The next day.

Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw were invited to the Paris Opera.

Designed by Charles Garnier in 1861, the opera house is a masterpiece of eclecticism.

Its architecture perfectly combines several architectural forms such as ancient Greco-Roman colonnades and baroques, with a grand scale, exquisite and meticulous, and splendid.

Verne led the crowd into the field,

"Before the play starts, there will be a simple series of performances. ”

George Bernard Shaw chuckled,

"That's better than a British theatre."

Verne laughed.

They were placed in the first row with the best view,

Several people sat down in turn.

After a while, the show began.

A man in a tuxedo took the stage and asked his assistant to move a table with a potted orange tree on it.

These things are obviously props for performances.

Lu Shi was surprised,

"It's magic?"

Hearing him say this, Roland couldn't help but be curious and asked, "Has Professor Lu seen this too?" ”

Lu Shi smiled and shook his head,

"No, I haven't seen it, but I've heard of it. There is a collection of strange stories in China, called "Strange Tales from Liao Zhai", which contains all kinds of stories. ”

While chatting, the magician on the stage has already begun to perform,

People see small oranges growing on the orange trees.

Exclamations erupted.

Verne muttered, "Even though I've seen it many times, I still can't see through it." ”

He turned his head and asked Lu Shi, "Professor Lu, can you tell us about Chinese magic?" Maybe I can see some secret from that...... Yes...... Sorry, I'm getting a little carried away. ”

Poincaré on the side said: "Jules is like this, he likes to get to the bottom of everything. ”

Lu Shi waved his hand and said casually,

"There is a story in "Strange Tales from Liaozhai", which is about a trick in the middle of the city, a trick throws a rope into the air, and then climbs up along the rope, and does not come back for a long time. His child couldn't wait any longer and climbed up to look for it, and then some stumps and severed arms would be thrown down from above. ”

"Hiss......" ×4

George Bernard Shaw, Roland, Poincaré, Verne gasped at the same time,

said that the magic trick suddenly turned into a thriller story.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"After playing tricks, he will tell people that only he is qualified to go to heaven, and the child has violated the rules of heaven by going up to find his father, and he will be dismantled. People who watch the excitement see that the performers are pitiful, and they will pay for it. ”

Poincaré nodded and said, "I see. The ending should be happy for everyone, right? The child would soon be alive in the crowd. ”

Lu Shi said: "That's right. ”

Roland was curious: "What is the principle then?" ”

Lu Shi spreads his hands,

"This kind of thing is people's ability to eat, how can it be made public?"

The rest of the people should be.

Poincaré wrapped the fingers of his right hand around his beard and smiled: "I think, however, that such events can be explained in a rigorous way, as in the works of Jules in science fiction." ”

As he spoke, he gestured to the stage,

At this time, the magician was distributing the "picked" oranges to the audience in the first row.

Verne shrugged,

"Don't put a top hat on me."

Poincaré looked over,

"How?"

Verne said, "I don't write all science fiction. For example, the next book to read "Around the World in Eighty Days", this book is not innovative, and it may be more appropriate to say that it is a travelogue. ”

Lu Shi on the side smiled and said: "If you talk about rigor, this book is not bad at all~"

I didn't expect Lu Shi to suddenly interject,

Poincaré smiled,

"Look, that's what Professor Lu said."

Verne was also interested, leaned forward to Lu Shi's side, and asked, "Why did Professor Lu say that?" ”

Lu Shi didn't answer, but threw out a question:

"Monsieur Verne, you are a Frenchman, why did you use an English gentleman as the protagonist to write Around the World in Eighty Days?"

Verne couldn't help but be stunned,

When he was writing the book, he vaguely remembered that he had actually thought about it.

But the answer to the question, he couldn't tell.

Verne groaned,

"I guess it's some kind of inspiration."

George Bernard Shaw quipped, "Maybe it's some kind of inspiration, because not every setting or sentence can be explained when a writer is composing." ”

Nabokov also made an argument in his lectures:

In many cases, a detail of the author's writing may be subconscious, but the reader is able to extract from it the author's own intentions that he was not aware of at the time.

Verne also said: "People's thoughts are inevitably impermanent, fleeting~ Many techniques or ideas may be unconscious, but they may also be a portrayal of the author's heart." It's just that the author himself may not know it. ”

Roland clapped his hands and said, "Then I can explain Professor Lu's question just now." ”

Verne asked, "How?" ”

"It is a bad habit of the British," said Roland, "and Monsieur Verne said we French would not." ”

There was an eerie silence,

“……”

“……”

“……”

Immediately, several people laughed.

