2020年经济学人 钢琴巨匠莱昂·弗莱舍(2)

Such a career had possessed¹ him from childhood, and his slightly crazy mother had also thought of nothing else, pushing him under the nose of every eminent² musician she could find in San Francisco, Pierre Monteux, Alfred Hertz, even Sergei Rachmaninoff once, as the maestro came off stage. His path had long been set. Yet he felt he was only beginning to understand what music needed.

弗莱舍从小就开始了音乐生涯，他那有点疯癫的母亲也没有想过别的，一心把他引荐给旧金山所有有名的音乐家，皮埃尔·蒙度，艾尔弗雷德·赫兹，有一次甚至把他引荐给了刚从舞台走下来的拉赫玛尼诺夫。弗莱舍的人生道路早已确定，但他觉得自己才刚刚开始理解做音乐需要什么。

Ten years of training with Artur Schnabel had laid down firm principles of faithfulness to the score and integrity in the playing; watching Schnabel had taught him to treasure not only each note, but also the potency³ of silence. In his 20s he developed his own opinions, discovering French, Russian and 20th-century composers. But now he might, after all, be going nowhere. For 30 years his right hand was little use to him. He tried lidocaine injections, massage⁴, psychotherapy, acupuncture⁵, Tiger Balm.

他跟着阿图·施纳贝尔进行了十年的训练，后者为他制定了忠实乐谱和演奏完整的坚定原则；观看施纳贝尔的表演，他不仅学会了珍惜每一个音符，也学会了珍惜沉默的力量。20多岁时，他形成了自己的理念，发现了法国、俄罗斯和20世纪的作曲家。但现在，他可能哪里也不去了。30年来，他的右手对他没什么用处。他试过利多卡因注射、按摩、心理治疗、针灸和虎标万金油。

Quacks⁶ and gurus were called in. He let Bernstein pour Scotch⁷ on it. The condition had a name, focal dystonia, and a cause, over-practising, but there was no cure. At times the fingers loosened, but nothing helped for long. And since music was his life, taking priority over everything including, to his regret, his first two wives and their children, he had to keep making it somehow. Pieces like the Brahms lay not only in his fingers but in his mind and heart, and his purpose, paraphrasing⁸ Beethoven’s inscription⁹ in the “Missa Solemnis”, was to communicate their power to other hearts. He just had to find alternative means of doing so. One was teaching.

庸医和大师们接连被请来。他让伯恩斯坦往他的右手上面倒苏格兰威士忌。这种情况有一个名字，局部性肌张力障碍，原因是过度练习。但是无法治愈。有时他的手指会松开，但很长时间都无济于事。因为音乐就是他的生命，胜过其他的一切，令他遗憾的是，也包括他前两个妻子和他们的孩子，所以他得想法继续从事音乐工作。像勃拉姆斯这样的作品不仅在他的手指间，也在他的思想和心灵中，他解读贝多芬的题词“庄严的弥撒”，是为了将他们的力量传达给其他心灵。他只需要找到另一种方法。一个是教学。

1 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。

2 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

3 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

4 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

5 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。

6 quacks   

abbr.quacksalvers 庸医，骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 )；江湖郎中；（鸭子的）呱呱声v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I went everywhere for treatment, tried all sorts of quacks. 我四处求医，看过了各种各样的江湖郎中。 来自辞典例句
• Hard-working medical men may come to be almost as mischievous as quacks. 辛勤工作的医生可能变成江湖郎中那样的骗子。 来自辞典例句

7 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

8 paraphrasing   

v.释义，意译( paraphrase的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'm paraphrasing but this is honestly what he said. 我是在转述，但这的确是他说的意思。 来自柯林斯例句

9 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。