Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 40
A table was placed in front of the restaurant with two glasses of wine, caught my eye.
“What’s that Grandpa?”
“It’s called wine. You shouldn’t drink that, because it will hurt your stomach like it did to Van Gogh”.
I couldn’t draw because of alcohol, so I shouldn’t drink it again.
“I know it’s alcohol Grandpa, but why did they leave it here?
“To honor Vincent van Gogh and Theodor van Gogh.”
“Even though he died because of the wine, why are they keeping it to honor him”.
“…Hmm.”
Grandfather fell into deep thought sweeping his beard as if he couldn’t find an answer.
I think potato pizza would be good, but keeping such an expensive food every day can be burdensome for the owner of the Ravoux Lodger.
“Come to think of it, what Hun said is true, too. So what do you think is the best dish to honor him Hun.”
“I think Jajangmyeon should be enough Grandpa.”
“Hahahah. Jajangmyeon. That would be great too, but unfortunately they don’t make it here.”
It looks like they don’t sell jajangmyeon here.
It’s a shame.
“Do you want to go up?”
“ Un.”
The door on the first floor is connected to the restaurant, and we had to go up to the second floor through a separate door, so we went around the building, and someone sold tickets there.
“Do we have to buy tickets, Grandpa.?”
“Of course. This is their main source of income.”
It felt strange to think that people came here, just to see the room where I stayed.
On the iron fence, there was a painting of Adeline that I drew and a picture of the room where I stayed.
“It’s Adeline Ravoux.”
Grandpa seems to know everything about me.
“Van Gogh drew the daughter of the owner of the Ravoux Lodger when he stayed here.”
She was a cute child, and she even gave me her snacks, whenever she saw me.
” From the interview Adeline Ravoux gave about Van Gogh before she died, she seems to be remember him as a good person. She even said she didn’t like the smell of cigarettes he used to always puff.”
I didn’t know she hated the smell of cigarettes so much.
“So Hun shouldn’t smoke either. Girls don’t like it and it’s also not good for your body.”
“Is cigarettes also not good for the body?”
“Of course. You will get breathing problems later on as you continue to smoke. So little Hun should never touch cigarette. Okay.?”
“Yes. Grandpa.”
I have found a great substitute called Coke for wine, so I’ll have to think about what to replace cigarettes with.
Grandpa bought the admission tickets and we went up the stairs.
It’s a very old building, but it’s not any different from when I used to live here.
The smell of stale mold still remains.
When we went up the stairs again from the second floor, there was an attic right in front of us.
Except the chair I used to use all the things I used, seemed to have removed.
“…….”
I didn’t know at that time, but this place very narrow.
My grandfather put his hand on my shoulder.
“In this narrow room, Van Gogh burned the last flame of his life.”
A desk was placed in front of the door, and a mirror and a wash basin were placed on top of it.
The bed was placed on the left side of the entrance to receive the morning sun with windows on the ceiling.
I also thought a lot about hanging a painting in this narrow space somehow.
Just before my death, I hung a circle from Gustave Dore’s works.
In a small drawer next to the bed, I put a letter that I couldn’t send to Theo, but there are no items left now.
The snoring of Anton Hersheyg, who was staying in the next room, feels like a thing of the distant past.
It’s only been about half a year since it became Ko Hun, and it’s feels so strange for me to be back here.
“La tristesse durera toujours.”
Suddenly grandpa said something in French.
“That were Vincent van Gogh’s last words. It means ‘the sadness will last forever’.”
“He couldn’t be recognized by anyone and he couldn’t do the thing he loved most — drawing. He couldn’t borrow any more money from his financially struggling brother Theodore.”
Grandfather sighed softly.
“Let’s talk about the back story a little later. All you need to know now is that he lived harder than anyone else.”
Maybe he doesn’t want to tell his young grandson about the suicide.
He swallowed his words a few time.
I opened my mouth to tell the truth to grandpa.
“Van Gogh didn’t want to die.”
“Huh?”
“There were so many things he wanted to draw. He wanted to draw better. He didn’t want to die. …… I think so.”
Grandpa nodded his head.
After a moment of pause grandpa replied.
“That’s possible. But Hun, Van Gogh was so distressed. He was so distressed that he couldn’t stand it anymore, that he repeatedly told his younger brother and friends that he wanted to die.”
“ I……He had to.…”
Grandfather tilted his head at my response.
“If he said you wanted to live, his brother Theo would have tried to save Van Gogh. He would have taken care of his older brother, who couldn’t even control himself properly, let alone draw.”
My kind brother Theo was always like that.
I never wanted to die.
Telling Dr. Gachet not to treat me and telling others that I wanted to die were all after I had already decided to commit suicide, since I couldn’t draw anymore.
So that Teo, didn’t have to sacrifice himself for this useless brother.
I didn’t want him suffer anymore because of me.
I hoped that he would no longer have a hard time because of his ugly brother and live happily with his family.
” I…… think so.”
“Then it’s so sad.”
My grandfather stroked my head saying those words.
“Hey Soo !”
A cheerful voice called my grandpa from behind when he was about to say something.
When I turned my head, a man whose age was similar to grandpa approached us.
“Martin…..Hahaha! How long has it been?”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you. How are you?”
It was rare to see grandpa treating a person this casually.
They seems to be quite close.
“Hun, say Hi to this guy here. He’s your grandpa’s friend.”
