Chapter3-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《月亮与六便士The Moon and Sixpence》

Chapter III But all this is by the way. I was very young when I wrote my first book.By a lucky chance it excited attention,and various persons sought my acquaintance. It is not without melancholy that I wander among my recollections of the world of letters in London when first,bashful but eager,I was introduced to it.It is long since I frequented it,and if the novels that describe its present singularities are accurate much in it is now changed.The venue is different.Chelsea and Bloomsbury have taken the place of Hampstead,Notting Hill Gate,and High Street, Kensington.Then it was a distinction to be under forty,but now to be more than twenty-five is absurd.I think in those days we were a little shy of our emotions,and the fear of ridicule tempered the more obvious forms of pretentiousness.I do not believe that there was in that genteel Bohemia an intensive culture of chastity,but I do not remember so crude a promiscuity as seems to be practised in the present day.We did not think it hypocritical to draw over our vagaries the curtain of a decent silence.The spade was not invariably called a bloody shovel.Woman had not yet altogether come into her own. I lived near Victoria Station,and I recall long excursions by bus to the hospitable houses of the literary.In my timidity I wandered up and down the street while I screwed up my courage to ring the bell;and then,sick with apprehension, ·022· 三 然而，上文所言都是题外话。 我在非常年轻的时候就发表了处女作，由于机缘巧 合，这本书引起了人们的注意，许多人都希望认识我。 刚刚被引荐到伦敦文学圈的时候，我既渴望又羞 怯：现在回忆起当时的种种情形，好不伤感。伦敦已经 是久违了，倘若现在出版的小说里的描写与现实相符的 话，伦敦一定已经发生了沧海桑田的巨变。文人聚会的 地点已经改变了。柴尔西和布鲁姆斯伯里已经取代了汉 普斯台德、诺廷山门、高街和肯星顿的地位。当时，不 到四十岁就功成名就很罕见，而今天出名时过了二十五 岁就很荒谬可笑了。我想，以往我们都有点内敛，感情 不外露，生怕被人讥笑，所以谨言慎行，唯恐给人留下 自高自大的印象。我倒不觉得当年那些既彬彬有礼又放 ①genteel[den'ti:la.彬彬 有礼的 浪不羁的文化人品格如何端方，可我却不记得当年的文 2promiscuity [promi'skju:a- 艺界像今天这样，男女关系这么混乱。我们给自己的种 ;pru]n.(男女的)乱 种荒诞行为蒙上一层体面的缄默来遮羞，我们不认为这 交 ③vagary['veigari]n.古怪行 是虚伪。话并不都直白地说。那些年的女生也还没有享 有自主权。 ④shovel[SAval]n.铲，铁 锹 我住在维多利亚车站附近：我还记得那时候去一些 excursion [ik'ska:fan]n. 殷勤好客的爱好文学的人家庭中做客，需要坐好长时间 短途旅游 的车，我会怯生生地在街上徘徊又徘徊，最后才壮着胆 子去按门铃。接下来，惴惴不安的我，被领进一间闷得 ·023· Chapter III was ushered into an airless room full of people.I was introduced to this celebrated person after that one,and the kind words they said about my book made me excessively uncomfortable.I felt they expected me to say clever things,and I never could think of any till after the party was over.I tried to conceal my embarrassment by handing round cups of tea and rather ill-cut bread-and-butter.I wanted no one to take notice of me,so that I could observe these famous creatures at my ease and listen to the clever things they said. I have a recollection of large,unbending women with great noses and rapacious eyes,who wore their clothes as though they were armour;and of little,mouse-like spinsters,with soft voices and a shrewd glance.I never ceased to be fascinated by their persistence in eating buttered toast with their gloves on,and I observed with admiration the unconcern with which they wiped their fingers on their chair when they thought no one was looking.It must have been bad for the furniture,but I suppose the hostess took her revenge on the furniture of her friends when,in turn,she visited them.Some of them were dressed fashionably,and they said they couldn't for the life of them see why you should be dowdy just because you had written a novel;if you had a neat figure you might as well make the most of it,and a smart shoe on a small foot had never prevented an editor from taking your“stuff,.”But others thought this frivolous③， and they wore "art fabrics"and barbaric jewelry.The men were seldom eccentric in appearance.They tried to look as little like authors as possible. They