Volume 2: The crown and the hat are all over the capital, and the spirit is full of energy and enter the foggy city Chapter 231: Part Three (Eleven)
Subtitle of this chapter: The cause of Master Yuan's death was...
"Ladies and gentlemen. As Mr. Yuan's personal lawyer and executor, I will publish his will immediately after his death in accordance with his wishes..."
Mr. John McCall, with a sad face, took out a document, opened it and read aloud: "I made a will on April 28, 1921, and all my property will be handled as follows...
"First, I will give the copyright of A Song of Ice and Fire to my fiancée, Ms. Wei Mingzhu, and I wish her happiness in the future."
Do you always have to flatter your wife? Otherwise, how can you treat each other with respect in the future?
"Secondly, I give the copyright of "Chocolat" to my friend Ms. Enoch Rochelle. Because this novel is based on her and her mother. The film copyright of this novel is given to my friend Ms. Lillian Gish, because only she can play the heroine in my mind."
You have to flatter your lovers, otherwise how can you unlock new positions in the future?
"Third, I will give the copyright of "Detective Dee" to my friend Mr. Louis Baker to thank him for his help to me."
This was certainly not to flatter Mr. Baker, but to appear loyal.
In this way, future generations will know that it was not the grandson of the "Wall Street Miracle" that Yuan Yanshu deliberately got to know, but it was this detective novel lover who took the initiative to get to know him. Wouldn't that become a good story?
"Fourth, I give the copyright of my novel "The Village Teacher" to my friend Mr. Albert Einstein, and the copyright of the novel "The Golden Fleece" to my friend Mr. Nikola Tesla. Apart from these two, I can't think of anyone else who is qualified to own the copyright of these two novels."
This is neither flattery nor loyalty, but pretense. Imagine that someone reading this will in the future will know that our Master Yuan has two awesome scientist friends, so of course he is also awesome.
“Fifth, I am donating the copyright of my book Socialism to the Stern School of Business at New York University.”
This is what should happen, to let everyone know that he has not forgotten his roots.
"Sixth, I gave my car to my driver and I gave $1,000 in cash to my cook."
This is only natural and makes him very humane.
"Sixth, in addition to the above, and minus the debts I still owe, all my properties in the United States will be donated to the SCP Foundation..."
"How much wealth does Mr. Yuan have?"
"It shouldn't be much. I know he did win half a million dollars, but he donated it all to NYU. He's just a novelist now."
"Just a novelist? Look at Theodore Edison here. Mr. Yuan once made a bet with his father, Mr. Edison, and won a full $100,000!"
"Yes, I heard that too. He also transferred 50,000 US dollars of it to Mr. Nikola Tesla over there, saying that it was Edison's compensation to Tesla. This really pissed off Edison..."
"And what about the other fifty thousand dollars?"
"The other 50,000 US dollars was naturally invested in the stock market. In addition, Mr. Yuan is also a major shareholder of New York Public Radio. The two together make up a net worth of at least 300,000 US dollars!"
"Not only that , he seems to have several other companies, including Baisuishan, which sells WU JIA PI. It's worth at least 400,000 US dollars..."
There was a small commotion among the people present, because although they didn't know how much property Neo Yuan had, he must have at least a few hundred thousand dollars.
Do you remember that the grandfather of our Emperor Trump ran a tavern and a brothel all his life? When he died in 1981, he left behind a legacy of only 40,000 US dollars, most of which was real estate.
So our Master Yuan is equivalent to the grandfather of 10 of our Emperor Trump.
"His Majesty the Emperor" coughed heavily, and then everyone quieted down again.
He continued: "That's all about my legacy. So in closing I write a farewell poem for you, my friends:
"I Died for...Handsome..."
Now even the lawyer who was reading the will couldn't help laughing, not to mention those who were listening to it.
“Roar, 'I Died for Handsome'…did I hear that correctly?”
"Haha, I heard it right. He really said he died because of his handsomeness."
"Hahaha, Mr. Yuan is indeed a person who likes to brag!"
"Ahem... I die for being handsome." Mr. McCall did not laugh this time and continued reading in one breath.
"I Died for Handsome, but was scarce adjusted in the tomb."
(I died because of my handsomeness, but I can't rest because of my loneliness.)
“…”
After hearing this, the scene suddenly became quiet.
"When one who died for truth was lain in an adjoining room."
(Until a man who died for the truth lives next door to me.)
"He questioned softly, why I failed?"
(He whispers, "Why are you here?")
"For Handsome." I replied.
(I’ll be honest: “Because he’s too handsome!”)
"Hahaha……"
Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter again.
"And I for truth. The two are one; We brethren are." he said.
(He said, "Oh, then I am for truth. Truth and beauty are one, we are brothers!")
“Hehehe…”
The laughter died down, and everyone unconsciously listened attentively.
"And so, as kinsmen met a night, We talked between the rooms."
("Just like that, like family members meeting at night, we have been talking to each other across the wall ever since.)
“Roar, roar, roar…”
Except for a few who were too slow to react, almost everyone kept their mouths shut.
"Until the moss had reached our lips, And covered up our names."
("Till the moss grows over my lips and wipes our names from the world.")
“…”
The whole place was silent, and you could hear a pin drop!
Well, the situation with this poem is a bit complicated and requires some explanation.
The original version is called "I Died for beauty", which literally means "I died for beauty". Mr. Yu Guangzhong translated it into "Died for beauty".》.
The original author was Emily Dickinson, a prolific female poet who was born in 1830 and died in 1886.
She was born into a lawyer's family, remained unmarried all her life, and after the age of 25, she locked herself up at home and lived like a stay-at-home...the life of a nun.
Emily Dickinson is a little unfamiliar to the people of Serbia. However, the American literary world generally recognizes her as the second greatest poet in the history of American poetry, after Walt Whitman, the author of Leaves of Grass. At the same time, like Whitman, she can be regarded as a pioneer of modernist poetry in the 20th century.
Ms. Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems in her lifetime, but only published seven of them. The rest of the poems were donated to the Harvard University Archives by her cousin, and these poems did not attract the attention of the world until after her death , and gradually appeared in front of the public.
So the poem had indeed been written, but it had not been published publicly in 1921.
It is obvious that our Master Yuan thinks this poem is perfect for him.
He didn't care about anything else and just took it, changed "Beauty" to "Handsome" and wrote it in his "will".
So it became the last of his “Three Old Pieces” - "I Died for Handsomeness".