“Hello, I’m Ko Hun.”
“It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Martin Janssen.”
He shook his hands very hard while shaking hands.
“If you came early, you should have given me a call.”
“I wanted to look around with my grandson who likes Van Gogh very much.”
“Really?”
Martin Janssen bent down and looked at him.
“What do you think little fellow.? Is there anything you want to see?”
“No, it’s enough. It’s good because it’s exactly the way it was then.”
Martin Janssen smiled and messed up my hair.
“ Hun, it is thanks to this grandfather here, this area is maintained in its original state.”
Grandpa told me an unexpected story.
“How grandpa.?”
“Let’s see… Was it 1987? Yes, It was exactly 1987. He took over this place and repaired it. While living here, he bought all the surroundings and maintained this place the way when Van Gogh lived.”
I don’t know how much money he spent to do that.
“Why.?”
“What do you mean Hun.?”
“Isn’t it expensive?”
I can’t believe he bought all the buildings in this area, not just one.
“Hahaha! Right. It cost a lot of money. It cost 7 million euros just to repair this building alone.”
7 million euros in 1987?
In terms of currency value now, I have no idea how much it will be.
In addition, it would have cost much more to buy the surrounding buildings.
“Why did you do that?””
“Why?”
Martin Janssen lowered his head with his arms folded and after thinking for a while opened his mouth.
“Well, because I like it? Hahahaha!”
“Hahahah! Look at this guy. He’s still bland!”
I don’t understand.
Grandpa and Martin Janssen seem to enjoy it, so I think it’s good.
“Okay, okay. Let’s move for now. Little fellow. What do you like? You didn’t had lunch, right?”
“Potato pizza.”
Martin Janssen stares at grandpa as if something was wrong.
“Hey Soo…Were you feeding your grandson pizza. That unhealthy thing.”
“It’s obvious you don’t have grandchildren. At this age, every kid likes hamburgers and pizza.”
“Really?”
Why is he insulting a high-quality dish such as potato pizza.
Meat, potatoes, various vegetables, bread, and cheese.
Perfectly cooked potato pizza with Coke is the perfect dish in this world.
“There’s a Van Gogh special menu on the first floor. What do you think?”
“Van Gogh special menu?”
“We will give you exactly what Vincent van Gogh ate. It’s the same experience as Van Gogh had. You want some, don’t you?
“I don’t want to.”
I thought he’d introduce me to some valuable food since he insulted potato pizza.
But he was recommending the tasteless food I ate.
I don’t know why I have to eat that bad taste food.
Now I can understand why there are not many people in the restaurant on the first floor.
“Huh? You don’t like it?”
“Hahaha, Hun, let’s eat it once. I think this grandfather wants to brag about his inn.”
” Okay grandpa.”
I won’t refuse since grandpa asked, but if you’re thinking of recovering the money you invested, Martin Janssen has to change such a menu right away.
“That’s how it’s supposed to. Come…. Once you try it, you’ll change your mind.”
We came down the stairs and entered the restaurant through the main gate.
The chairs and the dining table are all as they were then, and the furniture, which was new when I stayed, creates a quiet atmosphere even after more than a hundred years.
“ There’s nothing about Van Gogh here.”
“At that time, If I had bought Van Gogh’s paintings, I would have gone broke.”
If Martin Janssen had hung my painting here, I wouldn’t have felt this way.
Really. I feel like I’m back to that time.
“Boss.”
A person who appeared to be an employee welcomed Martin Janssen.
“ Three Van Gogh Special. Make my plate as usual.”
“Yes, I’ll get ready.”
Instead of saying special, he asks for it as usual, indicating how proud Martin Janssen is of this place.
I don’t think it’ll be good.
Let’s thank him for preserving this area just because he likes me.
“You know what? A lot of people who don’t know Van Gogh says he’s a lunatic, but Van Gogh was really a very normal person.”
I nodded my head and affirmed.
“According to the memories of the Adeline Ravoux, Vincent van Gogh had breakfast and went outside at 9 o’clock. At noon, he came back, ate lunch, and drew in the attic we saw earlier until dinner, and never missed a single meal.”
“That’s strange. He wouldn’t have eaten properly in his later years.”
“He probably ate at least one piece of bread. He couldn’t eat them all. It is said that he soaked the hard bread in water for a long time and ate it little by little.”
At that time, the rent here included meals, which cost 3 francs a day.
I didn’t want to waste the hard earned money of my brother Theo, so I forced myself to eat it little by little.
Later, there were times when I couldn’t even do that properly, but I never thought the little girl Adeline would have remembered that.
“By the way, how’s your work going?”
“Donations are increasing, but it’s still a long way off.”
When grandpa and Martin Jassens were talking, the food we ordered came out.
It was smoked lamb.
I didn’t expect that they would serve lamb dish with potatoes and bacon, which was the most popular dish at that time.
If it’s this food it will be edible.
Since it has to be cooked for more than 7 hours, they must have made preparations in advance.
Their sincerity was indescribable.
Trivia
Dominique Charles Janssens: Belgian businessman. Chairman of the Van Gogh foundation.
In 1987, Dominique Charles Janssens took over the Ravoux Lodger for about 360,000 dollars and spent 7 million euros to repair it extensively.
Since then, all nearby buildings have been bought to preserve Auver, which was developed at 111 million euros, so that many people can enjoy the Auberge Ravoux, where Vincent van Gogh stayed.
