Chapter 31 A Survey of the Various Sections of Corsican Society and Amand's Playbook

　"How do we determine who exactly is our friend and who is our enemy?" Joseph laughed, "My brother, at last you have asked a less stupid question. Well, Napoleon, think about it, what kind of person wants change in their life? What kind of person wants the status quo?"

　　Without the conversation he had just had, perhaps Napoleon would have immediately said, "Those who are brave, adventurous, and heroic want change; and those who are mediocre, mediocre people with no ideals or ambitions want to maintain the status quo."

　　But now that Napoleon had largely caught up with Joseph's train of thought, he certainly wouldn't make such a silly reply, so he thought for a moment and replied, "Those who are dissatisfied with reality and think they should be able to get a bigger share want a revolution; and those who are happy with the way things are being distributed now want to maintain the status quo. Well, Joseph, that's what you mean, isn't it?"

　　"Ah, Napoleon." Joseph laughed, "Although I've often called you stupid, the truth is, compared to most people, you're pretty smart. You've got the right idea. Well, now it's time for you to think about your revolution, who are the friends to rely on and who will be your enemies. I don't think it's really a bad idea for you to write a History of Corsica."

　　"What do you mean?" Napoleon asked thoughtfully.

　　"Writing The History of Corsica would give you an opportunity to reach out to the entire Corsican society - everyone from the top to the bottom. Take this opportunity to do a thorough survey of Corsica so that you can get a complete picture of it. Well, my brother, you must realize that without a full investigation, there can be no accurate judgment, no voice."

　　Napoleon thought about it and nodded, "Joseph, you have a point. I'll go ahead and do it that way."

　　"Well, let me tell you ah, you ..." Joseph was about to tell Napoleon some of the later world's approaches on how to conduct social surveys when he heard a knock on the door from outside.

　　"Who is it?" Joseph asked this while walking towards the door.

　　"It's me, Armand." Amand's voice came from outside.

　　Joseph opened the door and saw Aman standing outside with two dark circles under his eyes, looking like he was sleep deprived or had drunk too much of some kind of "Herb's Divine Wine", and was carrying a bag in his hand.

　　"Ah Mang? Come in and sit down." Joseph ushered Armand in, dragging a chair to him in passing.

　　"I'm rather disorganized here, I hope you don't mind." Joseph said while putting away all the draft paper and stuff on the table.

　　"Ah, it's fine. I'm more messy there." Armand laughed, "Well, do you have any wine here? I've come all this way and I'm smoking with thirst."

　　"That's not available." Joseph laughed and shook his head, "My friend, you know I don't drink much. Well, all I have here is plain water. Okay?"

　　"Hell! Never mind, anything liquid will do! I knew I couldn't count on those in your place." Armand said.

　　"Ah, Napoleon, go get that kettle for me." Joseph turned to Napoleon.

　　Napoleon then went over to get the kettle.

　　"Is this your brother?" Armand asked.

　　"Yeah, this is that stupid brother of mine." Joseph asked casually.

　　"I think he'd be a living, breathing His Majesty Pippin, or even Alexander the Great, if he wore ancient clothes." Armand said, "You are perhaps too harsh on your brother."

　　Hearing this comment, Joseph couldn't help but stare at Amang, scanning him from top to bottom so many times, all the time looking at Amang who couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything dirty on my face?"

　　"No." Joseph replied, "I was just looking to see if you hadn't gotten over the 'Herb's agar' yet."

　　"Ah, you think I'm babbling?" Immediately Armand replied in aria-like tones, "O vulgar one, know which of the greatest of those prophets of the world, those favorites of the god Apollo, did not, in that mysterious ecstasy, speak the truth of the world? Thinkest thou that I am babbling, because I never saw thy brother before? Thou knowest not, O foolish mortal, that it was divine intuition at work, and it was in the midst of this divine ecstasy that I saw at once the light in thy brother's eyes, the fire in his heart. In that instant, I was even reminded of the statue of Alexander the Great! Believe me, my friend, your brother will be great in the future. Truly!"

　　Napoleon was coming over with his kettle by this time, and was quite pleased to hear Armand's comments about himself. As he came up to pour the water, he then couldn't help but look at Joseph, a smile on his face.

　　"Well, Your Highness Princess Cassandra, you have a point." Joseph also replied in aria-esque language, "But Your Highness, your visit to your humble abode, could it be that you have foreseen my brother's presence here beforehand, and so you are going to utter this prophecy to him, just as the witches uttered that prophecy to Macbeth?"

