Chapter 21 third quarter

At this time, the doors of the stagecoach were closed, and it was full of people, just like animals being driven to the slaughterhouse.These wagons carried passengers between Boston and the suburbs, pulling two-ton carriages with seating for about fifteen people.They are equipped with iron wheels, pulled by two horses, and run on a flat carriageway.The passengers who had already grabbed their seats looked leisurely at the three dozen passengers who didn't have any seats, Bucky was among them, desperately looking for a place to step down.Holding the leather straps tied to the roof of the car with each hand, you bump into me and I bump into you.By the time the conductor squeezed in to collect the fare, the platform was already full of people, waiting for the next carriage.Two drunk men stand in the middle of a steamer-hot carriage, exhaling a puff of ashes

Heap-like smell, struggling to sing a song with unknown lyrics in harmony.Bucky bent his hands to cover his mouth, seeing that no one was paying attention, he took a breath of air, his nostrils flared for a moment. After arriving at the street he was going to, Bucky got out of the carriage and hurried to a cheap apartment called "Half Moon Apartment", thinking comfortably that he could finally be alone.But on the last step sat Lowell and Dr. Holmes. "What are you thinking about blankly, sir?" Lowell grabbed Bucky's hand with a charming smile on his face. "Trying to steal a penny from you, Professor," Bucky said, his hand dangling limply, and what Lowell clutched appeared to be a wet rag. "Can't find the way back to Cambridge?" Bucky looked at Holmes suspiciously, his tone of voice showing more surprise at their visit than his demeanor.

"What are you talking about?" Lowell said. He took off his top hat, revealing his tall white forehead. "You don't know Dr. Holmes? We want to talk to you, if you want." Bucky frowned and pushed open the door, the bottles and cans hanging on the nails on the back of the door immediately jingled, as if to welcome their arrival.His dwelling was a basement, with daylight leaking in from a half-window set above the street level.A musty smell emanated from the clothes hanging in the corners that would never dry out in this damp room, as did Bucky's crumpled suit.Lowell rearranged the bottles and cans hanging on the back of the door to make room for a top hat, Bucky casually stuffed the stack of papers from the desk into his bag, and Holmes praised the broken interior decoration.

Bucky brought a pot of water and put it on the iron frame of the fireplace, and asked impolitely, "What do you two gentlemen do here?" "We've come to ask for your help, Mr. Bucky," Lowell said. When carrying the kettle to pour tea, Bucky had a strange look on his face, and his mood gradually improved. "What to mix?" He pointed to the sideboard, where there were half a dozen dirty tumblers and three decanters with glass stoppers labeled "Rum", "Du Gin" and "Whiskey" labels. "Tea, thank you," said Holmes.Lowell agreed.

"Oh, come on!" Bucky said, insisting on bringing Holmes a bottle of wine.In disrespect, Holmes had to drop a drop or two of whiskey into his teacup, but Baki caught Dr. Tow's elbow. "The bad weather in New England is deadly, doctor," he said, "you'll have to take a drink or two now and then to warm your heart." Bucky said he drank tea, and finally poured himself a full glass of rum.Lowell and Holmes moved over two chairs which they recognized at once as the ones in which they had sat before. "A chair in a college lecture hall!" Lowell said.

"Harvard owes me more than just two chairs, don't you think?" Bucky said in an unnaturally genial tone. "Is there any other place where I can find my seat on pins and needles? People at Harvard can talk about Unitarians all they want, but they will always be Calvinists—through their own suffering, and Others. Tell me, how did you find this place? I believe I'm the only non-Dubliner for miles around here." Lowell pulled out a copy of the Daily Express and turned to the advertising section.One of the ads draws a circle: Italian gentleman, graduated from the University of Padua, versatile.Experienced in teaching Spanish and Italian for a long time.You can teach alone, or you can teach in boys' schools or girls' schools.

