The young man named 'William' frowned and asked when he heard Arthur's recitation, "Why haven't I heard this poem?" Which Cambridge student is it? ”

Arthur feigned surprise and asked, "Don't you know such a famous verse?" It was written by a Cambridge poet surnamed Xu. ”

Elder also said on the side: "That's right, as a lover of literature, you won't even hear this poem, right?" Just now you said that you won the Cambridge Gold Medal for Poetry, is the Cambridge Gold Medal only this level of knowledge? ”

William was stunned by the two of them, and suddenly became a little unconfident: "Yes...... Is it? ”

Another young man named 'Alfred' hurried up to play the round, and he apologized to Arthur and Elder and said, "Sirs, although I have not heard of this poem. However, judging from the content, the author of this poem does have a very high level of romantic lyrical poetry. ”

When William heard that even his companions complimented the poem, his heart was completely lost.

After all, although Alfred was very young, he was not only the winner of the Cambridge University Gold Medal in poetry, but also had a certain reputation in the field of poetry writing throughout Great Britain.

If Alfred agrees, then the poem is not much worse, if not how good it is.

But he was still unwilling to admit defeat so easily, and the arrogance of the young man still supported him to straighten his back and speak: "I admit that this poem is okay, but compared with Alfred's Timbuktu, it is still a distance. ”

"Timbuktu?" Elder couldn't help but frown when he heard the name, and although he usually seemed out of tune, in addition to reading tabloid stories, he did occasionally pay attention to things in literary circles.

Elder asked, "Is that the Alfred Tennyson from Cambridge?" ”

Tennyson nodded embarrassedly, "Have you read my poems?" ”

Elder pouted, "I accidentally saw it." ”

"Did you see it?" When the young man named William heard this, he immediately became angry: "Sir, what do you mean by this? ”

Elder shrugged his shoulders and said with a sneer, "It's nothing, I just think that as far as literature is concerned, everyone has their own opinion." I think that the writing of "Timbuktu" is indeed okay, but it is only okay. In a sense, I think he's not even as emotional as the one he just had...... Belch...... Arthur, what's the name of that poem? ”

Arthur glanced at the kid, he didn't want to answer, but in an instant he noticed that Elder had been winking at him.

Looking at his posture, he has to compete with these two young people from Cambridge today.

Arthur sighed, "That poem is called 'Farewell Cambridge'. ”

"Yes, that's right, Goodbye Cambridge! From the standpoint of a serious literary critic, I think "Timbuktu" is not as good as "Farewell to Cambridge"! ”

William was directly enraged by Held's provocative tone, and he suppressed his anger and asked, "Literary critics? I don't know what works you have in the field of literature? ”

Elder heard this: "Under Elder Carter, a professional critic, disdains to create works. ”

William was amused by his answer: "Boy, so you haven't written anything, and you're here to question Alfred's poetry?" ”

Elder took advantage of the situation and asked, "So what about you?" Who are you, and what are your works in the field of literature? ”

"Me?" William was still aggressive, but when Elder asked, his cheeks instantly turned red, and he held back for a long time before he spoke: "My name is William Thackeray, I just love literature, and I have written some things, but, but not very famous......"

When Elder heard this, he seemed to have seized some chance of winning, and he sneered, "So you're also a nobody? Since you think that a critique of poetry must first have a status and a work, isn't your opinion equally insignificant? ”

When William Thackeray heard this, he wanted to refute it, but he didn't know how to fight back.

In a hurry, his fists clenched tighter and tighter, and then, only to hear a bang, Thackeray actually pushed open the door of the store directly, grabbed the door and ran out without looking back.

Seeing this, Tennyson hurriedly apologized to Arthur and Elder and said, "I'm sorry, two gentlemen, this friend of mine has a complicated family situation, so his personality is a little extreme. Don't worry about it, he's usually a really good guy. ”

After that, he didn't care about choosing any instrument for his speech, but hurriedly chased him out: "William! You wait for me! ”

Seeing this, Elder couldn't help but snort proudly: "Look, this is Cambridge education." ”

But he waited a long time for Arthur's response, and when he looked back, he found that Arthur was pinching his chin and looking at the distant backs of the two.

