Of course not. “当然不是。”

　　On your word of honour? “你敢发誓？”

　　I don't know why I asked for that. It was very ingenuous of me. 我不知道为什么我这样要求他。我问这句话完全没有动脑子。

　　On my word of honour. “我发誓。”

　　Then, what in God's name have you left her for? “那么你到底是为什么离开她的？”

　　I want to paint. “我要画画儿。”

　　I looked at him for quite a long time. I did not understand. I thought he was mad.  我半天半天目不转睛地盯着他。我一点儿也不理解。我想这个人准是疯了。

　　It must be remembered that I was very young, and I looked upon him as a middle-aged man.  读者应该记住，我那时还很年轻，我把他看做是一个中年人。

　　I forgot everything but my own amazement. 我除了感到自己的惊诧外什么都不记得了。

　　But you're forty. “可是你已经四十了。”

　　That's what made me think it was high time to begin. “正是因为这个我才想，如果现在再不开始就太晚了。”

　　Have you ever painted? “你过去画过画儿吗？”

　　I rather wanted to be a painter when I was a boy, but my father made me go into business because he said there was no money in art.  “我小的时候很想作个画家，可是我父亲叫我去作生意，因为他认为学艺术赚不了钱。

　　I began to paint a bit a year ago. For the last year I've been going to some classes at night. 一年以前我开始画了点儿画。去年我一直在夜校上课。”

　　Was that where you went when Mrs. Strickland thought you were playing bridge at your club? “思特里克兰德太太以为你在俱乐部玩桥牌的时间你都是去上课吗？”

　　That's it. “对了。”

　　Why didn't you tell her? “你为什么不告诉她？”

　　I preferred to keep it to myself. “我觉得还是别让她知道好。”

　　Can you paint? “你能够画了吗？”

　　Not yet. But I shall. That's why I've come over here. I couldn't get what I wanted in London. Perhaps I can here. “还不成。但是我将来能够学会的。正是为了这个我才到巴黎来。在伦敦我得不到我要求的东西。也许在这里我会得到的。”

　　Do you think it's likely that a man will do any good when he starts at your age? Most men begin painting at eighteen. “你认为象你这样年纪的人开始学画还能够学得好吗？大多数人都是十八岁开始学。”

　　I can learn quicker than I could when I was eighteen. “如果我十八岁学，会比现在学得快一些。”

　　What makes you think you have any talent? “你怎么会认为自己还有一些绘画的才能？”

　　He did not answer for a minute. His gaze rested on the passing throng, but I do not think he saw it. His answer was no answer. 他并没有马上回答我的问题。他的目光停在过往的人群上，但是我认为他什么也没有看见。最后他回答我的话根本算不上是回答。

　　I've got to paint. “我必须画画儿。”

　　Aren't you taking an awful chance? “你这样做是不是完全在碰运气？”

　　He looked at me. His eyes had something strange in them, so that I felt rather uncomfortable. 这时他把目光转到我身上。他的眼睛里有一种奇怪的神情，叫我觉得不太舒服。

　　How old are you? Twenty-three? “你多大年纪？二十三岁？”

　　It seemed to me that the question was beside the point.  我觉得他提这个问题与我们谈的事毫不相干。

　　It was natural that I should take chances; but he was a man whose youth was past, a stockbroker with a position of respectability, a wife and two children.  如果我想碰碰运气做一件什么事的话，这是极其自然的事；但是他的青年时代早已过去了，他是一个有身份有地位的证券经纪人，家里有一个老婆、两个孩子。

　　A course that would have been natural for me was absurd for him. I wished to be quite fair. 对我说来是自然的道路在他那里就成为荒谬悻理的了。但是我还是想尽量对他公道一些。