British writer

Tahiti.

A thatched house with drafts on all sides, this is where Paul Gauguin has lived since he moved back.

At this time, a group of natives were surrounding the house.

They whispered curiously and peered into the room.

Just then, a man in a white coat walked out,

He looked around at the natives,

"You...who among you has been taking care of Mr. Gauguin?"

Spoken in French.

The natives looked at each other and didn't quite understand.

At this time, a woman came out,

"it's me."

The woman's French was broken, but at least she could understand it.

The doctor nodded to the woman,

"Come."

The two entered the house one after the other.

At this time, Gauguin was lying on his side on the bed, with his right eye closed and his left eye open, staring at a half-finished painting in the corner like a cyclops.

It was an impressionist profile portrait,

It is exactly the same as Gauguin’s other paintings, with bright yellow as the keynote.

The character in the picture is a handsome Asian, with starry eyebrows and sharp eyes, and a dashing demeanor.

Obviously it was Lu Shi.

Gauguin had already thought about this painting and called it "Saint".

He doesn't know much about China, he only knows that it is the highest praise for a person.

The doctor came to the bedside,

"Mr. Gauguin?"

Gauguin's right index finger jumped to show that he was listening.

The doctor continued: "You are very ill. During the next period of time, you must ensure adequate rest every day. Also, the Yin virus... In short, you must abstain from sexual intercourse and no longer have close contact with any woman."

Gauguin shook his head when he heard this.

"The disease I have is contagious. Can I harm others?"

The doctor glanced at the indigenous woman beside him and said nothing.

He thought,

This type of artist always has strengths that others cannot match, and their attraction to women is fatal.

Just like Gauguin,

Whether in Tahiti or the Marquesas Islands, in order to fight for the rights and interests of the locals, they fought against the authorities and were even prosecuted.

How could such a person be so unattractive?

It’s no wonder that Gauguin’s heart disease worsened at this time and his legs were covered with eczema. There were still indigenous women willing to take care of him and learn complex French for him.

The doctor waved his hand,

"Come on, I won't talk about you. Just don't cause any more trouble."

Gauguin "hummed" to express his dissatisfaction.

The doctor complained: "As you know, I study medicine just like you study painting. I became a monk halfway, so please stop causing trouble for me, okay?"

Gauguin replied: "I don't want you to cure me, just maintain it."

The doctor shook his head after hearing this.

maintain?

That must be able to maintain it.

Conservative estimates suggest that Gauguin has only a few months left.

The doctor sighed and nodded to the woman,

"Can you inject?"

The woman looked puzzled,

Apparently the word "injection" was a bit difficult for her to understand.

The doctor opened the aluminum-wrapped iron box that he brought with him.

"this one."

He shows the woman the syringe.

The woman nodded repeatedly,

"meeting."

The doctor asked again: "What about changing the needle..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gauguin interrupted: "She knows all these things. You tell her how many times a day she can hit her, and how many times she needs to hit her at one time."

The doctor rolled his eyes, but continued to teach the woman the injection step by step.

Gauguin was a little irritable and continued to stare at "Saint", thinking in his mind how to deal with the remaining 20% ​​of the painting.

After a while, there was noise outside,

A native pushed open the door and entered.

He said something to the woman, and the woman translated: "Something has been sent."

Gauguin said "hmm\

,""I know, and I can probably understand what you Tahitians say. Now, let the postman come in."

The doctor took the opportunity to leave,

"I'll call you."

After saying that, he left quickly.

Gauguin and the woman were the only ones left in the house.

The woman walked to the bed, knelt down, and took Gauguin's hand.

Gauguin sighed,

“People cannot live forever, but works can.”

He can say this because he is really open-minded.

After all, he had tried to commit suicide and been on the verge of life and death once, so he could be considered bearish.

The woman said: "The doctor told me that there is nothing we can do."

Gauguin closed his eyes,

After returning from London, he had a premonition,

The fatigue of traveling and traveling along the way really put a heavy burden on the body.

So he packed up his things and sent most of them to the Lu Museum in London, while the rest was brought back to Tahiti from the Marquesas Islands.