wished to be taken for men of the world,and could have passed anywhere for the managing clerks of a city firm.They always seemed a little tired.I had never known writers before,and I found them very strange,but I do not think they ever seemed to me quite real. I remember that I thought their conversation brilliant,and I used to listen with astonishment to the stinging humour with which they would tear a brother-author to pieces the moment that his back was turned.The artist has this advantage over the rest of the world,that his friends offer not only their ·024· 三 透不过气的屋子，只见里面坐满了各界名流。人们把我 介绍给一个个名人，他们对我的作品的溢美之词让我如 坐针毡。我感觉到，他们都在等着我的连珠妙语，然而， 一直到聚会结束，我也没有想出一句妙语。为了掩饰自 己的尴尬心情，我不停地给别人端茶倒水，切黄油切面 包，切得不像样子，把这些切得不成样子的东西递给别 人。我巴望大家都忽略我，这样一来，我就可以自由自 在地观察这些名人，听听他们的连珠妙语了。 我记得，我当时见过不少虎背熊腰、腰挺得直直的 ①rapacious [ra'peifas]a.贪 女人。她们的鼻子大大的，目光如炬，衣服穿在她们身 得无厌的：贪婪的 上如同铠甲：我也见过不少瘦小干枯的老处女，她们说 起话来轻言细语，眼神闪烁，像小老鼠一样。她们总是 坚持戴着手套吃黄油吐司，让我一直心生好奇：我注意 到，她们在以为没有人看见的时候，还会漫不经心地在 椅子上蹭手，让我一直心生赞叹。而这对女主人的家具 肯定有损伤。不过我想，待到女主人到这些人家里做客 的时候，肯定也会在她朋友的家具上如法炮制，报仇雪 ②dowdy[daudi]a.不整洁 恨的。这些女人有的穿衣打扮时尚入流，声称无论如何 的，逃邊的 也不明白为什么一个人写了一本小说就会穿着邋递起 来。如果你身材窈窕，为什么不去尽量展现出来呢？纤 ③frivolous['frivolas】a,轻 纤玉足穿上了时尚的鞋子，绝不会妨碍编辑采用你的书 浮的：肤浅的 稿。然而，这些女人中也有一些认为身穿“有艺术感的 服饰”，却搭配“野蛮的珠宝”有失庄重。男士们通常 着装很少奇装异服。他们尽量不让人看出自己是作家， 总希望别人把他们视为有见识的人。不论什么时候经过 他们身旁，我们都会以为他们是大公司的高级白领。这 些人看起来总是有些疲惫。我以前没有结识过作家，我 发现他们都稀奇古怪的，而我觉得这些人不像是现实生 活中活生生的人。 我还记得，我总觉得他们的谈话妙语连珠。只要他 们中间某一个同行一背过身去，他们就会把他说得一无 是处，我一直在惊诧莫名地听着他们那些尖酸刻薄的幽 默。与世界上的其他行当相比，艺术家具有便利条件， ·025· Chapter III appearance and their character to his satire,but also their work.I despaired of ever expressing myself with such aptnessor with such fluency.In those days conversation was still cultivated as an art;a neat repartee was more highly valued than the crackling of thorns under a pot;and the epigram,not yet a mechanical appliance by which the dull may achieve a semblance of wit,gave sprightliness to the small talk of the urbane.It is sad that I can remember nothing of all this scintillation.But I think the conversation never settled down so comfortably as when it turned to the details of the trade which was the other side of the art we practised.When we had done discussing the merits of the latest book,it was natural to wonder how many copies had been sold,what advance the author had received,and how much he was likely to make out of it.Then we would speak of this publisher and of that,comparing the generosity of one with the meanness of another;we would argue whether it was better to go to one who gave handsome royalties or to another who "pushed"a book for all it was worth.Some advertised badly and some well.Some were modern and some were old-fashioned.Then we would talk of agents and the offers they had obtained for us;of editors and the sort of contributions they welcomed,how much they paid a thousand,and whether they paid promptly or otherwise.To me it was all very romantic.It gave me an intimate sense of being a member of some mystic brotherhood. ·026· 三1 ①satire['satai]n.讽刺， 那就是他们的喇嘲笑对象除了朋友的性格和仪表，还有朋 讥刺 ②aptness[aptnis]h,适合 友的作品。他们的批评总是恰如其分，语言流畅，让我 性 相形见绌。那些年，谈话依然被视为一门需要修炼的艺 (3repartee [.repa:'ti:;-pa-]n. 术，一句智巧的对答比锅子底下噼啪爆响的荆棘更受 机敏的回答 ④epigram['epigram]n.警 器重，那些年，格言警句还不能张口就来，还没有成为 句，隽语 蠢人附庸风雅的工具，风雅人物在闲谈中信手拈来几句 semblance ['semblans]n. 假象；伪装 都引得满堂彩。遗憾的是，这些火花亮点我现在忘了个 sprightliness ['spraitlinis] 干二净。不过，我却记得最容易偷快地达成一致的谈 n.快活，愉快 ⑦urbane[o:bein]a.彬彬有 话内容是转向艺术的另一面，也就是交易的一些细节的 礼的，温文尔雅的 时候。我们对一本新书评头论足之后，自然而然地要推 scintillation [.sinti'leifan] 测一下这本书会有多少销量，作者会得到多少预支的稿 n火花，闪光 费，他从中能赚多少钱。接下来，我们会说说这个出版 商和那个出版商，比较一下，看哪个更慷慨大方，哪个 更吝啬小气。我们还要争论一下，到底是把书稿给稿酬 高的人呢，还是给会“推”书，让书物超所值的人。有 的出版商善于做广告，有的不会做广告。有些出版商摩 登，有些老套。接下来，我们会说说出版代理人和他们 为我们作家搞到的做书的机会。我们会说说编辑和他们 欢迎哪类作品，一千字给多少稿费，是及时支付，还是 延后支付。在我看来，所有这一切都浪漫至极。还让我 觉得和大家亲密无间，似乎成了某种神秘的兄弟会会员 一般。 1见《圣经》旧约传道书第七章：“愚昧人的笑声，好像锅下烧荆 棘的爆声。” ·027·