I Am Louis XIV

Joseph the carpenter was a member of a guild in Orleans, and had been an apprentice for five years and a helper for three years.

It was a seemingly ordinary day, and he returned home—the city of Orleans was huge and strong, and there were splendid churches and magnificent mansions everywhere in the city, but it was a pity that these had nothing to do with him, his wife, and children, who lived in The lower reaches of the Loire River are not far from the slums under the city walls. Whenever Joseph walked home tiredly along the banks and the endless black river, it always felt like an omen, implying that They will always fall into the worst situation.

But this was three weeks ago, and now his mood is obviously improving, and there is joy that cannot be concealed in his eyes, as if a ray of light shot out of the darkness, pointing out the door for him to get out of the predicament.

His home wasn't even a complete home—I mean, a complete suite. Although Louis XIV rebuilt Paris and built Versailles after taking office, the glory of the Sun King has not yet been projected to Orleans. Joseph and his family temporarily lived in a room rented from a gray and white mud apartment.

This way of renting houses has continued for hundreds of years, as people can still see in French cities such as Orleans. These buildings stand on narrow and slender land, looking like a flat bar of soap, sometimes Facing the street, sometimes facing the wall of another building, its ground floor is often public, corridor, office, living room, reception room or bedroom, it depends on the arrangement of the owner or the landlord, of course, if it is the landlord, if If the buildings face the street, he will rent them out as shops. If they face the dark alleys that don’t see the sun, he will divide them into rooms for rent. The only thing in common is that there is always a public kitchen on the ground floor.

The basement is generally used to store food, utensils or also rent out, there will always be poor people with little money who need such a shelter.

From the second floor up to the third, fourth or fifth floors, the attics are all densely divided rooms. The rental method at that time was also very interesting, because the rental unit was always a room, and the location of the room was different. It all depends on the landlord's arrangements, so it's fine to rent only one room. If you rent many rooms, then he may not have enough privacy.

Take Mr. Molière as an example above. He is not a poor man. He rented four rooms in Queen's Square in Paris. The problem is that the landlord arranged two rooms on the second floor and the other two rooms on the third floor—so even if It could be called a luxury, but Mr. Molière had to divide his life into two parts, and generously shared it with a dozen other neighbors...

Fortunately, Joseph did not have such troubles. Although he was unable to be promoted to be a master craftsman for a long time, he had always lived a devout life, never drinking too much or seeking out women, and the money he accumulated could not only support his wife and three children, I can also rent a room on the second floor in this gray and white mud apartment. Although it faces the dark alley and the wall, as a helper, it is very good to have a place where I can sleep comfortably.

He squinted his eyes and walked forward in the dark corridor, while the other half was probing and groping on his toes.

Some people touched it with their hands before, and they hit a nail on the wall or something. Anyway, he cut his hand, bled a lot, and died of fever a few days later. Joseph had heard of this After the story, he became even more careful, even if he didn't have a fever, he couldn't hurt his hands.

The master craftsman who took him had two helpers, and only one recommended place in his hand—Joseph was a good man with talent and patience, but the problem was that this aroused the fear of the master craftsman, he didn’t need another powerful Competitors, if the helper is not promoted to a craftsman, in addition to the recommendation of the original craftsman, the helper needs to make a high-quality product in front of the president, maybe Joseph doesn’t even have to try.

If Joseph had injured his hand at this time, the craftsman could justly drive him out of his workshop directly.

It is not easy to find your own room in the mess and gloom. There used to be windows in the corridor, but they were covered with wooden boards to keep out the cold, and the light can only flow in through the cracks. No one dared to light candles here. Wooden structures are too prone to fire.

Joseph sniffed. The outer walls of this apartment were painted with plaster for fire protection. This is the time after His Majesty the King ordered every apartment to be painted with plaster for fire protection after the Great Fire of London in 1966. Later, the son of the landlord of this building is said to be working under the command of the Duke of Orleans. Because of such a relationship, this building was also the first to be painted gray and white, and the gray and white mud apartment replaced the original name.

This flattering behavior has attracted a lot of ridicule and slander—after all, Philip, the Duke of Orleans, is far less "gentle" than the previous Duke of Orleans, Gaston, but the landlord does his own way, and workers like Joseph are more willing to rent such an apartment, even if that A thin layer of gray and white mud may not be of any use.

"Ouch!"

Perhaps because of distraction, Joseph unfortunately kicked his toe on something. He lowered his head and barely recognized a rusty anchor. It looked like a good job by his neighbor Barrow. He was always picking things up from the outside, stealing things to say the least, and piling them up in the hallway, and Joseph worried that it would make people think he was the same, and he warned Barrow many times, but it never helped.

Because Baro is his brother, one of the two helpers of the carpenter, and the nephew of the carpenter, no matter whether Joseph is right or not, or whether Baro is a thief, the carpenter will never stand on Joseph’s side side.

So the only good thing Joseph got in exchange for this toe was that he was finally home.

Through the thin door panel, he heard regular crashing sounds, which were not pleasant, but Joseph sounded like the sound of heaven. He smiled and knocked on the door lightly. The voice stopped suddenly, and with a faint bustle, a woman's voice came from behind the door, "Who?"

"I, Joseph, dear Lida."

Hearing her husband's voice, Lida immediately pulled the latch and opened the door. Joseph quickly stepped in sideways, and Lida closed the door right after.

The air in the house smells really bad. Their youngest daughter is still breastfeeding, and their oldest boy is only six years old. Not to mention the room, even this apartment has no drainage facilities. They use urine buckets. The milky smell of the meat is mixed with the smell of the evaporated feces and urine, which can kill a dog directly.