Proof: Honorable John Andrew, Longfellow, Professor Lowell of Harvard University. Address: 2 Half Moon Apartments, Broad Street. Bucky chuckled to himself when he saw the ad. "The good thing about us Italians is that we don't show our faces. In Italy we have a saying 'In bocca chiusa non entran mosche: you don't open your mouth, The flies don't come in'. If I don't advertise, how will people know that I have something to sell, and how can I expect them to buy it? So I just do as the Romans do, open my mouth, and brag." Holmes was about to take a sip of his tea, but recoiled at the fact that it was too strong. "Sir, is John Andrew your witness?" he asked.

"Doctor Holmes, will any student who wants to learn Italian appeal to the Governor to come and greet me? I suspect that, in any case, no one ever went to Professor Lowell for this." Lowell reluctantly admits this.He leaned over to Bucky's desk, which was full of works on Dante and biographies, spread out and piled up in a haphazard manner.Above the desk hangs a small portrait of Bucky's estranged wife, the artist's soft lines softening the determination in her eyes. "Okay, how can I help you, like I needed your help before, Professor?" Bucky asked. Lowell took out another newspaper from his coat pocket and turned to Lonza's portrait, "Do you know this man, Mr. Bucky? Or should I say, have you known this man before?"

Bucky recognized the bloodless face in the dull newspaper and fell into a deep sadness.After a while, he looked up and said angrily, "Do you think I would know such a ragged idiot?" "The priest of Holy Cross Cathedral said you knew him." Lowell said knowingly. Bucky seemed startled, and he turned to Holmes as if he were besieged. "I believe you have borrowed a considerable sum there, sir," said Lowell. Bucky was so ashamed that he had to tell the truth.He looked at the ground, smirking awkwardly. "That's the American priests, not the Italian ones. They have bigger purses than the Pope himself. If you're in my place, priests' money smells good too." He drank the rum in one gulp. Tilting his head back, he whistled, then looked at the newspaper, and said, "So, you want to inquire about Longsa."

He paused, then pointed to the works of Dante on the desk. "Like you men of letters, I have always felt that my most desirable companions are the dead, not the living. This has the advantage of reading dull, or obscure, or even just not to mess with you." Funny passages, you can always order the author to 'shut up'." He repeated the last two words with ulterior motives. Bucky stood up, poured himself a glass of gin, and took a swig.Before he could finish his drink, he started grunting, "It's a lonely job in the United States. Most of my compatriots who were forced to come to this country were illiterate, and could hardly even read newspapers, let alone Let’s talk about Dante’s "Divine Comedy". This poem pierces the soul of mankind. It is full of despair and joy, and the weight is equal. Many years ago, among the Italians living in Boston, there were a few learned and Men of wit: Antonio Gallunga, Griffon Lonza, Pietro da Alessandro." He could not help smiling as he recalled the past, as if the two visitors before him were also among them. "We sat in our room and recited the "Divine Comedy" aloud together, one after another. In this way, we finished reading this poem that recorded all the secrets. Later, we walked and died, only I'm left with Lonza in Boston. Now, it's just me."

