Chapter 3 Chapter Three An Anecdote
When Dr. Sarrazan arrived at the fourth session of the Health Assembly, he found him greeted with the utmost respect by all his colleagues.Prior to this, the honorary chairman of the conference, the winner of the Order of the Garter, and the very honorable Lord Glendal paid little attention to the existence of the French doctor.
The lord was a formidable figure, whose business was merely to call the meeting open, dismiss it, and mechanically call upon the speakers from the list laid before him.He habitually puts his right hand in the opening of his buttoned tuxedo—his right hand was not broken while riding—but purely because this indecent gesture is the bronze statue of several politicians sculpted by British sculptors They all took this attitude.He was gray, beardless, with a few red blotches, and his stumbling-weed wig, tied up in high locks on his sunken brow, made his stern, strained face look comical. .Lord Glendower moved his whole body together like a puppet.Even his eyes didn't move as if they were in their sockets, but just blinked intermittently a few times like a doll.
During the first few pleasantries, the President of the Health Assembly greeted Dr. Sarrazan with condescending generosity, as if to say: "Good day, Mr. Insignificant! . . . A little work on a small instrument?... I must really have good eyesight to vaguely see you, a person who is far from my origin and status!... However, I allow you to live under the shadow of my lord .”
But this time, Lord Glendower smiled at him, and even invited him to sit in an empty seat on his right.In addition, all members of the assembly rose in unison.
Dr. Sarrazan was quite surprised by these special almost flattering courtesy. He thought that his colleagues must have considered his blood cell calculation research and thought it was a more significant discovery than it seemed at first glance. He sat down in the vacant seat.
But when Lord Glendower, twisting his body forcibly, bent his back without fear, and whispered the following words in his ear, all his inventor's fancy vanished.
"I hear," said the Lord, "that you are a rich man? I have been told that you are 'worth' two five million pounds?"
Lord Glendower seemed to regret that he should have contemptuously contemptuously treated a man of his worth.The whole of his attitude expresses this meaning:
"Why didn't you tell us earlier? . . . make us ashamed!"
Dr. Sarrazan didn't think that he was "worth a penny more" than the previous meetings. He was wondering why all the news spread all at once?At this time, Dr. Ovidius from Berlin, who was sitting on his right, said to him with a fake smile:
"You are as strong as the Rothschilds now! . . . The Daily Telegraph published the news! . . . Congratulations to you!"
He handed him a copy of the Daily Telegraph that had come out that morning.There was an "anecdotal" on it, and the editor had already disclosed the source of the news very clearly.
"A huge inheritance - the uninherited inheritance of the famous Indian aristocratic woman Kool, has finally come to an end thanks to the flexible, witty and careful visits of three lawyers, Mr. Billows, Green and Sharp, 94 Southampton Road, London. Its rightful heir has been found. The lucky owner of the twenty-one million pounds now in the National Bank of England is a French doctor named Sarazan, who three days ago this paper published A wonderful paper presented at the Wrighton Medical Congress. Mr. Sharpe, after much painstaking efforts and many twists and turns--these circumstances alone could fill a novel with ups and downs--finally established beyond doubt that Dr. Sarazan was an Indian aristocrat The only surviving descendant of Jean-Jacques Langevour, the second husband of the woman Cour. This lucky soldier seems to be originally from a small French city, Baledur. Just do it Simple procedures, the heirs can inherit the inheritance. The application has been submitted to the court of the Ministry of Justice. It is a coincidence that a British noble title and the treasures accumulated by Indian princes and nobles for several generations have fallen on the head of a French scholar. Wealth It may not show much ingenuity in itself, but, thankfully, great wealth falls into the hands of those who know how to make good use of it."
For some reason Dr. Sarrazan was displeased to see that the news had been made public.Not just because his life had told him how much trouble it would cause, but it was humiliating that everyone seemed to take it so seriously.He felt dwarfed by the sheer size of the legacy.His work, his personal accomplishments—to which he felt a deep attachment—were lost, even in the eyes of his peers, in this sea of gold and aluminum.Colleagues no longer regard him as a tireless researcher, a talented, intelligent person, and a genius inventor, but as a 500 million franc rich man.Even if he were not a human elite but a goiter in the Alps, a stupid Hottentot in South-West Africa, the worst type of humanity, his importance would not have diminished.Lord Glendower used the right word, henceforth he would be "worth" two million pounds, neither more nor less.The thought disgusted him.Those present at the meeting looked at him with purely scientific curiosity, wondering what kind of man the "owner of five hundred million francs" was, but were not without surprise to find that his face was covered with a mask. With a layer of sadness.
However, this is just a temporary weakness.He had decided to use this unexpected fortune for a great purpose, and the greatness of that purpose suddenly flashed into Dr. Sarrazan's mind and made him suddenly enlightened.He waited until Dr. Stevenson of Glasgow had finished his lecture on "The Education of the Idiot Youth," and asked for the floor to report an incident.
Lord Glendower immediately granted Dr. Ovidius' request to speak without even giving him the floor.Even if the General Assembly were unanimously against it, even if all the scholars in Europe were against this special favor, he would grant his request!This is what the President of the General Assembly eloquently said with his peculiar tone.
