The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 270: The Evil Society (Part 2)
This chapter's subtitle: An evil organization where celebrities gather
No matter how bad Xu Zhimo's personal morality was or how chaotic his private life was, he did have the temperament of a poet and behaved with the innocence of a child.
So in the original historical line, he met a group of celebrities in the academic and cultural circles in the UK, and in this timeline, because of Yuan Yanshu, he was even more popular.
"Great, I'm not late!"
Just as the three were about to enter, another middle-aged gentleman came in.
He was a little older, but he still had a pair of bright eyes, thick eyebrows, and a thick beard above his lips, and he looked quite energetic.
Ogden turned around and shouted happily, "Mr. Wells, you're here too!"
Xu Zhimo also nodded and said, "Mr. Wells, it's nice to see you again."
Herbert George Wells was a genuine celebrity.
The three most important science fiction writers at the end of the 19th century were Edgar Allan Poe from the United States, Jules Verne from France, and H. G. Wells from Britain.
Although he lived until 1946, his most important science fiction works, "The Time Machine", "The Island of Doctor Moreau", "The Invisible Man" and "The War of the Worlds" were all published before 1900.
He was born in a poor family in the West End of London in 1866. Both his parents worked as servants. As a result, his childhood life was quite difficult. He worked as an apprentice in a cloth shop, a pharmacist's assistant and a substitute primary school teacher.
However, thanks to his diligence and intelligence, he received a bursary (one guinea per week) in 1884 and entered the Camden Normal School, the predecessor of the Royal Society. His biology teacher was the renowned evolutionist Thomas Henry Huxley. His later science fiction writing was heavily influenced by Huxley's evolutionary ideas.
In 1890 he received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Zoology from Imperial College London.
His experiences in his youth made him a utopian socialist. In 1903, he joined the Fabian Society and became good friends with George Bernard Shaw.
However, this guy was a very "moderate" social reformist. Not to mention Marxism, he couldn't even accept the already quite moderate Fabianism, so he later withdrew.
During World War I, Wells participated in the activities of the League of Nations and visited many countries. His interviews and articles often caused a sensation around the world. Last year, he even interviewed Comrade Lenin.
After World War I, he spent a year completing The Outline of History, a book of more than one million words, which was published last year. This book shows his side as a historian.
When this "Outline of World History" was translated into Chinese in 1926, it was a truly remarkable event in the academic world of Serbia. Contributing to the translation were Liang Qichao and Liang Sicheng, father and son, Zhu Kezhen, Zhu Jingnong, and a host of other leading experts and scholars of the time. The Chinese translation is exquisitely crafted, with fluent and lucid language, rivaling the original.
Of course, now that we have our Master Yuan, the "human translator", we don't have to bother these masters.
Although Wells was nearly thirty years older than Xu Zhimo, he was very fond of the young Chinese man, and the two even planned to translate modern Chinese novels together.
As a fellow science fiction writer , Wells had a strong affinity for Neo Yuan, whom he had never met. For these two reasons, he came to this cultural salon run by this "younger generation" dedicated to Master Yuan.
“Beep, beep, beep!”
Before they could enter, another car arrived.
This time, the person who got out of the car was an English gentleman whom Master Yuan knew.
Upon seeing this handsome man who was less than 40 years old, Xu Zhimo's face showed excitement and he greeted him warmly: "Mr. Kaihensi, great! We meet again!"
Xu Zhimo admired this new guest very much, especially his "fearless spirit of resistance to the world". He also wrote an introductory article entitled "Kaihensi", calling him a representative of British national political genius.
This is also the first Chinese article about this genius...
After Mr. Kaihensi, there came a sinologist Arthur Waley, a poet Laurence Binyon, and a painter Roger Fry.
These three were members of the evil society and also good friends Xu Zhimo made during this period.
A brief introduction: Wei Lei and Bian Yin were both scholars working at the British Museum, with the former being the latter's subordinate. Wei Lei spoke highly of Xu Zhimo, calling him "a treasure that China gave to Britain after the war."
Fu Laiyi, one of the greatest art critics of the 20th century, was once a master appraiser in Europe's top collecting circles. Later, he turned his interest to modern art and became the name and main interpreter of the Post-Impressionist painting movement. His knowledge of Chinese painting, calligraphy, and seal carving all came from Xu Zhimo.
While these people were eating buffet in the living room, the door was knocked again. This time, the guest brought in by the hostess was a Seres.
"Chen, you're late!" Willis said in a blaming tone.
The young man, who was no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old, had an elegant temperament and a handsome face and said with a smile, "I'm sorry, Herbert... and everyone else."
Chen and Willis were good friends, and it was this Chinese man who introduced Willis to Xu Zhimo. It was also he who brought Xu Zhimo into this high-class circle.
At this time, Xu Zhimo also spoke up and asked in Chinese: "Tong Bo, why are you so late?"
This man, whose surname was Chen, given name Yuan, and courtesy name Tongbo, came to England in 1912 to attend secondary school, first at the University of Edinburgh and then at the London School of Economics.
By the way, he is also a fellow Wuxi native of our Master Yuan, and the cousin of Wu Zhihui, a famous figure in the Republic of China.
Of course, the pen name he would use in the future would be even more famous.
Of course, the green hat he will wear in the future will also be very famous.
"My friends, you should blame me, you should thank me. I brought you the latest issue of The Atlantic Magazine."
He distributed the magazines he had on hand to everyone, saying, "This contains Mr. Yuan... Dr. Yuan's latest novel, 'The Rural Teacher'!"
"Oh, is that the science fiction novel that Mr. Einstein read three times in a row?" Willis became very interested and immediately grabbed a copy and started reading it.
Of course, these cultural celebrities were also very curious about "The Country Teacher". After getting the "Atlantic Magazine", they did not even bother to eat and buried their heads in reading like Willis.
Seeing this situation, Xu Zhimo felt a sense of pride in his heart.
He certainly knew that everyone present was a highly qualified scholar and writer, and that these great scholars and writers were actually looking forward to an English novel written by a Serbian. As a Serbian, he felt proud of it.
Xu Zhimo couldn't help but wonder what his "my friend Yuan Yanshu" was doing now?
