Arthur took the manuscript in his hand, turning page after page.

Although he was familiar with the manuscript, this time it was not in print, but in the original manuscript of Charles Dickens.

He looks slowly, not only to show respect for Dickens, but also to reminisce about the past and another world.

After some time, Arthur put down the manuscript, leaned back in his chair, and joked, "Perhaps this manuscript should be displayed in the British Museum rather than on my desk, after all, this thing is one of the few collections produced in Great Britain." ”

Dickens's face flushed hot: "Arthur, here you go again." You've always touted me like that, but you're going to make me believe it. ”

Arthur shook his head and said, "How could I be flattering you?" Aren't the two short essays "Mr. Mings and His Cousin" and "Scotland Yard" published in the "Monthly Magazine" a while ago very well written? I said, Charles, sooner or later you will become a great writer. This feature-length "The Pickwick Papers" will make you a lot of money, and it will be even more successful than your previous two short essays. ”

"Really?"

Dickens was a little excited at first, but then he was not very confident. "Arthur, you'd better be honest with me. I really want to hear from you. You know, I used to be busy making ends meet, working to pay off debts, so I didn't have many friends. And among the few friends I have, I think you are the only one who has a taste for literature. Seriously, Arthur, find fault with me. I just wrote an opening and part of the synopsis, and if I want to change it, it's too late. ”

Arthur just smiled when he heard him insist, and then picked up the manuscript and flipped through it: "If I insist on saying that I can't see anything, it may be the only one." ”

"Where?" Dickens took the manuscript and read it carefully to the place Arthur pointed: "Are you saying that it is not appropriate for the liar Ginger to lure Miss Waldell into eloping to this place?" Readers don't like this kind of plot? Or is it inconsistent with the morality of a devout believer? ”

"No, no, no, you misunderstood me."

Arthur smiled and said, "Readers love to read this, and as for morality, there is no morality in these days." After all, the best-selling London tabloids are all about 'love stories' that make people blush at a glance. I can't say that I mean that Mr. Wadel, after discovering that his daughter had eloped with the crook, decided to bid £120 to keep the crook away from his daughter, which is a bit surreal. ”

Dickens was stunned when he heard this: "Where is surreal?" ”

Arthur smiled: "It's all written, how much money you will give you, leave my daughter." And in reality, give me as much money as you want, otherwise you will leave my daughter. But that's not really a big deal, Charles, after all, maybe there really is someone like Mr. Waldell. ”

When Dickens heard this, he couldn't help biting his lip and thinking for a while, and he dragged out his voice: "No...... Arthur, you seem to have some truth in what you say. Shall I change Miss Wadel to Mr. Wadel's sister? Since childhood, they have depended on each other, so they have a deep relationship, so they can't bear to let their sister's illusions be shattered, so they privately give the liar Ginger a sum of money to keep him away from Miss Waldell? ”

Arthur shrugged his shoulders: "You can handle it however you want, it doesn't hurt." Because in my opinion, you already have enough ingredients for success. ”

Dickens's hesitation may be due to the experience of repeated failures over the years, and the young man's serious lack of self-confidence.

"Arthur, is it really that good?"

When Arthur saw him like this, he had to encourage: "It's not that it's good, it's that you're good." Have you forgotten what I told you? Charles, people like you are destined to be a writer. If the royalty income from this "Pickwick Papers" is less than 1,000 pounds after its publication, Charles, you can always come to me to make it up for you, I am so confident.

If you don't believe my vision, you can wait another month, and I'll pack up with you, and in a month there will be a film called "The Count of Monte Cristo" that will be popular all over the streets of London, and that one will also be approved by me.

Perhaps it will even be even more popular than your "The Pickwick Papers", because from a popular point of view, you can hardly find any flaws other than that its author is French. ”

When Dickens heard this, he immediately became interested: "The Frenchman you are talking about should be the one you rescued from the high seas, right?" Mr. Alexandre Dumas? ”

Arthur smiled and nodded: "It seems that the kidnapping of that fat man can be regarded as a blessing in disguise, at least he is quite famous in London now." ”

Dickens was a little discouraged when he heard this: "Of course, Monsieur Dumas's fame is partly due to the kidnapping, but partly due to his play Henry III and His Court, which was popular in London for a while last year. Mr. Dumas is a well-known playwright, and it is only natural that he can write great works, and I ...... it."

Arthur shook his finger: "No, Charles, don't look at it like that. Maybe your earning power is worse than his, but what the fat man writes usually has no far-reaching connotation and cultural significance, and in terms of his status in the field of literature and art, he can't even win it with Victor Hugo of the era.