　　Cassandra was the legendary princess of Troy and priestess of Apollo, the god of prophecy. Because she refused Apollo's advances, Apollo cursed her to see the future clearly, but to utter prophecies that no one would ever believe.

　　"Ah, you still don't believe it." Armand said, "But just wait and see. As for what I came here for, well, I certainly didn't foresee running into your brother here. Uh, Joseph, remember that script we mentioned last time? Of Spartacus?"

　　"I remember, you finished it?" Joseph looked at Armand in surprise, "That's not like you, Armand. It's not your style, mind you, your style is supposed to be no more than twenty words a day."

　　"Ah, you're right. But that's just the general situation." Armand didn't deny that he usually wrote no more than twenty words a day, "But this time it's different, there's a mysterious force that drives me to write without sleep. The ancient Greeks believed that the writers of tragedy did not actually compose themselves, but that the gods were composing by their hand. I had this feeling when I was writing Spartacus that the gods held my hand and made me write endlessly and I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. Joseph, I didn't create this, but the Muses were creating it through me, and I was just a driven recorder. So, while this play is faster than anything I've created before, the quality rather overwhelms those previous things. Those previous things, when compared to this one, are like Glaiae (the three gray witches in Greek mythology who shared one eye and were strangely ugly.) and Helenby alike. Do you want to take a quick look?"

　　"Well, don't get busy with your self-praise." Joseph said, "You're looking like a godly man buying a get-out-of-jail-free charm. Hurry up and bring me the script."

　　"Here!" Armand handed Joseph the bag in his hand.

　　Joseph took the bag and opened it, inside was a stack of stapled manuscripts.

　　"Play with it yourself while I take a look at it." Joseph said to Armand as he flipped through the manuscript.

　　"Make yourself at home." Armand said.

　　Napoleon came over and looked at it with Joseph as well.

　　Armand, on the other hand, leaned his back against the back of his chair and looked around in boredom, he soon noticed Louis, who was standing off to the side not talking too much, and he began to tease Louis with interest.

　　The sun shone through the window and onto Joseph's desk. As time went on, this sunlight also slowly crawled across the desk like a snail. By the time Joseph had read the entire script, the sunlight had crawled from one end of the desk to the other.

　　"Well?" Seeing that Joseph had put down the manuscript, Armand hurriedly asked. All this time he had been teasing Louis with one word or another, trying hard to get things into Louis's head that were harmful to the physical and mental health of teenagers, but he had actually been keeping an eye on Joseph and Napoleon's movements.

　　Joseph, however, didn't say anything, and only after a while did he sigh and turn his head to Napoleon, "Napoleon, I've told you before that even if a person is talented, he has to keep working hard in order to achieve something. Look at this example in front of you. This asshole called Armand is a no-nonsense asshole, a playboy, and a typical example of a wasted life. He's got a great script, doesn't he? That's because you haven't seen the shit he's written before. Compared to this, it's just shit! If this asshole was more serious and worked harder, he would have been able to catch up with Gao Naiyi, or even touch the heels of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. But this asshole, actually spends most of his time drinking and fooling around! ... But speaking of drinking, well, Armand, this script of yours makes you want to have a drink after reading it. Well, it's also dinner time now, why don't you treat us to a drink out?"

　　This turn was a bit sharp, and even made Amang a bit unresponsive. Still, Armand quickly figured out that Joseph thought very highly of this play of his.

　　"Alright then, my treat." Armand was very quick, "Let's talk while we drink. I know a place that makes a great Poitou brandy ..."

　　A few people went out the door, called a taxi carriage, and in a short while they arrived at the small tavern called "May Lilac". Ah Mang was obviously a regular here, as soon as he entered, he skillfully greeted the owner and the owner's wife, whose waist was almost twice as big as her husband's, and then said, "Prepare a quieter seat for us, and a dozen brandies!"

　　"Yes, Armand, the same spot you always use, with a view of the Seine." The boss's wife greeted loudly. The boss then personally brought them there.

　　Several people sat down in front of that table, and Amang said to the boss, "Fili, make something you can drink at random, I'm not interested in looking at your thousand year old menu."

　　The owner answered and left. Within moments various dishes, and brandy were served.

　　"Napoleon, you can have a little, but no more than one glass. Louis, you can't drink it." Joseph turned to his brothers as he poured himself a full glass of wine.

　　"It's unfortunate to have a brother." Amand said.

　　"Armand, you still have a problem with this script, and it's a big one." Joseph butted in.

　　"What problem?" Armand asked hurriedly.

　　"It's too sharp, and if you don't make changes, it will be banned. But making modifications would not have such a vibrating power." Joseph replied.