"Gentlemen," said Dr. Sarrazan, "I had intended to tell you in a few days more about the extraordinary fortune that had suddenly fallen into my name, and about the benign consequences that chance might have for science. But , now that the matter is well known, it would perhaps be hypocritical not to state it at once... Yes, gentlemen, indeed, there is a great fortune, a sum of hundreds of millions of francs in the National Bank of England, Is legally attributed to my name. I need to say to you, in this case, I still only consider myself a loyal scientific worker... (The audience is deeply moved). The money Not to me of course, but to all humanity, to human progress!... (a commotion, a cheer, applause, a stand, all shaken by this statement.) Don't applaud me, gentlemen. I am convinced, but also called a scientist, that there is no one in my situation who does not do what I want to do. Who knows if there are some who think that in this human action, as in other Many human beings act the same, more out of pride than loyalty?... (No! No!) It doesn't matter, though! Let's just see how things turn out. Therefore, I definitely, absolutely I declare with reservations: The five hundred million francs that fate has given me do not belong to me, but to science! Would you like to discuss how to distribute this money together?... I am not confident enough to dare to act arbitrarily. Deal with it. I invite you all to deal with it, and you will decide how to put this huge sum of money to better use!..." (The cheers are deafening, the venue is chaotic, and the people are crazy).
All the attendees stood up.Several people were so excited that they climbed onto the table.Professor Turnbull in Glasgow appears to be on the verge of a stroke.Doctor Sicone of Naples was out of breath, and only Lord Glendal remained reserved and calm without losing his dignity.He was fully convinced that Dr. Sarrazan was only making a good joke, and had no intention of realizing this extremely absurd plan.
"However, if I will be allowed," Dr. Sarrazan continued after waiting for a little silence, "if I will be allowed to propose a plan that can be easily supplemented and improved, I suggest this." At this time, the meeting finally resumed. There was peace, and everyone listened with the utmost reverence.
"Gentlemen, among the many causes of disease, poverty, and death that beset us, there is one that I think we must give sufficient attention to, and that is the poor sanitation in which most of us live. .They crowd the cities, and live in houses often deficient in air and sunlight, both of which are indispensable to human life. The density of the population is sometimes a real source of infectious disease. Even if the mortal Under such circumstances, at least health is impaired, labor capacity is diminished, and society is thereby deprived of a large quantity of labor power which could have been put to more valuable uses. Why don't we, gentlemen, try the strongest means of persuasion... ... the method of demonstration? Why can't we gather all our imaginations and draw up plans for a model city designed in strict accordance with scientific data? ... (Yes! Yes! Exactly!) Why can't we be in After that, how about using the huge sum of money we have at our disposal to build this model city and introduce it to the world as a practical and educational example?" (Yes! Yes! - Quan thunderous applause).
The people present at the meeting were so excited that they were almost mad, they clasped each other's hands, rushed up to Dr. Sarrazan, lifted him high, and circled the field.
"Gentlemen," continued Dr. Sarrazan, when at last he returned to his place, "this city, which each of us has seen in his own imagination, will become reality in a few months' time, To become a city of happiness and happiness. We invite people from all over the world to come and visit, and introduce the plans and blueprints of the city in various languages. We invite those poor, unemployed and honest people who live in densely populated countries to live and work in this city. And those families--you will not wonder at this I think--who were forced to flee their homes by foreign invasion, will find work in our city, and use their wits, Bring us spiritual wealth that is thousands of times more valuable than gold mines and diamond mines. We will build some large-scale schools there, so that young people can be trained according to the principle of teaching students according to their aptitude, so that they can be educated in moral, intellectual, physical The three aspects have been fully developed, and then they will cultivate the healthy and developed offspring of the future!"
After his description, there is no need to repeat the enthusiastic and crazy scene in the audience here.Applause, cheers, and cheers erupted one after another, and lasted for more than a quarter of an hour.
As soon as Dr. Sarrazan sat down, Lord Glendal turned sideways again, and whispered to his ear, blinking his eyes:
"This trick is really high!... You are aiming at the stable income of entering the market, huh?... As long as you publicize it well and have famous people come forward, it will be a sure thing!...All those who are recovering and recuperating will be willing Go there! . . . I hope you'll save me a good place, won't you?"
The Lord always regards Dr. Sarrazan's actions as driven by profit, which hurt the poor doctor. This time, he was about to rob him, but he heard the vice chairman asking everyone to applaud Thank you to the advocates who just proposed this act of kindness to the General Assembly.
"An idea so noble has been born here," said the Vice-Chairman, "that it will be the eternal glory of the Brighton Assembly. Only the greatest minds, unparalleled generosity and talents could have conceived of such a plan Come on... Now that the idea has been brought up, we can't help but wonder why no one has thought of it before! How many billions have been spent in crazy wars! How much wealth has been invested in ludicrous speculation Go! The money could have been spent on such an experiment!"
In the end, the Vice-Chairman proposed that the new city be named "Sarrazan City" in honor of the founder who was due to him.
