月亮和六便士 第1章(5)

　　It is due to no accident that when one of his most important works,  思特里克兰德的最重要的一幅作品

　　The Woman of Samaria, 《萨玛利亚的女人》

　　This was described in Christie's catalogue as follows：  【根据克利斯蒂藏画目录的描述，这幅画的内容是：

　　"A nude¹ woman， a native of the Society Islands， is lying on the ground beside a brook².  一个裸体女人，社会岛的土人，躺在一条小溪边的草地上，

　　Behind is a tropical Landscape with palm-trees， bananas， etc. 60 in. x 48 in. " 背景是棕榈树、芭蕉等热带风景。60英寸×48英寸。（作者注）】

　　When The Woman of Samaria was sold at Christie's shortly after the discussion which followed the publication of Mr. Strickland's biography,  这次拍卖正值思特里克兰德牧师的传记出版、人们议论纷纷之际，

　　it fetched POUNDS 235 less than it had done nine months before  这幅名画的价格竟比九个月以前降低了二百三十五镑；这显然不是一件偶合。

　　when it was bought by the distinguished³ collector whose sudden death had brought it once more under the hammer.  九个月以前曾经卖给一位有名的收藏家。由于这位收藏家后来突然逝世，这幅画再度拍卖，又被克利斯蒂购去。

　　Perhaps Charles Strickland's power and riginality would scarcely have sufficed to turn the scale  只靠思特里克兰德个人的权威和独特也许无力挽回大局的

　　if the remarkable⁴ mythopoeic faculty⁵ of mankind had not brushed aside with impatience⁶ a story which disappointed all its craving⁷ for the extraordinary.  如果不是人们对神话的喜爱，叫他们对这个使他们的猎奇心大失所望的故事嗤之以鼻的话。

　　And presently Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz produced the work which finally set at rest the misgivings⁸ of all lovers of art. 说也凑巧，没有过多久魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士的文章就问世了，艺术爱好者们的疑虑不安终于消除了。

　　Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz belongs to that school of historians which believes that human nature is not only about as bad as it can be,  魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士隶属的这一历史学派不只相信“人之初，性本恶”，

　　but a great deal worse;  而且认为其恶劣程度是远远超过人们的想象的；

　　and certainly the reader is safer of entertainment in their hands  这一派历史学者的著作肯定能够给予读者更大的乐趣

　　than in those of the writers who take a malicious⁹ pleasure in representing the great figures of romance as patterns of the domestic virtues¹⁰.  用不着说，比起那些把富有浪漫色彩的人物写成道貌岸然的君子的使人败兴的作家来。

　　For my part, I should be sorry to think that there was nothing between Anthony and Cleopatra but an economic situation;  对于我这样的读者，如果把安东尼和克莉奥佩特拉的关系只写作经济上的联盟，我是会觉得非常遗憾的；

　　and it will require a great deal more evidence than is ever likely to be available, thank God, to persuade me that Tiberius was as blameless a monarch¹¹ as King George V. 要想劝说我让我把泰伯利欧斯【泰伯利欧斯·克劳迪乌斯·尼禄（公元前42—公元37），罗马皇帝】看作是同英王乔治五世同样的一位毫无瑕疵的君主，也需要远比手头掌握的多得多的证据（谢天谢地，这种证据看来很难找到）。

　　Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz has dealt in such terms with the Rev¹².Robert Strickland's innocent biography  魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士在评论罗伯特·思特里克兰德牧师那部天真的传记时所用的词句，

　　that it is difficult to avoid feeling a certain sympathy for the unlucky parson.  读起来很难叫人对这位不幸的牧师不感到同情。

　　His decent reticence¹³ is branded as hypocrisy¹⁴, his circumlocutions are roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified¹⁵ as treachery.  凡是这位牧师为了维护体面不便畅言的地方都被攻击为虚伪，凡是他铺陈赘述的章节则率直地被叫作谎言，作者对某些事情保持缄默则干脆被魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹斥之为背叛。

　　And on the strength of peccadillos, reprehensible¹⁶ in an author, but excusable in a son, 作品中的这些缺陷，从一个传记作家的角度来看，固然应该受到指摘，但作为传记主人公的儿子倒也情有可原；

　　the Anglo-Saxon race is accused of prudishness, humbug¹⁷, pretentiousness¹⁸, deceit, cunning, and bad cooking.  倒霉的是，竟连盎格鲁-萨克逊民族也连带遭了殃，被魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士批评为假装正经、作势吓人、自命不凡、狡猾欺心，只会烹调倒人胃口的菜饭。

1 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。

2 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

3 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

6 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

7 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

8 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

10 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

11 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

12 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

13 reticence   

n.沉默，含蓄

参考例句：

• He breaks out of his normal reticence and tells me the whole story.他打破了平时一贯沈默寡言的习惯，把事情原原本本都告诉了我。
• He always displays a certain reticence in discussing personal matters.他在谈论个人问题时总显得有些保留。

14 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

15 vilified   

v.中伤，诽谤( vilify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was vilified in newspapers. 他在报纸上受到了诽谤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She was vilified by the press for her controversial views. 因她持有异议，新闻界对她横加挞伐。 来自互联网

16 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

17 humbug   

n.花招，谎话，欺骗

参考例句：

• I know my words can seem to him nothing but utter humbug.我知道，我说的话在他看来不过是彻头彻尾的慌言。
• All their fine words are nothing but humbug.他们的一切花言巧语都是骗人的。

18 pretentiousness   

n.矫饰；炫耀；自负；狂妄

参考例句：

• Such pretentiousness cannot reflect truth but is an obstacle to truth. 这种装腔作势的东西，不能反映真理，而是妨害真理的。 来自互联网
• This is not your exclusive unrivalled skill. What do you base your pretentiousness on? 这又不是你的独家绝活儿，你凭什么拿糖呀？ 来自互联网