Chapter 2 Chapter One

Arthur Burden and Dr. Bojoy walked in silence, neither speaking.They had just lunched in a restaurant on the Avenue Michel, and then went for a walk in the Luxembourg Gardens.Dr. Bojoy walked forward with his hands behind his back, his shoulders slumped, and his back slightly hunched.He looked around carefully, like those painters who like to express their aesthetic philosophy by depicting the most charming park in all of Paris.There are a few dead leaves scattered on the grass, but this lingering decay fails to bring a bit of natural beauty to the surrounding layout with traces of artificial carving.There was a neat circle of bushes around the trees, and a neat circle of flower beds outside the bushes.The trees are growing in an orderly manner, as if they know that they are responsible for decorating the garden.It is only autumn now, but there are few green leaves on many trees, only bare branches are left.The gorgeous flowers also withered one after another.The well-organized garden is like a mid-aged lady. Although her youth is gone, she still puts on makeup and powder, and exhausts her last demeanor, but she just bravely staged a play called "Despair".In this scene, it's all about contrived joy, fake and difficult smiles, and a pathetic demeanor that tries to show that its charm hasn't faded with age.

Dr. Bojoy wrapped his heavy coat tightly so that his frail body would not catch the cold.He wears his coat all year round, and summer is no exception.This is a problem that fell when I was young.His golden years were spent in Egypt, where he practiced medicine.European summers are also cold, and he rarely feels warm.For a moment, he thought of the colorful streets of Alexandria.Then the memory, like a bird returning home, flew to his native Brittany, where there were green woods and a storm-battered coast.Thinking of this, his brown eyes immediately cast a layer of melancholy. "Let's wait here for a while," he suggested.

They sat down on two straw chairs.Next to it is a large octagonal pool with a Cupid's Fountain - a tribute to Luxembourg's fascinating artificial beauty.At this time, the sun is no longer so glaring, and the soft sunlight shines on the surrounding trees, glowing golden yellow, which is extremely charming.A circle of stone railings surrounds it elegantly, and each of the newly planted flowers is delicate and charming.Looking from the corner of the park, you can see the not so tall but antique tower of the Saint-Sulpice Church.From the other side, the undulating roofs of the Avenue Saint-Michel can be seen in a panoramic view.

The gray palace looks very solid.The nurses walked in twos and threes, some wore white hats of the local style on their heads, and some wore colored satins worn by nurses.They talked to each other in low voices while pushing the stroller, their faces calm and serene.The brightly dressed children were having a lot of fun, some rolling hoops and others spinning tops.Dr. Bojoy looked at them with a grin on his lips.His thin, sallow face, which had been exposed to the subtropical sun for a long time, was suddenly radiant, and the corners of his mouth and brows were full of tenderness.At this time, he was no longer the insignificant man with short stature, sunken cheeks, gray and thin beard.His smile is charming and full of sympathy, completely disintegrating the tired look on his face that he had been accustomed to for many years.Those sunken eyes were bright and cheerful.The pleasure was full of friendliness and a touch of sarcasm.Just then a guard walked by.He wore a cape full of romance, like a bandit in a burlesque, and on his head was a Spanish policeman's pointed hat.A group of telegraph carriers in blue uniforms surrounds a painter.The painter's fingers were cold and stiff, but he continued to draw with concentration.There are students hanging out everywhere.Wearing baggy corduroy trousers, tight jackets and wide-brimmed hats pressed down on their heads, they looked as if they had just stepped out of one of Mugger's timeless classics.But they also looked very unnatural, afraid that this appearance would attract many ridicules.More often than not, they wear bowler hats and neat, dandy coats.

Dr. Bojoe's English is fluent and idiomatic, with almost no foreign accent.When he speaks English, he uses exquisite words, which is enough to show that he has not only carefully studied English classics, but also has a lot of experience in learning from daily conversations. The doctor turned his eyes to his friend, and asked, "How is Miss Doncy?" Arthur Borden laughed. "Actually, I haven't met her today. I hope she is well. We have made an appointment to have afternoon tea together in the studio today. By the way, we would like to invite you to dinner at the Black Dog Restaurant."

