Public number: Coconut travel diary
Walk sixty countries and see the world in depth
Guernsey, a tiny island in the English Channel that even most maps overlook. It is a place of unknown origin, and even foreigners who have lived in the UK for several years have never heard of Guernsey, thus avoiding the crowded tourists.
It was included in the territory of the Duchy of Normandy and then annexed by the Duchy of Brittany. During the Middle Ages, pirates and naval forces continued to harass the island, and during World War II, it became an important military base for the German army, and it was not until the end of the war that the island returned to British rule and became part of the Channel Islands. In the years of changing hands, Guernsey has never truly belonged to a single country, nor has it ever been fully autonomous. Even if it is now on the British map, there are still two currencies and two systems.
Climbing up a small hill opposite the port of Guernsey and through dozens of buildings, the white building with the British and French flags is the former home of the French literary master Victor Hugo.
1
Exile in Guernsey
In 1851, due to strong opposition to the coup d'état of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Victor Hugo launched a rebellion to try to stop it, but was persecuted and began to go into exile. He first took refuge in Brussels, Belgium, and then moved to Jersey. Hugo then moved to the neighbouring island of Guernsey. Hugo was expelled here, but the islanders of Guernsey braved the heavy rain to stand on the docks to greet him, as if he had not been exiled here, but had been honorably invited.
Although separated from mainland France by only a water, Hugo initially regarded his exile as a pain out of nostalgia for his homeland and adherence to his own values. Away from the high society and politics of Paris, and with all his works banned and deprived of income in France, Hugo had to once again devote himself to writing.
15 years of exile here made Guernsey an extremely important stop in Hugo's literary creation. He completed three of his novels here, of which Sea Labourer is nothing more than a tribute to Guernsey, "dedicated to this hospitable and free rock reef, to this corner of the ancient Normandy land, and to the noble and ordinary people who live in this land, to the harsh and gracious Guernsey, which is my present refuge and probably my burial place." Hugo wrote the above dedication on the cover page of the novel.
Hugo's most important work, Les Misérables, was also completed during this period.
Seated portrait of Victor Hugo, Guernsey, 1862 Photography by Edmund Bako
2
《Miserable World》
Hugo began work on Les Misérables in 1845 and finally completed the novel in Guernsey in 1861. Middle-aged Hugo has experienced the snub of his works, the pain of bereavement, political struggles, and his understanding of social life is undoubtedly more profound. In this novel, which reflects the history of the grand french society, pain, justice, redemption, commitment, ideals, love... Intertwined and intertwined, together they cast the enduring charm of this novel.
Jean Valjean and Cosette (1879-1882) Oil on wood, Jean Jeffroy
Speaking of which, the work I remembered most about Hugo was Les Misérables. When I first set foot on French soil in 14 years, the boat traveled on the Seine, and the plot of Jean Valjean's passage through the dark sewers of Paris was like a frame of black and white movies replayed in my mind.
And "Les Misérables" is also a film that has a great impact on my life. When I recall Les Misérables many years later, the deepest memory is not the Great Revolution, not the ups and downs of love, not the low-level sorrow and the cruelty of the rule, but the bishop's forgiveness and rescue of Valjean who stole the silver candlestick completely changed his life, so that an evil person who was forced into the corner of life began to completely purify his soul and personal salvation, and finally completed the transformation from evil to good.
Also in Les Misérables, Jean Valjean and Javert introduced me to the complex and multifaceted aspects of human nature, and demonstrated the power of forgiveness, compassion and mercy. This force runs through my life and influences my worldview to this day.
Hugo wrote in Guernsey's residence, not in the study, not in the bedroom, but in the rooftop of the Changguan Building. He prefers here, through the glass of the OverlookIng Building, the vast sea opposite gives him unlimited inspiration and feelings. It is also from the novel "Les Misérables" that Hugo turned his attention to the toiling people at the bottom. In the same year that the novel was completed, Hugo began inviting the children of poor Guernsey to dine together at his home, The High City House.
"Changguan Building" High City Residence Hautevlle
3
High city residence
In 1856, Victor Hugo bought a property in Guernsey called "Hautville", poured his soul into every wall, and spent three years decorating the house alone. He used his great imagination to reconstruct the entire space by matching wood, tapestries, ceramics, embroidery, lacquerware and other materials in each room. Takagi carries Hugo's memories, incarnating as portraits of his poetry and philosophical thoughts, and alluding to his works through engraved sentences.
Although Hugo lived extremely poorly at the beginning of his exile, he did not change his aristocratic hobbies. Every day, in addition to writing at home, I buy Chinese antiques on the street. Hugo's affection for China is indescribable, and he collects Chinese porcelain and art, and even decorates a "Salon chinois". In the "Red Hall" on the second floor of Gao Chengju, there are still mantles made of silk fabrics from the Yuanmingyuan. The act of collecting Chinese antiques has also been preserved by this master, and on another street not far from Hugo's former residence, there are antique dealers who specialize in the business of Chinese antiques. The antique shelves also contain Hugo's "Six Volumes of the Guernsey Chronicle" written that year, which contains many Chinese antique shopping experiences that the master has picked up.