The audience at the opera couldn't help but look sideways.

Poincaré patted Roland on the shoulder and whispered, "You, you...... I dare to pack the ticket, Professor Lu must not think so. ”

Lu Shi nodded and pointed to the stage,

"We'll talk in a moment."

The theatrical performance began.

In fact, the story of "Around the World in Eighty Days" is very simple,

Mr. Fogg, an English gentleman, and his members of the club made a bet of 20,000 pounds sterling that "he could circumnavigate the globe in eighty days", and after the bet was agreed, he set out from London on a thrilling journey around the world with his servant, nicknamed "The Road Path".

He made a detailed plan:

From London to Suez. Railways and mail ships. 7 days;

From Suez to Mumbai. Liner. 13 days;

……

From New York to London. Mail ships and railways. 9 days.

The final total is 80 days.

At this point, Lu Shi asked, "Have you noticed the characteristics of Mr. Fogg's line?" ”

George Bernard Shaw put his hand in his pocket, pinched the tobacco packet, and then put his fingers under his nose to sniff the aroma of tobacco to refresh himself.

For a long time, he said, "the colonies of Great Britain. ”

A word to wake up the dreamer.

Verne said: "Yes, that's what I thought at the time. ”

According to the background time of 1872, the British could almost go around the world along the colonies,

The main character, Mr. Fogg, wants to travel quickly from place to place, and his status as an overlord can be of great help.

Lu Shi explained: "Just look at the route and you can figure it out. The Suez Canal is controlled by the British, India and Singapore are British colonies, Japan is a British ally (small) country, and the only trouble is the United States......"

Verne shook his head,

"Although the United States and Britain do not have good relations, at least they have a common language and can ensure that communication is barrier-free."

Roland was curious,

"What if it's French?"

Lu Shi said: "That's troublesome." It is possible to cross half of Africa to the Congo from Algeria to the south, but this road is north-south, which is not helpful at all for circumnavigating the world; You can get to Yemen by sea via Madagascar, but you have to go around the Cape of Good Hope and waste a lot of extra time......"

Lu Shi said, while his hand gestured invisibly in the air,

It was as if he had a map of the world in front of him.

Except for George Bernard Shaw, everyone else was stunned.

George Bernard Shaw said in a low voice: "I told you that Professor Lu is an interdisciplinary all-rounder, but you still don't believe it. ”

It's not unbelief,

It's a bit beyond recognition.

Can ordinary people be so familiar with world geography?

But when I think of Lu Shi's book "Guns, Germs and Steel", it seems very reasonable.

Poincaré secretly rejoiced, thanks to yesterday let Lu Shi leave Mobao,

Seeing that Lu Shi is so knowledgeable, it is not difficult to judge that he will become a shining star in the history of many human disciplines in the future.

At this time, Roland next to him asked, "Why do you have to go to the colony?" ”

George Bernard Shaw laughed: "It would be troublesome not to go to the colony." Passing through areas controlled by other countries, the approval and entry procedures are very cumbersome, and there is a possibility that they will be arrested as spies. ”

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many colonies were under military administration.

I went in, and I couldn't tell if I was reasonable.

Roland asked again, "But trouble has found Mr. Fogg." The status of the suzerainty instead made him hunted down by British police detectives all over the world. ”

The corners of Verne's mouth are hooked,

"That's where the drama comes in."

Roland scratched his head,

Because the discussion was too deep, he treated the issue as a real problem, but forgot that it was actually a plot.

Lu Shi said humorously: "If you are French, "Around the World in Two Hundred Days" is not science fiction at all. That's why Mr. Verne wanted to use the British, so that the fantasy was rigorous. ”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but want to laugh,

But the show had already begun, and they struggled to hold back.

Verne pursed his lips and quipped: "I didn't expect it, Professor Lu, you actually think that "Around the Earth in Two Hundred Days" is a science fiction work. ”

Lu Shi hurriedly waved his hand,

"Don't make fun of me. What 'two hundred days' is "Around the World in Eighty Days". ”

The corners of Verne's mouth hooked an arc,

"Why do you think this is science fiction?"

Lu Shi said: "In the end, Mr. Fogg said that he spent almost nineteen thousand pounds on the journey, isn't it enough science fiction? ”

"Poof!" ×4

The rest of the people couldn't hold back and laughed anyway.