His proposal was enthusiastically applauded, but at the request of Dr. Sarrazan himself, a vote had to be taken.
"No," said Dr. Sarrazan, "my name has nothing to do with it. Let us not affix any word to the city of the future, which would give a pedantic air to anyone or anything. It It will be a city of peace, and I ask that it be named after my country, and we shall call it 'City of France'!"
There was nothing against giving Dr. Sarrazan the satisfaction he so well deserved.
The city of France was thus established orally, but at the close of the assembly, thanks to a minutes, it would also be put down on paper.Then everyone discussed the general outline of the plan.
Let us, however, leave the congress to be concerned with the practical question, and let the participants discuss something quite different from what they were supposed to do in the past.We had better go back and look closely at the particulars of the fortune which this anecdote in the Daily Telegraph tells us.
Beginning on the evening of October 29, the anecdote was reprinted in full by English newspapers and began to spread throughout the United Kingdom.It featured prominently on the second page of the tabloid Shipping News, which was brought to Rotterdam on 1 November by the coal barque "Queen Mary".
The editor-in-chief and sole secretary of the Dutch Echo immediately cut the news with his hard-working scissors and translated it into his native language.On November 2, this anecdote reached the "Bremen Digest" again by steamer, where it was "newly dressed" verbatim and printed in German.Why do we need to point out here that the Teutonic journalist has the audacity to use despicable means to fool the unsuspecting readers after prepending the translation with "an astonishing amount of inheritance", and puts in brackets "this newspaper's special report on Sheridan" Woolen cloth?
In any case, the anecdote was annexed, turned into German, and circulated in the big newspaper "Northern Daily", where it was published in the second column of the third edition, but the title was deleted, because for such a A serious newspaper, this headline is too quack.
After a series of translations and reprints, this anecdote was finally sent to the study of Professor Schultz of the University of Nana by a fat Saxon servant with his fat hands on the night of November 3rd. In the living-dining room.
At first glance, there is nothing special about this noble figure.This man was forty-five or six years old, and his body was quite tall, with broad shoulders, which showed that he was strong and strong.He was bald, with bits of dull, light-blond hair in the back and temples.His eyes were blue, a very dull blue color that never revealed his true thoughts.He has no eyes, but when you are stared at by those eyes, you always feel very uncomfortable.Professor Schultz has a wide mouth with two rows of terrible big teeth. Things that fall into his mouth can never escape, but the two lips that cover the teeth are thin. Function must be used for rhetoric.The whole appearance gives people a posture of respect and distance, but Professor Schultz is complacent about it.
Hearing someone coming in, he raised his eyes to the direction of the fireplace to see the time on the very fine Balberdian wall clock above.This very handsome wall clock looked out of place among the rough furniture around it.Schultz shouted sharply:
"It's 6:55! The last time my mail should have been delivered was 6:30. You delivered it in 25 minutes tonight. There will be another time in the future when you don't deliver the mail to me at 6:30." Send it up, and you will leave at eight o'clock."
"Sir," the servant asked before stepping back, "would you like dinner now?"
"It's six forty-five, and I dine at seven! You've been with me for three weeks, and you already know that! Remember, I never change the time I set, and I never repeat my orders. If you pass."
The professor put the newspaper on the edge of his desk and began to write a paper which was to appear in the Annals of Physiology in two days.He wrote these topics in random letters:
Why do all French people suffer from hereditary degenerative diseases in different programs?
While the professor continued to work on his dissertation, his dinner was carefully placed on a small round table by the fireplace.Dinner was a large plate of sausages with cabbage and a mug of beer.The professor put down his pen and went to eat.You can hardly imagine that such a serious person eats with such relish.Then he rang for coffee, lit a large china pipe, and resumed writing.
It was almost midnight when he signed his name on the last page.He immediately went back to the bedroom, ready for a good night's sleep.He only tore open the seal of a stack of newspapers when he was lying on the bed, and began to read the newspapers before going to bed.Just as he fell asleep, suddenly, a foreigner's name attracted him. The foreigner's name named "Langerwall" appeared in an anecdote about a huge inheritance.However, he racked his brains, but he couldn't remember who this person was.After thinking in vain for a few minutes, he dropped the newspaper, blew out the candle, and soon snored loudly.
But, owing to a physiological phenomenon which he himself had studied and expounded, the name Longevre had tracked down in his dreams so much that when he awoke the next morning he was surprised to find himself repeating it mechanically. the name.
He was about to look at his watch, what time was it, suddenly, a flash flashed in his mind.He snatched up the newspaper which had fallen by the foot of the bed, and wiped his brow with his hand in order to concentrate on reading over and over again the anecdote which he had almost overlooked the night before.Evidently something suddenly occurred to him, for before he had time to put on his embroidered dressing-gown, he ran to the fireplace, took down a miniature portrait that hung by the mirror, and wiped the hard surface with his sleeve. Dust on the cardboard.
The professor guessed right.On the back of the portrait, you can see the name that has been yellowed in ink after half a century: Thales Schulz, formerly known as Langerwall.
In the evening, the professor took the express train to London.
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