Chapter6-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《月亮与六便士The Moon and Sixpence》

Chapter VI But when at last I met Charles Strickland,it was under circumstances which allowed me to do no more than just make his acquaintance.One morning Mrs. Strickland sent me round a note to say that she was giving a dinner-party that evening, and one of her guests had failed her.She asked me to stop the gap.She wrote: "It's only decent to warn you that you will be bored to extinction.It was a thoroughly dull party from the beginning,but if you will come I shall be uncommonly grateful.And you and I can have a little chat by ourselves." It was only neighbourly to accept. When Mrs.Strickland introduced me to her husband,he gave me a rather indifferent hand to shake.Turning to him gaily,she attempted a small jest "I asked him to show him that I really had a husband.I think he was beginning to doubt it." Strickland gave the polite little laugh with which people acknowledge a facetiousness in which they see nothing funny,but did not speak.New arrivals claimed my host's attention,and I was left to myself.When at last we were all assembled,waiting for dinner to be announced,I reflected,while I chatted with the woman I had been asked to"take in,"that civilised man practised a strange ingenuity in wasting on tedious exercises the brief span of his life.It was the ·042· 六 可是，最后我与查尔斯·斯特里克兰德见面的情况， 却不像斯特里克兰德太太所说的那样。那天晚上，除了 她丈夫，我还结识了其他人。那天上午，斯特里克兰德 太太派人给我送来一张纸条，告诉我她当天晚上要举办 一个晚宴聚会，有一个客人来不了，请我来顶替。她在 纸条上写道： 我应该提前预警一下，你会觉得非常乏味的。从一 开始我就知道这是一次枯燥乏味的宴会。然而如果你能 大驾光临的话，我会格外感激。起码你我二人还可以聊聊。 与人为普，我接受了她的邀请。 斯特里克兰德太太把我介绍给她丈夫以后，他跟我 淡淡地握了握手。斯特里克兰德太太开心地转向他，想 ①gaily['geili]ad.快乐地， 愉快地 开个玩笑。 ②jcst[d3est]m.笑话，俏皮 “我请他来是要叫他看看我真是有丈夫的人，我猜 话 他已经开始疑心了。” 斯特里克兰德彬彬有礼地微微一笑，正如那些承认 facetiousness [fa'si:fosnis] n.滑稽：玩笑 你在犯二却不觉得有什么可笑的人一样，他一声也没 吭。又有客人到了，吸引了主人的注意力，我被抛在了 一边。最后，客人都到齐了，等着宣布开饭的时候，我 一边受命“陪着”一位女宾闲聊，一边琢磨：人生苦短， 奇怪的是，文明人却别出心裁地把短促的生命浪费在让 ·043· ChapterVI kind of party which makes you wonder why the hostess has troubled to bid her guests,and why the guests have troubled to come.There were ten people.They met with indifference,and would part with relief.It was,of course,a purely social function.The Stricklands"owed"dinners to a number of persons,whom they took no interest in,and so had asked them;these persons had accepted. Why?To avoid the tedium of dining tete-a-tete,to give their servants a rest, because there was no reason to refuse,because they were"owed"a dinner. The dining-room was inconveniently crowded.There was a K.C.and his wife,a Government official and his wife,Mrs.Strickland's sister and her husband,Colonel MacAndrew,and the wife of a Member of Parliament.It was because the Member of Parliament found that he could not leave the House that I had been invited.The respectabilityof the party was portentous.The women were too nice to be well dressed,and too sure of their position to be amusing. The men were solid.There was about all of them an air of well-satisfied prosperity. Everyone talked a little louder than natural in an instinctive desire to make the party go,and there was a great deal of noise in the room.But there was no general conversation.Each one talked to his neighbour;to his neighbour on the right during the soup,fish,and entree;to his neighbour on the left during the roast,sweet,and savoury.They talked of the political situation and of golf,of their children and the latest play,of the pictures at the Royal Academy,of the weather and their plans for the holidays.There was never a pause,and the noise grew louder.Mrs.Strickland might congratulate herself that her party was a success.Her husband played his part with decorum.Perhaps he did not talk very much,and I fancied there was towards the end a look of fatigue in the faces of the women on either side of him.They were finding him heavy.Once or twice Mrs.Strickland's eyes rested on him somewhat anxiously. At last she rose and shepherded the ladies out of one room.Strickland ·044· 六 人兴趣索然的应酬上。