the next day,
early morning.
Stockholm.
Although it is already early spring, the city has short days and long nights, and the average daily temperature still fluctuates around 0°C.
Especially in the morning and at night, it is like winter in other low-latitude areas.
Carl David Av Wilson stepped on the dry lawn, making a "crunching" sound under his feet, and walked slowly towards the office in the diffuse darkness.
At this moment, someone greeted him: "Mr. Wilson."
Wilson turned around,
In front of me is a young clerk from the Swedish Academy.
The clerk was carrying a tin-plated thermos pot in his left hand, and a set of porcelain cups in his right hand.
Wilson asked: "What's wrong?"
The waiter said: "Would you like some coffee? I have some ready-made here."
After saying that, without waiting for the other party to refuse or agree, he directly used the small stone pier next to him as a table and poured a small cup of hot coffee.
Wilson breathed into his palms,
"Okay, let's have a drink."
He walked forward, took the coffee, and sipped it.
In an instant, it was as if there was some kind of GPS device installed in the body, and one could clearly feel the warm drink sliding through the esophagus and then falling into the stomach pouch.
Warmth then surged to his limbs.
"Huh~~~"
Wilson breathed a sigh of relief.
The clerk asked: "You are in a hurry. Are you going to the office?"
Wilson had just let out a breath, and now he seemed to be holding it back,
Yes, he is going to the office now.
But when I went there, there was really nothing to do.
Because the Nobel Prize for Literature has completely stretched my crotch.
When the clerk saw that Wilson was silent, he asked curiously: "I heard that there was a science fiction film that swept Paris a few days ago called "The Village Teacher". It received a lot of praise. Its author may be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. .”
Isn’t this why the pot should be lifted if it is not opened?
Wilson looked depressed,
"That's Lu Shi's work."
Clerk: "..."
A strange silence stretched between the two of them, as if a vacuum had formed.
After a moment, Wilson sighed and said, "Is there really such a versatile person in this world?"
This sounds like a question, but it's actually a soliloquy.
The clerk continued to be silent.
After a long time, Wilson put down the cup in his hand and glanced at the white fish belly that had appeared on the horizon.
"Thank you for the coffee."
He walked slowly toward the office building.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the gate, he was stopped by Hans Ludwig Fussell, the first chair of the Swedish Academy.
Fussell was seen holding a telegram in his hand, with a unhappy expression on his face.
Wilson asked: "Hans, why are you here?"
Fussell handed over the telegram,
"See for yourself."
Wilson leaned over and read: "
'Dear colleagues from the Nobel Committee and the Swedish Academy,
Thank you for nominating me as a candidate for the first Nobel Prize in Literature. Thank you very much. '
…
"
There are more than a hundred words behind it.
This is the telegram Tolstoy rejected.
Fussell said: "This telegram was sent from the Paris post office. After several twists and turns, it arrived in Stockholm early last night."
Paris……
Wilson frowned,
"If I remember correctly, Lu Shi and Bernard Shaw are currently communicating with the Collège de France on behalf of the London School of Economics and Political Science. They are... um... are they forging this?"
"puff!"
Fussell squirted on the spot, secretly saying that Wilson was really imaginative.
He complained: "Karl, you don't have a fever, do you?"
Wilson also felt that his forgery theory was a bit too outrageous. He coughed awkwardly and said, "No, I was just joking. Then again, could it be that Tolstoy was also invited to the Collège de France for exchanges?"
"..."
"..."
Both of them were silent at the same time.
After a long time, Fussell asked: "Have you watched "The Country Teacher"?"
Wilson nodded,
"An unprecedented science fiction work. Even if someone has imagined the starry sky before, they have never tried to describe a developed alien civilization like that book. The most important thing is that the theme of that book is profound and connotative. If it is not a short story , maybe..."
At this point, Wilson stopped talking.
He almost blurted out that Lu Shi's works could be selected for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Fussell looked at him and said,
"I know what you want to say, but I think you are talking nonsense. Judging from the purpose of establishing the Nobel Prize for Literature, it is difficult for science fiction to win awards. You should know how big the gap between the aesthetic tastes of popular and serious literature is. "
Wilson spread his hands,
"But Lu Shi's level is indeed..."
He couldn't speak anymore and simply uttered a curse word: "Fuck!"
Then, he said: "Who would have thought that I would offend such a powerful person."
Fussell further pointed out: "Moreover, I heard that this short story appeared as a model essay. In other words, the French really want to hold a literary award, and combined with the fact that Mr. Tolstoy is currently in Paris, you Tell me if you will..."
Tolstoy declined the Nobel Prize for Literature, but accepted the prize from the Académie Française.
