi waited quietly without interrupting the other party's background introduction.
Finally, James said: "In short, the selection process for the Nobel Prize is extremely complicated. A complicated process means it takes a long time, so nominations need to be made as early as possible. Professor Lu became famous in November last year, so..."
The implication was that Lu Shi was not among the candidates at all.
Lu Shi also recalled it at this time,
The selection cycle for the Nobel Prize in Literature is very long and can be described as “protracted”.
Hundreds of people were selected for the primary election;
Choose another fifteen to twenty people;
Final round of five.
The judges of the Swedish Academy even have to read all the works of the last five people, which is extremely time-consuming.
Lu Shi said: "That's right. My works, such as "No One Survived" and "Roger's Mystery", cannot be said to have anything to do with literary nature. They can only be said to have nothing to do with them. They will definitely not be eligible for the Nobel Prize in Literature. .”
Thinking about the early winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature and their works, which one is not full of literary qualities?
There is definitely no chance of popular sales being king.
Lu Shi said: "In that case, why does the Nobel Prize in Literature need...um...could it be translation?"
James nodded,
"Yes, that's exactly it."
Lu Shi was a little surprised,
"If I remember correctly, the academicians of the Swedish Academy should be proficient in multiple languages. Mainly Romance languages and Germanic languages, including German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, etc., as well as Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Nordic languages such as slang. Aren’t there enough languages?”
Seeing how familiar Lu Shi was with the entire review, James knew he had found the right person.
He whispered: "There are Indian works."
Lu Shi's scalp felt numb.
"India? Hindi? How can I know this..."
He complained in his heart that the other party really regarded him as a Doraemon that could come true if he made a wish.
James said "hmm" and said, "There is a writer named Tagore, who wrote a collection of poems and a play, which seems to be... called "The King and the Queen". He opposed the restoration of the privileges and backward customs of Brahmin priests."
Lu Shi was even more speechless,
“The works written by Rabindranath Tagore were in Bengali, right?”
James said: "You know all this? Could it be that you really understand Bengali?"
Of course Lu Shi didn't understand Bengali.
He had only read through the English and Chinese versions of "Gitanjali", "Asky Birds", "Gardener's Collection" and "New Moon Collection" and translated them accordingly, so he knew what language the original text was in.
Lu Shi said: "The Nobel Committee likes Tagore, isn't it because his plays are against Indian feudalism?"
This question directly embarrassed James.
He twirled his beard and said with a smile, "Professor Lu is really sharp."
Lu Shi was helpless, thinking that Europeans were all the same, and they all liked to use themselves to judge others.
He said: "Tagore himself has experience of studying in the UK, so just let him translate it himself. Besides, if you leave it to me, it will only be a translation at most. Translation is unreliable, as anyone who does writing work must have done."
James is not a translator, so he is inevitably curious.
"Translation is really unreliable?"
Lu Shi gave an example: "There is a Chinese word for 'barbarian'. Your British translator didn't know where to get the text from, and defined it as 'barbarian'. In fact, 'barbarian' is just a Chinese character." The word Xing should be translated as 'foreigner'. Because of this incident, the two countries even fought with each other."
Of course James doesn't understand this,
But seeing Lu Shi's promise, he was immediately convinced.
He sighed helplessly,
"I thought I could ask Professor Lu for help, but now it seems that I thought this matter was too simple."
Suddenly, he sat up straight as if he had thought of something and said, "In that case, let's ask Professor Lu to help with the preliminary evaluation."
Lu Shi asked: "Isn't that the job of the Swedish Academy?"
James shook his head,
"No, the Swedish Academy is only responsible for the second and final rounds of evaluation. The initial evaluation has to screen hundreds of authors and involves too many books. How can the Swedish Academy be busy? The Nobel Committee selects fifteen from among a hundred people. People, submit the list to the Swedish Academy.”
Lu Shi murmured in his heart,
Is this how the Nobel Prize is evaluated?
Or did traveling back in time lead to changes in the evaluation of the Nobel Prize?
Lu Shi said tentatively: "It seems that Cambridge University has certain review rights."
James smiled,
"Professor Lu, please excuse me. We need you for the Nobel Prize."
(End of chapter)
