Chapter 952 951 [Danmo Club Gathering]

In the first half of the 20th century, there were two very important literary creation groups in the United Kingdom, namely the "Bloomsbury Group" in London and the "Dark Mo Society" (transliterated as "Hard Guest Lin") in Oxford.

When Xu Zhimo, Ling Shuhua and others formed the "Crescent Society", they adopted the "Bloomsbury Group" model, which brought together poets, writers, scientists, philosophers, politicians, etc. to gather in the form of a salon, and then Expand your influence by publishing magazines and setting up bookstores.

The difference between the "Crescent Society" and the "Bloomsbury Group" lies in their ideological concepts and moral concepts. The latter is so avant-garde that it can destroy people's outlook even in the 21st century.

The "Bloomsbury Group" emphasizes intrinsic value. As long as you can recognize truth, goodness and beauty in your heart and do not affect others, then it doesn't matter what you do. Therefore, they pursue pleasure, oppose monogamy, and have complicated relationships with each other. Multiple sexual partners, same-sex couples, etc. are the norm.

This kind of moral concept was very scary at the beginning of the 20th century. Just think about Turing being persecuted to death because he was gay after World War II. The "Bloomsbury Group" actually had a lot of fun after World War I. Sexual partners and same-sex partners.

It must be said that the 1920s was a period of chaos, whether in Europe or the United States.

Because of the sequelae of the war (World War I) and the rapid development of the post-war economy, all kinds of weird ideas and weird characters emerged one after another. Western society as a whole has entered a crazy era of extreme self-pursuit (including the proliferation of pacifism and fascism). ).

In the 20 years between World War I and World War II, Western society was very tolerant of heterogeneous people, and even respected them. After World War II, this kind of tolerance and freedom was suppressed, resulting in Turing's homosexual tragedy. It was not until the 1970s that it became open again, and reached its peak in the 1980s.

Therefore, Zhou Hexuan dared to establish the so-called "Flying Noodle Cult" at Oxford University in 1940 in front of many devout believers. This point in time can be regarded as the tail end of a crazy era. It will not attract terrible pressure from public opinion and can even attract countless young people pursuing their own self.

As for another literary society, the "Dark Ink Society", the representatives are Tolkien and Lewis. This is a Christian society, and most of the members are Christians; it is also a straight men's society, all men. In 1943, the female writer Dorothy Sayers wanted to apply to join, but was directly rejected.

The "Eagle and Child Tavern" near Oxford University is a regular meeting place for the "Tan Mo Society". "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" were born here - Tolkien and Lewis met to write each other while drinking. A work of fantasy.

This pub later became a holy place for Lord of the Rings fans, with countless Lord of the Rings fans coming to worship every year.

On Friday, Zhou Hexuan gave a lecture at Oxford University. On Saturdays and Sundays, he was pulled by the Oxford students who were eager to join the church. Together they created the "Flying Spaghetti Bible" and "The Flying Spaghetti Gospel" in the library, and established various religious rituals in the church.

The prayer and mantra is "Don't care", which corresponds to the Christian "God bless", the Buddhist "Amitabha" and so on.

The end of the prayer is to add an "R" in front of "Amen", which means Ramen, which means noodles.

When the Flying Spaghetti Cult gathers, each member must wear a pot on his head. The priest responsible for praying not only has to wear a pot, but also holds a big spoon in his hand. This spoon is the scepter of the Flying Spaghetti Cult. Oxford students even plan to raise funds to build a super big spoon for Zhou Hexuan to represent the supremacy of the Pope. stick.

The funny thing is that two Oxford professors have also joined the church, and they even plan to preach in London and Cambridge when they have time.

In just three days, there were as many as 14 followers of the Flying Spaghetti Cult, including 1 pope, 1 archbishop, 3 prophets, 6 saints, and 4 noodle eaters.

Just when a ridiculous farce was over and Zhou Hexuan was about to leave Oxford, he suddenly received an invitation to a party at the "Dan Mo Society", and a group of straight Christians wanted to invite Zhou Hexuan to drink. And only Zhou Hexuan could participate, and everyone else was looked down upon by Tolkien and others. As for Ma Jue, even if she could catch their eye, it would be impossible to get permission for the gathering because she is a woman.

…

Tuesday, Eagle and Child Tavern.

Unlike the prosperity of the 21st century, the tavern at this time was still surrounded by fields, and even occasionally hares broke in and scurried under the feet of the drinkers. This kind of situation is impossible to encounter in China. As long as the hare dares to come, there will be countless people who "wait for the hare". The rabbits often end up eating the pot and then serving it to the table.

The second room after entering the tavern is the gathering place for Tolkien and others.

As soon as Zhou Hexuan opened the door and walked in, Tolkien held up a beer glass and said with a smile: "Hey, everyone, please stand up and salute, the Pope is here!"

