Chapter19-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《月亮与六便士The Moon and Sixpence》

Chapter XIX I had not announced my arrival to Stroeve,and when I rang the bell of his studio,on opening the door himself,for a moment he did not know me.Then he gave a cry of delighted surprise and drew me in.It was charming to be welcomed with so much eagerness.His wife was seated near the stove at her sewing,and she rose as I came in.He introduced me. "Don't you remember?"he said to her."I've talked to you about him often." And then to me:"But why didn't you let me know you were coming?How long have you been here?How long are you going to stay?Why didn't you come an hour earlier,and we would have dined together?" He bombarded me with questions.He sat me down in a chair,patting me as though I were a cushion,pressed cigars upon me,cakes,wine.He could not let me alone.He was heart-broken because he had no whisky,wanted to make coffee for me,racked his brain for something he could possibly do for me,and beamed and laughed,and in the exuberance of his delight sweated at every pore "You haven't changed,"I said,smiling,as I looked at him. He had the same absurd appearance that I remembered.He was a fat little man,with short legs,young still-he could not have been more than thirty- but prematurely bald.His face was perfectly round,and he had a very high colour,a white skin,red cheeks,and red lips.His eyes were blue and round too, ·152· 十九 我事先并没有告之施特略夫我要来巴黎。我按了门 铃，开门的正是施特略夫本人，他一开始没有认出我来， 可是随后就惊喜地叫了起来，一把把我拉了进去。受 到这样热烈的欢迎真让人欢喜。他的妻子正坐在炉边 做针线活，我一进来她就站起身来。施特略夫把我介 绍给她。 “你还记得吗？”他对她说，“我常常跟你说起他。” 接着他又对我说：“可你来巴黎怎么不事先跟我说一声 啊？你来了多少天了？你打算待多久啊？你怎么不早来 一个小时，咱们好一起吃晚饭呢？” 他狂轰滥炸似地问了我一大堆问题。他让我坐在一 D bombard [bom'ba:d;'bom- ba:d￥（用问题、建议 把椅子上，拍打着我，好像我是靠垫。他不停地催我抽 等)不断攻击，激烈政 雪茄，吃蛋糕，喝酒。他不肯让我的嘴闲着。家里没有 击 2exuberance [ig'zju:barans; 威士忌可以给我喝，为此，他的心都要碎了。他要给我 nsjn.感情洋溢（或 煮咖啡，绞尽脑汁地想还能给我吃什么。他笑逐颜开， 慨激昂)的言行：生气 勃勃的行动 眉开眼笑，喜出望外，欢乐得每个汗毛孔都往外冒 ③pore[pon.毛孔：气孔 汗珠。 “你一点儿都没变。”我看着他，笑眯眯地说道。 他跟我记忆中的一个样，还是那么荒诞滑稽。他矮 矮胖胖的，长了一双小短腿。他还年轻一应该还没到 prematurely ['premotfoli] ad过早地 三十岁吧一可是却已经早早地秃顶了。他的脸圆得不 能再圆，面色红润得不能再红润，皮肤白白的，两颊红 ·153· Chapter XIX he wore large gold-rimmed spectacles,and his eyebrows were so fair that you could not see them.He reminded you of those jolly,fat merchants that Rubens painted. When I told him that I meant to live in Paris for a while,and had taken an apartment,he reproached me bitterly for not having let him know.He would have found me an apartment himself,and lent me furniture-did I really mean that I had gone to the expense of buying it?