Rehearsals

Armand tells Joseph that his Spartacus was recently ready to be staged in Paris. 

"Why, are you ready for that war song of yours?" Joseph asked. 

"No." Armand shook his head, "Still not a single song that would be satisfying. But everyone feels that now is the perfect time for this play to play out. It would be a shame to miss the period. So, for the time being, let's go with Edgar's song." 

Edgar was a young "composer" in Armand's circle. As in later times, the number of poor young Parisians who called themselves "composers" was no less than the number who called themselves "original musicians" in later times. He had a few songs circulating inside the small bars of the Saint-Antoine area, but writing a battle cry for Spartacus was still beyond the young man's abilities.

"This period is the best time?" Joseph said, "In terms of causing a stir, it does. But staging this production at this point in time might put you in danger. Maybe ..."

Speaking of this, Joseph held out his finger and pointed upward, saying, "Maybe they'll throw you in the Bastille for this."

"So what's to be afraid of? Then I'll really go down in history." Armand replied without a care in the world, "The big deal is to go in and squat for a few years. At such a cost, for the chance to be immortalized in history, it would be so worth it!"

Since Armand had such an attitude, Joseph knew that these days, even if Armand got thrown into the Bastille, he wouldn't be in there for long. Because as soon as the French Revolution began, the Bastille was stormed. And the prisoners held in the Bastille were, naturally, released. Even having been in the Bastille is a rare qualification if Armand wants to go into politics in the future.

"Since you say so. I won't persuade you then." Joseph patted Armand's shoulder and said, "Anyway, take care of yourself. Um, when are you guys rehearsing? I'll come over and take a look then?"

"The day after tomorrow, right here at the Petersen Theater. Starting at eight in the morning." Armand replied.

The Petersen Theater is between the Saint-Antoine area and City Hall, not far from the Bastille.

The Saint-Antoine area is where the poor live, and the condition of the theaters near there naturally can't be compared to those in the richer areas to the west. But this play of Armand's would be better suited to a place like this.

"Well then, I'll be there then." Joseph replied.

Two days later, Joseph took Lucien to a Spartacus rehearsal. The rehearsal went well, including Edgar's war song, but Armand kept frowning and looking distracted.

"What's wrong, Armand?" Joseph said, "Isn't it going well? The actors are doing a great job, too."

"It's good, damn it!" Armand said, "If you hadn't come up with that idea before, I'd be very happy with it now. But as soon as that Edgar song comes on, I always think ... I just think ... it's like going to a big dinner and, as a result, realizing that all the food is unsalted. It's simply ... all your fault, Joseph, hell, if it wasn't for you, I'd be just as elated as those guys at this point ... nay, I'd be more elated than they are. Damn! Damn!"

Armand stomped his feet and said, damn in one breath, then added bitterly to Joseph, "Joseph, help me with your ..."

"What can I do about this?" Joseph said with wide eyes.

To be fair, Edgar's song isn't bad. It's melodic without being too melodic; it's just like what Armand used to complain about: "It's a little too light; what I needed was a roaring Urban cannon, and all he gave me was a trumpet."

Armand flinched for a moment, then laughed bitterly, "Also, if there was a way to do it, it would have been done a long time ago in this long time."

Then he turned his head and said jokingly to Lucien on the side, "Lucien, you're studying music too. How nice it would be if you could write a good song."

But he didn't expect Lucien to respond: "Yeah, after watching today's rehearsal, I was just about to try it."

This answer was a bit unexpected from Armand. He froze for a moment, then laughed, "Well, you'll have to be quick about it, knowing that the play is coming up in half a month."

What Armand didn't expect was that Joseph suddenly approached him with Lucien four days later.

"Armand, take a look at this." Joseph handed a piece of paper directly to Armand.

Armand took the paper, lowered his head, and read it. Then he began to hum the melody on the paper through his nose, and finally, he jerked his head up and grabbed Joseph by the sleeve: "Joseph, this, this is brilliant! Where did this come from?"

"The tune was written by Lucien." Joseph said, while glancing at Lucien, "I wrote the lyrics. What do you think, Armand?"

"Well? It was too good! So good it's almost like I dreamed it. No, I should say, it's in my dreams that I've never heard a song like that, or I would have remembered it." Armand was so happy he could hardly resist dancing straight up.

"Armand, do you think this song will work?" Joseph asked.

"Of course, of course it can. It doesn't get any better than that." Armand replied with a raised eyebrow.

"But Armand, if you're going to use the song, I have one request." Joseph said.

"Speak, my friend. You either want me to run naked down the street right now, or serve my chaste ass I'll oblige you!" Armand replied with a ha-ha laugh.