譬如对那天的聚会，你无法不心 生疑窦：为什么女主人要不厌其烦地邀请这些客人，而 这些客人为什么也会不厌其烦地接受邀请。那天的来宾 共有十位。这些人见面的时候漫不经心，分手的时候则 如释重负。当然了，这纯粹是一次社交性质的聚会。斯 特里克兰德夫妇“欠”其中一些人的饭，虽然他们对这 ①tete-a-tete两人间的密谈， 些人没有一丝一毫的兴趣，可他们还是需要回请，而这 促膝谈心 些人也都接受了邀请。为什么？是为了逃避吃饭时烦人 的夫妻常相对，为了让仆人休息缓冲一下，还是因为没 有理由拒绝，因为就“应该吃回”别人的一顿饭？我无 从揣测。 餐厅里人头攒动，环境很不舒适。在座的有一对皇 @respectability [ri,spekto'bil- 家法律顾问夫妇，一对政府官员夫妇，斯特里克兰德太 订n受人尊敬的品质（或 太的姐姐和姐夫麦克安德鲁上校，还有一位议员的夫 地位等) 3portentous [po:'tentas;'pau-] 人。正因为议员发现议院走不开，所以我才临时被请来 a.令人惊讶的 顶替。这些客人都是达官显贵。女宾们都清楚自己气场 强大，所以无须在服饰上过于考究，她们都清楚自己位 高权重，无须讨人欢心。男宾们都很体面。总之，所有 这里的人全都是一副志得意满的富贵气象。 每个来宾都本能地希望为聚会增光添彩，所以谈话 的声音都比平时大了些，屋里众生喧哗。然而，大家说 的话题却不一样，人人都在跟邻座说话，在喝汤。吃鱼 和小菜的时候跟右面的人说话，在吃烤肉、甜食和开胃 小吃的时候跟左边的人说话。他们谈政治形势，谈高尔 夫球，谈孩子和新公演的戏剧，淡皇家艺术学院展出的 画作，谈天气，谈假期计划。谈话没完没了，一直在继 续，说话的声音也越来越大。宴会很成功，斯特里克兰 德太太应该为自己感到高兴。她的丈夫举止得体。可能 他没怎么说话，我觉得饭快吃完的时候，坐在他两侧的 女宾都面露疲惫。她们肯定发现他疲惫、呆板、不善言 ④shepherd[fepad],带领 谈。有那么一两次，斯特里克兰德太太的目光落到了他 身上，眼神里都透着焦虑。 原文为法语。 ·045· ChapterVI shut the door behind her,and,moving to the other end of the table,took his place between the K.C.and the Government official.He passed round the port again and handed us cigars.The K.C.remarked on the excellence of the wine, and Strickland told us where he got it.We began to chat about vintages and tobacco.The K.C.told us of a case he was engaged in,and the Colonel talked about polo.I had nothing to say and so sat silent,trying politely to show interest in the conversation;and because I thought no one was in the least concerned with me,examined Strickland at my ease.He was bigger than I expected:I do not know why I had imagined him slender and of insignificant appearance;in point of fact he was broad and heavy,with large hands and feet,and he wore his evening clothes clumsily.He gave you somewhat the idea of a coachman dressed up for the occasion.He was a man of forty,not good-looking,and yet not ugly,for his features were rather good;but they were all a little larger than life-size,and the effect was ungainly.He was clean shaven,and his large face looked uncomfortably naked.His hair was reddish,cut very short,and his eyes were small,blue or grey.He looked commonplace.I no longer wondered that Mrs.Strickland felt a certain embarrassment about him;he was scarcely a credit to a woman who wanted to make herself a position in the world of art and letters.It was obvious that he had no social gifts,but these a man can do without;he had no eccentricity even,to take him out of the common run;he was just a good,dull,honest,plain man.One would admire his excellent qualities, but avoid his company.He was null He was probably a worthy member of society,a good husband and father,an honest broker;but there was no reason to waste one's time over him. ·046· 六 最后，她站起来，带着一群女宾出了餐厅。在她们 走出去以后，斯特里克兰德把门关上，走到桌子的另一 头，在皇家法律顾问和政府官员中间就座。他再次把红 ①vintage【vintids]】n.葡萄 葡萄酒传过来，还给客人递雪茄。皇家法律顾问称赞酒 酒酿制 是美酒，斯特里克兰德告诉我们他是从什么地方买的。 我们开始说起酿酒和烟草来。皇家法律顾问把他正在审 理的一个案件讲给大家听，上校说起了马球。我没有什 么事好说，所以默默坐在那里，尽量表现得彬彬有礼， 饶有兴味地听别人说话。因为我知道这些人谁都和我无 关，所以就悠闲自在地仔细端详起斯特里克兰德来。他 身材比我想象的要高大，我也不明白为什么以前会以为 他弱不禁风，其貌不扬。事实上，他身材魁梧健硕，一 双大手大脚，穿上晚礼服看起来有些臃肿，给你的印象 或多或少有点像一个马车夫打扮起来参加一个正式场 ②ungainly[n'geinli]a.笨 合。他有四十岁，长得不算漂亮，却也不丑陋，因为他 拙的 五官端正，就是都比常人大了一号，结果就显得有些笨 拙。他的胡须刮得干干净净，所以一张大脸光溜溜的， 让人看着很不舒服。他的头发颜色发红，剪得很短，眼 睛小小的，看不清是蓝色还是灰色的。他看起来就是一 般人。我不再奇怪为什么斯特里克兰德太太谈起他来有 点尴尬了：对于一个想在文学艺术圈得到一席之地的女 人来说，他基本上不会给她增光添彩。显而易见，他没 有社交能力，退一步说，社交能力倒不是男人必备。他 甚至连怪癖都没有，有怪癖也会让人跳出庸常啊。他只 ③null[nAla.不存在的： 无（个性）特征的 不过是一个平平常常、忠厚老实、无情无趣的好人。人 们可以钦佩他的人品，却会避免与他为伴。他是一个没 有存在感的人。或许他是一个令人称道的社会成员，一 个可靠的经纪人，一个尽职尽责的丈夫和父亲，然而， 你却没有理由在他身上浪费时间。 ·047·