He hopes to spend the last part of his life here.

The woman opened her mouth,

Just as she was about to say something, the door was pushed open.

Strangely, the person who came was not a postman, but a gendarme wearing a French uniform.

Gauguin couldn't help but frown,

"As you can see, my current physical condition makes me unable to respond."

He was criticized many times for protecting the interests of indigenous people.

The colonial authorities always found ways to torment him. The most recent prosecution required a prison sentence of three months and a fine of 500 francs.

The gendarme said, "I'm just here to deliver the parcel."

As he said that, he put down a cardboard box,

"This was sent to your old address in the Marquesas, and the local gendarme sent it by boat."

Gauguin was surprised,

Who sent this?

How could he be so troublesome as to touch the military police officer?

Under normal circumstances, if the address is changed, the parcel will definitely be lost.

With the help of the woman, he struggled to hold himself up.

The military police came forward,

"This is from London."

Gauguin took one look and couldn't help but smile,

"Sir Lu? No wonder."

He waved his hand,

The woman next to me understood and opened the parcel.

I saw a manuscript lying inside,

Printed with printer but modified in pencil in some places.

Gauguin squinted and acted reading,

"The Moon and Sixpence is such a good name."

He wanted to read on,

However, the erosion of the virus caused serious deterioration of his body functions, including his eyesight.

The printer's fonts were very small, and he couldn't concentrate at all when reading them.

He could only lie back,

"Read it for me."

The military policeman said "Huh?"

"What?"

Gauguin was very helpless and said: "I didn't call you."

The military policeman rubbed the back of his head and prepared to leave.

When he reached the door, he turned back as if he remembered something again and said: "Mr. Gauguin, all prosecutions against you have been dropped."

Gauguin was stunned.

"how come?"

The gendarme said: "The Moon and Sixpence has been published in Paris."

This cannot be said clearly.

But he left the thatched house without further explanation.

Gauguin was silent for a while, and then said: "Read it to me."

Women can't even speak French fluently, let alone read.

The first sentence hit a roadblock.

Gauguin said: "Spell me the words you don't know."

The woman then read out the letters,

After hearing this, Gauguin said: "That's a name, Charles Strickland."

The woman nodded and continued reading:

"Needless to say, when I first met Charles Strickland, I saw nothing special about him."

There are a lot of names in the first paragraph,

Gauguin explained in turn,

He discovered that those names all belonged to artists,

The "I" in the novel lists these artists in the same place as Strickland, which also shows that Strickland is an artist.

When the woman read that Strickland was a financial practitioner who became a monk on the way, a premonition arose in Gauguin's heart.

Strickland is a character based on himself!

No wonder the colonial authorities dropped the case;

It turns out that he was afraid of Lu’s influence!

Gauguin guessed that after Lu Shi completed the manuscript, he gave it to the publisher for proofreading and then sent it out.

However, due to a mistake in the address, some time was delayed. As a result, by the time the manuscript came to Gauguin, the novel had already been published and sold.

Therefore, the military police would bring that news at the same time when they delivered the parcel.

Gauguin had complex thoughts;

He tried his best to help the indigenous people fight for their interests, but the result was not as good as Lu Shi's book.

The most terrible thing is that Lu Shi said nothing and may not even know the situation in Tahiti, so the colonial authorities voluntarily dropped the case.

Gauguin sighed silently,

"You read slowly and I listen slowly."

The woman looked at him,

"You'd better get some sleep first."

Gauguin shook his head,

"I can't sleep if I don't sleep. Just read it quickly. If you encounter a word you don't know, spell it to me and I'll teach you."

The woman has no choice but to read on as the other person wants:

"

'Maurice Surrey wrote an article about the painter four years after Strickland's death and published it in the "French Courier". From then on, this unknown painter began to be known to everyone. Know. ’

…

"

Gauguin has been in poor condition because of illness.

But for some reason, when listening to "The Moon and Sixpence", his attention seemed to be focused again, and his mind became clearer.

