With a "bang," the door closed, and Professor Taine's figure disappeared from the office.
Gaston Boissier and the others exchanged glances, all showing helplessness.
Hippolyte Taine was very learned and not bad as a person, but he was arrogant, headstrong, and irritable.
When Hugo published the first part of "Fantine" from Les Misérables in 1862, Taine had bluntly stated that the novel was "insincere," nearly falling out with Mr. Hugo, who was both his mentor and friend.
Of course, he wasn't the only one criticizing Les Misérables at the time; Flaubert's critique was even more cutting:
"In this book, there is neither truth nor greatness."
The Goncourt brothers wrote a review considering Les Misérables an "artificial" work; Baudelaire, while praising it in newspaper articles, privately told friends that the novel was "tasteless, incompetent."
But these people were different from Taine; they didn't have a close personal relationship with Hugo, which highlights Taine's personality.
Émile Egger shrugged his hands, roughly meaning, "What do you think we should do?"
Gaston Boissier was direct; he handed him the manuscript of "The Old Guard":
"Pass it around.
This is a rare masterpiece.
Even if we present it to Mr. Hugo, I would have no qualms."
Émile Egger took the manuscript with a hint of doubt, wondering if Professor Boissier was saying this just to save face.
However, after just finishing the first page, his eyes widened.
He looked up, staring at Gaston Boissier in disbelief:
"This... is this really written by a student?"
Paul Janet and the others were anxious to see it.
They snatched the first page of the manuscript and eagerly began to read it.
Immediately afterward, exclamations, doubts, and praises echoed one after another in the Sorbonne Journal office.
About 20 minutes later, everyone present had finished reading "The Old Guard," and the office fell into silence once again.
"This... is this really not a new work by Gustave Flaubert?
Or did this lucky kid stumble upon an unpublished manuscript by Alphonse Daudet?"
A question on many people's minds was voiced.
This novel possessed Flaubert's style in its refined, accurate, and profound language; yet, the description of the customs and sentiments of the Alpine region and the ingenious narrative structure had quite a touch of Daudet.
Especially since Daudet himself was from Provence, a region adjacent to the Alps, many customs and habits were similar.
If "The Old Guard" were attributed to him, it would be logical.
Even more remarkably, "The Old Guard" showed no traces of clumsy or childish imitation; instead, it was polished, seasoned, and seamless.
It utterly defied being a masterpiece completed by a university student — not even one from the Sorbonne Faculty of Arts!
In contemporary France, mastering the essence of just one of these authors would be enough to establish oneself in Parisian literature, let alone combining the strengths of two?
The active Paul Janet was the first to break the silence.
He said with an exclamation,
"If this is truly by Lionel Sorel, then he will undoubtedly be a treasure of the Sorbonne!
'The Old Guard' is one of the few short story masterpieces I've read in recent years!
If the Academy Bulletin doesn't publish it, it will be the Bulletin's loss!"
"One more thing, have you noticed that the perspective in 'The Old Guard,' the narrator 'I,' seems to be different from the 'I' in all other novels—I can't quite pinpoint how, but it's wonderfully unique."
"Yes, the 'I' in 'The Old Guard' possesses a special vitality.
It's not just the narrator of the story, but also a participant, and an observer...
It's so interesting..."
"The question is, was this really written by Lionel Sorel?"
Everyone frowned; this question weighed heavily on their hearts like a stone.
Publishing a masterpiece was an honor for the Bulletin, but publishing a plagiarized work could easily make it a laughingstock.
Gaston Boissier collected all the manuscripts:
"It seems we need to meet this Mr. Sorel...
Well, let's leave it at that for now.
Let's discuss other issues for the March issue..."
———————
Lionel had no idea what kind of shock his "The Old Guard" had caused among the professors at the Sorbonne.
Although he knew Mr. Da (the original author, implying a respected elder's work) wrote excellent novels, he hadn't fully realized how shocking some writing techniques, which only gradually emerged and matured in the 20th century, would be when presented in the 19th century.
He was outside a private room at the Necker Children's Hospital in the 15th arrondissement, visiting Petty.
"Young Master Sorel, when can I be discharged?"
Petty, still a bit pale, timidly asked through the hospital room window.
"The doctor just told me that it's most likely just ordinary pneumonia, not tuberculosis.
You'll be out in two weeks if it's quick, or a month if it takes longer,"
Lionel comforted her.
In 1879, although microscopes were widely used in disease diagnosis, only a portion of pathogens had been identified and classified, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis, was not among them.
So doctors could only rely on experience, listening to the patient's chest with a stethoscope and identifying symptoms like dry coughs and wet rales for diagnosis.
Fortunately, Petty did not exhibit the typical symptoms of tuberculosis.
"But I heard the nurses here chatting, it costs 3 francs a day to stay here...
Can I be discharged earlier?"
Petty's voice grew softer and softer.
3 francs...
She thought of her father working as a servant outside, sometimes not even earning 3 francs a day.
Lionel didn't feign generosity but explained to Petty the agreement he had reached with her parents, which finally put Petty at ease.
After chatting with Petty for a few more minutes, a nurse came to remind them that visiting hours were over, and Lionel bid Petty farewell.
On his way out of the hospital, Lionel became the focus of many nurses' gazes.
They whispered among themselves as they watched him walk down the corridor in his coat with shiny elbows.
The news that the Necker Children's Hospital was treating a young maid from a poor apartment in the 11th arrondissement, and that she was staying in a 3-franc-a-day room, had spread throughout the hospital.
Everyone was curious about who this generous employer was.
Upon seeing Lionel's face and figure, the nurses' eyes lit up; then, seeing his coat and leather shoes, expressions of surprise, doubt, and disdain immediately appeared.
In their view, Lionel, who was putting on a show of generosity, was mostly a "bleeding heart," someone who would rather go hungry himself than not show kindness.
Such people wouldn't last long in Paris.
Leaving the Necker Children's Hospital, Lionel walked to the public coach station on Boulevard Saint-Germain, preparing to go to the 9th arrondissement, also known as the "Opera Quarter."
He planned to find a new apartment there that could meet his living needs for the next one to two years, at least so he wouldn't have to worry about suddenly falling ill like Petty.
In Paris, apart from villas and mansions valued at tens to hundreds of thousands of francs, the only suitable options were the "Haussmannian buildings" organized and constructed starting in 1850 by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, a high official of the Seine department during the Second Empire and the chief designer of Paris's renovation, which became the standard for future Parisian residences.
Haussmannian buildings were generally 5 to 6 stories high, built with cut stone, connected to sewers underground, and supplied with running water inside; the second floor typically had a long, continuous balcony, and each apartment had large windows, providing excellent light and ventilation.
Although Baron Haussmann was dismissed in 1870 because the urban renovation budget exceeded 1 billion francs, for the next 40 years, until World War I, the entire city of Paris was largely renovated step by step according to his original plans.
The Haussmannian building effectively became a Parisian architectural emblem and a major contributing element to the "romantic charm" of Paris known in later generations.
However, just as Lionel was about to enter an apartment building next to the Opera House, he was mercilessly stopped:
"Sir, we do not allow shabbily dressed visitors here..."
(End of this chapter)
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