I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 132 All eyes are on me, I have something to announce.

If you calculate the time, Turgenev's trip to Paris lasted for almost two months. In such an era, for nobles like Turgenev who had nothing better to do than sit around doing nothing all day, the changes that could be made in two months were far too little.

And indeed, this was the case. After returning from Paris, Turgenev did not feel that anything had changed in St. Petersburg. Everything was still the same as before. The only thing that left Turgenev completely bewildered was the part about Mikhail.

What? "Mikhail Makes a Scene at the University"? Not only did he write articles satirizing the professors at St. Petersburg University, but he also completely ignored the surveillance of the academic supervisors and the secret police, organizing one short gathering after another at the university and delivering many inspiring speeches?
What? Mikhail's commentary is fresh out of the oven, using his invisible big finger to denounce every noble youth as 'superfluous'?
The recent rumor about poetry is even more fantastical.

Turgenev thought he had gone too far in Paris, but upon his return, he found himself a remnant of the old era; his stories could no longer support Mikhail's voyage of adventure.
Of course, Turgenev was, after all, a friend of Mikhail, so he believed at most half of these stories.

After all, he was a master of boasting, so he could guess whether someone was bragging or not just by listening to them. But to be honest, Turgenev never expected that someone could boast even more than him, and that someone could describe Mikhail's affair with the noblewoman in such a vivid and detailed way, as if he had been listening to it under the bed.

After hearing all these messy rumors, although Turgenev was itching to read Mikhail's new articles, he still wanted to tell everyone about the reaction Mikhail's French novels had caused in Paris before that.

So after dinner, he immediately approached a friend and asked if there were any literary salons or similar events recently. He then received the following message: "You've returned just in time for Turgenev. Tonight, there's a very big banquet at the Prince Odoevsky's house. Many people will be there, including the owners of more than a dozen of the more famous magazines and newspapers in St. Petersburg."

The most anticipated of all is undoubtedly Mikhail. I heard that after learning of his arrival, people from high society and other poets and writers in the literary world all made time to see what this young man was like.

Turgenev: "!"

Is there a more suitable stage?

Upon hearing this, Turgenev could no longer contain his excitement. He hurriedly said goodbye to his friend, changed into suitable clothes, and headed straight for the Odoevsky Prince's house.

I'm coming!
Although there were still a few hours before the formal dinner party began, it was quite normal for those who enjoyed attending banquets to arrive early to sit down, have some tea, play cards, or even chat about literature, music, and politics. Therefore, when Turgenev arrived at Prince Odoevsky's house, even though there weren't many people, some had already gathered together to chat.

Upon seeing his arrival, the host of the dinner, Prince Odoevsky, was indeed very surprised. As he walked towards Turgenev, he said, "Turgenev, weren't you traveling abroad? When did you return? And you've arrived so early."

As for Prince Odoevsky, he naturally recognized this tall young man who loved to frequent high society salons, and he did indeed have a good impression of Turgenev, so he immediately took the initiative to come over and exchange a few pleasantries.

Facing this duke who was quite well-known in high society, Turgenev had no time to chat with him or feel honored. After exchanging a few words, he found a place to sit down and began to observe the number of people in Duke Odoevsky's household.

Not enough, not enough yet.

To achieve the best effect, Turgenev patiently waited until the Odoevsky family's guests had finally reached a considerable number before standing up. He then couldn't help but slightly spread his arms, look around, and speak in a clear voice: "Everyone, look at me! Look at me! I have something to announce."

While Turgenev was beginning his declaration, Mikhail was still taking a nap at home. Of course, it was called a nap, but for Mikhail, it was quite normal to accidentally sleep until almost four or five o'clock.

Mira, the young maid in Mikhail's household, had become somewhat accustomed to this.

Now, in her opinion, no matter how harsh the surrounding environment is, this kind and amiable Mr. Mikhail can still sleep well, he just might need someone to wake him up.

After checking on Mikhail's condition several times, and seeing that it was almost time, Mira quickly poured Mikhail a glass of water and rechecked the expensive clothes Mikhail was going to wear to go out to make sure there was nothing wrong with them.

Not long after, Mira went to call Mikhail on time, and after being confused for a while, Mikhail also got out of bed and began to prepare for going out.

Since he wanted to take a nap today, Mikhail naturally didn't choose to go with others, but instead planned to go at a suitable time on his own.

In the process of preparing for the trip, Mikhail also had some thoughts about Prince Odoevsky and the literary salons and concerts he hosted.

First, there is the background of Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky. This gentleman is a true-blue old Muscovit, a direct descendant of the Rurik dynasty, from which he received his dukedom.

However, by his generation, his family had indeed fallen on hard times. He lost his father at the age of five, his mother remarried, and he was then sent to be raised by his father's relatives. When talking about his childhood, he recalled, "I never tasted the sweetness of family happiness."

However, this experience did not make him cynical; instead, he became a kind, gentle person with a noble heart.

After graduating from university, Odoevsky came to St. Petersburg and worked for the Internal Affairs Committee on Book Inspection and the People's Education Department, among other agencies.

In the process, he also unintentionally ended up enjoying a delicious meal of soft rice.

In short, in the same year he came to St. Petersburg, 1826, Odoevsky married Olga Lanskaya, a lady-in-waiting at the palace.

