| "What wonderful cushions you have," said Mr. Van Busche Taylor. “你这些靠垫真是太了不起了，”凡·布施·泰勒先生说。
"Do you like them?" she said, smiling. "Bakst, you know." “你喜欢吗？”她笑着说，“巴克斯特（雷昂·尼古拉耶维奇·巴克斯特（1866—1924），俄罗斯画家和舞台设计家）设计的，你知道。”
And yet on the walls were coloured reproductions of several of Strickland's best pictures, due to the enterprise of a publisher in Berlin. 但是墙上还挂着几张思特里克兰德的最好画作的彩色复制品；这该归功于柏林一家颇具野心的印刷商。
"You're looking at my pictures," she said, following my eyes. “你在看我的画呢，”看到我的目光所向，她说，
"Of course, the originals are out of my reach, but it's a comfort to have these. “当然了，他的原画我无法弄到手，但是有了这些也足够了。
The publisher sent them to me himself. They're a great consolation to me." 这是出版商主动送给我的。对我来说真是莫大的安慰。”
"They must be very pleasant to live with," said Mr. Van Busche Taylor. “每天能欣赏这些画，实在是很大的乐趣，”凡·布施·泰勒先生说。
"Yes; they're so essentially decorative." “一点儿不错。这些画是极有装饰意义的。”
"That is one of my profoundest convictions," said Mr. Van Busche Taylor. "Great art is always decorative." “这也是我的一个最基本的看法，”凡·布施·泰勒先生说，“伟大的艺术从来就是最富于装饰价值的。”
Their eyes rested on a nude woman suckling a baby, while a girl was kneeling by their side holding out a flower to the indifferent child. 他们的目光落在一个给孩子喂奶的裸体女人身上，女人身旁还有一个年轻女孩子跪着给小孩递去一朵花，小孩却根本不去注意。
Looking over them was a wrinkled, scraggy hag. 一个满脸皱纹、皮包骨的老太婆在旁边看着她们。
It was Strickland's version of the Holy Family. 这是思特里克兰德画的神圣家庭。
I suspected that for the figures had sat his household above Taravao, and the woman and the baby were Ata and his first son. 我猜想画中人物都是他在塔拉窝村附近那所房子里的寄居者，而那个喂奶的女人和她怀里的婴儿就是爱塔和他们的第一个孩子。
I asked myself if Mrs. Strickland had any inkling of the facts. 我很想知道思特里克兰德太太对这些事是不是也略知一二。 |