-and he would have helped me to move in.He really looked upon it as unfriendly that I had not given him the opportunity of making himself useful to me.Meanwhile,Mrs.Stroeve sat quietly mending her stockings,without talking,and she listened to all he said with a quiet smile on her lips. “so,you see,I'm married,”he said suddenly;“what do you think of my wife?" He beamed at her,and settled his spectacles on the bridge of his nose.The sweat made them constantly slip down. "What on earth do you expect me to say to that?"I laughed. "Really,Dirk,"put in Mrs.Stroeve,smiling. "But isn't she wonderful?I tell you,my boy,lose no time;get married as soon as ever you can.I'm the happiest man alive.Look at her sitting there. Doesn't she make a picture?Chardin,eh?I've seen all the most beautiful women in the world;I've never seen anyone more beautiful than Madame Dirk Stroeve.” "If you don't be quiet,Dirk,I shall go away." “Mon petit chou,”he said. She flushed a little,embarrassed by the passion in his tone.His letters had told me that he was very much in love with his wife,and I saw that he could hardly take his eyes off her.I could not tell if she loved him.Poor pantaloon, he was not an object to excite love,but the smile in her eyes was affectionate, and it was possible that her reserve concealed a very deep feeling.She was ·154· 十九 红的，嘴唇红红的。他的一双眼晴蓝蓝的，圆圆的，戴 着一副大大的金边眼镜，眉毛淡淡的，你几乎看不出来。 看到他，你不由会想到鲁宾斯画的那些大腹便便的乐天 的商人。 我告诉他，我计划在巴黎住一段日子，寓所也已经 租好了。他听了以后强烈地谴责我，说如果事先告诉他 的话，他就会帮我找一个住处，会借给我家具一难道 我真的花了一笔冤枉钱自已去买的吗？还有，他还可以 帮我搬家。他真心觉得，我没有给他这个发挥作用的机 会，实在是太不够朋友了。在他跟我滔滔不绝地讲话的 时候，施特略夫太太一直安安静静地坐在那里补着袜 子。她并没有说什么，只是听着丈夫说的每一句话，嘴 角挂着一抹安详的笑意。 “你也看到了，我已经结婚了。”他突然说道，“你 觉得我的太太怎么样啊？” 他眉开眼笑地看着她，把眼镜在鼻梁上扶正，因为 出汗，他的眼镜时不时地往下滑落。 “你希望我说什么呀？”我哈哈大笑了起来。 “就是呀，戴尔克。”施特略夫太太插了一句，莞 尔一笑。 “可是，难道她不是妙不可言吗？我跟你说，老朋 友，争分夺秒，尽快结婚吧！我现在是世界上活着的人 里最幸福的。你看看她坐在那儿，不就是一幅画吗？像 不像夏尔丹1的画，啊？世界上最漂亮的女人我都见过 了，可我却没看见过有比戴尔克·施特略夫夫人更美 的。” “戴尔克，你要是还不安静下来，我可就走了。” “我的小宝贝2。”他说道。 她的脸泛起一层淡淡的红云，他语气里流露出的激 Dpantaloon [.paento'lu:n]n. 小丑，丑角 情让她怪难为情的。施特略夫在给我的信里曾经说过非 常爱他的妻子，现在我看得出，他的眼睛差不多一刻都 1让·西麦翁·夏尔丹(1699一1779)，法国画家 2原文为法语。 ·155· ChapterXIX not the ravishing creature that his love-sick fancy saw,but she had a grave comeliness.She was rather tall,and her gray dress,simple and quite well-cut, did not hide the fact that her figure was beautiful.It was a figure that might have appealed more to the sculptor than to the costumier.Her hair,brown and abundant,was plainly done,her face was very pale,and her features were good without being distinguished.She had quiet gray eyes.She just missed being beautiful,and in missing it was not even pretty.But when Stroeve spoke of Chardin it was not without reason,and she reminded me curiously of that pleasant housewife in her mob-cap and apron whom the great painter has immortalised.I could imagine her sedately busy among her pots and pans,making a ritual of her household duties,so that they acquired a moral significance;I did not suppose that she was clever or could ever be amusing, but there was something in her grave intentness which excited my interest.Her reserve was not without mystery.I wondered why she had married Dirk Stroeve. Though she was