A Victory For Me

Paris. Gare de l'Est.

Sweezus has loaned Arthur twenty four euros for the train.

Arthur has boarded the train, with his bike, but has not bought a ticket.

He finds an empty seat next to a round-faced man in a fur hat, and sits down.

The train departs for Saint Malo.

Going through to Saint Malo? asks the man. 

Yes, says Arthur. 

So am I, says the man. 

That's an unusual hat, says Arthur. With the nap of the fur on both sides meeting on top in the middle.

That's a good way of putting it, says the man.

I'm a poet, says Arthur.

So I see, says the man. As for me, I'm a mathematician, philosopher and natural historian.

Which doesn't explain the hat, says Arthur.

True, it doesn't, says the man. I got it in Lapland. It's reindeer fur.

Lapland, says Arthur. Why did you go there?

To make a series of observations, says the man. Proving the earth was oblate.

And was it? says Arthur.

Yes it was, says the man. A victory for me. But have you heard of the Kaymajarvi inscriptions?

No, says Arthur.

Good, says the man. I'm Pierre-Louis Maupertuis, by the way.

Arthur Rimbaud, says Arthur. 

May I ask why you're travelling to Saint Malo? asks Pierre-Louis Maupertuis.

Picking up a couple of frogs for a friend, says Arthur. You might know of him. Gaius Plinius Secundus.

I do! says Pierre-Louis. Who has not heard of Gaius Plinius Secundus? So he is your friend?

Yes, says Arthur.

And these frogs ? Are they frogs of Saint Malo?

No, says Arthur. They're frogs of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.

Alors! What are they doing in Saint Malo? asks Pierre-Louis. 

They're not in Saint Malo, says Arthur. They're on their way from Le Havre by bicycle. I'm going to meet them half way.

By bicycle? says Pierre-Louis. That conjures up an amusing image. 

Not too far from the truth, says Arthur. 

Ah, the truth! sighs Pierre-Louis. You seem empathetic. And so, I would like to tell you what happened when I was in Sweden.

Okay, says Arthur.

I discovered mysterious runic marks on some stones near Lake Kaymajarvi, says Pierre-Louis. I copied them down. For nearly three hundred years it was believed that the marks were man-made. I was proud of my discovery. But in 2018 they were found to have resulted from natural processes.

Not your fault, says Arthur. And it doesn't prove the marks had no meaning.

You think? Would you like to see them? asks Pierre-Louis.

Sure, says Arthur.

Pierre-Louis pulls a tatty piece of paper out of his pocket. 

His train ticket falls out as well.