Although the fat man may not be sad by this, after all, accepting defeat calmly is one of the few good virtues of the French.

And I learned that perhaps his biggest dream was to be a first-class French chef, and his second dream was to continue his old profession and become a French artilleryman.

But you are not like him, you are completely overwhelmed by the Britons of your time. Your writing, if you will, may still have a certain impetus for this era, and you can be said to be sitting on the other side of the whole history of British literature. ”

Dickens hardly listened to Arthur's few words of praise, and he looked at Arthur with blank eyes, as if hoping to get some substantial evidence from his mouth.

Dickens fell into deep self-doubt: "I've wanted to ask this question for a long time. Arthur, why are you so optimistic about me? ”

Arthur also fell silent when he heard this, and he was thinking about how to answer this question to Dickens.

Suddenly, he raised his gaze to Agareth, who was wiping his glasses at the table, as if to torture the devil's mind with the same question.

Seeing his gaze, the Red Devil couldn't help but take off his glasses and cover his mouth with a smile.

"Where are there so many why? I am optimistic that you are because you can do it, only the strong are worthy of being with me, and only the weak will fall into self-doubt. So, Arthur, don't hang out with these cowards, that will corrupt your bones and nerves.

Think about why you set up the Provisional Bureau of Surveys and Surveys in London, if you can't make the world love you, then let the world fear you. The way you summoned Jones is very appropriate, why should we reason with them?

You used to be reasonable because you had no power, but now that you have power, do what you can to be unjust. With all due respect, your little useless kindness will only expose you to more attacks. ”

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and shook his head: "The best thing to show a person's character is to look at what he is laughing at." You think you're laughing at others, but you're actually laughing at yourself. ”

Dickens was stunned when he heard this, and he asked, "Arthur, what do you say?" ”

"Nothing." Arthur took a few magazines out of the desk drawer and placed them on the table.

Those were several literary review magazines such as The Monthly Review, Blackwood, etc.

Previously, in order to investigate Disraeli's experience, Arthur went to the second-hand bookstore to buy all the issues that attacked him.

I thought that after doing the research, these things would be useless, but I didn't expect that these magazines could be used today to show some extra value in front of Dickens.

Arthur casually flipped through one of the magazines and pointed to the words on it.

"Don't you know that London's citizens, especially the middle class, have been very popular lately? Nowadays, accomplished writers who want to make a lot of money usually do not describe the psychological activities of any male protagonist, but focus on his dressing, as much as possible to portray him as a typical fashionista, and then use his mouth to say a few witty words.

When describing the heroine, she will list the addresses of the high-end clothing stores she frequents, and try to compare some details of her life as much as possible, such as telling the reader that the upper class people eat fish with a silver fork.

Perhaps it is because the distance between the middle class and the upper class aristocrats has narrowed, so when they have a little money, they begin to care about the behavior of the upper class, learn their mannerisms, eating habits, and so on.

All in all, the more detailed and elaborate you write about it, the more readers will love it. Besides, your "The Pickwick Papers" also includes elopement, elections, banquets, jail sitting, and a whole host of plot reversals, and I really can't think of a reason why this book failed. ”

When Dickens heard this, he gradually gained some confidence.

He looked at Arthur, hesitated, and suddenly mustered up the courage to speak, "Arthur." ”

"What's wrong?"

Dickens stared at Arthur and begged earnestly, "Since you are so optimistic about my book, why don't you write me a preface?" ”

Arthur's expression froze at first, then raised his eyebrows lightly, and half-jokingly, "Are you sure?" I'm a Scottish Yard policeman, not a literary critic. ”

Dickens blinked, touched the back of his head embarrassedly, and smiled: "If this book is really as good as you say, why should I worry about the identity of the person who wrote the preface to me?" You write me a preface, and if you make money at that time, you can get a little bit of it. ”

"Oh...... Arthur ......" The Red Devil covered his mouth and sneered, "Look, what did I say?" Your little kindness will only hurt you. Maybe this guy came for this in the first place...... A book with a preface by Superintendent of Scotland Yard must be an easy way to get published, right? ”

Glancing at the Red Devil, Arthur pulled out a blank piece of paper, then pulled out the quill from the inkwell and splashed it with ink, muttering as he wrote, "If this can be considered a harm to me, then I would rather he do me a harm once in every book." After all, fools know that this may be more profitable than buying Rothschild stock. ”

(End of chapter)