Chapter 21: The Literary Youth Meets Another Literary Youth (Part Two)

  Someone asked for more additions... Okay! ...So it's my turn to ask for clicks, recommendations and collections?

  The name of the Teatro Tália is derived from Thalia, one of the nine Muses in Greek mythology, who was born to Zeus and Mnemosyne.

  Naming buildings and districts after ancient Greek, Roman mythological gods and ancient Roman emperors was a habit that the residents of Constantinople had developed as they rebuilt their homes on the ruins. So apart from the Talya Theatre on Istiklal Avenue, there were dozens of other theatres in Constantinople called Talya. However, whether in terms of scale or performance level, the Talya Theatre which rose from the ashes over a hundred years ago far surpassed them. This was unimaginable in the Middle Ages because such behavior could be seen as idolatry and worshiping other gods meant death in Christianity.

  Don't think that only Western European Christians did this, the Eastern ones didn't do much less. In the past, I thought that since the Renaissance starting from the 15th century was due to the influx of Byzantine Empire's lost manuscripts and fleeing scholars and artists, then the culture of the Byzantine Empire, which inherited the Roman Empire's mantle, must have been very resplendent and glorious. Actually, the answer is not quite so. The culture of the Byzantine Empire was indeed glorious, but this glory was only one-sided.

  From the time when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire until its collapse, more than a thousand years passed, and no one in the empire was able to produce another Quintus Horatius Flaccus who could write "The Art of Poetry", nor any poet who could reach the level of Ovid's "Metamorphoses", "Ars Amatoria" and "Remedia Amoris". Nor did anyone emerge like Publius Vergilius Maro, who wrote an epic comparable to Homer's epics, the majestic "Aeneid".

  In the past, Italy became rich due to its proximity to Constantinople and the collapse of the Roman Empire, which led to a large number of scholars and artists fleeing there, making the Italian peninsula the cradle of the Renaissance. However, in this world, Constantinople was not breached, so after the Black Death, Constantinople became the largest source of the Renaissance.

  My predecessor's son bears a great deal of responsibility for this. Although his intention was to weaken the influence of the church and consolidate imperial power, he inadvertently pushed forward the collapse of people's faith in the church! Pennywise, no, I think it's more fitting to call her the Artistic Girl from now on. The Artistic Girl and a large group of art enthusiasts are among the biggest beneficiaries after that guy's meddling.

  I took off my conspicuous long gown and put it in the carriage. I had one of the servants take a message back home to report on the situation, while another accompanied me as I rode in the carriage of the literary young lady's family to her house. After making these arrangements, I caught up with the two literary enthusiasts from behind.

  In the distance, Hans was standing on one side, with a head full of black lines. It turned out that a literary girl and a literary young man were talking about a very mysterious object.

  "In ethics, Plotinus taught that the soul tends towards nature and flows from intellect. Plotinus also said that as a third hypostasis, the soul is what Plato called the world soul. It is an active power. Its activity is shown in its restlessness, being active in various domains, when it is divided among individual things, as an internal driving force for change."

  "Yes, Neoplatonism believes that the world has two poles, one end is the light source called God, and the other end is the darkness that the light source cannot shine on. We are in between, but Neoplatonism emphasizes that complete darkness does not exist, only lacking a catalyst to shine. Our souls, being closest to God, can merge with the light source called God through intuition and cultivation."

  I suddenly realized why Hans was standing here with a black line on his head: "Are they discussing Neoplatonism?"

  Hans turned around: "If I didn't hear it wrong, I think so."

  "But isn't the doctrine that inspired Saint Augustine related to building a religious philosophy? What connection does a fountain statue of a boy urinating have with Plotinus' Neoplatonism?"

  I suddenly found Hans' face looks like Yao Ming's when he smiles.

  "Haha, yeah, who knows if there's any connection between them? I don't know either."

  Before Hans could finish, Frederick gave the answer: "The statue is too beautiful! The creator of the statue must have been inspired by his own intuition, and God ignited the creative spark in his soul, which enabled him to create such a beautiful work of art!"