"That's great. But don't you want to live a world of two?" "We met at the station yesterday, then had dinner together and talked from 6:30 until midnight." "Or, she spouts and you listen with the sweetness of a lover." Arthur Borden had just arrived in Paris.He is an in-service surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital. He came to Paris this time, saying that he was to learn French surgical techniques, but in fact he was to meet Marguerite Dancy.He spent the morning at the Lord's Palace Hospital with a letter of recommendation from a well-known surgeon in London.The operator of the Main Palace Hospital learned that the visitor was a bold and skilled surgeon who was quite famous in London, so he counted his miraculous achievements like magic tricks and hoped that Boy Arthur would praise him.Although the exaggeration of the doctor's words did not escape Arthur Burden's shrewd eyes, his bold and steady approach also made Arthur's blood boil.During the luncheon, Arthur talked about what he had heard in the morning, and did not talk about other things, while Dr. Bojoy talked about the more extraordinary operations he had seen in Egypt from memory.

From the moment Arthur Borden came into the world, Dr. Bojoy knew him, but he just missed the moment of his birth, because the Egyptian governor Ismail suddenly called him back to Cairo.Arthur's father was a Levantine merchant and his closest friend, so when the young Arthur took his advice, entered his trade, and achieved results he could never match, Bojoe The doctor felt an extraordinary satisfaction. Dr. Bojoy was too interested in the personalities of those who chanced upon him to be ambitious himself, but he liked to see the flame of ambition in others.Arthur exudes a kind of pride as a doctor.The young man believed in his talents and was determined to become a famous doctor of his generation.All this pleased Dr. Bojoe.He knew that while a wide range of interests added to a man's character, it could also weaken him.It took sacrifices to outdo his peers, so he didn't regret that Arthur was narrow-minded in many other ways.Literature and art meant nothing to him, and he would not bother with respectable trifles in order to be a talker.In social occasions where various people gather, Arthur always likes to silently listen to others talking, and only when he encounters a topic that he is very sure of, he may join the conversation.He works very hard. He not only has to perform operations and dissections on weekdays, but also gives lectures in the hospital.He will carefully study all materials related to his major, not only English materials, but even French and German materials.If he finally had a day off, he would definitely spend time at the Sunnydale golf course.He is very fond of golf and plays it very well.

But Arthur in front of the operating table looked different.He is no longer the dull young man who is a little clumsy when socializing, knows his own limitations and never talks about unfamiliar topics easily, and is careful not to praise things he doesn't like easily.Whenever he stood in front of the operating table, an extraordinary sense of happiness would surge in his heart. He knew his own strength and was deeply joyful about it.No sudden accident could make him panic.He seemed to have a natural surgical instinct, and his hands and brain worked together seamlessly, as if they were machines.He never hesitated, nor was he afraid of failure.His success is more remarkable than his courage.He has earned quite a reputation in the industry and it won't be long before his name becomes a household name.

Dr. Bojoy was holding a cane and drawing various shapes on the sand.Suddenly, he turned to Arthur, his trademark charming smile on his face. "There are many surprises in human nature that always amaze me," said he, "that a man like you should be so deeply in love with a girl like Marguerite Dancy, That really took me by surprise.” Arthur didn't answer, Dr. Bojoy was afraid that his words might offend, so he hurriedly explained: "She was a charming young man, as you and I both knew. She was beautiful, graceful, and compassionate. But your personalities are quite different. Even though you were born in the East, your childhood was almost a holding You spent it, but you have no romantic feelings at all, and you are the most down-to-earth young man I have ever met."

"You can call me narrow-minded." Arthur smiled. "I admit that I have no imagination and no sense of humor. I am a flat, practical person. But I have a clear mind and a vision." "My humble opinion is that love is inseparable from imagination." Arthur Borden fell silent again, but his eyes staring ahead were covered with an unusual look, just like the passionate eyes of a mystic when he sees the goddess he praises day and night with ecstasy. The expression is the same. "Miss Dancy, though, has none of your narrowness, pardon me for saying so, but I think it's the secret of your success. She has a cheerful enthusiasm for every art form, beauty To her, it’s as important as bread and butter to a pragmatist. And she’s passionate and interested in life’s intricacies.”