(Left) Chinese woman with a tuan fan Painted woodcut, 1863-1864 (right) Blue and white porcelain plate decorated with duck motif, date unknown
In 1864, Hugo bought a small building for Juliet at No. 20 on the right side of the High City for more than 14,000 francs, named "High City Wonderland". Because the two people have a common love for Chinese art, when decorating this love nest, they invested great enthusiasm and imagination to create "a real Chinese poem". In the decoration of "High City Wonderland", he drew inspiration from Chinese bamboo screens, porcelain and furniture to paint figures and flowers, and created a set of "Chinese theme paintings" for Juliet, using this pattern to make woodcut painted lacquer panels to decorate the interior.
Bird Mirror, 1870, painted with wood, glass Mirrors of Hugo's poems
4
Hugo and Juliet
In 1833, Juliet Drewin played a character in Hugo's play Lucrece Borgia, and the two met.
At that time, Hugo already had a family, and he had two sons and two daughters with his wife Adele. However, the husband is immersed in work, the two are increasingly estranged, and Adele falls in love with Hugo's friend (there are also sources that show that Hugo cheated first). The writer's parents divorced as a child, perhaps because his childhood experiences made him reluctant to inflict the same harm on his children, Hugo tried to save it, and finally Adele returned to the family. The couple continues to live respectfully and respectfully, but each seeks love.
Portrait of the young Juliet Druet
Hugo fell in love with the young and beautiful Juliet at first sight, a relationship that lasted for fifty years, long and fierce. For 50 years, Juliet has written love letters to Hugo almost every day, telling about her love and daily trivialities, and about 18,000 letters are still preserved in the National Library of France, and tens of thousands of love letters bear witness to their love.
"My love for you will make me immortal. I will still love you when I die. Not even a modicum of my love for you will disappear until my body and soul are exhausted. ”
—In 1835, the 29-year-old Juliet wrote to Hugo.
At every critical juncture of Hugo's fate, Druet always accompanied him and never abandoned. When Hugo was oppressed by the royalists, it was also Drouet who protected him from Paris, rescued the original manuscript of Les Misérables, and assisted Hugo in most of the transcription of the work. However, in order to make Drewet love her wholeheartedly, Hugo persuaded her to give up her acting career, and she became a slave to love from then on, taking off her costume and living in simplicity. In the 6th year of their encounter, Hugo once wrote a letter promising to take responsibility for her and her daughter for the rest of his life, and she thought he was finally willing to marry her.
Yet despite the faithful love of his wife and lover, the amorous Hugo still longs for a fresh woman. He was hunted down and killed by her husband for dating a married woman who was eighteen years younger than him. Until the age of seventy-one, she was still in love with another 23-year-old actress, Bronsh, and Juliet, 67, finally couldn't bear it and left him. It was only then that Hugo discovered how helpless it was to lose Juliet's life, and he sent telegrams and men everywhere. Finally Juliet returned, and Hugo assured her that he would never look for Blanche again.
She had loved Hugo for fifty years and had waited for half a century, but she had never gotten the marriage contract.
It was not until Adele's death in 1872 that Juliet was able to live under the same roof as Hugo and take care of Hugo's daily life, but the beauty was dying. Juliet died of cancer on May 11, 1883. Hugo, 81, who lost two beloved women, wrote in his diary: "Without her, how would I spend the years?" Take me with you, God, please take my life, don't wait for that day, don't wait for that moment, please let me go with her. ”
Portrait of Juliet Drewet, 1883
Standing in front of Juliet's last painting, I looked at her face. All the wind and frost of life are engraved on the woman's face, although the posture is still there, but still refuse to believe that her half life waiting is happy, I really can't read it.
What about Adele? Betraying Hugo, Adele did not get the happiness she wanted, and for a time her life was tight, and even had to sell small souvenirs related to Hugo along the street. Hugo has probably always loved his wife, and when he saw it, he asked people to secretly buy it, and this wooden box is still on display in the exhibition hall of Hugo's House in Paris. In her later years, Adele finally reconciles with her husband's lover, and she and Juliet maintain correspondence, in which Adele expresses her admiration for Juliet's sacrifice for Hugo for many years, and she invites Juliet to come to the house to complain, but Juliet politely refuses.
Portrait of Hugo's wife, Adele Foucher
Hugo's emotional history reads, and many people may have to scold the "scumbag". He was exiled among countless women, unable to give loyalty and commitment, and his "private morality" was damaged. But Hugo, on the other hand, is a warrior who resists tyrannical rule and speaks out for the revolution; a hero who treats the suffering people at the bottom and cares about the fate of mankind and social justice; or a foreigner who is grateful to Guernsey... Private morality, public morality, which is more important? Can it be unified?
Portrait of Victor Hugo, 1879 Oil on canvas, Leo Boehner
Hugo's life was remarkable, and after his death, the people greeted him and buried him in the Pantheon, and today the whole world still reads his works. And what I want to know most is whether there was any regret in the moment of his last departure? First love wife Adele and her best friend cheat and betray each other; the most beloved eldest daughter Leopoldini drowned with her new husband at the age of nineteen; The second daughter, Adel, runs away from home and has a nervous breakdown and goes mad; Sons, wives, lovers have died before him, and several times experienced "white-haired people send black-haired people"... Twenty years in Guernsey, reunion with his loved ones, intoxication in the creation of art and literature, and the friendliness of Guernsey people, has he ever brought him the greatest spiritual comfort?
Did he spend his whole life in exile on an island of affection?
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) "The Wind and the Wave" or "My Destiny", 1857