Chapter2-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《月亮与六便士The Moon and Sixpence》

Chapter II When so much has been written about Charles Strickland,it may seem unnecessary that I should write more.A painter's monument is his work.It is true I knew him more intimately than most:I met him first before ever he became a painter,and I saw him not infrequently during the difficult years he spent in Paris;but I do not suppose I should ever have set down my recollections if the hazards of the war had not taken me to Tahiti.There,as is notorious, he spent the last years of his life;and there I came across persons who were familiar with him.I find myself in a position to throw light on just that part of his tragic career which has remained most obscure.If they who believe in Strickland's greatness are right,the personal narratives of such as knew him in the flesh can hardly be superfluous.What would we not give for the reminiscences of someone who had been as intimately acquainted with El Greco as I was with Strickland? But I seek refuge in no such excuses.I forget who it was that recommended men for their soul's good to do each day two things they disliked:it was a wise man,and it is a preceptthat I have followed scrupulously;for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed.But there is in my nature a strain of asceticism, and I have subjected my flesh each week to a more severe mortification.I have never failed to read the Literary Supplement of The Times.It is a salutary ·016· 二 关于查尔斯·斯特里克兰德的文章既然己经汗牛充 栋，我似乎没有必要再多费口舌了。画家的画作才是画 家永恒的纪念碑。虽然事实上，与大多数人相比，我跟 他更熟络：我与他的相识很早，那还是在他改行学画以 前。在他巴黎的那段穷困潦倒的日子里，我时常和他见 面。倘若没有发生战乱，我就不会涉足塔希提岛，也就 ①hazard[haezod]m.意外事 不会写下那本回忆录。而他臭名昭著的生命最后那几年 件，偶然之事 2 notorious [nau'to:rias]a. 正是在塔希提度过的：我在那里遇见许多他的熟人。我 臭名昭著的，声名狼藉 发现，我恰好可以弥补空白，阐明人们对他悲剧的一生 的 中语焉不详的那段日子。如果那些相信斯特里克兰德伟 大的人没有看走眼的话，与他有过亲密接触的人对他 3 superfluous [sju'pa:fluas] a.多余的 的追忆就不好说是多费口舌了。倘若有人跟埃尔·格 列柯的熟悉程度像我跟斯特里克兰德一样，只要可以 ④precept[pri:sept]n.格言： 箴言 读到他写的格列柯回忆录，我们肯定会不惜一切代价 5 scrupulously ['skru:pjulas- 的呀！ i门ad.严谨地，认真负责 而我却无意以此为借口.我忘了什么人曾经建议过： 地 6 asceticism [a'setisizam]n. 一个人为了得到灵魂的安宁，每天都需要做两件自己不 苦行主义 喜欢做的事。说这话的人是一个智者，而对于这条格言， ⑦mortification【p:tifi'keifon] n.【宗教】禁欲，克己 我也一直在严格地身体力行，因为我天天起床、上床。 苦行 但是我这个人骨子里还有苦行主义的性格倾向，于是， ⑧salutary[saeljutari]a.有益 健康的 我还一直让我的肉体每星期经受一次更大的苦行。《泰 晤士报》的文学增刊，我期期不落。想到作者弹精竭虑 ·017· Chapter II discipline to consider the vast number of books that are written,the fair hopes with which their authors see them published,and the fate which awaits them. What chance is there that any book will make its way among that multitude? And the successful books are but the successes of a season.Heaven knows what pains the author has been at,what bitter experiences he has endured and what heartache suffered,to give some chance reader a few hours'relaxation or to while away the tedium of a journey.And if I may judge from the