"It is true that Margaret cares about beauty because every inch of her is beautiful." Arthur replied. He was too taciturn to express his feelings accurately, but he knew that his first love for her was because of her perfect figure.In his life dedicated to the operating table, there were only countless imperfections, so Margaret's external beauty really shocked him.But he blurted out: "When I saw her for the first time, it was like seeing a new world." Arthur's words were as beautiful as Keats's beautifully rhymed lines.But to Dr. Bojoy, this added a romantic touch to his enthusiasm, but foreshadowed later sadness.Dr. Bojoy tried his best to shake off the ominous imagination in his mind. This is a perfect relationship! "You're lucky, my friend. Miss Doncy admires you just as much. Whenever I tell the story of your childhood in Alexandria, no matter how boring, she never tires of listening. I think she will be your envy." Other people's beautiful wife and beautiful family." "Nobody knows that better than I do," Arthur said, laughing. He is brimming with joy.He loved Margaret with all his heart and believed that Margaret loved him as much.Nothing can disturb their long-planned happy and sweet future.Wonderful love casts magic on his work, and likewise, his thriving career makes his love sweeter and more charming. "We're now ready to set a date for our wedding," he said. "I'm already shopping for furniture." "Probably only the British would do such a strange thing, delaying the wedding for two years for no reason." "You know, Marguerite was ten years old when I first met her, and she was seventeen when I asked her to marry me. She was grateful and wanted to marry right away. But I knew she was eager to go to Paris to stay. Two years, and I don't think it's fair to keep her tied to me like that, at least let her see the world. And she doesn't look ready to get married, she's still growing." "What did I say? You are the most down-to-earth young man I have ever met." Dr. Bojoy said with a smile. "We're both very sure we want to marry each other, we both love each other, there's still a long way to go, I can afford to wait." Then a man strolled up to them.He was tall and fat, and he stood out in a small checkered suit.He doffed his hat solemnly to Dr. Bojoy, who returned the same greeting with a smile. "Who's that fat friend of yours?" Arthur asked. "Also English, named Oliver Hadow." "Art students?" Arthur asked, with the sneer he always used when speaking of people who didn't do practical things like he did. "Not exactly. I also met him by chance not long ago. I wanted to write a book on the subject of ancient alchemists, so I went to the Arsenal Library to check a lot of materials. Maybe you have heard of it, It contains a very rich collection of occult works." Borden found it funny, and a trace of disdain appeared on his face.He couldn't understand why Dr. Bojoy was wasting his spare time on such useless research.He had read the book about the famous alchemist, and although he had to admire the profound knowledge embodied in the book, he couldn't forgive his friend for wasting so much time on such things.This precious time could have been spent researching more pressing matters. "That library is not crowded," continued the doctor, "and soon I can recognize familiar faces. The gentleman goes every day. When I go in the morning, he is already absorbed in those old and strange books." Well, he was still there reading when I left, desperately. Sometimes it happened that he had the book I asked for, and I found out that he was working on the same subject as me. Unlikable, so while I thought he was giving me the chance to chat, I wasn't about to do it. I was looking up an opinion one day and couldn't find an expert book, and the librarian couldn't help me. Just when I was about to give up, he handed me the book I was looking for. I presume the librarian told him about my difficulties. I was so grateful to this stranger that we left the library together that afternoon because The research was similar, and we chatted very positively. I found out that he was very widely read, and he told me about books that I had never heard of. Apparently, he knew Hebrew and Arabic, so better than Compared with me, he has many advantages. And he also studied the original works of Kabbalah." "It must have been of use to him, I have no doubt," said Arthur. "What does he do?" A slight contemptuous smile crept across Dr. Bojoy's face. "My dear friend, I very much hate to tell you. I shudder at the thought of the industry you must have sneered at." "yes?" "As you know, Paris is full of people of all kinds. All the eccentric people call it a second home. It sounds unbelievable in this day and age, but my friend Oliver Hadow claims to be a magician .I think he's telling the truth." "Silly ass!" Arthur said emphatically.