Don't slap the face too loudly!
If it comes true, then the Nobel Committee for Literature Prize will be completely disbanded, and each will go back to his own home and find his own mother.
But the two tried hard to figure it out, but there was nothing they could do.
As the saying goes, "When it rains, my mother wants to get married." This is probably the feeling of powerlessness.
Wilson sighed,
"That's all~ that's all~ If you don't want to do this, come to my office and have a drink."
Fussell:? ? ?
"You drink so early in the morning?"
Wilson said helplessly: "What are you doing if you don't drink?"
Fussell complained: "I can tell, you want to lie down completely..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard rapid footsteps not far away.
A clerk came quickly,
"Mr. Wilson, there is a telegram from Paris. But this telegram is from the British Consulate's special line. It may be urgent."
Wilson and Fussell looked at each other,
Hope arose in their hearts at the same time.
Wilson quickly stepped forward, unfolded the telegram, and found that the telegram was written in English. He couldn't help but feel even more excited.
He read it directly: "The message is as follows, 'Dear Nobel Committee, Swedish Academy...'"
Fussell frowned;
"Is this beginning any different from before? Tolstoy went so far as to deceive us. He even wanted to use the British Consulate's dedicated line to humiliate us."
Wilson made a silent motion towards him,
"No! It's good news."
Fussell couldn't help but be surprised.
He didn't wait any longer and stepped forward directly to read the contents of the telegram.
——
Dear colleagues from the Nobel Committee and the Swedish Academy,
Thank you for nominating me as a candidate for the first Nobel Prize in Literature. Thank you very much.
It is true that there are many talented people in the European literary world, but my works are just "grandmaster's games" and have no merit.
But please allow me to accept this nomination without humility.
Praise Chunqi.
Yours faithfully Leo Tolstoy.
——
Fussell:? ? ?
Wilson:? ? ?
Both of them were confused.
Two telegrams were sent one after another. Why is there such a big difference in attitudes?
After a while, Wilson came back to his senses and said, "This time, it's not Lu Shi and Bernard Shaw who are playing tricks on us, right? Look at this telegram, it's from the British Consulate..."
Fussell was no longer sure,
"They should...should...should not have such a bad taste, right?"
It's really confusing.
Wilson said: "Forget it, it's useless for us to think about it. Let's send a telegram there first and inquire carefully."
After saying that, he was ready to give instructions to the clerk.
Fussell stopped him and said, "Wait a minute. Before replying to the telegram, we have to confirm two things ourselves. First, if Mr. Tolstoy really agrees, what will be our attitude?"
Wilson scratched his head,
"What else can we do? Of course we will set off fireworks to celebrate! At least the first literary award was not ruined."
Although this statement sounds a bit nonsensical, it does come from the sincerity.
Fussell could only smile bitterly.
"Secondly, don't forget, it's still only the preliminary evaluation stage. It doesn't mean that Mr. Tolstoy will definitely win the award if he doesn't refuse the nomination."
If not Tolstoy, who else could this award be given to?
If it were given to someone else, the first Nobel Prize for Literature would definitely be placed on the pillar of shame, and there would be no need to award it in the future.
But Wilson also understood Fussell's worries and said with a smile: "Understood, we still have to have our own restraint."
After saying this, he went to the clerk and arranged for the confirmation telegram to be sent.
…
Paris.
French Academy.
Tolstoy's dormitory smelled of smoke.
Three Frenchmen, Poincaré, Verne, and Roland, gathered around the table and played Landlords happily.
Lu Shi, Bernard Shaw, and Tolstoy were watching the battle.
Tolstoy said: "The name of this game is really interesting, 'Fighting Landlords', farmers fighting landlords. I didn't expect that a game invented by Professor Lu would be so revolutionary and pioneering. It would be great if the serfs could really stand up and resist the landlords." "
Verne said: "It is precisely because of the revolutionary nature that we like to play."
Poincaré threw out two cards;
"A pair of 2. That's right! We are French!"
Lu Shi's head was full of black lines,
￣□￣｜｜
Bernard Shaw on the side acted as the mouthpiece and complained: "You guys obviously just like to play."
Poincaré argued,
Roland and Verne followed suit and started making noises.
For a moment, there was a commotion in the house, which was really lively.
Lu Shi looked at this group of literary giants and couldn't help but shake his head. He thought that famous people in history were just ordinary people, just like Hu Shi. They couldn't move their legs when they encountered the game they liked.
At this time, Tolstoy approached Lu Shi and said, "Professor Lu, we talked about the foundation before, do you remember?"
