Chapter 624 Arkadia Literary Society

Although the weather in Peterborough is cold, life in Peterborough still has many advantages compared to London.

For example, the bathhouse that Arthur misses so much.

The activity of bathing has a long history in Russia. Perhaps because Russia considers itself the third Rome, it naturally inherited this essential social activity in Roman culture. Or perhaps, as Russian archaeologists have verified, because the weather in the North is too cold, bathhouse culture has become an important part of the early Slavic culture and Finno-Ugric culture in several centuries BC. .

Of course, with a rigorous academic attitude, Sir Arthur Hastings, a history graduate from the University of London who considers himself a researcher of Russian culture, prefers the latter.

After all, the ancient bathing method of sauna originated from Scandinavia and Russia, and spread to all parts of Europe through Germany.

In order to meet the needs of sauna bathing, most Russian bathhouses are built of wood and are heated with charcoal or stoves. Steam enters the bathroom through a special wooden channel. By the time of Peter the Great, Russia's traditional bathhouses also became part of the Westernization reform. Wooden structures were gradually replaced by masonry structures. Bathhouses in major cities such as Petersburg and Moscow were also divided from the early extensive management into several major ones. Functional areas: anteroom, bathroom, lounge and dressing room.

In order to flaunt Russia's status as the heir to Rome, Peter the Great also encouraged Russian nobles and upper-class people to use bathhouses regularly.

For this reason, as the Tsar, Peter the Great naturally had to take the lead and play an exemplary role.

As long as he has a little leisure time, he will go to the bathhouse to take a bath, and then have a small barbecue after the bath.

Sometimes, Peter the Great would invite relatives, friends and important figures in the palace to take a bath together, chat and relax with his courtiers in the bathhouse, and even listen to state affairs reports in the bathhouse.

Therefore, soaking in the same pool with the Tsar naturally became a quite honorable honor.

That is to say, starting from Peter the Great, the bathhouse culture, which was once considered unworthy of publicity, gradually became a fashion among the court nobles.

With the progress of the all-Russian urbanization reform initiated by Emperor Catherine the Great, the number of cities in Russia increased sharply, and bathhouse culture became more popular with the establishment of new cities and penetrated into all strata of Russian society.

After entering the 19th century, whether in cities or villages, whether farmers, workers or urban residents, the elderly and young people in every household would go to bathhouses regularly. Community members would often bathe together and exchange daily trivial matters. Bathhouses It has become an important part of Russian family life.

As the old saying goes, in Rome you have to do things like a Roman. Although Russia is not Rome, it still considers itself the third Rome. Arthur naturally follows the Romans. In Petersburg, he plans to do things like a Petersburger. .

The bathhouse was filled with the smell of hot steam and charcoal, and the beating of the fire and the sound of dripping water intertwined into an ancient melody.

Steam slowly rose from the stove mouth, and a mist-like haze enveloped the entire bathroom. The air is filled with the fragrance of moisture and vegetation, and the smell of wood mixes with the moisture to create a unique fishy-sweet feeling.

In the bathroom, two guests with flushed faces were sitting on the bench facing the door. Their faces were moistened by the steam and their skin was red. The sweat on their foreheads quickly dissolved under the moisture of the steam and turned into Drops of water slowly slid down, and the slightly panting chest kept rising and falling in the warm air.

A young man wearing a gray linen bathrobe pushed open the wooden door of the bathroom, holding a bundle of freshly soaked birch branches in his hand. He was the bath attendant here.

The young man glanced at the gradually thinning steam in the bathroom and didn't say much. He just squatted down, immersed the bath stick made of birch branches into the hot water next to the stove, and shook it gently.

I only heard the slight "hissing" sound of the bath rod in the water, exuding a light woody fragrance.

Then, he patted the water surface with his hand and splashed the hot water into the corner of the bathroom. In an instant, the thin steam became several times stronger.

"Come on, come on, relax."

Arthur was sitting on the bench. He looked like a steamed lobster: "What is this for?"

Gogol, who was sitting next to him, muttered: "Don't there be bathing rods in British bathhouses?"

"We don't even have a bathhouse there."

Gogol suddenly understood, and then waved to the bath attendant: "Let's start with me. This friend of mine has never enjoyed a bath massage, so he may not be able to accept it."

Under Arthur's gaze, the bath attendant walked around behind Gogol, and then gently patted his back with a soaked bath stick.

Arthur, who finally understood, said: "It turns out that this is it. This thing is also available in London, but the materials used in the bathtubs we use there are different from those in Petersburg."

