When they talked about love, they set off a heated debate about an old question that will never end: can a person love seriously only once or how many times? Someone gave an example of someone who has only seriously loved once; Others cite people who have been madly in love many times as examples. Generally speaking, men think that love, like a disease, can attack the same person more than once, and even kill him if there are any obstacles in front of them. Although this view is hard to refute, women's views are often based on poetry rather than experience. They think that love, true love and great love can only happen once in a lifetime. Besides, this kind of love is like a bolt from the blue. A heart was hit by it, it has been destroyed, burned and turned into ruins. Any other powerful feelings, even any dreams, can no longer take root in it.
Marquis has loved many times, so he tried to oppose this opinion:
"I think a person can love several times with all his strength and whole soul. You cite those examples of double suicide to prove that there can be no second love. I want to answer you: if they don't commit suicide, they will lose the chance to fall in love again, then their illness will recover, and they will love again and again until they die. The situation of lovers and drunkards is exactly the same. Drink what you have drunk, and love what you have loved. This is entirely a matter of temperament. "
They chose the doctor who used to practice medicine in Paris and retired to the countryside as an arbitrator when he was old. They asked for his advice.
He has no definite opinion.
"As the marquis said, this is a matter of temperament. Take me for example, I have seen such a love affair, which lasted for 55 years without a day's interruption until people died. "
The marquise clapped her hands happily.
"How beautiful! What a great dream to be loved like this! How happy I am, I have been living in unswerving and unforgettable love for 55 years! How happy a man who is so loved should be! How should he praise life! "
The doctor smiled: "Madam, you are right. Is indeed a loved man. You know him, Mr. Shugai, the owner of the village pharmacy. As for that woman, you used to know her, the old woman who came to the mansion every year to repair the upholstered chair. Let me tell you in detail. "
A sudden drop in women's interest; Their faces showed disgust, as if to say, "Bah!" It seems that only those who are educated, prestigious and worthy of the concern of the upper class deserve to enjoy love.
The doctor continued, "Three months ago, I was called to the bedside of a dying old woman. The night before, she came to her house in a carriage. You've all seen old horse-drawn carts. Along with her are her two big black dogs, who are both her friends and her guardians. Father Tang has arrived first. She asked us to be her executor; In order to make us really understand her will, she told us her whole life. I don't know what can be more bizarre and moving than this. "
Both her parents repair upholstered chairs. She has never had a permanent residence.
She has been wandering around since she was a child, dressed in rags and covered with lice, which is unbearable. When they arrived at a village, they stopped at the roadside ditch at the entrance of the village, unloaded the horse pulling the cart and let it eat grass; Dog, lie on the ground, put your nose on your paws for a while, close your eyes and sleep; The little girl is rolling on the grass, and her parents are repairing old chairs collected from the local area under the elm trees on the roadside. People who live in this mobile house seldom talk. They shouted the familiar phrase "Fix the chair!" In order to decide who will be that person. Go door to door, beat about the bush, have to say a few words. After talking, I began to sit face to face or side by side and rub the wheat straw. If the child runs too far, or wants to deal with the children in the village, her father will angrily call her, "Come back quickly, smelly girl!" " "This is the only good word she has ever heard.
When she grew up, they asked her to collect broken chair cushions. So she met several children here and there; But from now on, it's her new friend's parents' turn to shout at their children, "Come here, naughty boy! Look at you talking to the poor beggar! ……"
The children often throw stones at her.
Some wives gave her some sous, which she kept carefully.
One day-she was eleven years old-she passed by and met Xiao Shugai behind the cemetery. A classmate robbed him of two small copper coins, and he was crying there. A child of a rich family, according to the small head of a homeless and unemployed person, should be a child who is always satisfied with happiness, and even shed tears, which deeply touched her heart. She went over and wanted to know why he was sad, so she poured all her savings, seven sous, into his hands. He wiped his tears and accepted the money honestly. She was so happy that she dared to kiss him. He only looked at the money in his hand and followed her. Seeing that she was neither rejected nor beaten, she kissed him again. She hugged him tightly, kissed him warmly and ran away. What's going on in this poor head? Did she fall in love with that boy because she gave him all the property she got from wandering, or because she gave him her first tender kiss? This is a mystery to both children and adults.
For months, she has been thinking about this corner of the cemetery and the child. In order to see him again, she reported false accounts to her parents when repairing chairs or buying vegetables, earning a Sue here and a Sue there.
When she came here again, she already had two francs in her pocket, but she could only look at the neatly dressed little boss through the window of his father's pharmacy, between a bottle of red potion and a tapeworm.
However, it made her love him more. The bright colors of liquid medicine and the gorgeous flash of crystal glass attracted her, touched her and made her ecstatic.
She has an indelible memory in her heart. The next year, she met him playing marbles with his classmates behind the school. She threw herself on him, hugged him and kissed him desperately, which made him scream. To calm him down, she gave him money: three francs and twenty centimes, which is really a lot of money. He stared at it with wide eyes.