George Bernard Shaw said "um" and said, "Monsieur Fogg spent nearly twenty thousand pounds on this trip, which is equivalent to fifty thousand francs. And in "La Traviata", Marguerite lived in poverty and luxury for a year, and the cost was only 100,000 francs, so "Around the World in Eighty Days" is indeed quite sci-fi. ”

Using Dumas's works to make fun of the French, Verne couldn't help but laugh.

He coughed a few times before he managed to calm down.

"Humph! In the future, there will be no need for the British to be the protagonists. ”

George Bernard Shaw spreads his hands,

"No, no, no. Monsieur Fogg hugged her on the way, which is obviously what you French are good at. ”

Verne said with a slight smugness: "You British don't have to be presumptuous. ”

The two writers actually joked with each other like children.

After a few more conversations, the topic went back to the topic,

Verne continued to ask: "Professor Lu, you haven't answered my question just now, why do you think that Around the Earth in Eighty Days is a science fiction work?" ”

Literary critics believe that this book is rich in themes,

Roaming theme, detective theme, love theme......

A variety of topics intersect and merge with each other, so that readers can always find their favorite part in it.

There are even people who read humanist ideas in it,

For example, in the passage in India, Verne expressed his indignation at India's barbaric burial system through the mouths of his characters; There was also a scene of Fogg being beaten at the San Francisco convention, which mocked the chaos of democratic elections in the United States.

However, among so many themes, critics felt that there was no science fiction alone.

Lu Shi said: "Science fiction...... Gentlemen, what do you think science fiction is? ”

This drew contemplation.

After a while, Roland took the lead in speaking: "Science fiction works should be like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", there are many magical technologies. ”

There is no need to refute this when landing,

Poincaré shook his head,

"Roman, what is the originator of science fiction?"

Although he was a mathematician, he had a strong literary background, so it was not strange to ask such questions.

Roland replied, "It should be Frankenstein." ”

George Bernard Shaw proudly said, "This is the work of our British." ”

Frankenstein is the work of Mary Shelley, a book that has made her known as the "mother of science fiction".

It is worth mentioning that her husband's name is Percy Beech Shelley, one of the most talented lyric poets in the history of English literature, who said "Winter is coming, will spring be far away?" "Nobody knows, no one knows.

Poincaré said: "Is there a futuristic technology in Frankenstein? ”

Roman frowned slightly,

"This ......"

"I don't know how to classify science fiction, but I can say very clearly that Frankenstein is quite profound," Poincaré said. ”

Lu Shi took over the conversation,

"That's right, the classic of that book is that it deals with human and humanoid ethics."

Poincaré was stunned, then clapped his hands and said excitedly: "Good! What a 'human and human-like'! It is worthy of Professor Lu, and it sums it up too well. Science fiction is not just a fantasy, it can also be developed in depth. ”

As he spoke, Poincaré cast an adoring glance at Lu Shi.

Lu Shi is inevitably a little embarrassed,

He digressed the topic and said, "Actually, there are many branches of science fiction. I can think of world exploration, between civilizations, parallel worlds, time travel, disasters and rebirths, humans and humanoids, ......"

The more you talk, the more you talk.

Everyone looked at Lu Shi with strange eyes,

Staring –

Lu Shi hurriedly shut up.

He asked, "What's the problem?" ”

George Bernard Shaw said: "Some I can understand, such as world exploration, Monsieur Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and the Ocean Trilogy should be counted among them; Humans and humanoids, I just gave the example of "Frankenstein". What about the rest? ”

Lu Shi said: "Between civilizations, it is the contact and exchange between two intelligent civilizations. ”

The crowd was silent.

After a while, someone asked, "Is there a precedent for this kind of work?" ”

Lu Shi has read so many works, of course, he can give examples,

But for a moment he could only think of Clark's "The End of Childhood," which was published in 1953 and certainly cannot be used as an example.

"That's what I said," he said. ”

Shen Temeow's "so said".

Verne felt as if his heart had been scratched by a cat, and asked, "What about the other types?" Professor Luk, can you give an example? ”

Lu Shi thought for a moment and said, "I told Natsume before...... Not...... Natsume is my roommate, and I told him a story called "The Last Man", and there was only one sentence, 'The last person on earth was sitting alone in a room, and then suddenly there was a knock on the door......' ”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the three Frenchmen changed when they looked at Lu,

Verne, in particular, was as if a young man had just come of age and saw a naked beauty, as if he was going to eat him alive.

George Bernard Shaw patted Lu Shi on the shoulder,

"You're really suitable to come out and communicate."

(End of chapter)