A group of straight Christian men stood up collectively and said cheerfully to the Pope of the Flying Spaghetti Cult: "Welcome to His Majesty the Pope! The Pope is late and must be punished with a glass of beer."

It was just a glass of beer, and Zhou Hexuan immediately drank from it while Tolkien and Lewis also began to introduce others.

The person sitting in the back is called Warren, an officer and Lewis's younger brother. The man next to Warren is called Humphrey. He is a doctor by profession and graduated from Oxford University. Sitting with his back to the door was Neville Coghill, an expert on Middle English. The man next to Tolkien is Charles Williams, also a professor and author. The last person was Hugo Dyson, a professor of English literature at the University of Reading, who came to Oxford by train to attend the party.

There are four basic criteria for participating in the "Danmo Club" gatherings - being a man, understanding literature, being able to drink, and being able to brag.

Before we even talked about literature, Zhou Hexuan first punished himself with one drink, and then everyone drank five more drinks. This isn't a literary club at all, it's a drinking club!

After drinking and joking, this group of straight Christian men never mentioned anything about FSM because they knew that the debate would lead to no results.

Tolkien burped and asked, "Guys, please bring out your new works."

Lewis' brother Warren, an officer, stood up and said, "I recently wrote a poem about the bombing of London."

"Read it quickly!" Doctor Humphrey cheered.

Warren recited loudly and passionately: "Over London, there are scavenging vultures hovering. They are the abandoned children of God and the apostles of the devil..."

A long English poem with a big concept for five minutes. The level is considered average. It is still a galaxy away from a classic. Zhou Hexuan strongly doubted that Warren was able to join the "Dimo Society" purely because of his brother Lewis's credit.

Warren asked expectantly: "How do you feel?"

Coghill, an expert on Middle English, said: "There are two obvious grammatical errors, and the rhyme in the second stanza is also a problem."

It was tiring to be friends with a bunch of big guys, so Warren could only ask for advice humbly, nodding his head and admitting his mistake like his grandson.

Hugo Dyson suddenly put down his beer glass and asked Tolkien: "Where is your "The New Hobbit"? I took the train from Berkshire specifically to listen to your story."

Tolkien drank a full glass of beer and said, "I've been in a bad mood lately. A water pipe burst at home, and writing of The New Hobbit has been stopped."

"Stop writing?" Hugo Dyson was immediately angry. "Last year you said you could finish the final chapter in spring, in summer you said you could finish it in winter, and in autumn you said you would stop writing! Have your water pipes been repaired? I'll help. You repair, but you must write the latest chapter of "The New Hobbit"!"

Tolkien regretted: "I'm sorry, I've been stuck recently and have no inspiration at all."

Hugo Dyson said with a dark face: "Friend, I want to kill you!"

Tolkien spread his hands and said: "Then you will never want to see the ending of "The New Hobbit"."

Charles Williams quickly changed the subject and asked Lewis: "Where is your "A Wandering to Venus"?"

Lewis had not yet started writing the magical work "The Chronicles of Narnia" at this time, but was writing the second part of the science fiction work "The Space Trilogy". He was not like Tolkien's procrastinator, who immediately picked up the manuscript he had brought and read his new manuscript aloud while drinking.

This is the tradition of the "Danmo Club". Before the members' new works are published, they must read them aloud in the pub and let their friends evaluate them, including "The Lord of the Rings".

"Snap, snap, snap!"

Everyone applauded and expressed their great satisfaction with the new chapter of "Wandering on Venus", and gave all kinds of praise and praise.

Lewis showed appropriate modesty and said with a smile: "Among today's science fiction novelists, the one I admire most is Mr. Zhou. His "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" is simply a great realistic fable."

I'm afraid the original author Yoshiki Tanaka never thought that magic master Lewis would praise "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" so highly.

Although this novel was criticized by many readers of later generations as a YY novel, it would have been very interesting if it was written before World War II. It contains various allusions to Hitler, and also discusses fascism, democracy and war, and discusses anti-war issues such as "human beings can never learn lessons from history". It also touches on deeper religious and philosophical topics.

Everyone was bragging about science fiction literature for a long time, and the topic gradually shifted to fantasy literature. First, it discusses "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", which was also born in Oxford, and then discusses how to express Christian doctrine in the magical world.

Tolkien had a dispute with Lewis and Williams. The former believed that Christianity and God should not appear directly in magical works, and only core doctrinal ideas need to be expounded. The latter two believe that God is everywhere and should not create a magical world without God.

Then the three began to bet and agreed to write different fantasy novels.

After Tolkien finished speaking, he turned back and asked Zhou Hexuan: "Mr. Zhou, your "Goddess" is very exciting, with many religious myths and legends. Have you ever thought about directly creating a magical world and writing a great magical work in the future?"

Zhou Hexuan said happily: "Okay. I can write it now and publish it after the war is won. Well, the name will be "A Song of Ice and Fire"."