Joseph and Lida have long been used to it. In winter, the room is full of this smell. Although it is the end of summer, but because they need to keep a secret, even if they are facing a dark alley, they will not be able to smell it. The only wooden window will not open.

"Have you had dinner?" Lida asked, because there was only one public kitchen, and there was a fee to use the kitchen. At this time, the poor would not eat at home. They usually bought some bread, butter and milk to bring home. Home, regardless of the quality of these things, it is not a problem in terms of satisfying the stomach, "I ate some bread." Joseph said, walking around the room, as if to check the surroundings , and drew a spindle from his coat pocket.

Lida and Joseph’s room was about fifteen feet long and wide, and it would be about twenty-five square feet, which sounds quite big, but it should be noted that there are two adults living here, three A child, all their tools, furniture, and belongings are placed in this room, and a corner must be set aside for a stone slab, so that there is a place to burn for warmth in winter.

The most eye-catching thing in this room is a big bed covered with curtains. Anyone who sees it will laugh at this poor couple for wanting to be master and wife, but Joseph walks over, draws the curtains, What's inside is revealed.

That is a spinning wheel, no, it is hard to say that this is the spinning wheel that people recognize, it should be said to be a machine, about the size of a double bed, with twelve spindles fixed on it, and white cotton threads criss-crossing. Pulling the head to the other end, on the right side of the machine, there is a big wheel. Shaking the wheel can drive the motor, and the motor will shake the spindle, and the twelve spindles will work together.

Joseph pulled up one of the spindles and pressed the new spindle onto it. Signaling Lida to come over to work, Lida knew that Joseph wanted to see the operation of the spinning wheel, so she went to the corner of the house to fetch a kerosene lamp, lit the candle, and stood in front of the spinning wheel to work.

Joseph focused on it for a while, and found that the spinning wheel was as smooth as a greased paddle, and he immediately relaxed completely. "Great," he said, "but let's stop here today, You have spun a lot of thread, and you should rest well, so as not to hurt your eyes."

"The kerosene lamps are bright, dear," Lida said cheerfully, "how cute are these little things, Joseph." She gazed greedily at the spinning wheel bobbing up and down, completely fascinated, and her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother ... After all, all mothers and daughters have spun threads and used spindles, but who could have imagined a machine that could work like twelve indefatigable men who could never make a mistake? .

"Now we don't have to make money by spinning thread." Joseph said contentedly, and then he suddenly showed a look of vigilance: "No one asked where the cotton thread in your hand came from?"

"No," Lida said, "I went to several places to sell the balls of thread," she recalled carefully for a moment, "No, Joseph, as you remind me, I never tell anyone that you do What." She touched the spinning wheel lovingly again: "But your craftsman, and Barrow, they all complained about you doing your own work in the workshop."

"It's just a few spindles for you." Joseph rented a semi-abandoned mill secretly and quietly moved back to the room in the middle of the night to assemble the rest.

"How long shall we wait?" Lida said, "I don't even want to present it to the king. Do you know how much thread I have spun these days?"

"Don't be silly, Lida," said Joseph, "if we dedicate it to the king, you can start a weaving workshop of your own."

"How is this possible?" Lida was amused by him, "The leader of the guild will not allow a woman to open a workshop."

Joseph's lips moved, but he did not continue.

He and Lida opened the bedroll, because the spinning wheel occupied the place where the bed used to be, so they could only suffer for a few days in the gap between the furniture and sundries. Lida was carrying the pot, and the four of them took turns to use the burrower on top of the urinal. They wiped their hands and face with a wet towel. Needless to say, the baby, their second child is a girl with a gentle temperament. Da said nothing, but today and for several days after that the whole family was going to sleep on the floor, so he slapped him angrily.

The boy howled.

This kind of harsh soundtrack is not uncommon in gray and white mud apartments. The boy is tired from crying and his stomach is growling, but his parents and sister are asleep, and there is no food in the room. He angrily mentions the discarded spindle, Throwing it on the ground, in exchange for a hazy scolding.

After a while, the boy also curled up in the cotton pile and fell asleep.

————

When the boy woke up in the morning, he found that his father was kneeling and praying in front of the portrait of St. Joseph—although some people later verified that Jesus and his adoptive father Joseph were both stonemasons, but the priests agreed that Jesus and St. Joseph were carpenters. So although St. Joseph is not the patron saint of carpenters, carpenters usually worship his icon.

"How long do we have to wait?" Lida sighed as she saw her husband off.

"It won't be long," Joseph kissed his wife, "the king will soon be on his way to Orleans."

Joseph came to the workshop, he was not too late, the craftsman still scolded him viciously, and gave him a lot of complicated odd jobs - like polishing, oiling and waxing, etc. The work is usually done by apprentices, but since customers prefer to let Joseph do their custom-made furniture instead of a craftsman, the craftsman has not allowed him to show his talents and talents in front of outsiders.

Barrow never showed up, but this was normal. Joseph knew that Barrow had many cronies. They often drank together, found women, or did some despicable things.

Joseph could be said to have finished the work assigned by the craftsman meekly. When he looked up, he realized that it was already the middle of the day. He got up and went to the bakery on the other side of the small square to buy bread. An old man was also buying bread. He is also a carpenter, but he is not only a carpenter, but also one of the few elders in the carpenter's guild. He is highly respected. He glanced at Joseph, and Joseph followed him. A large crown was exchanged for a plate of steaming pork sausages.