The next day.

Lu Shi got up, washed up briefly, finished breakfast, and then prepared to head to Palace Street.

Natsume Soseki went to school,

Therefore, Lu Shi should bring my generation with him.

The little guy was very conscious, "meow~", jumped into the cat cage, and then yawned and lay down with peace of mind.

Lu Shi chuckled and said, "Master, let's go now?" ”

My generation: "Meow~"

It's really a bit of a panache.

After Lu Shi finished feeding the little lazy, he picked up the cat cage and set off.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I pushed the door open, I bumped into the people outside.

He lifted up his eyes and looked at the people who came,

"Mr. Wood? What are you doing here? ”

Jasmine Wood is Editor-in-Chief of the Royal Publishing House.

Wood pushed back to the house when he landed, and said, "Thankfully, Sir Lu, let me block you!" ”

Lu Shi was surprised,

"Did something happen?"

He put down the cat cage,

I got out of it, circled around Lu Shi's feet, and then ran under the table and cats, big bright eyes flickering.

Wood said, "I've heard that you have a new book, but I'm going to let little Hertzel in Paris publish it first." How's that going to work? Great works can't be left to those French. ”

Lu Shi: "......"

I secretly complained that Churchill and Wardhouse were big mouths.

He nodded,

"It's not exclusive, it's just going to test the water first, like in "The Hunting."

Wood soothed, "Why should Sir Lu worry? The Royal Publishing Office can even do a word-for-word mapping of the British Animal Farm, and nothing else can ......"

Lu Shi hurriedly interrupted the other party,

"It's not a mapping of Great Britain."

Wood nodded,

"Haha, yes, yes, yes, not Great Britain. But at that time, Russia hadn't come out of that gear~ I really didn't feel less pressure. ”

He can't be blamed for that,

In the current world, there are indeed a bunch of sleeping dragons and phoenixes.

Wood's gaze swept over the table,

The typewriter is gone, but the manuscripts are stacked,

Sunlight shines through the windows and shines on the scribbled handwriting, as if to give life and life to the story.

He couldn't help but be curious,

"Sir Lu, do you use handwriting now?"

Lu Shi said: "This book is somewhat ...... Forget it, you can take a look. After reading it, you will naturally understand. ”

He handed the manuscript over and poured a glass of water by the way.

Wood was not polite either, and went straight to read.

Soon, he was drawn to it and completely indulged in it.

When I looked up again, two hours had passed, and I had finished reading the first four chapters.

Lu Shi poured another glass of water for the other party,

"How?"

Wood exclaimed, "Of course it will be published!" This book has unique features that help readers become real 'imaginary people'. It's absolutely disruptive when it comes to 'being someone else'! ”

This sentence sounds very mysterious to ordinary people,

But Lu Shi understands.

Influenced by culture and morality, human thoughts and actions seem to be placed in a framework, constrained.

Take role-playing video games as an example,

Like "Baldur's Gate 3" and "The Legend of Chivalry", there will be evil lines and good lines, and players can be a prominent bandit or a selfless hero.

But according to statistics, there are very few people who choose the evil line,

This is the constraint of the invisible framework.

The same kind of influence applies to the creation of writers.

Whether it is Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" or Zola's "Nana", their perspectives belong to "normal people".

And "Lolita" is different,

The first person is a complete pervert, and it's written very realistically.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"Everyone is different, but there are commonalities. When encountering evil things, should we be angry, and how should we be angry; When encountering happy events, should I be happy, and how should I be happy...... These are even invisibly constrained. ”

Wood admired it even more,

"Sir Lu, you are really a god."

He didn't say that in a sycophancy.

Because "Lolita" is the kind of work that breaks the commonality,

The main character, Humbert, is an outlier in human society,

And with him as the first person narrated, the final result is like "Lolita",

The text is extremely ornate;

The heart is extremely hypocritical;

Moral depravity.

Lu Shi spreads his hands,

In fact, there have been many similar attempts. The great painters left it aside to talk about literature, and M. Flaubert's Madame Bovary takes the imaginary sordid world of liars, hooligans, and savages as the basis of reality. ”

"Forehead ......"

Wood scratched his head in embarrassment,

"That...... Sir Lu, isn't that the real Paris? ”

Lu Shi: "......"

"No matter how bad Paris is, it won't be like that!"

Wood was even more embarrassed,

"Okay."

I always thought that "Madame Bovary" was quite realistic.

