I seriously recalled the story that Captain Nichols told me, and tried my best to connect these clues about Strickland so that I could record them in order of time. I met them late in the winter of the last time when Strickland and I met them in Paris. As for the lives of these two, I knew nothing about them, but one thing is certain: Strickland still lived a poor life. Captain Nichols first met him in a nightclub. At that time, Marseille was swept by a strike trend, and Strickland could not even make money to make ends meet, and was already in a tight capital.

Most of the people staying in the nightclub are poor and homeless people. As long as they have complete IDs and are honest people who can work, they can get permission from the monks in charge of this organization to stay here for a week. Captain Nichols noticed the tall Strickland among the waiting crowd. Among the waiting people, some waited outside the door with expressionless expressions, some walked around, some leaned against the wall without moving, and some sat on the side of the road like that.

He put his feet into the ditch. Later, the waiting people lined up to enter the office one after another. Captain Nichols heard the monk checking his ID and talked to Strickland in fluent English. However, the captain could not say a word to Strickland, because as soon as people walked to the common room, a missionary with a thick Bible immediately came to the podium to start spreading the sermon. Poor wanderers, in order to stay here, they had to listen patiently and quietly.

Captain Nichols and Strickland did not live in the same room. The next morning, before six o'clock, the people who came to stay were woken up by a priest who suddenly broke into the room. He almost unceremoniously pulled people out of the bed. Nichols packed up the bed and was about to wash his face when he found that Strickland had not known where he went. Captain Nichols came to the street with the biting cold wind, walked back and forth for an hour, and finally walked to Victor Yale Square, where many sailors often came to gather. Strickland was here, and he was sleeping at the time, with a stone statue behind him. Captain Nichols kicked him hard and woke him up from his deep sleep.

"I'll take you to breakfast, my dear friend." He said.

"Fuck you," said Strickland.

I was familiar with this tone, which was indeed what he could say, so I naturally believed Captain Nichols's words.

"I guess you're penniless?" the captain asked again.

"Stay on the side," said Strickland.

"Follow me, I'll get you some food."

Strickland did not make a decision immediately. He thought for a long time and decided to act with the captain. The two of them walked towards a relief center. There would be a piece of free bread for hungry people, but they were required to finish it on the spot and could not be taken away. After they finished eating the bread, they rushed to another relief center that provided salted soup with thin soup. The relief time was from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day, but they could not be taken for seven consecutive days. Because the two places were very far apart, ordinary people would not suffer and go to two places. This was how their breakfast was resolved, and Charles Strickland became friends with Captain Nichols.

The two of them have been together for four months in Marseille. Their lives are dull and nothing new, because they have to spend all their energy to make a living. They need money, only money can buy food to fill their stomachs, and only money can find a place to stay for them to sleep. If I could draw, how I wish I could draw colorful pictures so that readers could see their life more clearly. You should know that Captain Nichols' narrative was too vivid, and you can imagine the picture with your eyes closed. I listened to his narrative and felt that it was completely complete.

The story of the two of them can be written into an interesting adventure legend. They met all kinds of people, and folk scholars were able to organize useful materials from their experiences and write them into a dictionary. However, in this book, I cannot use a lot of space to describe their lives. In short, their life in Marseille is both arrogant and exciting, and it is very longing for. In contrast, I think most Marseille people always live a plain life, like a cup of boiled water, without any taste. How I want to see the vivid scenes depicted by Captain Nicols.

After the nightclub also drove them away, the two of them decided to go to the tough guy Pier, who had many sailors boarded him. Pier is a mixed-race man, tall and muscular. He specialized in providing food and accommodation for sailors who had no job in the short term until they found a job. Captain Nichols and Strickland lived with him for a whole month, and there were more than a dozen sailors living with them, from different countries, including Sweden, Brazil, etc. The rooms they lived in did not have any furniture, so they could only sleep on the floor. Pier would bring these sailors to Victor Yale Square every day. If there was a steamer just in case you needed to hire a sailor, the captain would send people to find suitable sailors. Pier's wife is a fat American woman, she was very sloppy and never did housework. The sailors who boarded here would help him every day

