月亮和六便士 第四十四章(2)

 I am disappointed that I cannot report any extravagances in his opinions on the old masters. 我感到很失望，不能写下他在评论一些老派画家时的谬论。

There is so much in his character which is strange that I feel it would complete the picture if his views were outrageous¹. 他的性格既然如此怪异，如果他在品评绘画时也有一些奇谈怪论，我笔下的这个形象就更加完美了。

I feel the need to ascribe to him fantastic theories about his predecessors², 我觉得我很需要叫他对过去的一些画家发表些荒诞的理论，

and it is with a certain sense of disillusion³ that I confess he thought about them pretty much as does everybody else. 但是我还是得讲老实话，他同一般人一样，对这些画家也是赞不绝口，这叫我非常失望。

I do not believe he knew El Greco. 我看他根本不知道谁是埃尔·格列柯。

He had a great but somewhat impatient admiration⁴ for Velasquez. 他对委拉斯凯兹相当敬佩，尽管怀有某种厌烦不耐的情绪。

Chardin delighted him, and Rembrandt moved him to ecstasy⁵. 他喜欢夏尔丹，伦勃朗则使他感到入迷。

He described the impression that Rembrandt made on him with a coarseness I cannot repeat. 他给我讲伦勃朗的绘画给他的印象时，用的语言极其粗鄙，我在这里无法引述。

The only painter that interested him who was at all unexpected was Brueghel the Elder. 谁也想不到他最喜爱的一位画家竟是老布鲁盖尔（彼得·布鲁盖尔（1522—1569），佛兰德斯画家；其子扬·布鲁盖尔（1568—1625）亦为画家）。

I knew very little about him at that time, and Strickland had no power to explain himself. 我当时对老布鲁盖尔不太了解，而思特里克兰德也没有能力表达自己。

I remember what he said about him because it was so unsatisfactory. 我之所以记得他对布鲁盖尔的评论是因为他这句话实在太词不达意了。

"He's all right," said Strickland. "I bet he found it hell to paint." “他的画不错，”思特里克兰德说，“我敢说他发现画画儿是件受罪的事。”

When later, in Vienna, I saw several of Peter Brueghel's pictures, I thought I understood why he had attracted Strickland's attention. 后来我在维也纳看过彼得·布鲁盖尔的几幅画以后，我想我才懂得为什么这位画家引起了思特里克兰德的注意。

Here, too, was a man with a vision of the world peculiar⁶ to himself. 这是另一个对世界怀着自己独特幻觉的画家。

I made somewhat copious⁷ notes at the time, intending to write something about him, but I have lost them, 我当时作了大量笔记，准备将来写一本关于布鲁盖尔的书，但是这些材料后来都遗失了，

and have now only the recollection of an emotion. 留下来的只是一种感情的回忆。

He seemed to see his fellow-creatures grotesquely⁹, and he was angry with them because they were grotesque⁸; 在布鲁盖尔的眼睛里，人们的形象似乎是怪诞的，他对人们这种怪诞的样子非常气愤；

life was a confusion of ridiculous, sordid¹⁰ happenings, a fit subject for laughter, and yet it made him sorrowful to laugh. 生活不过是一片混乱，充满了各种可笑的、龌龊的事情，它只能给人们提供笑料，但是他笑的时候却禁不住满心哀伤。

Brueghel gave me the impression of a man striving to express in one medium feelings more appropriate to expression in another, 布鲁盖尔给我的印象是，他想用一种手段努力表达只适合于另一种方式表达的感情，

and it may be that it was the obscure consciousness of this that excited Strickland's sympathy. 思特里克兰德之所以对他同情，说不定正是朦胧中意识到这一点。

Perhaps both were trying to put down in paint ideas which were more suitable to literature. 也许这两个人都在努力用绘画表现出更适合于通过文学表达的意念。

Strickland at this time must have been nearly forty-seven. 思特里克兰德这时大概已经四十七岁了。

1 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

2 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 disillusion   

vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭

参考例句：

• Do not say anything to disillusion them.别说什么叫他们泄气的话。
• I'd hate to be the one to disillusion him.我不愿意成为那个让他幻想破灭的人。

4 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

5 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

6 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

7 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。

8 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

9 grotesquely   

adv. 奇异地,荒诞地

参考例句：

• Her arched eyebrows and grotesquely powdered face were at once seductive and grimly overbearing. 眉棱棱着，在一脸的怪粉上显出妖媚而霸道。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Two faces grotesquely disfigured in nylon stocking masks looked through the window. 2张戴尼龙长袜面罩的怪脸望着窗外。

10 sordid   

adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的

参考例句：

• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
• They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。