English,I could not exactly place her,and it was not obvious from what rank in society she sprang,what had been her upbringing,or how she had lived before her marriage.She was very silent,but when she spoke it was with a pleasant voice,and her manners were natural. I asked Stroeve if he was working. "Working?I'm painting better than I've ever painted before." We sat in the studio,and he waved his hand to an unfinished picture on an easel.I gave a little start.He was painting a group of Italian peasants,in the costume of the Campagna,lounging on the steps of a Roman church. "Is that what you're doing now?"I asked. "Yes.I can get my models here just as well as in Rome." "Don't you think it's very beautiful?"said Mrs.Stroeve. ·156· 十九 舍不得从她身上离开。而她是不是爱他，我倒很难判断。 他这个可怜的傻瓜，根本就不是一个能唤起女人爱情的 对象。但施特略夫太太眼睛中的盈盈笑意里是有爱的， 在她的矜持背后可能隐藏着深厚的情意。她并不是他相 costumier [kas'tju:mia]n. 服饰供应商 思梦中的那种让人目眩神迷的美女，却别有一番端庄秀 美的韵致。她身材高挑，一身灰色衣衫，式样简约，剪 裁合体，掩盖不住她妙曼动人的身姿。对于她的这种体 型，雕塑家会比服装商觉得更有吸引力。她那一头浓密 褐色的头发发式简单，皮肤异常白皙，五官精致，但并 apron[eipran]n,围裙 不招摇惹眼。她与美人只有一步之遥，但是正因为这 步之遥，却连漂亮也算不上了。施特略夫谈到夏尔丹的 画并不是信口开河，让我奇怪的是，她的形象让我想到 这位大画家的不朽之作一那个戴着头巾式女帽、系着 围裙的讨人喜欢的主妇。我可以想象得出她在锅碗飘盆 间娴雅地忙碌着，操持家务就像举行仪式，从而赋予这 些日常琐事一种道德上的崇高感。我并不认为她会怎么 千伶百俐或者妙趣横生，但她那份庄重和专注的态度却 引起了我很大的兴趣。她的矜持里不乏神秘。我奇怪她 为什么要嫁给戴尔克·施特略夫。虽然她和我都是英国 人，我却猜不出她是怎样一个人，她出身于什么社会阶 层，受过什么教育，也说不出她结婚前靠什么谋生。她 的话不多，可一开口我就感觉到声音很悦耳动听，举止 也非常从容自然。 我问施特略夫他最近是不是在画画。 “画画？我现在比以往任何时候画得都好。” 我们当时在他的画室里坐着，他朝着画架上一幅尚 未完成的作品指了一下。我看罢感觉有点惊讶，他画的 是一群意大利农民，身穿罗马近郊服装，正在一个罗马 大教堂的台阶上懒洋洋地坐着。 “这就是你现在正在画的画？” “是啊。我在这里也能找到模特，跟在罗马一样。” “你不认为他画得很美吗？”施特略夫太太问道。 ·157· Chapter XIX "This foolish wife of mine thinks I'm a great artist,"said he. His apologetic laugh did not disguise the pleasure that he felt.His eyes lingered on his picture.It was strange that his critical sense,so accurate and unconventional when he dealt with the work of others,should be satisfied in himself with what was hackneyed and vulgar beyond belief. "Show him some more of your pictures,"she said. “Shall?" Though he had suffered so much from the ridicule of his friends,Dirk Stroeve,eager for praise and naively self-satisfied,could never resist displaying his work.He brought out a picture of two curly-headed Italian urchins playing marbles. "Aren't they sweet?"said Mrs.Stroeve. And then he showed me more.I discovered that in Paris he had been painting just the same stale,obviously picturesque things that he had painted for years in Rome.It was all false,insincere,shoddy;and yet no one was more honest,sincere,and frank than Dirk Stroeve.Who could resolve the contradiction? I do not know what put it into my head to ask: "I say,have you by any chance run across a painter called Charles Strickland?" "You don't mean to say you know him?"cried Stroeve. “Beast,”said his wife. Stroeve laughed. "Ma pauvre cherie."He went over to her and kissed both her hands."She doesn't like him.How strange that you should know Strickland!" ·158· 十九 “我这个傻太太以为我是个大画家。”