Since there was no money to pay Pier, Strickland drew a portrait for him. Captain Nichols felt that Strickland was a huge advantage because Pier bought him a lot of painting tools - brushes, canvases and oil paints, and in addition to this, he also gave him some smuggled tobacco. To this day, this portrait may still be hung in the house of the tough man Pier, and now it can be worth about 1,500 pounds. Strickland planned

Go to Samoa or Tahiti in the South Pacific, but he had to take a steamer to Australia or New Zealand first. I didn't forget that he had fantasized about going to a sunny, green island surrounded by a vast ocean, but I didn't think he would actually go there. I guess he and Captain Nichols were always together because he was very familiar with the area. The Captain finally advised him to go to Tahiti because he felt the place was very comfortable.

"You know very well that Tahiti is part of France," Nichols said to me, "the French will not be so rigid."

I know what he means and understand what he thinks very well.

Strickland had no documents on him, but it was not a big deal for the tough guy Pier who was most important to interests. When he introduced a sailor job, he would deduct others' first month's salary. At this time, a steward who lived here died. He happened to be an Englishman, so he asked Strickland to take his certificate and solve the problem. But Strickland and Captain Nichols planned to go east, and then

Several ships that wanted to hire sailors were going west. A cargo ship was going to hire sailors to work, so he found Strickland. However, because the destination of the freighter was the United States, he refused without hesitation. A coal ship was going to Newcastle, and he refused. The tough guy, Bel, could not stand Strickland's stubbornness. He could not bear it anymore and finally decided to drive Captain Nichols and Strickland away, so they had no place to stay.

They actually didn't eat much sumptuous meals with the tough guy Bel. Every time they finished their meal, they seemed to have nothing to eat, and they were still very hungry. However, when they were wandering on the streets again, they still missed the food there. Because they really realized what hunger was. The relief house for alms soup no longer welcomes them, and now they have to turn to the relief house for alms bread. After nightfall, there was no fixed place for them to rest. They sometimes sleep in empty trucks, and sometimes in trucks. What made them even more sad was that they had no money to buy cigarettes. You know, Captain Nichols could not live without cigarettes, so he decided to go to the small beer halls to pick up the heads and cigarette butts thrown by others.

"I have smoked even worse cigarettes than the mess here," he said to me, shrugging helplessly. Then I handed him a cigarette box, and he pulled out two cigars from it, smoked one, and put the other in his pocket.

Sometimes they make a little money. If a cruise ship is in the port, Captain Nichols may be able to work as a temporary loader and unloader after chatting with the crew. If the ship is from Britain, the two of them will sneak into the cabin and have a meal with the sailors there. However, this is not without risk. In order to prevent being caught by senior crew members, they must always be alert, otherwise they may be hit.

"Will a person care about being kicked if he can have enough food?" said Captain Nichols. "For me, I wouldn't be angry about such a trivial matter. Senior crew members should have maintained the discipline on the ship."

A picture appeared in my mind: an angry first mate kicked Captain Nichols on the springboard, and the latter rolled down. Captain Nichols was like an Englishman and highly praised this strict discipline.

The two of them could also do some chores in the fish market. One day, a truck needed to transport the cargo from the dock in baskets, so he hired several people to load the trucks, and Captain Strickland and Captain Nichols were also inside, and they each earned a franc. Another time, they were lucky: a freighter from Madagas had painted off the surface, revealing the rust inside, and they had been doing paint work for several days. I think, based on Strickland's personality who likes to mock people, he must be happy to do this work. So I asked Captain Nichols if Strickland often sarcastically at others during the time when they were poor.

"Never, he never complained," replied the captain. "Although he was unhappy occasionally, he was still very energetic when we had the most difficult times and had not even paid for accommodation, he was like a lively cricket."

I was not surprised at all. Strickland was originally a person who didn't care about the surrounding environment, so even though his situation was so difficult, he could still remain calm. I can't tell whether this is because the mind is very peaceful or because the mind is too contradictory.

