Chapter 8 "Midan Night Gathering"

"Midan Night Gathering" In April 1880, the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Paris by the Prussian army, the Paris A noteworthy collection of stories has appeared on the forum, entitled Les Soirees de Medrn), a total of six short stories, written by six writers, all with similar themes, each All take an anecdote from the Franco-Prussian War. These six writers, led by "Little Hotel" and "Nana" at that time established the natural Zola, the master of the cornerstones of doctrine, the others are: Maupassant, Hersmann, Alexy, Sarde and The five Hailik were all fighters under the banner of naturalism that had just been established at that time.

Regarding the formation of this collection of novels, Maupassant once had an interesting record: "A beautiful summer evening in the country...one of us had just come from a river swim Up on the water, someone has just returned from a walk outside the village with a mind full of big plans. "At long dinners (for we are all gluttonous and Zola alone has There's enough food for three novelists! ), we talked.Zola Tell us about his future novels, his views on literature and art, and opinions on everything.Have Sometimes, the near-sighted Zola, in the middle of a conversation, would suddenly raise his shotgun and shoot at the grass (we tricked him into

It’s a bird), wondering why I always miss anything. "Sometimes we fish. Herrick is the best at it, and Zola always fishes in disappointment. Old leather boots come up. "As for myself, I sometimes lie on "Nana" (the name of the boat), or swim, Ali Kesey went for a walk, Hersman smoked a cigarette, and Sard said the country was no fun. "On a mild and lovely evening, when the moon was full, and we were talking of Merimee, Zola suddenly suggested that everyone tell a story.We were amused, but decided to save the trouble, the first person The form taken, the others must obey, although the content of the story varies from one person to another.

"And so Zola tells that terrible page in the history of war, the story of the 'Battle of the Mill'. "After he finished, we all shouted: You should write this down immediately. But he laughed Dao: I have already written it. "The next day it was my turn, and so it went on, Alexie kept us waiting for four days, saying yes Can't find the subject matter.Zola said it was very novel and proposed that we make it into a Book……". This is the birth of "Midan Night Gathering".At that time Zola was living in the Midan countryside, and the group Writers come to talk every night, in order to commemorate Mrs. Zola's hospitality, so they decided to take this

book title. Among the novels included in this book, Zola is the famous "Battle of the Mill", and Maupassant is the one that made him The instant fame masterpiece "Fat Ball". "The Battle of the Mill" is about the struggle between the French and Prussian armies for a mill. Mill, the miller and his daughter and son-in-law, in order to cover the retreating French army, refused to serve the Prussian army The story of how the team leader sacrificed his life. "Fat Ball" was the nickname of a courtesan who served Having given her noble countrymen safe passage through Prussian territory, she sacrificed herself to the Prussian officers

The noble gentry and ladies asked her to sacrifice for them in advance, but when the "fat Fat Ball" spent the night with the enemy's officer, and when he returned with the permission of the whole body to pass safely At this time, everyone unanimously looked down on her again.For the selfishness and hypocrisy of high society, Maupassant The mockery is extremely cruel, but the whore is written extremely great and lovely. 1880 was the time when the whole of France wanted revenge on the Prussians. This book was published Edition, immediately won the support of the majority of readers.