Along with the description of "I" in the novel, the plot slowly unfolds,

Scene after scene appeared in Gauguin's mind, like a drama being staged.

Although it is difficult for women to read and they need to stop and ask frequently,

But Gauguin was still very satisfied.

Listening to the other person read "The Moon and Sixpence" is like listening to an autobiography.

In this way, the two of them spent the next three days reading the novel.

Wait until the third night,

The woman finished reading,

"

'The Strickland boy started dancing with another boy, and they danced wildly to the dull sound of the accordion. Above our heads is a blue sky, with stars twinkling, and the Pacific Ocean is vast and vast. ’

"

Gauguin suddenly laughed,

"Hahaha! You have to be a professional writer! This "The Moon and Sixpence" is much better than the "Whispers of an Art Apprentice" I wrote! Hahaha..."

Smiling and laughing, he suddenly became silent.

The woman was startled and went to the bedside to check. Only then did she realize that Gauguin was just asleep.

His breathing was as steady as a baby's.

The woman let out a long breath,

When reading this book, she felt very sympathetic to the plight of the female characters in it.

There is no way, even from a secular perspective, in the eyes of the natives of Tahiti, Strickland is a complete scumbag,

But such a person has an unspeakable charm——

Break out of the barriers of the world and move toward the realm of art.

The woman sighed silently, put the manuscript in order, and prepared to leave quietly.

As a result, she just arrived at the door,

Gauguin's voice sounded: "Wait a minute! Help me prepare the paint first!"

At some point, he had managed to support his body and was studying the half-finished "Saint".

The woman said: "You just slept for a while."

"ah?"

Gauguin was a little confused;

"I thought it had been a long time."

He shook his head,

"Forget it, I won't sleep anymore. Please help me get the paint, I want to paint."

The woman had no choice but to obey the other party, help with the painting tools, and asked curiously: "Is this Sir Lu you mentioned?"

Gauguin replied: "Yes. He is a great man, a noble man. I am very grateful to him."

…

London, Palace Street,

Lu Shi's official residence, study room.

Jasmine Wood, the editor-in-chief of the Royal Publishing House, was half lying comfortably in an armchair, sitting opposite Lu Shi.

Margarita was there too, immersed in dealing with matters at the advertising agency.

Wood said: "Sir Lu, I can't help but admire you."

As he said that, he took out a form,

"It has only been five days since "The Moon and Sixpence" was published, and the sales in a single day have exceeded 2,000. Of course, compared to your other books, this result is not impressive. But don't forget, without publicity we are just like "Lord of the Flies" "It's hard to beat the odds. It's not easy to sell so many copies. What's more, "The Moon and Sixpence" is a hardcover edition, and the unit price is very high."

Lu Shi looked at the form,

Below, there is also a line chart,

Trend-wise, "The Moon and Sixpence" is climbing very nicely, perhaps even surpassing "Lord of the Flies".

Lu Shi asked: "How have readers responded to this book?"

The corner of Wood's mouth curled up,

"As we expected, many people felt frightened after reading it. To be honest, even I can't understand. How can someone live like Strickland? Cutting off love, just for one favorite thing ."

Lu Shi nodded,

In fact, he himself couldn't do that,

The same is true for the original author Maugham.

That’s why it is said that figures like Van Gogh and Gauguin have some “crazy” elements.

It is precisely because of this that their paintings can be sold at sky-high prices.

Artistic strength is certainly important;

But without admiring a good story, it will always taste bad.

Wood spread his hands,

"Actually, selfishness, paranoia, madness, these character flaws are easy to describe. What I don't understand the most is Strickland's lack of empathy. He actually seduced the wife of a good friend who funded him. It's really outrageous. ."

At this time, Margarita spoke,

"When I read it, I felt that it was not Mrs. Blanche who Strickland actively seduced."

"ah?"

Wood was a little confused;

"Didn't he seduce?"

Margarita said: "When Strickland moved into Stroeve's house, Stroeve's wife Madame Blanche strongly opposed it because she knew that if she and Strickland Once you get in touch with him, you will fall in love with him without hesitation.”

