Sweden

Stockholm

Swedish Academy.

Permanent Secretary Carl David Ave Wilson was sitting behind his desk in the round table room, looking at the list in front of him, anxious.

On the list, names are blacked out or crossed out with a solid line.

I don't know how long,

"Whew~"

Wilson let out a sigh of relief,

!

He couldn't help but curse in his heart.

There were so many people who refused the Nobel Prize in Literature that even Rabindranath Tagore, who was far away in India, sent a telegram saying that he wanted to advance and retreat with the University of London Alliance.

Wilson slammed the table,

"Why!?"

The list on the table was shaken to the ground.

At this moment, Hans Ludwig Fussell, the first seat of the Faculty of Letters, walked around from behind,

He held a steaming drink in each hand, placed one of them on the table, then bent down to pick up the list, blew off the dust, and returned it to its place.

Wilson turned back,

"Why are you here?"

Forsell pointed to the drink on the table and whispered, "Drink a little." ”

Wilson sniffled slightly,

"Coffee?"

Forsel nodded,

"Well, coffee is much more refreshing than the British's black tea."

During this time, the Swedish Academy of Letters had begun to consciously "boycott" British goods.

Wilson picked up the cup,

He subconsciously observed himself reflected in the wall of the ceramic cup,

His face was very poor, and his eyes were densely covered with dark red bloodshots, as if he had just entered a primitive society from human society.

Forsel asked, "How long has it been since you closed your eyes?" ”

Wilson stared at the glass,

Staring –

The eye sockets are sunken and protruding, and they look like the walking dead.

"Goo~"

Forsel couldn't help but swallow his saliva,

He cautiously stretched out his right hand, moved up and down in front of his friend's eyes, and called softly, "Karl? ”

Wilson snapped back to his senses, put the cup down, and muttered meaninglessly, "Manchester City." ”

Forsel was confused,

"Huh?"

Wilson pointed to the cup,

"This cup is imported from Manchester City."

"Poof!"

Forsel spurted out a mouthful of old blood on the spot,

Despite every effort to avoid the appearance of British goods, it turned out to be impossible to prevent.

Wilson smiled wryly and said, "Forget it, it doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, for the current Europeans, it will never be possible to get rid of Made in England. ”

At the beginning of the 20th century, Made in Britain could indeed radiate the whole world,

It's a lot like modern China.

Wilson took a sip of coffee, his face full of helplessness,

"I'm afraid this coffee bean is also ...... from the UK"

Forsel coughed lightly,

"Don't think about it so much."

Wilson stood up and stretched, then walked to the side of the bed and opened the curtains.

The dim rays of the setting sun shine into the house.

The population of Northern Europe is not large, and even the big city of Stockholm can still see only sparse pedestrians, hurrying across the road.

Forsel said, "Have you heard? Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw went to France for exchanges. ”

Hearing the name Lu Shi, Wilson clenched his fists suddenly.

He said, "What? ”

Forsel said depressedly: "I don't know if those French people will come up with some disgusting tricks again." I'm worried...... Forget it, it's useless to worry. ”

Indeed,

It's useless to worry about it.

Wilson took another sullen sip of his coffee.

As if remembering something, Forsale asked, "When I entered the house just now, I heard you shouting, 'Why!?' Why? ”

Wilson looked at the table.

Forsel followed his line of sight,

"Telegram? Telegram from Delhi? ”

He leaned over to read the contents, only to realize that it was Tagore who had turned down the invitation to the Nobel Prize in Literature.

There was an eerie silence in the house,

“……”

“……”

“……”

After a long time, Wilson reopened his mouth and said: "Those arrogant people in Western Europe reject us, even if he is an Indian, why should he refuse?" I really don't know what I am......"

The latter words were not spoken.

But Forsel can also guess that it is not bad, it should be the word "goods".

He opened his mouth, wanting to comfort his colleague,

As a result, the words became: "It's Lu Shi who caused the trouble." ”

Wilson fell silent.

At this moment, the voice of the clerk suddenly came from outside the door: "Mr. Wilson, something is not good...... Big things are wrong! ”

Wilson and Forser exchanged glances and sighed deeply at the same time.

Forsel went over and opened the door,

"Who is it this time?"

Wilson, on the other side, had already picked up the list and the pen, ready to cross out the names he had heard.

The clerk ran out of breath and said while panting, "Two gentlemen, yes...... Call...... It was Mr. Odena who sent the telegram from Paris. ”

Wilson mechanically swept through the list and muttered to himself:

"Odena ...... ...... Odena "

Already numb.