"Cut the crap, you're corrupting the kids!" Joseph said.

"Well, my friend, tell us what you want."

"Don't tell anyone else that I wrote the lyrics to this song and Lucien composed it until you have my permission." Joseph said.

Armand was able to understand this request of Joseph's. He didn't care about being caught in the Bastille, but that didn't mean Joseph didn't care either. It's only his business if he gets caught in the Bastille, but Joseph still raises two minor brothers. Besides, he knew, or at least felt so himself, that Joseph's goal in life was primarily in science, and he didn't want anything else to interfere too much with his research. As for Lucien, he was very talented, but after all, he was still a kid under fifteen at this point, so naturally, he couldn't be involved in something that could land him in the Bastille.

"No problem. I promise you on my honor that I won't say anything without your consent, even at the time of the Judgment Day." Armand said very seriously.

"My friend, there's no need to be so serious." Joseph smiled, "I'm just trying to avoid some unnecessary trouble."

"I know." Armand said, "I'm not afraid to go into the Bastille, but I don't really want to see any of my friends in the Bastille."

Armand didn't immediately take the song to the troupe for rehearsal because if he did, even if he didn't say who the author was, people might guess the song's possible author based on the fact that he had just met Joseph and Lucien, and immediately had a new song. To say that Armand is actually a meticulous person.

It wasn't until two days later that Armand took out the song and had the troupe try to use it, and this time, the results were said to be very good, but Armand still wasn't satisfied. He is said to feel that some of the lines, nowadays, don't seem to qualify as the song, and many of them still need to be changed. And the actors, in response to the staging and acting, made many suggestions. And so Armand got busy again.

After another week, Armand came again to invite Joseph and Lucien to visit the rehearsal of his play. This time, however, Joseph had something that happened to take him on a business trip, so only Lucien went to this rehearsal with Armand. By the time Joseph returned to Paris a few days later, the maneuvers on Armand's side were almost complete. At least, according to Lucien, the play "is no worse than those of Molière."

Still, Armand doesn't seem to be satisfied; he spends all day in the theater nowadays, repeatedly hovering and hesitating over insignificant things, and his cheekbones are a good deal higher. Joseph knew that this guy had gotten into the wrong frame of mind. If he is allowed to continue in this way, and if he becomes seriously ill after a successful performance, or even "called by the Lord", how could he be "called by the Lord", considering the implicit satire on Christianity in his work? He must have been dragged to hell by the devil.

But Joseph doesn't want to see Armand fall on the stage where the curtain goes up after a successful debut - as aesthetically pleasing as that may seem, it's not the right time for Armand to fall.

Joseph knew that the so-called "problems" that plagued Armand today were not really big and that no matter what kind of decision was made, it would not make much difference. It's just that he's gotten himself so far into the corner that he can't make a choice.

"Armand, have you ever heard of such a story? There was a man who put two piles of exactly the same hay on the right and left sides of a donkey, at the same distance from each other. Then guess what happened to the donkey?" Joseph said as he put a hand on Armand's shoulder.

"I know, that donkey ended up standing in the middle and starving to death. Joseph, you're such a bad guy that you compared me to that stupid ass! But are you really sure the grass is exactly the same on both sides?"

"Ya donkey! Would you have hesitated so long if it wasn't exactly the same?"

"Of course they're not identical, there are some differences between them. I just don't know which one is better."

"So yeah, that's simple." As Joseph said this, he pulled out a less-than-regularly shaped silver coin (ancient Roman silver coins were struck silver coins and were generally not squarely round in shape) and said: "Use this as a judgment call. Look. On this side is an idol of Bacchus, and on this side is a bunch of grapes. You know, my friend, that the art of tragedy derives from the ritualistic activity of this deity. Let's let Him help us make that judgment. You toss the silver coin up. If the head is facing up, the god Bacchus approves of this practice, and if the grapes are facing up, it is Him who is denying the practice. What do you think?"

Bacchus is the Roman name for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, whose priesthood did not include the arts, but considering that the ancient Greek tragic arts stemmed from the sacrifices made to him. It would still be appropriate for Joseph to offer to let Him be the judge.

"A Roman denarius?" Armand took the silver coin from Joseph's hand and looked at it closely, "It should be something from the Republican period, maybe back then Crassus (one of the first triumvirate of Ancient Rome, and the Roman consul who eventually suppressed the Spartacus revolt.) 's hand, had held this silver coin then. Unfortunately, the quality is not so good, and if I hadn't been relying on the grapes on the back, I would hardly have recognized the head of Bacchus on the front. It's really good stuff, though. Well, let's do as you say."