Wood scratched his head,

He didn't understand the difference between this and what he said.

Isn't it still seduction?

Margarita sighed,

My heart said,

Ha, man.

She continued to explain: "In the final analysis, Mrs. Blanche does not love her husband. Because she knows very well that Stroeve's painting skills are mediocre and without talent, and she likes the kind of painting that can truly release charm. people."

People who can truly unleash their charm...

Wood chewed on this sentence again and again, and somewhat understood that men and women do have different views on love.

Just as he was about to speak, he found Her Royal Highness the Princess staring closely at Lu Shi.

His eyes are so haunting that he seems to be able to pull out silk~

"hiss……"

Wood gasped with toothache,

Understood,

When Her Royal Highness the Princess talks about "people who can really unleash their charm," her ultimate purpose is to spread the word.

He actually took it seriously and analyzed it carefully, only to be fed a mouthful of it.

Wood shook his head,

I really can't stay in this place.

He got up,

"Sir Lu, after we finish talking about the sales volume, I'll leave first."

As he spoke, he thought of something again and added: "One more thing, that is, Mr. Gauguin's two books are all sold out."

Lu Shi and Margarita looked at each other and tried to hold back their laughter.

They already knew that Picasso shopped at major bookstores and bought about five hundred copies.

We only get so many because there are many people with investment vision.

Two works by Gauguin are now rare items.

Lu Shi said: "Mr. Gauguin will be very happy if he hears this news."

Wood nodded,

"Then I'll leave first."

He pushed open the door and walked out.

When the study door closed, Margarita couldn't help laughing and said, "Mr. Picasso is very good at business. And..."

Her Royal Highness the Princess paused slightly and continued: "He can also flatter you."

Lu Shi laughed,

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The painting series "Great Writer - Lu, When the New Book is Released" is still some time away from completion.

However, the composition line draft has been sent to Lu Shi for review.

We must admit that Picasso’s understanding is very high.

The composition of "Great Writer - Lu, New Book Release (Part 1)" reminded Lu Shi of that famous painting -

"Guernica".

However, the former is beginning to take shape,

The latter is already Picasso's masterpiece.

Among modern artworks, there are only a handful of works that can rival the heavyweight works of Western classical oil paintings like "Guernica".

Margarita added: "About "The Moon and Sixpence", many universities should invite you to give lectures."

Lu Shi understood,

The conflict between morality and artistic pursuit is indeed a pretty good subject.

He pondered for a moment,

"Well, I have this plan too."

Margarita chuckled, sat in his arms, hooked her arms around his neck, and asked in a low voice: "I just said, 'People who can truly release their charm', are you proud~"

The implication is,

Lu Shi is such a person.

Lu Shi pinched the other person's cheek,

"You also said that Mr. Picasso can flatter people? I think you really know how to do it. You can moisturize things silently."

Margarita replied: "I'm serious."

She sighed and said: "However, I think the novel's portrayal of Mrs. Strickland and Mrs. Blanche is a bit too miserable."

Lu Shi did not refute this.

Maugham, the original author, is often called a "misogynist".

This may be related to his life experience,

This guy’s orientation is for both men and women!

Therefore, when he wrote, he could regard himself as one of the men or one of the women.

This resulted in him lacking some warmth towards women and becoming more cold-hearted, "We are all foxes of thousands of years, why are you playing "Liao Zhai" with me?"

There are some words in "The Moon and Sixpence\

,"——

If a woman falls in love with you, she will not give up until she possesses your soul.

A man's soul wanders in the sky, but a woman wants to imprison it in her own account book.

"Why do beautiful women always marry boring men?" "Because smart men don't marry beautiful women."

…

——

There are many such sentences.

Lu Shi more or less handled it so that it didn't look too much like an accusation.

He spread his hands,

"No way, Strickland is such a person."

The blame was directly passed on to the protagonist of the novel.

Margarita raised the corners of her mouth,

"To a certain extent, the novel is right."

"ah?"

Lu Shi was confused.

Margarita winked cutely and said, "I also like people who can really release their charm."