Fortunately, Forsell is a normal person,

He walked briskly over and grabbed Wilson by the shoulders, shook violently, and yelled, "Carl! ”

Wilson looked up,

"What...... What? ”

Forser raised his voice,

"Big brother, can you be a little sober! It was a telegram from Klaas. ”

Wilson was stunned for another half a second before he reacted.

He struck a spirit,

"Klaas's telegram from Paris?"

Forsel nodded,

"Yes."

Wilson couldn't help but ask: "Did you just say that Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw are visiting Paris?" ”

Forcell: "......"

His face became extremely ugly.

Now, the entire Swedish Academy has reached the point of talking about the change of color.

Wilson hurried to the door, snatched the telegram from the clerk's hand, and after only one glance, his right hand trembled,

The telegram then fell.

Forsel asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Wilson replied, "Literary Prize...... The French even want to host their own literary awards. Moreover, it was Verne and Poincaré who proposed it together. Also, Lu Shi was also present. ”

Sure enough, it's land time again!?

The muscles on Forsale's cheeks throbbed wildly.

The Swedish Academy tried every means to rub the traffic,

As a result, it turned out to be a wedding dress for others, and let the French Academy of Letters pick up the ready-made ones and rub them off a lot.

Wilson looked at Forcell,

"What now?"

What else can I do?

Forsel took a deep breath and said, "Everything fell on Mr. Tolstoy. Now, we have to nominate him. ”

Wilson's expression couldn't help but distort,

"But, we ...... before"

They vetoed Tolstoy, but with high-sounding reasons:

Tolstoy's current work is imbued with anarchism and fatalism, and Nobel's will stipulates that the winner of the literary prize must "produce the best work of idealistic tendencies."

This is undoubtedly very far-fetched.

Tolstoy naturally understood this reason when he saw this, so he also generously said that "War and Peace" is a "old-fashioned game".

Such modesty is to give the Swedish Academy of Letters a step down.

Now, it would be a great shame to ask the Swedish Academy to go back to Tolstoy.

Forsel spreads his hands,

"Is there any other way?"

Wilson looked embarrassed and muttered, "It seems...... It seems like...... Probably...... It may be that there is no other way. ”

Forsel said, "I'll draft the message." ”

He took a pencil and wrote on paper:

——

Mr. Tolstoy is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of the last century,

In his works, in addition to the ruthless critique of reality, he also fervently preaches the ideas of repentance, soul salvation, asceticism, etc., and advocates an ideal and fraternity that can be called "Tolstoyism".

……

Wilson watched dumbfounded,

"Ideals and fraternity?"

As Forsel struggled to write, he asked, "What?" What's the problem? ”

Wilson shook his head repeatedly,

"No, no problem. How could there be a problem? Mr. Tolstoy is the embodiment of ideals~ Apart from him, who else is suitable for the Nobel Prize in Literature? ”

Forsel nodded,

"No one is fit for the first Nobel Prize in Literature but him."

Wilson agreed with a firm expression,

"Yes, no!"

……

France

Paris.

After more than three hours of performance, "Around the World in 80 Days" finally came to an end.

Lu Shi and several people left the Paris Opera House with the flow of people.

It's dark,

The nightlife has just begun, and the lights on both sides of the Seine are reflected in the steel body of the Eiffel Tower, which makes people look a little jealous.

From the café on the riverbank, there is a cheerful sound of singing and laughter.

The people around me are discussing "Around the World in Eighty Days",

"It's wonderful!"

"I want to travel around the world like Mr. Fogg, too."

"First of all, you have to be rich; Secondly, you have to be as lucky as someone else, and you can always save the day. ”

……

Listening to the discussion, several people looked at each other and smiled.

Lu Shi said: "The so-called good luck is just the halo of the protagonist~"

Verne chuckled,

"That's a funny word."

The rest nodded their heads,

Lu Shixin coined the term "protagonist halo", which is quite expressive.

As they talked, they walked towards the banks of the Seine, along the banks of the river in the late spring breeze.

After a while, Roland spoke first,

"Mr. Verne just mentioned the Jules Verne Prize?"

When Verne came up with this idea, the rest of the people didn't ask in depth,

The reason is simple, they all doubt that Verne is not serious.

George Bernard Shaw was also surprised, and said: "Mr. Verne, as far as I know, literary prizes are generally given to ...... Forehead...... I don't mean to curse you, but I think it's like Goncourt and Nobel. ”

Naming the award after a person has the meaning of commemoration and mourning.

