月亮和六便士 第五十七章(3)

 Dr. Coutras shrugged¹ his shoulders and smiled. 库特拉斯医生耸了一下肩膀，脸上露出笑容。

"You will laugh at me. “你会笑我的。

I am a materialist², and I am a gross, fat man—Falstaff, eh?—the lyrical mode does not become me. 我是个实利主义者，我生得又蠢又胖——有点儿象福斯塔夫（莎士比亚戏剧《亨利四世》中人物，身体肥胖，喜爱吹牛），对不对？——抒情诗的感情对我是很不合适的。

I make myself ridiculous. 我在惹人发笑。

But I have never seen painting which made so deep an impression upon me. 但是我真的还从来没有看过哪幅画给我留下这么深的印象。

Tenez, I had just the same feeling as when I went to the Sistine Chapel³ in Rome. 说老实话，我看这幅画时的心情，就象我进了罗马塞斯廷小教堂一样。

There too I was awed⁴ by the greatness of the man who had painted that ceiling. 在那里我也是感到在天花板上绘画的那个画家非常伟大，又敬佩又畏服。

It was genius, and it was stupendous and overwhelming. 那真是天才的画，气势磅礴，叫人感到头晕目眩。

I felt small and insignificant⁵. 在这样伟大的壁画前面，我感到自己非常渺小，微不足道。

But you are prepared for the greatness of Michael Angelo. 但是人们对米开朗基罗的伟大还是有心理准备的，

Nothing had prepared me for the immense surprise of these pictures in a native hut, far away from civilisation⁶, in a fold of the mountain above Taravao. 而在这样一个土人住的小木房子里，远离文明世界，在俯瞰塔拉窝村庄的群山怀抱里，我却根本没想到会看到这样令人吃惊的艺术作品。

And Michael Angelo is sane⁷ and healthy. 另外，米开朗基罗神智健全，身体健康。

Those great works of his have the calm of the sublime⁸; but here, notwithstanding beauty, was something troubling. 他的那些伟大作品给人以崇高、肃穆的感觉。但是在这里，虽然我看到的也是美，却叫我觉得心神不安。

I do not know what it was. It made me uneasy. 我不知道那究竟是什么，但它确实叫我不能平静。

It gave me the impression you get when you are sitting next door to a room that you know is empty, 它给我一种印象，仿佛我正坐在一间空荡荡的屋子隔壁，我知道那间屋子是空的，

but in which, you know not why, you have a dreadful consciousness that notwithstanding there is someone. 但不知为什么，我又觉得里面有一个人，叫我惊恐万状。

You scold yourself; you know it is only your nerves—and yet, and yet... 你责骂你自己吧；你知道这只不过是你的神经在作祟——但是，但是……

In a little while it is impossible to resist the terror that seizes you, and you are helpless in the clutch of an unseen horror. 过一小会儿，你就再也不能抗拒那紧紧捕捉住你的恐惧了。你被握在一种无形的恐怖的掌心里，无法逃脱。

Yes; I confess I was not altogether sorry when I heard that those strange masterpieces had been destroyed." 是的，我承认当我听到这些奇异的杰作被毁掉的时候，我并不是只觉得遗憾的。”

"Destroyed?" I cried. “怎么，毁掉了？”我喊起来。

"Mais oui; did you not know?" “是啊。你不知道吗？”

"How should I know? “我怎么会知道？

It is true I had never heard of this work; but I thought perhaps it had fallen into the hands of a private owner. 我没听说过这些作品倒是事实，但是我还以为它们落到某个私人收藏家手里去了呢。

Even now there is no certain list of Strickland's paintings." 思特里克兰德究竟画了多少画儿，直到今天始终没有人编制出目录来。”

1 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 materialist   

n. 唯物主义者

参考例句：

• Promote materialist dialectics and oppose metaphysics and scholasticism. 要提倡唯物辩证法，反对形而上学和烦琐哲学。
• Whoever denies this is not a materialist. 谁要是否定这一点，就不是一个唯物主义者。

3 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

4 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

6 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

7 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

8 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。