  When the artistic girl from Rome meets the artistic young man from Germany, the sparks they produce are enough to be described as dazzling. From Konstantinplatz to Trierer Strasse, the two people accidentally meet an old shop that has been around for a hundred years and can talk about everything from Socrates to the Gauls, discussing "The Dutch Epic" and then chatting about a unheard-of "Decameron", having just stumbled upon a Justinian-era ancient sculpture, now talking endlessly about Procopius, this Roman classical historian's huge contrast between praising Emperor Justinian in "Wars" and criticizing him in "Secret History".

  I'm a knowledgeable young man who has studied for thousands of years, but when I see these two people, I'd rather yield and stand far away, pretending not to know them.

  We've arrived at the theater, and finally the artsy girl remembered that I was still with her. She seemed to be in a great mood, smiling slyly like a little fox, "What are you still doing here? Hurry up and buy tickets! We need four of them! The best ones!"

  The current shape of the theater is evolved from ancient Greek open-air theaters, with a semi-circular structure that allows audiences to see the performance on stage regardless of where they sit. The front row ordinary tickets are more expensive than those in the back rows, and the number of boxes and upper-class compartments is limited, making it difficult for people to buy tickets without booking in advance. So the literary girl really gave me a headache, but I knew this wasn't her intention to make things difficult for me. It's probably because she usually has someone arrange everything for her when she goes to the theater, so she doesn't know the rules.

  As expected, we arrived very early today, but all the VIP tickets were sold out, while ordinary tickets were almost empty.

  If Maurice were here, there would be only one solution to this non-problem. I'd bet that he'd immediately come up with a sentence like "Let's go rob someone, how about it? Find a sack, cover our faces, squat in a secluded corner, block the carriage, and we'll have tickets." Then Constantine would chime in with something like "Time is of the essence, where did you get your intel that there are secluded corners on the routes those ticket holders take?" And finally, Valence would combine their views to come up with a revised plan: "Let's rob the theater owner or the head of the troupe and threaten them into giving us their box seats."

  Robbing the boss of this theater or the head of the troupe is indeed a feasible plan. If I'm not mistaken, when a general theater opens a play, the theater owner and the head of the troupe must stay in the venue to coordinate, and the theater will specially arrange a box for them.

  I burst out laughing and left the waitress bewildered. I pulled out 10 Soles: "Give me ten tickets that are connected together and have a good view."

  I took the tickets and the dinar, said nothing, then walked down the grand staircase of the theater. I handed over the extra tickets to them, asking them to invite the attendants from the artistic girl's house. Then, I held four ordinary tickets in my hand and showed them to everyone, the artistic girl immediately showed dissatisfaction, she muttered: "Didn't we agree on a high-end box? How can you be so stingy that you can't even afford this?"

  "Miss Pennywise, the theater boxes are usually booked in advance. If you'd like to postpone this compensation until the next performance, I can guarantee you'll be seated in a box." I held out the tickets in front of Hans, "Pick one."

  Hans took it after him, and Frederick also drew one card and said: "From small to large, I have never sat in an ordinary seat, this time I really didn't come to Constantinople in vain."

  The melancholy-faced artistic girl heard this and immediately smiled brightly. I glanced at Frederick, who chuckled and winked at me. Four tickets were left, Hans and Frederick each took one, leaving two remaining, and I gave the priority to choose to the artistic girl. This was gentlemanly behavior.

  She grabbed a ticket and took the lead by walking out a few steps, standing on one foot, spinning around beautifully. She smiled and said: "Let's go, I'll take you to eat something delicious!"

  What they call "delicious" is actually ice cream.

  In that restaurant where many young girls came and went, Frederick swallowed this thing in one mouthful, and his mouth was filled with only one feeling: "I really want something to record this happy moment."

  There were cameras, but they hadn't been invented yet...

  Looking for a painter? Good idea, but painting usually takes ten days to half a month, and very few take half a year.

  "Why don't we write a poem to commemorate today?"

  "Oh God, you're so clever! How come I didn't think of that!"

  The artistic girl was very satisfied with Frederick's expression of shock and then excitement.

  "Hmph, I've written a bestselling book, you know!" The literary girl's small face was raised high, her gaze almost piercing the ceiling.

  Ignoring the two hipsters, I carefully examined the ice cream on the table. It seems that this thing has the function of increasing artistic atmosphere?

  "Suppose we each write a sixteen-line poem?" Frederick suggested next.

  Yeah, it seems that apart from increasing artistic talent, it also has the ability to drive people crazy... This thing can't be let into Maurice's hands.

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