The two literary prizes, Goncourt and Nobel, were established by a foundation established by the estate after the death of the person who named it.

In addition, there is also the Mao Dun Literature Award,

The award was sponsored by the Chinese Writers Association and established in accordance with the will of Mr. Mao Dun to encourage outstanding long-form creation.

Another example is the Hugo Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Verne looked serious,

"You heard me right, I do want to set up a literary prize as a way to encourage science fiction."

Poincaré was surprised,

"Science fiction?"

He just thought it was a full-theme literary award, the orthodox kind.

The crowd didn't know what to say.

In fact, there was the Jules Verne Prize in history, but the time was only from 1927 to 1932, and the prize money was not much, 5,000 francs, so Lu Shi did not have much impression.

The reason why this award disappeared was because it was awarded to the best science fiction author,

At that time, science fiction was still a very small category,

It was not until the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards that the situation improved.

What's more, the French always like to make mistakes from time to time, and there are very few candidates.

Poincaré chuckled, "Jules, you scared the old gentleman a lot. ”

The corners of Verne's mouth hooked an arc,

"Just to scare him."

Everyone couldn't help but look at each other and laugh.

Poincaré asked, "Jules, why do you stick to science fiction?" With your achievements and status, it is definitely no problem to make a comprehensive award. ”

Verne waved his hand,

"No, I'm just a popular writer, so I never thought about comprehensive awards. Asking me to give Mr. Shaw an award for "The Widower's Estate" or "Mrs. Warren's Career," I don't think it's appropriate to think about it. ”

George Bernard Shaw said, "You don't have to be presumptuous. ”

Verne glared back at him,

"I'm just humble."

The two writers pulled their skins again.

Lu Shi coughed lightly, pulled the topic back, and asked, "What about the reason?" ”

Verne took a deep breath and said, "There are many reasons. Professor Lu, I am not afraid of your jokes, the first reason is that I want to take advantage of the first Nobel Prize in Literature to 'mess up'. ”

"Tsk......"

Lu Shi was softly speechless.

Verne's operation reminded him of some kind of traffic hacking method in the rice circle in later generations.

He said: "The Swedish Academy sent us face up and asked us to beat, how can we not fight?" ”

The rest of the people were stunned for a moment, and then laughed.

George Bernard Shaw said: "I have long said that Lu is an atypical Chinese. ”

Verne took over the conversation,

"The second reason is the development of science fiction."

Everyone will understand.

In some cases, an award is an essay that encourages writers to work in a particular genre.

Verne wrote science fiction all his life, and naturally hoped that science fiction would be carried forward.

He said, "Moreover, I am also selfish in it. ”

If the Jules Verne Prize had been successfully established and continued, Verne would have become a figure in the history of literature, and perhaps he would have been called the "father of science fiction".

George Bernard Shaw empathizes,

"I understand."

The words fame and fortune,

Since the profit is enough, the manuscript fee will not be spent in several lifetimes, so the next thing to ask for is nothing more than fame.

Lu Shi asked, "Is there a third reason?" ”

Verne nodded, and the expression on his face became extremely sincere,

He looked at Lu Shi enthusiastically,

"The third reason is that I want to see the possibilities of science fiction."

Anyone can see the frenzy in Verne's eyes.

Roland asked, "The possibility of science fiction?" ”

Verne nodded,

"Yes, all possibilities. After talking so much to Professor Lu, I realized that my former self was just a frog at the bottom of a well. It turns out that science fiction can have so many branches, and I want to see what kind of towering trees these branches will grow. ”

This is the purest desire of a writer and a writer.

No one can argue with that.

After a while, George Bernard Shaw said: "Sometimes, I often think about how lucky I am to be lucky to see Yes! The Prime Minister", "Roman Holiday" and the kind of cross-era drama. ”

Verne solemnly,

"You can understand me."

George Bernard Shaw nodded first and then shook his head,

"But the problem is that it's hard to get your wish done. It's like I haven't watched Yes! The Prime Minister" people would never have realized that drama could still be created like that. Although there are so many classifications of science fiction as Lu said, who can write a corresponding work without precedent? ”

This question is difficult to answer,

But it's also easy to answer.

Poincaré, Verne, and Roland suddenly looked at Lu at the same time,

Staring - ×3

The sight is sharp.

Verne said, "Professor Lu, since you have come to the Collège de France for exchange, can we ask you for a manuscript?" ”

Lu Shi: "Ah, this ......"

Poincaré also followed suit: "Does Professor Lu want to reject us?" You're the embodiment of the ideal~"

(End of chapter)