A chicken feather shop opened near Butry Road is called "Chinese Thatched House". The name is a homeless man. The owner is a one-eyed Chinese. A person only needs to spend six copper coins to sleep here for one night, and sleep in bed. If he spends three copper coins, he can sleep here for one night, but he needs to work on the floor. Here, the two of them met many friends, and they are also homeless men. When they don't have a penny and the temperature is very low at night, if anyone earns a franc during the day, they will borrow some money to stay for the night. Their friends are very generous and will share with others as long as they have money. They come from different countries, but everyone has a very good relationship and will not be polite to each other because of their different nationalities. In their opinion, they are all residents of Anle Township. This country has a vast territory and they all belong to this land.

"But if Strickland suddenly got angry, I probably wouldn't be able to mess with anyone," Captain Nichols fell into a memory. "One time, we happened to meet the tough guy Pier. Do you remember the identity certificate he helped Charles get? Pier wanted to get it back."

"'If you want, you should get it yourself,' Charles said coldly."

"Belle is a muscular man, but Charles looked very scary at that time, and suddenly shocked Belle. Belle kept scolding him, not having any other words at all. You should be very eye-opening when you listen to the words he used to curse people. At the beginning, Charles stood there listening without responding to him. After a long time, he stepped forward and said to him fiercely: 'Damn it, you pig's trick.' His swearing words were actually very ordinary, nothing special. The key is that his cursing looks terrible. The tough guy, Belle, stopped talking and was scared to death. He immediately turned around and left, as if there was another date later."

According to Captain Nichols, the original words of Strickland when he swears are not the above text, but because this book is still for readers to pass the time, I think it can be processed appropriately so that some vulgar words can be more accepted by readers.

Speaking of which, the tough guy, Belle, is actually a man who will revenge and will never be bullied by others. He is very prestige, and many sailors listen to him. A sailor told them the two of them that Belle vowed to kill Strickland. Not long after, another sailor said the same thing to them.

One night, Strickland and Captain Nichols were spending time in a bar. The bar is located on Butley Road, which is not a wide street. Bungalows are spread out on both sides of the street, each house has only one room, a bit like a shed in a market, you can also imagine it as a cage of a circus. Women stand in front of each house. Some of them are very leisurely, either saying a few words to passers-by or humming songs lazily. Of course, some women look extremely bored.

Look, browse a book at a glance. They come from all over the world, such as France, Italy, Spain, and Japan. Their figures are also different, some are slightly fat, and some are slender. From their thick-pinked faces, you can easily see the traces left by time. There are all kinds of women here, some of them are wearing only black underwear and flesh-colored stockings, and some are wearing golden curly hair. After pulling the door open, you can see the house covered with red floor tiles, a large wooden bed placed inside, and a large mouth

The water jug ​​and a basin were placed on the card table. There were all kinds of people walking around the streets. There were Indian sailors standing on cruise ships to break down, Nordic people standing on Swedish three-masted sailboats with blonde hair, British sailors, French cruisers. Japanese soldiers on warships were also everywhere, and black people transported on American freighters were accustomed to it. During the day, this place was dirty, but once night fell, facing the dim lights in front of the small house, the street seemed to have some kind of god.

A strange charm, this temptation is a bit sinful. These desires scattered in the air are so ugly that they make people suffocate and look so terrible. But these scenes that wrap you and make you unforgettable always contain some magical things. So, you hate this unfamiliar primitive power, but at the same time, you are deeply attracted by its mystery. You cannot find anything about civilization and decent here, there is only a dark reality, which is shrouded in a noisy, lively and sad atmosphere.

At this moment, Strickland and Captain Nichols were sitting in a bar. The automatic piano was playing, and the slightly noisy dance music kept ringing in his ears. People were drinking and chatting around the table. Six or seven sailors were drunk. They were drinking and shouting, and the soldiers were also sitting around the house. The center of the house was filled with pairs of dancing people. The dark-skinned sailors had big beards, each of them hugged the female dance partner who was only wearing an underwear and was dancing intently. Sometimes there were two sailor dance partners hugging each other and dancing. The whole room was very lively, and the noisy sound almost deafened people's ears. Everywhere here

Everyone was laughing, drinking, and screaming; whenever they saw a man kissing his partner leaning on his knees, they could always hear the booing of the British sailors, and the scene seemed even more crazy. Whenever the men raised their big boots and took a step, you could always see the flying dust. The smoke from the men in their cigarettes was breathless. In this small space, the air was very stuffy. A woman was sitting behind the counter to feed the child. At this time, a young waiter kept walking with a tray, and the tray in his hand was filled with beer mugs. If you look closely, you will find that he was not tall and had freckles on his face.

