The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 637 Hugo is Coming (2)

There was once a group of exiles who were not accepted by the world. They fled from the Roman cities in the north and east into a vast and flat lagoon.

(A lagoon refers to a localized area of ​​seawater separated from the open sea by sand spits, sand bars, or coral reefs.)
Fresh water from land rivers and salt water from the Adriatic meet and merge here, while the rivers bring a lot of organic matter here to form a rich fishing ground.

At high tide, there are small islands here.At low tide, this is a shoal divided by the river.

Islands of sand and river deposits help protect the lagoon from the sea; pine trees grow thickly on these islands.

The shallows are covered with reeds and weeds, and a large number of animals and fish live in them.This desolate swamp area is far less lifeless than it seems.

It is not far from the Italian peninsula, the center of Roman civilization, but it is indeed a desolate place with few people.

There is no doubt that this is a place suitable for seclusion, only the sound of insects, birds, and wind and waves.

The exiles couldn't help being attracted by that source of light.They found an island.Then a tidal voice told them:
“This is the Land Promised by God”

That's right!There is a promised land.This is one of the best-known origin stories of Venice.

Hugo naturally knew this, and even knew the glory and fall of Venice.

The "Queen of the Adriatic Sea" had become a "prisoner" of the Austrian Empire at this time, and the Venetians were living in dire straits, with business shrinking and people's livelihood in decline.
The above are the most commonly used introductions in French newspapers, but at this time Hugo feels that the busyness here is simply a disaster.

Ships of various sizes came and went in and out of this ancient port city, and the wharf was crowded with workers ready to go to work, but this still could not relieve the pressure on freight.

The port here is too small for the Austrian Empire at this time, and the docks are full of piles of goods.

The workers are meticulously putting it into the warehouse or moving it to the ship. Even so, they will still hear the shouts of the captain and the cargo owner like killing pigs, as if the louder the shouting, the faster it will be.

Sweat, feet, salty sea air, and fish.A large group of fishmongers are holding up all kinds of fish and shouting loudly:

"Snapper! Salmon! Big white fish! There are all kinds of fish! It's fresh! Come and buy it!"

Hugo followed the reputation and saw that the barrels were filled with all kinds of miscellaneous fish, as well as scallops, starfish, seaweed and the like.

Suddenly a smelly fish head appeared in front of him, with a pair of dead fish eyes staring at Mr. Hugo, causing the latter to take two steps back in fright.

But the fishmonger still said relentlessly.

"Sir! Good eyesight! My fish is the freshest in Venice! Let me show you this black fish."

As he said that, the fishmonger involuntarily pulled out a black fish from the bucket and stuffed it to Mr. Hugo. The latter was unexpectedly slapped several times by the tail of the fish, and the stench made him flustered even more.

What was even more unfortunate was that he stepped on another dead fish left by the roadside, so he jumped up into the air. The black fish in his hand wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but was caught by the fishmonger in the air and stuffed into the wood again. in the barrel.

"This is terrible! Can I not buy it? Sir." Hugo propped himself up with one hand, and put his wide-brimmed felt hat on his head with the other.

The fishmonger was a little shocked by Hugo's politeness and antics, so the latter leaned closer and said.

"To tell you the truth, sir. I can see at a glance that you are not ordinary, and I will tell you a secret.

This is not an ordinary fish, but the mermaid princess of the underwater world Atlantis. "

Mr. Hugo was also shocked. He lamented the other party's imagination and creativity, but he still couldn't bear to open his eyes and tell nonsense, so he decided to follow the other party's words and ask.

"The mermaid princess of Atlantis? Then why is she black? And so ugly, I think it's almost the same as the princess of R'lyeh."

The fishmonger said quite emotionally.

"Hey, it's all the Americans' fault! Since Columbus discovered the New World in the fifteenth century, the Americans, British, and Portuguese have been dropping black 'goods' into the deep sea.'

Over the years, there have always been a few Atlanteans with strong tastes, you know. "

Hugo looked at the "sincere" eyes of the fishmonger, then at the dark fish in the wooden barrel like an abyss, and asked mysteriously.

"how much is it?"

"Your accent is from France, isn't it? Some Parisian accents."

"Can you hear all this?"

"Of course! Parisians are fat, very friendly friends! Then I will give you a 80% discount, [-] francs!"

This price is quite normal for Hugo, a "Parisian". Although he is a nobleman, he is not without life experience.

Hugo was treated coldly when he was boarding in other people's homes when he was a child, and he was also in short supply when he was young.

The price of sea fish here refers to the plot in "The Count of Monte Cristo":
The bishop of Abuja asked Edmond if he liked to eat sea fish, and Edmond replied that he hadn't eaten it for a long time because it was too expensive.

The bishop of Abuja asked: "How expensive?" Edmond replied: "A sea fish shipped from Provence costs one hundred francs."

Closer to home, Hugo said directly, "Forty francs!"

"This is the princess of Atlantis!"

"She's black! Forty francs, and she's gone."

"Don't! Don't! Don't! You are really good at bargaining, forty is forty! Just make friends."

The fishmonger proudly handed the barrel to Hugo, who took the barrel with one hand, while the other hand remained in the air.

The former looked at the latter with some doubts.

"Victor Hugo, nice to meet you."

The fishmonger wiped his hands quickly and said, "Charles Dickens, nice to meet you too."

After Hugo left, the fishmonger stood up and shouted excitedly.

"Catherine! We have money to travel again!"

On the other hand, Hugo walked to an uninhabited sea cliff with the barrel.

"Don't get caught again, Your Royal Highness Princess of Atlantis."

Hugo made himself laugh when he said that, and then raised the bucket to let the black fish return to the sea.

Hugo was carrying the wooden barrel to go to the market to recover some of the cost, but what he didn't know was that the fish behind him was changing rapidly.

The whole fish swelled instantly, and its upper body gradually turned into a human shape, until it fell into the sea and disappeared without a trace, leaving only a pool of foam.

Andersen, who was fishing at the beach while collecting wind, witnessed all this.

All he saw was a man turning away, and a half-man, half-fish female creature falling into the water and disappearing.

"Ah! This is really a wonderful love!" Then he began to write quickly.
When Hugo left the port, a large group of coachmen surrounded him and asked him enthusiastically in various languages.

"Good afternoon, sir!"

Among them, there was even a coachman who could say hello in French, which changed Hugo's attitude towards this country, so he answered in French.

"Hello!"

"Hey! There's a Frenchman here, brothers!" (Venetian dialect)

　I wish you all a happy Children's Day!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)