He quickly turned the topic back,

But Lolita goes one step further, using Humbert's first-person perspective as an attempt to create memories and thus manipulate reality. Sir Lu, you write too truthfully, if I didn't know that you are a normal person, I would even doubt you...... Ahem......"

Wood coughed in disguise.

Lu Shi was speechless,

“……”

Mr. Lu Xun wrote "Diary of a Madman" well, and he is not a madman.

Wood glanced at the manuscript again, and then said, "This Humbert is really shameful enough. He is cowardly and incompetent, conceited and arrogant...... Not...... I even thought he was a bit of a kid. ”

Lu Shi also felt the same way,

When I first read "Lolita", he was in junior high school.

At that time, when I saw Humbert locking the diary in the cabinet, I felt that this old bastard was like a junior brother, he didn't dare to be blatant, he only dared to sneak around,

There's even a sentence in it:

“

I just want to be able to watch her all the time, no matter what it takes. ’

”

How big a hole does it have to be in your brain to write this thought into your diary,

What's even more outrageous is that it was also discovered by the girl's mother.

For another example, Humbert's cold violence to his ex-wife caused his ex-wife to fear him, and he was even very excited when he learned that his ex-wife had a tragic end.

This kind of thinking is also very naïve.

Wood said sincerely: "Sir Lu, I think this book should be published in London, after all, it is created in English~ Of course, the background does not need to be changed, it is better to arrange it in France." Because the probability of the French coming out of this kind of scum is relatively high. ”

Lu Shi spreads his hands,

"But I've already told Mr. Herzel."

Wood couldn't help frowning,

"Is that so? It doesn't matter, we at the Royal Publishing House don't mind sharing you with him. ”

The "sharing" of the god meow.

When the land is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜，

No squeaks.

Wood was mistaken, and hurriedly said: "Sir Lu, you don't have to worry about the remuneration, we can give you a better royalty share." You see if it's ......"

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Okay~Okay~ I promised you."

……

A week later.

Adelphi Girls' School.

Zena walked into the classroom humming an out-of-tune tune and sat down next to her best friend Barr.

Barr was looking at a book,

She snorted through her nose and said, "What's so happy?" I also hummed a song~"

The corners of Zena's mouth curled,

Because Professor Lu invited the Holy See of Canterbury to help, the little girl's reputation at the school took a sharp turn.

Coupled with the explosion of "Hunting", she really made a lot of money.

Can this not be happy?

But Zena still shook her head a little bit of green tea,

"Nope."

That's right, but she continued to hum the song, and shook her hair a few times from time to time,

Bang Bang –

Hair slammed against the table.

Barr looked up,

"What are you doing? Interrupt me reading. ”

Zena couldn't help but pout, and said aggrievedly, "You have changed." ”

Bar retched contrivedly,

"Gross!"

Subsequently, she complained: "Sister, didn't you just change the hairpin?" How could I not notice. Besides, you don't need to show off like that. ”

Zena laughs,

"Okay, I knew you hadn't changed."

Ba'er rolled her eyes and said, "Come on~ Come on~ Can you stop saying this kind of disgusting thing?" If it goes on like this, it's really about to become Clara's little blue pool. ”

Zena stepped forward,

"What are you looking at?"

Ba'er was a little confused when she heard this, and asked rhetorically, "You don't know?" ”

As she spoke, she shook the new book in her hand,

《Lolita》。

It looks like an Italian name.

Zena was surprised,

"Should I know?"

Bar nodded again and again,

"Of course! This is Sir Luk's new book! ”

Zena: "Huh? "With a bang,

Recently, she has been busy with the rehearsals and performances of "The Hunt".

Home – School – Theatre,

Three points and one line.

I actually left the matter of Professor Lu's new work behind.

The little girl secretly said in her heart: "Sin, sin, sin." ”

Then, she hugged Ba'er and staggered and said, "Good Ba'er, show me~"

Barr was speechless,

"Don't give. I haven't finished reading it myself~"

As she spoke, she quickly flipped through the book, as if she had the ability to read ten lines at a glance.

Zena's face was full of puzzlement,

"What are you doing here?"

Barr spreads her hands,

"Eldest sister, have you forgotten the story that Sir Lu told last time when he gave a special lecture on our side? I'm going to see if that guy and stepdaughter really happened. ”

"Poof!"

Zena burst into laughter on the spot, and then clapped her hands and said, "Okay, good!" I'm going to see it too! ”

The two began to search together.

Moreover, in addition to them, other girls who bought "Lolita" in the classroom are also doing the same thing.

Children are like that, full of curiosity about the adult world.