他说道，哈 哈大笑。 他愧疚的笑声掩不住内心的欢喜。他的目光在自己 的画上流连。他在评论别人的画时，他的品位是如此精 准，不落窠白，而他却对自己那些陈旧过时、庸俗不堪 到难以置信的画心满意足，真是咄咄怪事。 “给他看看你别的画。”她建议道。 “要看吗？” 尽管戴尔克·施特略夫屡遭朋友的冷嘲热讽，急切 地希望得到别人褒扬，天真地自我满足的他，却从来无 法自控，还是要把自己的画拿给人家看，满心希望听到 别人的夸奖。他拿出了一张两个馨发意大利淘气包玩玻 璃球的画。 “这两个小宝贝可爱吧？”施特略夫太太满口称赞。 接着，他又拿出更多的画来。我发现，他在巴黎画 ①shoddy[Sbdi时a.冒牌的： 的画跟他在罗马画了很多年的画一模一样，都是陈腐不 假冒的 堪，一眼看上去就感觉异常绚丽的画。这些画完完全 全都是虚情假意、假冒伪劣的，可是，世界上却再没 有谁比这些画的作者一戴尔克·施特略夫更实心实 意、忠厚老实、掏心掏肺的人了。这种自相矛盾又有 谁能解？ 我不知道脑袋里进了什么东西，怎么会突然问他： “喂，不知道你碰见过一个叫查尔斯·斯特里克兰 德的画家吗？” “你不是说你也认识他吧？”施特略夫大声说道。 “野蛮人。”他的妻子评论道。 施特略夫哈哈大笑。 “我可怜的宝贝'。”他走到她面前，吻了吻她的双 手。“她不喜欢他。奇怪呀，你竞然也认识斯特里克兰 德。” 1原文为法语。 ·159· Chapter XIX “Idon't like bad manners,”said Mrs.Stroeve. Dirk,laughing still,turned to me to explain. "You see,I asked him to come here one day and look at my pictures.Well, he came,and I showed him everything I had."Stroeve hesitated a moment with embarrassment.I do not know why he had begun the story against himself;he felt an awkwardness at finishing it."He looked at-at my pictures,and he didn't say anything.I thought he was reserving his judgment till the end.And at last I said:'There,that's the lot!'He said:'I came to ask you to lend me twenty francs.'" "And Dirk actually gave it him,"said his wife indignantly "I was so taken aback.I didn't like to refuse.He put the money in his pocket,just nodded,said 'Thanks,'and walked out." Dirk Stroeve,telling the story,had such a look of blank astonishment on his round,foolish face that it was almost impossible not to laugh. "I shouldn't have minded if he'd said my pictures were bad,but he said nothing一nothing.” "And you will tell the story,Dirk,"said his wife. It was lamentable that one was more amused by the ridiculous figure cut by the Dutchman than outraged by Strickland's brutal treatment of him. "I hope I shall never see him again,"said Mrs.Stroeve. Stroeve smiled and shrugged his shoulders.He had already recovered his good-humour. "The fact remains that he's a great artist,a very great artist." “Strickland?I exclaimed.“'It can't be the same man..” "A big fellow with a red beard.Charles Strickland.An Englishman." ·160· 十九 “我不喜欢没教养的人。”施特略夫太太说道。 一直笑不拢嘴的戴尔克转过身来给我解释。 “你瞧，有一天我邀请他来看看我的画。嘿，他来 了，我把我的画也都拿给他看了。”说到这里，施特略 夫犹豫了一下，有些局促不安。我不理解为什么他要讲 这样一个丢自己脸的故事：他尴尬地把这个故事说完。 “他看着—我的这些画，一言不发。我还以为他要等 到把最后一幅画看完以后再发表意见呢。等我最后说： “就是这些了！’他突然开口说：‘我是为了向你借二十 法郎来的。’” “戴尔克还真把钱给他了。”他的妻子愤愤不平地 说道。 “我听了他的话大吃一惊。我不愿意拒绝。他把钱 放在口袋里，只是对我点了点头，说了声‘谢谢’，转 身就走了。” 说这个故事的时候，戴尔克·施特略夫的那张胖乎 乎的傻里傻气的脸上露出的那种目瞪口呆的表情，你看 了一定会忍俊不禁。 “要是他批评我画得不好我倒不在乎，可是他一声 Dlamentable ['laemontobl: lb'men-]a.可悲的：伤心 没吭一 声没吭。” 的：令人腕惜的 “你还肯把这个故事讲给人家听，戴尔克。”他的 妻子怨他。 可悲的是，不论是谁听了这个故事，都会被这位荷 兰人扮演的荒谬角色惹得哈哈大笑，而不会为斯特里克 兰德的粗鲁行为而义愤填膺。 “我再也不想看到这个人了。”施特略夫太太说道。 施特略夫微微一笑，耸了耸肩膀。他又成了原来的 那个好脾气的他。 “事实上，他是一个伟大的画家，非常伟大的画 家。” “斯特里克兰德？”我失声大叫。“我说的不可能 是你说的那个人吧。” “就是那个大块头、长着红胡子的人。查尔斯·斯 ·161·