Gogol squinted his eyes and asked, "You mean the Nine-Tailed Whip?"

"How do you know?"

"Hmph..." Gogol opened his eyes and said proudly: "I am not an ordinary little Russian. I told you before. I have read a lot of British literary works, mainly Shakespeare. He is my favorite play. Writer. But in addition to Shakespeare, I have also read a lot of other things. For example, I saw the Nine-tailed Whip from "The Detectives of Hastings". You British guys are really a bunch of weirdos. You actually know this. Paying to be whipped by a lady wearing nothing but black stockings.”

The culprit who accidentally exported the wrong British culture to the outside world had to say shamelessly after hearing this: "I remember I clearly pointed out in the book: That is only a small group of people, not all. Besides, this is how you view Britain. , It’s just because you haven’t been to Paris. Don’t you know that there are many half-naked theaters in Paris that provide performances for the audience and charge a moderate fee? In my opinion, the trend of whips was probably brought to London by the French.”

"Ha, it seems that you and the French Cultural Attaché are having a quarrel." Gogol laughed so hard that he paused again, turned his head and stared at Arthur and asked: "Wait a minute, you said "Black "The Detective Collection of Stings" was written by you?"

"What? Do you have to believe me if I take you to London for a whipping meal? What do you think my last name is? Where does my title of cultural attaché come from?"

"Arthur Hastings? "The Detective Hastings"?" Gogol said in surprise: "Oh my God! Are you really the Arthur Sigmar?"

Having said this, Gogol was inevitably a little jealous: "I really envy you. Your inspiration is like a fountain. "Hastings" has been released one after another. Don't you have any ideas? When?”

"Occasionally." Arthur answered honestly: "But that book is not the result of me alone. I also have a chatty assistant. He is the kind of extremely boring guy who has endless information anytime and anywhere. There are endless stories I want to tell you. Many of my ideas were provided by him. For example, the latest "The Resurrection of King Solomon" in "The Detective Collection" is his inspired masterpiece."

"Sigh... You seem to have really become famous. Not only have you made a prosperous life with your royalties, you can afford assistants, but you have also managed to get a job as a cultural counselor with your talent. As for me, although I have made a little money, But if you want to get a position as an associate professor, you have to work hard.”

Arthur smiled and replied: "Don't you know Zhukovsky and Pushkin? Didn't you ask them for help? One of them is the teacher of the crown prince, and the other is a national poet praised by all Russia. If If they are willing to open their mouths, everything will fall into place."

Gogol was full of complaints: "It would be great if that were the case. Zhukovsky and Pushkin are both very famous, and they both love me very much. I asked them to write letters of recommendation for me. Dashkov And Bludov also begged for me. But Kiev Superintendent Bradkay refused to give up. He said that he could not give me the world now. I sent him one or two volumes of the "History of the Little Russian Cossacks" that I was writing, because so far he had not seen me come up with a sufficiently convincing monograph. Even the works praised by Ministers of Education Uvarov and Pushkin seemed to be of no importance to him. "

When Arthur heard this, he held his chin and analyzed it for him: "In my opinion, this situation doesn't seem very optimistic..."

Gogol quickly asked: "What is your opinion?"

Arthur said: "Normally, the Minister of Education thinks that you are qualified for that position, and there are so many celebrities in the cultural field speaking well for you. The Provost of Kiev gave you the position of associate professor, so all these people have to remember However, he doesn’t want this benefit, so there is only one possibility left. "

"What's the possibility?"

Arthur explained based on his experience: "The position you want may have been reserved by someone else. But since Zhukovsky and Pushkin wrote letters to the Kiev Superintendent, he did not want to offend him directly. This group of people, so he could only hang up first Waiting for you, until everyone forgets about it, you will naturally be out. You just think that you are qualified to get this position, and try your best to show your abilities to the inspector. This is the most important thing. It was a fork in the road from the beginning.”

The error-free version is being read! 6=9+Book_Bar debuts this novel.

At this point, Arthur did not forget to teach Gogol a lesson: "You said before that you had worked in the Russian state government, but you really didn't understand all the details in this government office."

"ah……"

Gogol was nudged by Arthur and suddenly came back to his senses: "This... alas, although I did work as an errand in the local government office, what can you say about me... The things I have persisted in in this life are very difficult. Young, I just hang out in the yamen day by day. In my free time, I study writing and painting with my classmates. Love... However, this does not mean that I am useless, I just don't have much interest in being an official. As you know, you can't make much money in the yamen. If you want to get rich by working in the yamen, If it’s expensive, you’ll have to do some unscrupulous things, and I really can’t do those things.”