It's a pity that this "Lolita" is not an adult book, and there is nothing that should not be there.

"Alas......" ×2

Sigh in unison,

Both girls were a little stunned.

Ba'er muttered: "I don't dare to write anything, Sir Lu is obviously a coward~"

Zena shook her head,

"No, Professor Lu must have a profound intention in creating this. I think we'd better take a closer look at the text. ”

Bar is as good as a stream,

"It's fine."

Actually, she doesn't like Lu Shi's books very much,

Let's not talk about historical monographs,

"No One Survives" and "The Mystery of Roger" are a bit of a thriller,

The likes of "Chaowen Dao" and "Hunting" are too profound, making people break out in a cold sweat behind them.

The only thing Barr likes is "Roman Holiday",

Although the reporter and the princess were not together in the end, the process was sweet.

Isn't it good for Sir Lu to write about love?

However, this "Lolita" seems to be also love, and it should be worth a look.

With this in mind, Bar began to read,

Unexpectedly, I encountered difficulties in the first sentence.

She poked her best friend's waist in the eye,

"Ozawa, doesn't this 'loin' mean 'waist'? Why did Sir Luke add 's'? Is it plural? What should we mean by 'fire of my loins'? ”

Because Zena reads the script, the number of words is indeed higher than that of the average classmate.

But she doesn't understand this kind of detail very well.

"This ...... I think I can only understand. 'fire of my loins' probably translates to 'urine'. ”

Bar groaned,

"Definitely. If you hold your urine for a long time, it will burn the fire. ”

After she said this, the two were silent for a while,

“……”

“……”

“……”

Ba'er suddenly said, "This is obviously wrong, hey!" How much do I hate this girl called 'Lolita' to compare her to 'urine'? ”

Zena blushed slightly,

"Maybe that's the adult part of the book? It's normal that we can't understand it. ”

Bal: Staring-

The sight is like a knife.

Zena could only raise her hands and salute, and said, "Okay~Okay~ I just said nonsense. ”

Ba'er then complained: "That's right." You can't be too Clara. ”

This phrase has become a buzzword at Adelphi Girls' School.

Zena whispered, "If only there were a dictionary." ”

Bar said "um",

"It's fine. Let's just treat this as an exam, and if it won't be empty, let's take a look. ”

"Okay."

The two looked down together.

But they soon found out that if they really took reading "Lolita" as an exam, the two would definitely fail.

In their eyes, the sentence in the book goes like this:

My ____ lay against the child's blue jeans.

She was ____;

Her ____ showed ____ of cherry-red ____ and there was ____

……

than the cloze is fragmented.

Zena: "......"

Barr: "......"

The two were stunned.

These days, there are not many girls who can go to school, so they call themselves literate people.

Who would have thought that the real culture could be so outrageous.

Barr gave up,

"What should I do?"

Zena said, "What else can I do?" Of course, waiting to go to the library after class...... Not...... Go straight to the bookstore. ”

Baer also thinks it makes sense,

Many people in the school have Lolita, and they can't get a dictionary in the library.

Smack-

She closed the book,

"I don't believe it yet! I'm sure I'll be able to read it! ”

As the two spoke, the classroom door was pushed open.

Mama West walked in,

Instantly, there was a rush of voices in the room, all of them were female students cleaning up their desks.

West pouted,

"Okay, you don't have to pretend."

As she spoke, she took out a book, which was "Lolita", and explained in a deep voice: "I have roughly browsed it, and there is no such content in it, you can read it boldly and with confidence." ”

As soon as these words came out, the students below looked at each other.

Suddenly, someone said, "Ms. West, you got the book in the first place, did you actually look for those contents?" ”

"Ah......h

Mama was embarrassed for a while.

The heart of gossip is shared by everyone,

In fact, she is also curious about whether anything happened to the men and girls in the story.

It's a pity......

It's not a "pity", it's a "good thing",

Fortunately, there is no explicit depiction in the book.

But combined with the context, you can also guess a rough idea.

Mama West cleared her throat loudly and said in a deep voice, "Why are you looking at me like that? Didn't I do that for your own good? Alas...... How many children have been poisoned by adult books, how can I not prevent it? ”

This statement was not recognized by the students.

Someone even "tsk......".

West annoyed,

"Alright, now bring me a knitting textbook! Start classes now! ”

Zena and Bar looked at each other and snickered.

……

London's first independent bookstore

Watkins Bookstore.

The decoration of the bookstore is simple and elegant,

Black wooden bookshelves and copper nameplates exude a sense of calmness.

