Writer 1879: Solitary Journey in France

Chapter 270 Long Live the Commune!

After meeting with King Leo XIII, Lionel stayed in Rome for another week before returning to Paris in late August.

By this time in Paris, the weather had gradually cooled down, and the stench from the Seine had subsided.

The train that Lionel was on passed through tunnels in the Alps, swept past vineyards in Burgundy, and finally pulled slowly into the Saint-Lazare station one afternoon.

The screeching sound of wheels rubbing against the rails, the hawking of vendors on the platform mixed with the cacophony of voices, all felt familiar yet irritating to Lionel.

Through the train window, he saw a dense crowd of people on the platform, at least several hundred, waving flags and banners, their voices clamoring.

Lionel's heart skipped a beat—could it be... a welcome?
The moment the idea popped into his head, even he found it somewhat absurd, yet he couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

"A Study in Scarlet" will be available to readers in Paris in a week. Perhaps it was the enthusiastic readers or the two newspapers that organized this ceremony?
That's definitely it, no doubt about it!
He straightened his coat, which was slightly wrinkled from the long journey, took a deep breath, and tried to appear calm.

After the train came to a complete stop, he picked up his suitcase and followed the flow of people off the train.

The moment his feet touched Parisian soil, the damp air filled his nostrils, and before he could even wave or speak, the roar of the platform immediately overwhelmed him:
“Wayan! Edward Wayan!”

"Welcome home! Long live the commune!"

"Justice will not be absent!"

"The spirit of the commune will never die!"

The crowd surged toward a middle-aged man who was getting off another train.

They surrounded him, shaking hands, hugging, patting his shoulder... greetings and expressions of gratitude filled the air.

Lionel was pushed aside and became an insignificant spectator.

Only then did he realize that a month earlier, Congress had passed a resolution granting amnesty to members of the Paris Commune, allowing all exiles and fugitives to return home.

He spoke with Mr. De La Rouwac about this on his way to the Montmartre workshop.

The man before me, Edward Wayan, is one of the important leaders of the commune and must have just returned from his place of exile, New Caledonia.

Watching Edward Wayan being surrounded by an excited crowd, slowly leaving the platform like a star being worshipped, Lionel's slight vanity from just moments before had long since vanished.

Instead, a peculiar realization emerged.

For the first time, he felt so directly the enormous gap in public opinion between literary creation and social movements.

While literature can also create waves in the real world, it is insignificant compared to the enormous energy involved in social movements.

Flaubert's salons, Zola's Médan, and one's own serialized novels in newspapers... can certainly influence the thoughts and tastes of some people.

But the suffering and ideals that social activists like Edward Wayan experienced can directly ignite the passion of many ordinary people.

This torrent of passion can shake the very foundations of a nation.

The commune has been defunct for ten years, but it still possesses such mobilizing power!

This was just Edward Varyan; he couldn't even imagine what kind of welcome Louise Michel would receive when she returned to Paris.

The woman who said in court, "Because it seems today every heart beating for freedom has the right to a bit of lead (bullet), I demand my share!"

The woman for whom Victor Hugo wrote a poem, saying she was "greater than men"...

Lionel chuckled self-deprecatingly, pulled up his hat brim, and silently merged into the ordinary flow of people outside the station, hailing a horse-drawn carriage.

------

Back in their familiar apartment, Patty and Alice's welcome eased the emotions evoked by the scene at the train station.

Petit's cooking skills improved even more; he learned a few more dishes from Mr. Zola's cook, and the delicious dinner completely soothed his travel fatigue.

Alice helped him organize the books and notes he had brought back, and told him about the huge changes that had taken place in Montiel.

While Lionel was in Rome, she also returned to Montiel and finally saw her parents.

However, she only stayed for a week before rushing back. In the following days, Lionel felt the impact of the amnesty on Paris even more clearly.

It's not just a brief decree in the newspaper; it's become a living voice and story in the café.

His favorite cafes included Café Procop, Café de Flore, and even the communal dining table at the Prince Hotel, where he first met Maupassant…

Nowadays, it's common to see middle-aged and elderly people with weathered faces.

They were the center of attention, speaking French in various accents, passionately recounting their lives in exile in New Caledonia—

The torment of tropical diseases, arduous labor, the death of his companions, and a deep longing for Paris and France.

"...Those rainforests, the insects were bigger than your thumb! We were forced to cut down trees and build barracks like convicts..."

"So many people died... buried in that unfamiliar land, without even a decent tombstone..."

“But we didn’t disgrace Parisians! Even in a place like that, we found ways to study and debate…”

"We have never given up hope! We know that the Republic will not forget her son forever!"

"Look at us now, we're back! This is proof! The era of republic and reconciliation has arrived!"

The audience sometimes sighed in dismay, sometimes erupted in indignant curses, and sometimes raised their glasses in celebration for the narrator's survival and return.

The air was filled with a complex mix of anger and hope.

Artists and poets who used to talk eloquently about literature, art, and philosophy are now consciously keeping their voices down.

The Parisian media stage now belongs to these revolutionaries who survived the ordeal.

All the romantic notions of life seem pale and empty in the face of this real history of blood and fire.

Georges Charpentier complained that newspapers were now filled with political news and no one paid attention to "A Study in Scarlet" anymore.

But Lionel didn't care much. Instead, he would often gather a few friends, sit quietly in a corner, and listen to the survivors' stories.

Even Maupassant, a libertine, admired their willpower: "It's truly remarkable that they could maintain such faith after experiencing so much suffering."

Lionel nodded, realizing that this amnesty was not merely a political reconciliation, but was reshaping the collective sentiment of the French Republic.

------

One afternoon in late August, Lionel was reading a book in his study when Alice knocked on the door and came in.

Alice lowered her head, her face flushed, and asked, "Leon, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"

Lionel looked surprised. "Tomorrow? Nothing special should happen. What's wrong?"

Alice seemed to have made a great decision before saying, "I think... I think I'd like you to take me to see Mr. De La Ruwak."

Lionel was even more surprised: "Mr. De La Ruwak?"

She had met this senior notary when she last visited Montmartre.

But why did Alice suddenly want to see him?
He recalled Alice's previous identity: "Are there any follow-up questions regarding your identity documents?"

Then he felt it was too serious and joked, "It's still 15 centimes a page for copying, and the accounts have become so complicated that a notary needs to be involved?"

Alice's face flushed slightly, but her tone was serious: "No, Leon. It's...it's some business."

I would like to seek Mr. De La Ruwak's professional advice.

Lionel put down his book completely: "Business?"

He looked at Alice as if he were meeting her for the first time.

(End of this chapter)