Elder clubbed Arthur and asked, "What do you want?" ”

Arthur pursed his lips, he glanced at his friend, and said, "Elder I want to congratulate you." ”

"Congratulations?" Elder grinned, "It's not a big deal, I just defeated a Cambridge guy." ”

"No, I'm not talking about congratulations in that sense."

Arthur spoke: "Offending France's Alexander Dumas is enough to make you famous in history, and now there is another William Thackeray of Britain." I simply don't know how many world classics your name will appear in the distant future. Maybe you'll become a villain template for the whole world.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot, and Charles, maybe in his book later, you'll have to put it together with the monkey illustration. First the monkeys, then to you. ”

When Elder heard this, his face was full of disbelief: "Arthur, you like to scare me with this kind of thing every day. You say that the bald Charles will be a big man in the future, and the one who wears the hat will also be in the future. Now even these two Cambridge graduates, you give such a high rating. Is it that as long as it is a person, as long as he sees you, he can become a big man in the future? ”

"No, how so?" Arthur smiled slightly, and he patted Elder on the shoulder: "Older, isn't there still you?" ”

"Shh Elder rolled his eyes: "Am I not the villain template of the whole world in your mouth?" How can I be nameless? ”

"That's right." Arthur nodded: "Alexander has already arranged you in his manuscript, and Mr. Thackeray will definitely not let you go casually." ”

"Huh?! Alexander choreographed me? Elder raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "No wonder he hasn't shown me his manuscript!" I haven't done anything with him, I've been taking him around London for the past few days! As a result, he turned his head around and did this to me? ”

Arthur asked, "Are you sure you really didn't take him to anything?" ”

When Elder heard this, he replied weakly: "If you want to come back, it may be ...... Maybe...... Probably...... What did I say that upset him...... But I didn't mean to. ”

"What did you say?"

"He said he couldn't figure out why so many Englishmen would be crammed into this small island, whether they were immigrants to France or the United States, they could have a better life," said Held. I said that I agreed with him and that it would be good for the world to do so. Because every time someone immigrates from Britain to France or the United States, the average level of intelligence in all three countries can be raised a little bit. ”

As soon as Elder finished speaking, he heard a low, suppressed laugh from under the counter of the store.

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but put a finger between his lips: "Shh, slow down." ”

Arthur walked lightly to the counter, bent slightly, and his smiling face met Charles Wheatstone's face that was more ugly than crying.

Wheatstone's lips quivered, he was holding a black suitcase in his arms, and judging by his posture, if Arthur had been one step late, he might never have found this guy again.

Arthur took off his hat, stretched out his hand to him, and greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Wheatstone, long time no see." ”

Wheatstone trembled and shook Arthur's hand: "Black...... Mr. Hastings, you ...... Can't you really just let me go? ”

"Spare you? No, what stupid thing are you talking about? I'm just hoping to gain your friendship and help you with your new invention. ”

Wheatstone sighed, and leaned forward, but before he could get out of the counter, he heard a faint sound from the box he was holding in his arms, a thunderbolt of lightning, and then the voice of a man familiar and somewhat strange came from the box.

"We are not thugs, we are not accomplices, we are just a bunch of former shoemakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, grooms, hut makers, fitters, builders, bakers, unemployed workers and landless peasants...... Today, we are going to suppress a demonstration by a group of workers......"

When Wheatstone heard this, he hurriedly raised his hands in fright, and he stammered, "Mr. Hastings, you ...... You listen to me, I really didn't mean to record this. I just made this yesterday and was going to deliver it to your mansion, but I was passing by Wellington Arch...... You...... If you're not happy, I'll destroy it now. ”

Arthur looked at Wheatstone's expression of remorse, first was silent for a while, and then smiled and tapped the suitcase with his knuckles: "The timbre may be a little worse for the time being, and some parts don't sound very clear." Still, Mr. Wheatstone, I would like to congratulate you on a remarkable new invention. ”

Wheatstone was stunned by what he said, and he asked, "...... Don't you care about the things you record? ”

"Yes, of course I do. But ......"

"But?" Wheatstone was frightened: "Then I'll smash it now!" ”

But he was about to smash the box with his fist, only to find that his arm was clenched tightly by Arthur.

Wheatstone was puzzled: "You? ”

Arthur smiled and lifted him up from under the cabinet and dusted him off: "Don't smash it, you may not understand, maybe recording this passage can be regarded as one of the meanings of inventing it." ”

(End of chapter)