reviews, many of these books are well and carefully written;much thought has gone to their composition;to some even has been given the anxious labour of a lifetime. The moral I draw is that the writer should seek his reward in the pleasure of his work and in release from the burden of his thought;and,indifferent to aught else,care nothing for praise or censure,failure or success. Now the war has come,bringing with it a new attitude.Youth has turned to gods we of an earlier day knew not,and it is possible to see already the direction in which those who come after us will move.The younger generation,conscious of strength and tumultuous2,have done with knocking at the door;they have burst in and seated themselves in our seats.The air is noisy with their shouts. Of their elders some,by imitating the antics of youth,strive to persuade themselves that their day is not yet over;they shout with the lustiest,but the war cry sounds hollow in their mouth;they are like poor wantons attempting with pencil,paint and powder,with shrill gaiety,to recover the illusion of their spring.The wiser go their way with a decent grace.In their chastened smile is an indulgent mockery.They remember that they too trod down a sated generation,with just such clamor and with just such scorn,and they foresee that these brave torch-bearers will presently yield their place also.There is no last word.The new evangel was old when Nineveh reared her greatness to the sky.These gallant words which seem so novel to those that speak them were said in accents scarcely changed a hundred times before.The pendulum swings backwards and forwards.The circle is ever travelled anew. Sometimes a man survives a considerable time from an era in which he ·018· 地写了那么多本书，满怀希冀地盼望着、目睹着图书出 版，等待着图书的命运，的确是修身养性之道。一本书 从浩如烟海的书海中脱颗而出的希望微乎其微呀！即便 朝畅销，那畅销也不是长销。苍天有眼，为一本书， 作者历尽千辛万苦，饱受苦痛折磨，饱尝心酸滋味，仅 仅为了给偶然读到这本书的人消磨几小时，驱除旅途疲 劳。倘若我可以根据书评做判断的话，很多图书都是作 ①tedium[i:diam]n.冗长 乏味，单调 者精雕细刻、殚精竭虑的成果，有些图书甚至凝聚了作 者平生所学。对此，我们应该吸取的教训就是：作者著 书的回报应该取自写作的乐趣和胸中块垒的疏解：而对 于其他，都应该不闻不问，不论图书成败与否，还是褒 贬毁誉，他都应该看得云淡风轻才是。 战争来了，也带来了全新的态度。年轻人转而向我 们老一代人以往不熟悉的一些神灵祈福，我们后来人的 动向已经初露端倪了。青年一代意识到了自身的力量， 众声喧哗，没有敲门，就长驱直入，一屁股坐到我们的 宝座上，空中充斥着他们的大声喧哗。老一代人有的模 2 tumultuous [tju:'mAltjuas: 仿青年人愚蠢而古怪的姿态，拼命劝慰自己，以为宝刀 -us]a吵闹的，喧闹 的 不老：这些人跟最健壮的青年人一起狂喊乱叫，然而他 ③antics[aentik]a.古怪的， 们的叫板，他们的呐喊，听起来却是那么空洞乏力，就 乖张荒诞的 wanton ['wontan;'wo:n-] 像那些可怜的荡妇，虽然青春已逝，却企图靠浓妆艳抹 m.放荡的女人 和浪荡轻浮来重塑青春的幻象。明智的老一代则故作端 ⑤gaiety['geiati]n.快乐，快 活 庄优雅范儿。他们节制的微笑里有宽容有讽刺。他们想 6chasten['tfeisan抑制， 起，当年自己也曾把上一代拉下宝座，踏上一万只脚， 遏制，节制 也曾这样狂喊乱叫，出言不逊：他们料到，终有一天， ⑦tread down踏平 ⑧scom[sko:n]n.嘲笑，嘲 这些高擎火把的勇士也会被赶下台。谁的话都不是一锤 弄 定音。当尼尼微城的伟大被吹上天的时候，新福音书已 evangel[vaend3al]n.福 音书 经是明日黄花了。说这些豪言壮语的人可能还觉得他们 0rear[ri],树立：建立 在陈述前无古人的真理，而实际上，连他们说话的腔调 pendulum ['pendjulam; 都似曾相识，前人已经重复过成千上万次，几乎一模一 d0]n.(钟等的)摆 钟摆 样。钟摆摆过来摆过去，这过程周而复始，无休无止。 