I was a god in the 18th century

Chapter 338 The one who watches the scenery becomes the scenery

Whether Jane brought the manuscript or not did not stop Xia Qingdai from discussing it with her enthusiastically.

She discussed not only the contents of the book, but also many things outside the book.

For example, what is Darcy's wealth? Why does he have property in London? Why does he only live in Pomboli for half a year? Does he live in London for the rest of the year? What do some of the metaphors in the book imply?

But Jane Austen was not very interested in these topics, and she was not very keen on analyzing the texts she had written.

Perhaps for the author, after the work is written, it no longer belongs to him/her, but to the readers.

There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, and readers are free to interpret it however they want.

It is said that "Dream of Red Mansions" is the Oriental noble lady and "Pride and Prejudice" is the Western pretty lady.

There are many people in the East and West who have studied these two books, and they have supported a large group of people who make a living from literature. As long as everyone's interpretation is logically closed and self-consistent, it seems to be fine.

Xia Qingdai no longer insisted on discussing the meaning behind it, but her eyes lit up when she discussed Darcy, which made Owen, who seemed to be reading a book very seriously, prick up his ears from time to time.

It is now certain that not only Xia Qingdai was interested in Jane Austen's manuscripts, but Irving was also very interested in them.

What kind of gentleman is worthy of such praise from the goddess? Owen was so curious that he wanted to take a good look and learn from him.

But now it was snowing outside, and there was no sign of it stopping, so it was obviously impossible to drive to the parsonage to get the manuscript.

Before taking a nap, Xia Qingdai put on an 18th-century leather cape and the cape's hood, and played happily in the snow outside in the wind and snow, just like Monkey King who had been pressed down by the Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years and had just been freed.

After a day and a night of snow, the entire Fucui Villa was covered in silver, looking exceptionally charming.

Xia Qingdai wore small leather boots and jumped on the still soft snow to paint and have snowball fights, which was very relaxing.

The icy cold snow hits my neck and rolls into my clothes, it feels cool, refreshing and exciting.

Jane and Owen accompanied Xia Qingdai in having fun, while Miss Bai and Caroline sat quietly in front of the warm fireplace and chatted.

From time to time, the two of them turned their heads to look outside the window at the happy Xia Qingdai trio, with a look of delighted delight on their faces.

Is this how southerners look at snow and northerners look at southerners?
It is really hard to understand why Xia Qingdai looks so naive, and yet her cousin Owen wants to accompany her in her madness.

Caroline absolutely did not believe that cousin Owen loved snow so much. It was inconsistent with his usually calm temperament.

Last winter, there was a severe snowstorm across Britain. Her father became seriously ill due to the heavy snow. He had a high fever and eventually died.

These days, a bad cold can be fatal.

She really couldn't convince herself to join them in the fun, and even though this was a good opportunity to get closer to her cousin Owen, she was unwilling to take the risk.

After all, if she gets sick and loses her life, what meaning will marriage and men have for her?

Miss Bai had similar ideas to Caroline, and she did not want to marry someone above her station, nor did she intend to please Owen in any special way. She had realized clearly that the person she should please the most in this castle was her cousin Xia Qingdai.

As long as she taught the cousin well, she might never be unemployed. There were tutors who stayed with a lady for her whole life in the noble families of Europe at that time. She could choose to be a tutor when the lady was unmarried, and a housekeeper after she got married.

Logically speaking, if she wanted to please Xia Qingdai, she should play in the snow with them.

But she really couldn't overcome the psychological barrier because her grandmother died in last year's heavy snow.

Snow was not a good thing for people during the Little Ice Age.

Snow means traffic paralysis, cold weather, and inconvenience in travel. Coal is expensive, cotton clothes are expensive, and food is expensive. Everything is unfriendly to the poor.

"I didn't expect cousin Owen to do something like this. What's so fun about snow? They are so crazy. I'm just worried that they will catch cold." Caroline frowned and said speechlessly.

"Well, maybe it doesn't snow in the East. I'm sure now that dear summer must come from the East. You know, the newspapers say that the lower-class women in East India don't even wear tops because the weather is too hot. It's summer all year round there."

"Oh, my God!" Caroline's eyes widened in shock, covering her mouth. "Really? Are there really women who don't wear tops because it's too hot? Nothing at all? Not even a shirt?"

"No, not a piece of cloth. I have seen paintings from East India." Miss Bai was very sure.

Every day after Owen finished reading the newspaper subscribed by Fucui Villa, it would fall into Miss Bai's hands, and she would read it along with him.

If you want to understand the world while living in the countryside, you must take the initiative to explore knowledge.

She herself cannot afford the knowledge tax of the newspaper, but she can borrow from the employer. There is nothing shameful in seeking knowledge.

Caroline still expressed doubts about Miss Bai's solemn words, mainly because she found it hard to imagine that there would be a woman in the world who did not wear a top.

Even if she died of heat, she would never do such a thing. What kind of civilized depression is this, a barbaric tribe!

If Xia Qingdai heard what they were talking about now, she would definitely roll her eyes and complain, "Why not eat meat porridge?"

Don’t you ever think about who is responsible for the fact that others have no clothes to wear?
Among all the world's powers, colonial plunder is the most popular, and Britain is a colonial power.

If it weren't for the British plunder and exploitation of India, the common people would not have been exploited to the point where they had to pay taxes even for wearing a shirt.

Do they not want to wear it? They just can’t afford it!

When a person has trouble even having enough food and clothing, how can he talk about shame?

It has always been the case that when the granaries are full, people know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. The ancestors of the Chinese nation had already accurately summarized this phenomenon more than 2,000 years ago.

When everyone in the castle was too frightened by the snow to move, Xia Qingdai, who was having fun in the snow, suddenly said, "Hey, Jane, let's walk to your house to get the manuscript. We've been in the snow for so long anyway."

As long as it is not sleet, the snow will not melt immediately after it falls, so even if they don't hold an umbrella in the snow, they won't get wet.

However, if they really chose to cross the town to the parsonage on a snowy day to pick up the manuscript, it would be obvious that they would become the hot topic of the whole town tomorrow.

After all, in this age of entertainment scarcity, any bit of gossip from the upper class can become a topic of conversation for common people after dinner.

It was not uncommon for a gentleman to take two ladies out to play in the snow on a snowy day, but walking nearly two miles - four miles round trip - was definitely big news.