After marrying this lady-in-waiting, he quickly entered high society and became a prominent figure in St. Petersburg's literary scene. At the same time, he and his wife often hosted literary salons at home, where famous writers and musicians of the time, such as Zhukovsky, Pushkin, Krylov, Gogol, Lermontov, and F. Liszt, were frequent guests.

Among them, the writer Krylov is somewhat more widely known, simply because his work is "Krylov's Fables," which is almost as famous as "Aesop's Fables." In his book, he adapted and created many fables. A classic example is a crow perched on a tree with meat in its beak. A fox uses false praise to lure the crow into singing, and the meat falls and is taken by the fox.

Incidentally, Nadya is now a lady-in-waiting at court, so in a way, Mikhail can be considered to have a promising future. Thinking about these things, Mikhail, having finished getting ready, dressed in a fairly decent outfit, headed towards the home of this duke, who was renowned in both high society and the literary world.

As previously mentioned, his family's banquets gather celebrities from all walks of life, including but not limited to scholars, military personnel, writers, and religious figures.

The reason for the mixed crowd was that Prince Odoevsky, as a literary figure, genuinely wanted to bring the literary world closer to high society, but his efforts were unsuccessful. This was because at that time, Russian high society paid little attention to Russian literature; in their view, the literary world consisted of only five or six literary authorities who frequently appeared in various salons.

At that time, although many writers and scholars came from landlord families, being from a landlord family did not necessarily mean that they could connect with the upper class of St. Petersburg.

So at these gatherings, many members of high society would glance at these writers from time to time through their monocles and spectacles with a slightly insulting curiosity, as if they were watching wild animals, and would ask the host in surprise, "Where did this come from? Who is he?"

Even literary authorities are unwilling to associate with lesser-known writers, because what they want most is the reputation of being part of high society. They treat literary activities as mere formalities, only occasionally engaging in them.

This is the basic information about the banquet that Mikhail is about to attend.

Although Mikhail's reputation is growing, he is still too young and not very sociable to be considered a literary authority. However, Mikhail is indeed not interested in literary authority. So for Mikhail, the main purpose of this banquet, apart from playing a role as the "holy emperor" of the magazine "Modern Man", is more about eating and drinking.

Mikhail wasn't really interested in anything else.

Although Mikhail thought this way, his situation was indeed different from that of a normal writer.

Because his poems were widely circulated in high society, the gentlemen and ladies of that society were actually quite curious about him, and some even wanted to meet this young poet.

So, at this gathering at Prince Odoevsky's house, there seemed to be many more people than before.

But Mikhail is still on his way and has not yet shown up. Logically speaking, under such circumstances, these gentlemen of high society would not deliberately look for or inquire about him. After all, as members of high society, they naturally have their own dignity and reserve.

But this time, even though they didn't deliberately inquire, for some reason, as they chatted, these gentlemen involuntarily stopped and couldn't help but prick up their ears to listen to the commotion in another circle.

Generally speaking, at gatherings like those at the Odoevsky family home, the upper class would usually surround the hostess, while the writers would crowd the host's small study, which was filled with various tables and piled high with books, and they often dared not even glance into the salon.

Thus, a huge chasm exists between this salon and the study.

But at this moment, the noise coming from that small study was enough to make most of the guests present turn their heads.

Simply because Turgenev's passionate voice and stories were being told without ceasing:

"Do you know how well a novel written in French by a Russian author was received in Paris? I read it aloud in the top salons of Paris, and when I finished, even the greatest writer in Paris at the time had to stand up and applaud!"

Did you think that was the end of it? No! Soon, the owner of the best magazine in Paris approached me, saying he was willing to pay any price for this novel, even for himself! In addition, several other short stories we translated have also been valued by many magazines and will soon be published in various magazines in Paris.

So, gentlemen, what do you think is the significance of this for the Russian literary world and for Russia itself? But this glorious step is only the beginning for that young writer!
As far as I know, he has very ambitious plans in the future; he has eyes that can see the whole of Europe.

Frankly speaking, such a story and achievement are indeed extraordinary in a sense. In addition, Turgenev became more and more enthusiastic and infectious as he spoke, so as he spoke, some of the upper-class people sitting around the hostess couldn't help but crane their necks to hear him more clearly.

Because Turgenev's voice was indeed quite loud, when Mikhail arrived at Prince Odoevsky's house, he could hear a voice he was already very familiar with from a great distance.

Hmm? When did Turgenev return?

While surprised, Mikhail was also somewhat puzzled.

What is Turgenev muttering? Quickly transfer 50,000 rubles to me.

With a slightly doubtful feeling, Mikhail entered the house led by a servant of the Odoevsky family. As for what would happen next, he would probably find a suitable spot and start quietly nourishing his body.

Mikhail had barely stepped inside when Turgenev, who was still telling a story, spotted him. Seeing that Mikhail was looking around and showed no intention of coming to him, Turgenev pointed without hesitation and exclaimed, "Look! The gentleman I was talking about has arrived!"

As soon as he pointed, dozens of eyes turned to look at Mikhail.

With so many people looking at him, Mikhail almost panicked for a moment. Although he managed to maintain his composure, he still felt a little uneasy.

I'm here to eat! What do you want?!
(End of this chapter)