有时，一个人的寿命比较长，经过了他曾经显赫一 时的时代，进入了一个他顿觉陌生的新世纪，此时好奇 ·019· Chapter II had his place into one which is strange to him,and then the curious are offered one of the most singular spectacles in the human comedy.Who now,for example,thinks of George Crabbe?He was a famous poet in his day,and the world recognised his genius with a unanimity which the greater complexity of modern life has rendered infrequent.He had learnt his craft at the school of Alexander Pope,and he wrote moral stories in rhymed couplets.Then came the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars,and the poets sang new songs. Mr.Crabbe continued to write moral stories in rhymed couplets.I think he must have read the verse of these young men who were making so great a stir in the world,and I fancy he found it poor stuff.Of course,much of it was.But the odes of Keats and of Wordsworth,a poem or two by Coleridge,a few more by Shelley,discovered vast realms of the spirit that none had explored before. Mr.Crabbe was as dead as mutton,but Mr.Crabbe continued to write moral stories in rhymed couplets.I have read desultorily the writings of the younger generation.It may be that among them a more fervid Keats,a more ethereal Shelley,has already published numbers the world will willingly remember.I cannot tell.I admire their polish-their youth is already so accomplished that it seems absurd to speak of promise-I marvel at the felicity of their style;but with all their copiousness(their vocabulary suggests that they fingered Roget's Thesaurus in their cradles)they say nothing to me:to my mind they know too much and feel too obviously;I cannot stomach the heartiness with which they slap me on the back or the emotion with which they hurl themselves on my bosom;their passion seems to me a little anaemie and their dreams a trifle dull.I do not like them.I am on the shelf.I will continue to write moral stories in rhymed couplets.But I should be thrice a fool if I did it for aught but my own entertainment. ·020· 的人们就会看到人间喜剧中的一幅最奇特的景象。譬如， 今天的人们谁还会想到乔治·克莱布1呀？在他所处的 那个时代，他声名显赫，当时大家异口同声地承认他是 C unanimity [ju:na'nimati] 一个伟大的天才，这在今天日趋复杂的现代生活中实属 n.全体一致：一致同意 罕见。他写诗的技巧是从亚历山大·蒲柏2派那里学习的， 他以有韵的对句形式写了大量的说教故事。后来，法国 大革命和拿破仑战争爆发以后，诗人们开始吟唱新式诗 歌，而克莱布先生却依然自顾自写他那有韵的对句说教 诗。我猜测，他一定读过那些年轻人写的、轰动一时的 新诗，而且我还想象他一定认为那些诗都是垃圾。当然， 大多数新诗确实如此。然而，譬如济慈和华兹华斯所写 的颂歌，柯勒律治的一两首诗，雪莱写的更多的几首诗， 确实开拓了前人未曾涉足过的更为广阔的精神领域。克 莱布先生早已过气了，但是克莱布先生依然坚持不解地 2desultorily ['desaltarili]ad. 继续写他的有韵对句诗。我也零零散散地读过一些我们 随便地，任意地 当代青年的诗歌，我无法确定，他们中间也许出现了一 ③fervid[fa:vida.热烈的， 位更热情如火的济慈或者更冰清玉洁的雪莱，已经发表 热情的 ④ethereal[i0 iarial]a.非尘 了可以千古传唱的诗歌。我赞赏他们娴熟的风格，年纪 世的，非世俗的，非人 轻轻，就已才高八斗，所以只是说他们前程似锦，实属 间的 荒唐。我惊叹他们对于风格的驾轻就熟：然而，尽管他 们词汇量大（从他们使用的语汇推断，他们在襁褓里就 cradle[kreid训m,摇篮 己经看过罗杰特的《词汇宝库》了)，却缺乏实质性内容。 依我之见，他们知道的太多，感觉太浅：对于他们跟我 勾肩搭背、投怀送抱的那种热情，我难以消受。在我看 ⑥anaemic [o'ni::mik]a.苍白 来，他们的热情似乎有些苍白，他们的梦想也有些无趣。 无力的 我不喜欢他们。我已经是明日黄花了。我依旧要继续用 有韵对句的形式写些说教故事。我只有自娱自乐，不作 他想，才不至于成为一个双料的傻瓜。 1乔治·克莱布(1754一1832)，英国诗人 2亚历山大·蒲柏(1688一1744)，英国诗人。 ·021·