Soon, Bil and two tall black men walked into the bar. At this time, Bil was already half drunk, and came here to make trouble. As soon as Bil entered the door, he bumped into the platform and knocked over the beer. The three soldiers sitting next to the platform were furious and wanted to argue with Bil, and the two sides argued endlessly. At this time, the bar owner walked out angrily and called Bil away. The irritable boss hated the provocative guests and could not tolerate others fighting on his territory. Seeing the boss getting angry,

Bil immediately restrained himself. Because he was worried that the police would cause trouble for him, he could only curse weakly, and then prepare to turn and leave in disappointment. As he turned around, Strickland, who was sitting beside him, came into his eyes. He walked to Strickland, silenced for a while, and suddenly spitted at Strickland's face. Strickland was not willing to be outdone and picked up the wine glass and smashed it at him. The people dancing in the central hall stopped when they heard the movement, and the bar suddenly became silent.

In less than a minute, Belle suddenly pounced on Strickland, and the bar suddenly fell into chaos. They knocked over the beer table during the fight, and the glasses on the table fell to the ground and broke all the ground. The two sides became more and more active. The women hid in fear at the door and behind the counter. Passers-by heard the sound and rushed over to watch. At this moment, there were only a mixed sound, including wild shouts and scolding, and wild shouts. Just as the house was in a mess, a team of policemen rushed in, and the crowd was filled with people.

They were immediately bombarded and ran out. When the surroundings became quiet, only Belle was lying on the ground. He was already unconscious and had a big hole in his head. Strickland had been pulled to the street by Captain Nicols, his arm was bleeding and his clothes were torn to pieces. Captain Nicols, who rescued him, was not much better. Not only was his nose punched, but his face was covered with blood. So the two of them later returned to the "Chinese cottage" to clean the blood on their faces.

"Before the tough guy Pier is not discharged from the hospital, you should leave Marseille as soon as possible." He persuaded Strickland.

"This lively scene is like a cockfighting." Strickland said sarcastically.

I can imagine how he looked when he said this, with a sarcastic smile on his face. Captain Nichols knew the character of the tough guy Belle, and knew that he was a man who would avenge his grudges and would never give up. So he was very worried that Strickland. Strickland made Belle embarrassed in front of so many people. If he was a smart person, he would know that he had to be careful about Belle so as not to be retaliated by him. Belle will not act for the time being, and he will definitely choose a suitable one.

I came to do it. Sooner or later, Strickland would be stabbed from behind, and his body would be thrown into a sewage ditch, and no one could recognize it. The next night, Nichols made a special trip to visit the tough guy Pier for this matter. He learned that Pier was still living in the hospital and his wife had visited him. She told him that Pier swore that he would avenge his previous shame as soon as he was discharged from the hospital, and that there would never be a person named Pier in the world again in a week.

A week passed.

"I often sigh," Captain Nichols continued, "If you want to hit someone, you must beat him to the point of urination. Because this will give you some time to think and not know what to do next."

After that, Strickland encountered a lucky thing. A steamer was about to head to Australia, but one of theirs committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea due to insanity, so they now urgently needed a substitute.

"Don't waste time, man, go to the dock right now," the kind captain told Strickland, "sign it here quickly. Don't forget that your proof is complete."

So Strickland set off immediately. Six hours later, the ship left the port. At dusk, Captain Nichols watched the ship drift away and eventually disappeared from the sea. After that, Captain Nichols never saw Strickland again.

I want to tell this story in as vivid language as possible. I still remember the time he lived in Aschli Garden in London. Compared with his experience in Marseille, he was busy trading securities and was a diligent employee. However, I also knew very well that Captain Nichols's words might not be true. He was good at talking nonsense. Maybe everything he told me was a lie. If one day I discovered that Strickland did not know Captain Nichols at all during his lifetime, and that the experience he told me in Marseille originated from a magazine, then I would not be surprised at all.
Chapter completed!