Chapter 634 Hugo Is Here (2)

Once there was a group of exiles who were not accepted by the world. They left their homes and fled from the Roman cities in the north and east into a vast and flat lagoon.

(A lagoon refers to a local seawater area separated from the open sea by a sand spit, sand bar or coral reef.)

Fresh water from land rivers and salt water from the Adriatic Sea meet and merge here, and the rivers bring a lot of organic matter to form a resource-rich fishing ground.

At high tide, there are small islands here. At low tide, there are shallows divided by the river.

Some islands formed by gravel and river accumulation help protect this lagoon from seawater invasion; pine trees grow densely 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 dead than it looks.

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

This is undoubtedly a place suitable for seclusion, with only the sound of insects, birds, and wind and waves.

The exiles were attracted by the source of light. They found an island. Then a surging voice told them:

"This is the land promised by God"

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

Hugo naturally knew this, and even knew about Venice's former glory and fall.

The "Queen of the Adriatic" had become a "prisoner" of the Austrian Empire at this time. The Venetians lived in dire straits, with business shrinking and people's livelihood declining.

The above are the most commonly used introductions in French newspapers, but Hugo at this time felt that the busyness here was simply a disaster.

Various ships of different sizes came in and out of this ancient port city, and the docks were crowded with workers ready to go to work, but this still could not relieve the pressure of freight.

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

The workers were meticulously putting them into the warehouse or moving them to the ship. Even so, they could still hear the captain and the owner shouting like they were slaughtering pigs, as if the louder the shouting could speed up the process.

Sweat odor, foot odor, the salty smell of the sea breeze, and the fishy smell. A large group of fishmongers were holding various fish and shouting loudly:

"Snapper! Salmon! Whitefish! All kinds of fish! Fresh! Come and buy them!"

Hugo looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that the wooden barrels were filled with various kinds of fish, as well as scallops, starfish, seaweed and other things.

Suddenly, a smelly fish head appeared in front of him, and a pair of dead fish eyes stared at Mr. Hugo, scaring him so much that he quickly took two steps back.

But the fishmonger still insisted.

"Sir! Good taste! My fish is the freshest in Venice! Here is this black fish for you to see."

The fishmonger took out a black fish from the barrel and stuffed it into Mr. Hugo's mouth without saying anything. The latter was hit several times by the fish tail unexpectedly, and the fishy smell made him flustered.

Even more unfortunately, he stepped on a dead fish left on the roadside, so he flew into the air. The black fish in his hand wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but the fishmonger quickly grabbed it in the air and stuffed it into the barrel again.

"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 hand.

Hugo's politeness and funnyness shocked the fishmonger, so the latter came closer and said.

"To be honest, sir. I can tell you at a glance that you are not an ordinary person. Let me tell you a secret.

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

Mr. Hugo was also shocked. He was impressed by the other party's imagination and creativity, but he couldn't stand the fact that he lied with his eyes open, so he decided to follow the other party's words and asked.

"Mermaid princess from Atlantis? Why is she black? And so ugly, I think she is more like a princess from R'lyeh."

The fishmonger said with emotion.

"Hey, this is all the fault of the Americans! Since Columbus discovered the New World in the 15th century, Americans, British, and Portuguese have been constantly throwing that kind of black "goods" into the deep sea.

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

Hugo looked at the "sincere" eyes of the fishmonger, and then looked at the fish in the wooden barrel that was as dark as the abyss, and asked for some unknown reason.

"How much?"

"From your accent, you are from France, right? Some Parisian accent."

"Can you tell from that?"

"Of course! Parisians are all very friendly friends! Then I'll give you 20% off, 80 francs!"

This price is normal for Hugo, a "Parisian", but although he is a noble, he is not without life experience.

Hugo was coldly treated when he was a boarding house when he was a child, and he was also short of money 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 much?" Edmond replied: "A sea fish shipped from Provence is worth 100 francs."

Getting back to the point, Hugo said directly, "Forty francs!"

"This is the princess of Atlantis!"

"She's black! Forty francs, leave if you don't sell it."

"No! No! No! You're really good at bargaining, forty is forty! Just consider it as making friends."

The fishmonger handed the bucket to Hugo generously, and the latter took the bucket with one hand, and the other hand was still 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 continue our journey again!"

On the other hand, Hugo carried the bucket to an uninhabited sea cliff.

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

Hugo said so much that he laughed himself, then lifted the bucket and let the black fish return to the sea.

Hugo carried the bucket and prepared 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 up instantly, and its upper body gradually turned into a human shape until it fell into the sea and disappeared, leaving only a pool of foam.

Andersen, who was fishing and collecting folk songs at the seaside, witnessed all this.

He only saw a man turn away, and a half-man, half-fish female creature fell into the water and disappeared.

"Ah! This is such a wonderful love!" Then he began to write furiously.

When Hugo left the port, a large group of carriage drivers surrounded him and asked him enthusiastically in various languages.

"Good afternoon, sir!"

There was even a coachman who greeted him in French, which changed Hugo's attitude towards this country, so he answered in French.

"Hello!"

"Hey! Brothers, there is a French guy (big complainer) here!" (Venetian dialect)

I wish you all a happy Children's Day!