The faint scent of ink comes to the nose, which makes people feel refreshed.

The most conspicuous location is a mountain of books,

Lolita Mountain.

The cover of the book is simple and concise, without too much decoration and patterns, and the material has a subtle frosted feeling.

The title of the book is printed in white font in the center of the cover, which is concise and clear, and there is no fancy anything.

There are also stacks of Oxford Dictionaries next to it.

Miraculously, the people who read "Lolita" did not gather in front of the book mountain, but held the book in one hand and the dictionary in the other, looking it up and reading it.

Some people are annoyed, or they can't hold it, so they simply pay for the two together.

Natsume Soseki and his teacher, William Alexander Smith, were also on the scene.

Of course, the two don't need a dictionary.

Smith sighed: "What a great work." Sir Luk's diction has been perfected and makes people feel extremely gorgeous. It's just ......"

He chuckled,

"The more gorgeous a criminal's self-report is, the more hypocritical it is."

Natsume Soseki nodded approvingly.

Smith said, "You've read this book before, right?" ”

Natsume Soseki replied, "Because I've read it before, I can get out of the plot when I watch it again." ”

Smith groaned,

"Out of the plot?"

He said: "In this case, then you can talk about Sir Lu's good use in this film." For example, can you read that "Lolita" has the meaning of mocking Rousseau's "Confessions" in the text. ”

Natsume Soseki groaned,

"Yes."

Smith gave an "um" and said, "Then you can give another example." ”

Natsume Soseki whispered, "I think Humbert's first love, Annabelle, came from the work of Edgar Allan Poe. ”

Smith agrees,

"Go on."

Natsume Soseki then replied: "Also, Lolita used the excuse of drama rehearsals, but in fact she had a private meeting with Quilty, and this part has the shadow of "Madame Bovary". ”

Smith was very satisfied,

"Good. Go on. ”

"Ah......h

Natsume Soseki was stunned,

"Anything else?"

Smith said, "That's too much! The relationship between Quilty and Humbert seems to be appropriating Dostoevsky's "The Doppelganger" or Poe's "William Wilson". Of course, Goethe mentions in his autobiography that he saw himself on the road......"

There was a lot of rambling.

Gradually, readers gathered,

"I see."

"So, Sir Luk's designs are all purposeful."

"No wonder it's obscure."

……

Smith looked around and felt that it was not appropriate to give a public lecture here.

He winked at Natsume Soseki.

The latter will know,

The two of them squeezed out of the crowd together.

As he walked to the counter to check out, Smith asked, "Natsume, what do you think of Humbert and Lolita's relationship?" Is it love? ”

Natsume Soseki groaned,

"I guess so."

Even if he is a writer, he can't escape the limitations of history,

After all, in this era, not to mention East Asia, even Europe is prevalent in child wives.

Natsume Soseki added, "Of course, Lu himself is not this view. ”

Smith was curious,

"What did he say?"

Natsume Soseki shook his head,

He didn't say it. However, when I asked him a similar question, he just shook his head and didn't say anything. With this reaction, it is not difficult to guess what he really thinks. ”

Smith let out a "hmm" and echoed: "From Sir Lu's words, you can indeed vaguely see his point of view. ”

With that, the two of them came to the counter.

The boss looked at the two,

"Pay together?"

Natsume Soseki said, "I'll come." ”

Relying on the best-selling "I Am a Cat", he is no longer the poor student who is struggling, and of course he has the money to "socialize" to please the professor.

Smith asked, "Boss, did Lolita sell well?" ”

The boss said, "How can it be bad?" Lu is a golden signboard! And ah......"

He seemed to think of something ridiculous and laughed.

Smith was curious,

"How?"

The boss said: "The second best-selling today is actually the Oxford Dictionary, can you believe it?" ”

Smith and Natsume Soseki looked at each other,

A good book does have the energy to promote a certain language,

There is reason to believe that in the coming period, the Oxford Dictionary will sell very well all over Europe.

Smith looked out the window, his thoughts drifting away.

A year and a half ago, it was he who introduced Lu Shi to meet Doyle,

I didn't expect that in such a short period of time, the two are not writers on the same level at all.

The boss said: "Then again, Sir Lu seems to have opened a museum, which will open in three days. It is said that the original manuscript of "Lolita" will be exhibited, so if you are interested, you can check it out. ”

Smith asked, "Will the boss go too?" ”

The boss shrugged,

"Definitely going when there is time. I probably read that "Lolita", and it's obviously deleted~"

To see, it has to be the original.

(End of chapter)