"Well, there's no need to hate Boston so much," said Holmes. "No one wants to spend their whole life in Boston," Bucky said sincerely in a sarcastic tone. "Mr. Bucky, did you know that Lonza died in the police station?" Holmes asked softly. Bucky nodded, "I heard a little." Lowell looked at the works of Dante on the desk and said, "Mr Bucky, if I told you that Lonza read the verses from the third song of "Inferno" to a policeman before he jumped out of the window and fell to his death, would you How do you react?" Bucky didn't look surprised at all, but instead smiled nonchalantly.Most of the political exiles from Italy would grow meaner in their integrity, and even see their sins as a harbinger of their own sainthood; on the other hand, the pope was, in their minds, nothing more than a mean dog .But Lonsar believed he had somehow betrayed his faith and had to try to repent of his sin in God's sight.After settling in Boston, he helped expand a missionary group associated with an Ursuline convent, trusting that his piety would be reported to the Pope and he would be allowed to return home.Later, the mob burned the nunnery to ashes, which made his previous efforts come to naught. "Lonza would rather die than be angry. It is conceivable that at some point in his life he did something terribly wrong and deserved the worst punishment of God. After being exiled to the United States, Things got worse for him. He almost stopped speaking English. I believe he had more or less forgotten how to speak English, and he only had the real Italian language in his mind." "But why did he recite Dante's lines before jumping out of the window?" asked Holmes. "I have a friend who has returned home, a jovial fellow, Dr. Holmes, who runs a restaurant, and when guests ask him questions about the food, he answers them all by quoting from the Divine Comedy. Oh, that's funny. Ron Sarah went mad. Dante became his bridge of redemption, even though the crime was entirely figment of his imagination. In the end, he felt that he was committing a crime by doing whatever was suggested to him. In his final years, he actually touched He has never touched the "Divine Comedy", there is no need for it. Every line of verse and every word is permanently engraved in his heart, which makes him feel horrified and frightened. He has never consciously remembered it, but it came to him like God's will for the Prophet. Even the most insipid parables and phrases would make him blurt out of Dante's poems, and sometimes it would be days before he could get out of it and hear him talk about other things. thing." "It appears that his suicide did not surprise you," Lowell said. "I don't know what the hell happened to that, Professor," Bucky snapped, "it doesn't matter what you call it. His life was a suicide. He lost his soul in fear until the universe There's no place in it but hell. His spirit is on the brink of perpetual pain. I wouldn't be surprised at his fall." He paused. "What's so different from your friend Longfellow? ?" Lowell stood up with a whoosh.Holmes coaxed him to sit down softly, as if coaxing a child. Bucky continued: "In my opinion, Professor Longfellow has used Dante to relieve the pain in his heart for three or four years. What is his pain?" "Bucky, how much do you know about people like Longfellow?" Lowell demanded. "Judging from your desk, you seem to be fascinated by The Divine Comedy lately, sir. What are you looking for in it?" What? What Dante seeks in his works is peace. With all due respect, what you seek is not so noble!" He opened the "Divine Comedy" and began to browse. Bucky knocked the book out of Lovell's hands. "Don't touch my Dante! I live in a tenement, but I don't need anyone, rich or poor, to tell me what to read, Professor!" Lowell flushed with embarrassment, "That's not what it means... If you need to borrow money, Mr. Bucky..." Bucky laughed shrilly, "Whoa, you unbearable dog! Would I beg a fellow like you for alms while you stood by while Harvard shoved me in?" Lovell was petrified, "Listen, Bucky! I fought for your job!" "You sent a note to Harvard asking them to pay my severance. Where were you when I got nowhere? Where was the famous Longfellow? You never fought for anything in your life. You Write poems, write about slavery and the massacre of Indians, and hope things will change. You're fighting what never happened to you, Professor!" He couldn't get enough of Lowell, and It seemed rude not to include Dr. Holmes in pointing his tongue at the dismayed Dr. "You've received everything in your life and don't know the pain of making a living! Ah, what else could I wish for in this country What should I resent? Even the greatest bards are homeless and uprooted. Maybe one day, before I leave this world, I can walk on my own shore and reunite with true friends gather together." In the next half a minute, Baki even drank two full glasses of whiskey, then sank deeply into the chair in front of the desk, shaking violently all over. "It was the interference of the gringo, Charles of Valois, that caused Dante's exile. He is our last treasure, the last vestige of the Italian soul. I do not agree with you, nor with your adored Mr. Longfellow, tear Dante from his rightful place and make him an American! Remember, he belongs to us Italians forever! Dante has a strong will to live and will never give in to anyone!" Holmes tries to ask Bucky about his experiences as a governess.Lowell also wanted to ask Bucky about a man in a bowler hat and checked waistcoat whom he had seen approaching anxiously in the Harvard Yard.Bucky said nothing.But what they can ask Bucky right now, they have already found out.They walked out of the basement, the wind was biting outside, and the weather was getting worse.They dodged hastily under the rickety outdoor staircase, which the tenants called the sky ladder, because it led up to the better-equipped Humphrey Apartments. A red-faced Bucky poked his head out of the half window, looking as if he had grown out of the ground.He stretched his head straight up to the base of his neck, and cried out drunkenly. "Do you want to talk about Dante, Professor? Take care of your Dante seminar first!" Lowell turned and asked him loudly what he meant. There was only a "bang", and two trembling hands closed the window.