When Arthur heard this, he just joked: "If you can't work anymore, you can be transferred to a women's college to teach? If that's the case, then the Russian government is more humane than the British government."

Gogol rolled his eyes: "It's not that easy. You only think about good things. You don't know, just to leave the yamen, I came up with an idea. I claimed that I had hemorrhoids and identified it as God only knows what a dangerous disease it is. However, I later learned that no one in Petersburg was immune to hemorrhoids. But after a while, perhaps because God wanted to punish me for lying, I really did. Damn it.

The doctors advised me not to sit in one place all the time. Although it was hard to suffer from hemorrhoids, I was glad from the bottom of my heart to have such an opportunity to get rid of this insignificant official position. However, as you said, this is insignificant and only for me, because others do not see it this way. God knows whether they will regard occupying the position I left in Gugu Yamen as a great luck?

But I want to take another path, a more upright path, and I have more strength in my heart to take firm steps to take this path. I submitted a transfer application to the above, and also attached a medical certificate issued by the doctor, proving that I was no longer suitable to serve in the Land and Resources Yamen. It just so happened that Pletnyov, the principal of the Women's College, admired me very much, so he applied to the Queen, hoping to transfer me to his command to teach at the Noble Women's College.

However, don't think this means much. All the good is that I am now somewhat famous and the classes I give will gradually make people talk about me. Then there is more free time. I no longer have to sit in pain in the office all morning. I no longer have to work forty-two hours a week. I only work six hours a week at the women's college. However, the salary actually increased a little.

I am no longer engaged in that stupid, useless job, whose menial and trivial aspects always disgusted me, but now I have a job that is wonderful and joyful to the soul. Although Ekaterina College and two other schools were later merged into the Women's College, and my working hours became twenty hours a week, my salary more than quadrupled. "

When Arthur heard this, he envied Gogol this time: "Oh my God! Did you only work 6 hours a week? No wonder you want to find a position at Kiev University again. You have a taste of teaching." It’s so sweet. Although the position and power are not as prominent as those in the civil service, for people like you who want to have time to enjoy life, being a professor is obviously much more comfortable than being in an officialdom.”

"Isn't it?" Gogol was obviously very satisfied with the teaching job: "Besides, the job at the Women's College can also bring me greater visibility. I have met many local ladies and socialites in Petersburg here. I At first I thought it would be difficult to deal with them, but later I discovered that it was much easier to make friends with them than to deal with the cunning and cunning villains I had in the Guo Yamen.”

Having said this, Gogol couldn't help but worry about the bleak future. The job at the women's college was indeed very good. If this school was not in Petersburg, he would even be willing to work here for the rest of his life. But the problem is that his hemorrhoids no longer allow him to stay in this cold place. He is eager to go to Kiev, return to his hometown of Little Russia, and recuperate in that land of spring flowers and rich products.

He muttered: "But what should I do? If I follow what you say, even if I ask friends from the Alkadia Literary Society for help, I'm afraid it won't be of much use."

"Arkadya Literary Society? What is that?"

Arthur quickly caught the key points in the words. Literary writers are always sensitive to changes in words and phrases, while a secret policeman is always interested in various associations and can't wait to get involved.

Gogol was still struggling with his future, and the little Russian responded distractedly: "Nothing, just a literary group founded by Zhukovsky and Pushkin, Shevliov, Chardaye Husband, Dmitriev, Lvovich, Aksakov, etc., all of them are members of Arcadia."

"Hmm..." Arthur thought about these names in his mind: "They are all famous names! If you don't mind, can you introduce them to me? You know, I am the British Cultural Counselor, and I have always been interested in the Russian cultural circle. Interested. Of course, I Of course I won't let you work in vain. If you help me, I will also facilitate you. Although I can't speak to the Kiev Superintendent, if you can directly pressure him through the Minister of Education Uvarov, you can become an associate professor. There might still be something to be done about it.”

Gogol only thought that Arthur was joking: "If I can get Uvarov to put pressure on the inspector, then I don't have to make fun of you here."

Arthur confidently assured Gogol: "Don't worry, I didn't say I have no way. At the end of next month, I will participate in a cultural exchange event, and your country's Minister of Education Uvarov will also Attend that event, and if you can write the "History of the Little Russian Cossacks" before then, I will give you a chance to appear in front of the Minister of Education. "

"What chance? Are you going to take my book and recommend it to the Secretary of Education?"

"It's not just a recommendation." Arthur coughed: "I also plan to tell him that your book is amazing and will be published in the UK soon."