Lu Shi nodded,
"of course I remember."
Tolstoy sighed: "You know, because the Emperor, there has never been a similar organization in Russia. I have no idea about such a thing."
Needless to say, he is a Russian.
The French and British people present were very interested in how to do charity.
The rest of the people pricked up their ears, and even the sound of slamming poker cards became quieter.
Lu Shi asked: "Tuoweng, you said before that you were going to distribute all your assets to the farmers?"
Tolstoy nodded,
"right."
Lu Shi didn't need to say anything. Verne next to him shook his head and said, "I said it the other day. This will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause."
Of course Tolstoy also knew,
That day, he talked about his donation because he talked about France's efforts to improve people's livelihood and reduce children's tuition fees.
He now vaguely feels that the fundamental solution lies in education.
Lu Shi said: "There is a Mr. Liang Qichao in China who said in his speech, 'The wisdom of young people will make the country wise, the richness of young people will make the country rich, and the strength of young people will make the country strong'. Even if someone from my hometown comes to London, they don't ask me to say goodbye." Yes, just ask me to write teaching materials."
Tolstoy remained silent,
Unexpectedly, even the weak Qing government knew that education was its top priority.
"I understand," he said.
Poincaré said: "But the cost of setting up a university may be..."
I didn’t say anything else after that.
Roland took over the conversation: "Professor Lu just said that 'the wisdom of young people is the wisdom of the country', and it does not necessarily have to be a university."
Tolstoy said: "If you don't open a university? What's the use?"
Roland said: "Germany started compulsory education when it was still Prussia~ Ah, speaking of it, why was it that compulsory education was first started not in Britain, which had just completed the industrial revolution, but in Prussia, which was economically backward?"
Roland began to pay attention to this matter when he was at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.
But thanks to the iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck, when it comes to Prussia, everyone seems to be concerned about fighting and war, and talks little about education.
On this point, Bernard Shaw was the most vocal in his criticism.
He said: "Compulsory education requires a big government and huge public expenditures. How can the British Empire, a feudal and free country, come up with this huge expenditure?"
The "feudal freedom" of Shente Meow!
Everyone laughed.
Bernard Shaw spread his hands,
"Don't think I'm joking. In my mind, Britain is like the sentence at the beginning of "Yes! Prime Minister", 'Britain has always been a bad person in terms of not being a good person.' Lu summed it up quite well."
In fact, the UK had the Elementary Education Act in 1870.
As for the lack of implementation...
All I can say is that it happened.
Lu Shi also said: "No matter how you look at it, what is in line with British characteristics is aristocratic elite education, not universal compulsory education."
Tolstoy asked: "Is primary education so important?"
The others nodded together.
Lu Shi further said: "Russia now has a characteristic - it is so poor that only people are left. When there are only people left, what else can you do with these people? One is to fight, the other is to farm, and the third is to Are you engaged in education? You can’t fool them all into making revolution..."
Everyone was amused again,
Because Russia is indeed full of revolutionary fire.
"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult," said George Bernard Shaw.
In 1763, Frederick William II promulgated the Ordinary School Ordinance, but the compulsory education law encountered great resistance in actual implementation.
Especially in rural areas,
Farmers believe that it is more important for children to work on small farms than to go to school.
For example, Prussia acquired the Eifel region in 1815 and began to implement compulsory education there. However, what followed was twenty years of violent protests by the local rural population against children going to school.
Tolstoy said solemnly: "Tall buildings rise from the ground. Only when the foundation is laid can the country..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door suddenly.
"Gentlemen, there's a telegram!"
Tolstoy was a little surprised,
"So fast?"
They had just submitted the telegram to the British Consulate the night before, and Bernard Shaw came forward and asked the consul to help capture the telegram.
Verne joked: "I'm afraid Stockholm can't help it~ It's hard to grasp the life-saving straw, but you can't let it slip through your fingers, right? Now let them kneel down to Mr. Tolstoy, and they will all A hundred wishes."
Tolstoy waved his hands repeatedly,
"Not to the point~ not to the point~"
Although he acted very modestly, he couldn't help but blush.
Lu Shi went over and opened the door.
Unexpectedly, the clerk at the door said: "Professor Lu, just in time, this is a telegram for you."
"For me?"
Lu Shi was stunned and opened the telegram.
For an instant, a shocked expression appeared on his face, and he turned to look at Bernard Shaw, blinking subtly.
Bernard Shaw came up and glanced at him,
What I saw above was: "Your Majesty is seriously ill and will return soon."
Lu Shi said: "This exchange is over. We have to book the nearest ship back to London. Please bear with me."
(End of chapter)