He took the money and let her caress him as much as she could.
In four years, she put all her savings into his hands. He put the money in his pocket with peace of mind, because it was the price he agreed to kiss. Once it was thirty sous, once it was two francs, once it was twelve sous (she was sad and ashamed and cried, but this year's situation was really bad), and finally it was five francs and a big round coin, which made him laugh very happily.
She only thinks about him. As for him, he is a little anxious for her arrival. As soon as he saw her, he rushed to meet her, which made the little girl's heart thump.
Later, he disappeared. He was sent to middle school to study. She found it in a roundabout way. So she took countless ingenious measures to change her parents' route and let them pass by here during the holiday. She finally succeeded, but it took a year to calculate. She hasn't seen him for two years, and almost doesn't recognize him, because he has changed so much. He is tall and beautiful, and the student dress wearing his golden button looks very proud. He pretended not to see her and walked past her proudly.
She cried for two days, and since then, she has endured endless pain.
Every year, she comes back and walks past him, but she is afraid to say hello to him; He didn't even bother to look at her. She is madly in love with him. She said to me, "He is the only man in my eyes, doctor; I didn't know there were other men in the world. "
Her parents died, and she continued to do their business, but she kept not one dog, but two dogs, two vicious dogs that no one dared to mess with.
One day, she went back to the village that she never forgot, and saw a young woman coming out of Shugai pharmacy holding her sweetheart's arm. That's his wife. He's married.
That night, she jumped into the pond on the village government square. A drunk passing by late at night saved her and took her to the drugstore. Xiao Shu in pajamas went downstairs to treat her. He pretended not to know her, took off her clothes and gave her a massage, and then snapped at her, "You are crazy! It shouldn't be so stupid! "
That's enough to cure her. He talked to her! For a long time, he felt very happy.
In any case, she had to pay the medical bill, but he refused to accept it.
So her life passed. While repairing the chair, she thought about ShuGai. Every year she looks at him through the glass window. She often buys some strange medicines in his pharmacy. In this way, she can visit him, talk to him and give him money.
As I told you at the beginning, she died this spring. After she told me her sad history from beginning to end, she asked me to give all her life savings to the people she loved wholeheartedly. Because, according to her own statement, she works for him. In order to save some money so that he will think of her at least once after her death, she even often goes hungry.
So she gave me 2327 francs. After her death, I left Father Tang 27 francs as funeral expenses, and I took the rest with me.
The next day, I went to the Shugai couple's house. They sat face to face and had just finished breakfast. Both of them are chubby, rosy-faced, and proud, which is also commonly known as the darling, and they smell of medicine.
They asked me to sit down and poured me a glass of cherry wine. After I took it, I excitedly explained my purpose. I'm sure they will cry after hearing it.
Shugai just heard me say that this wandering woman, this woman who repairs upholstered chairs, and this woman who runs the dock love him, and she jumped with anger. It seems that Liu Qi stole his good reputation, the dignity of a gentleman and his honor, which are more precious to him than life.
His wife was as angry as he was and said, "This stinking beggar! This stinking beggar! This stinking beggar! ..... "There seems to be nothing else to say.
He stood up and paced up and down behind the table, his nightcap tilted to one ear. He mumbled, "Doctor, do you understand the significance of this matter? For a man, this thing is really terrible! What are we going to do? If I knew she was alive, I would call the police, arrest her and throw her in prison. I can guarantee that she will never get out! "
I was shocked, but I didn't expect my kindness to become like this. I simply don't know what to say or do. But because of people's trust, people finally have to deal with it. So I said, "She asked me to give you her savings, which is 2300 francs in total. Since what I just said seems to make you very unhappy, maybe it is better to give this money to the poor. "
The couple were surprised and looked at me blankly.
I took money out of my pocket, and this tattered money was mixed with various countries, patterns, gold and copper. I asked again, "How do you decide?"
Mrs. Shugai first spoke: "Since this is the last wish of this woman ... I think it is difficult for us to refuse."
Her husband said shyly, "We can always buy something for our children with this money."
I said coldly, "Suit yourself."
He added, "Since she entrusted you, please give it to us." We can always find ways to spend money for charity. "
I put down my money, saluted and left.
The next day, Shugai came to see me. As soon as we met, she asked, "this ... this woman left her car here, didn't she?" What did you do with this car? "
"Haven't finished processing. You want it, you take it. "
"Great, I just need it; I can put it in the vegetable garden as a shed. "
He was just about to leave when I stopped him again: "She left the old horse and two dogs. Do you want it? " He was startled and stopped to say, "No, no". What do you think I need them for? Please feel free to deal with it. "He smiled and held out his hand to me, so I shook it. What can we do? In rural areas, doctors can't go against the drugstore owners.
I left two dogs at home. The priest has a big yard, where he took the horse. The car became a shack with a comfortable cover; He used the money to buy five railway stocks.
This is the love I have ever seen in my life.
The doctor has finished.
The marquise sighed with tears and said, "Seriously, only women know how to love!" "