月亮和六便士 第五十七章(2)

 I had been thinking of it, too. 我脑子里想的也正是这件事。

It seemed to me that here Strickland had finally put the whole expression of himself. 看来思特里克兰德终于把他的内心世界完全表现出来了。

Working silently, knowing that it was his last chance, I fancied that here he must have said all that he knew of life and all that he divined. 他默默无言地工作着，心里非常清楚，这是他一生中最后一个机会了。我想思特里克兰德一定把他理解的生活、把他的慧眼所看到的世界用图象表示了出来。

And I fancied that perhaps here he had at last found peace. 我还想，他在创作这些巨画时也许终于寻找到心灵的平静；

The demon¹ which possessed² him was exorcised at last, 缠绕着他的魔鬼最后被拔除了。

and with the completion of the work, for which all his life had been a painful preparation, rest descended³ on his remote and tortured soul. 他痛苦的一生似乎就是为这些壁画做准备，在图画完成的时候，他那远离尘嚣的受折磨的灵魂也就得到了安息。

He was willing to die, for he had fulfilled his purpose. 对于死他勿宁说抱着一种欢迎的态度，因为他一生追求的目的已经达到了。

"What was the subject?" I asked. “他的画主题是什么？”我问。

"I scarcely know. It was strange and fantastic. “我说不太清楚。他的画奇异而荒诞，

It was a vision of the beginnings of the world, the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve—que sais-je?— 好象是宇宙初创时的图景——伊甸园，亚当和夏娃……我怎么知道呢？

it was a hymn⁴ to the beauty of the human form, male and female, and the praise of Nature, sublime⁵, indifferent, lovely, and cruel. 是对人体美——男性和女性的形体—— 的一首赞美诗，是对大自然的颂歌；大自然，既崇高又冷漠，既美丽又残忍……

It gave you an awful sense of the infinity⁶ of space and of the endlessness of time. 它使你感到空间的无限和时间的永恒，叫你产生一种畏惧的感觉。

Because he painted the trees I see about me every day, the cocoa-nuts, the banyans, the flamboyants, the alligator-pears, 他画了许多树，椰子树、榕树、火焰花、鳄梨……所有那些我天天看到的；

I have seen them ever since differently, as though there were in them a spirit and a mystery which I am ever on the point of seizing and which forever escapes me. 但是这些树经他一画，我再看的时候就完全不同了，我仿佛看到它们都有了灵魂，都各自有一个秘密，仿佛它们的灵魂和秘密眼看就要被我抓到手里，但又总是被它们逃脱掉。

The colours were the colours familiar to me, and yet they were different. 那些颜色都是我熟悉的颜色，可是又有所不同；

They had a significance which was all their own. 它们都具有自己的独特的重要性。

And those nude⁷ men and women. They were of the earth, and yet apart from it. 而那些赤身裸体的男男女女，他们既都是尘寰的、

They seemed to possess something of the clay of which they were created, and at the same time something divine. 是他们揉捏而成的尘土，又都是神灵。

You saw man in the nakedness of his primeval instincts, and you were afraid, for you saw yourself." 人的最原始的天性赤裸裸地呈现在你眼前，你看到的时候不由得感到恐惧，因为你看到的是你自己。”

1 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

2 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

3 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

4 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

5 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

6 infinity   

n.无限，无穷，大量

参考例句：

• It is impossible to count up to infinity.不可能数到无穷大。
• Theoretically,a line can extend into infinity.从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。

7 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。