🔊 I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary. Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness. I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions. The Prime Minister out of office is seen, too often, to have been but a pompous rhetorician, and the General without an army is but the tame hero of a market town. The greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic. It may be that you do not like his art, but at all events you can hardly refuse it the tribute of your interest. He disturbs and arrests. The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule, and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him. His faults are accepted as the necessary complement to his merits. It is still possible to discuss his place in art, and the adulation of his admirers is perhaps no less capricious than the disparagement of his detractors; but one thing can never be doubtful, and that is that he had genius. To my mind the most interesting thing in art is the personality of the artist; and if that is singular, I am willing to excuse a thousand faults. I suppose Velasquez was a better painter than El Greco, but custom stales one's admiration for him: the Cretan, sensual and tragic, proffers the mystery of his soul like a standing sacrifice. The artist, painter, poet, or musician, by his decoration, sublime or beautiful, satisfies the aesthetic sense; but that is akin to the sexual instinct, and shares its barbarity: he lays before you also the greater gift of himself. To pursue his secret has something of the fascination of a detective story. It is a riddle which shares with the universe the merit of having no answer. The most insignificant of Strickland's works suggests a personality which is strange, tormented, and complex; and it is this surely which prevents even those who do not like his pictures from being indifferent to them; it is this which has excited so curious an interest in his life and character.

我承认,最初结识查尔斯·斯特里克兰时,我从未在他身上察觉出任何非凡之处。然而如今,鲜少有人会否认他的伟大。我所说的伟大,并非幸运政客或成功军人所达成的那种；那种伟大更多属于其所居之位,而非其人之身；一旦时移世易,其光芒便会收敛至极其审慎的程度。离职后的首相往往不过是个夸夸其谈的修辞家,而无兵之将则沦为市镇上温顺的英雄。查尔斯·斯特里克兰的伟大却是真实的。或许你不喜欢他的艺术,但无论如何,你很难不对其抱有兴趣。他扰人心绪,引人驻足。那个他曾被视作笑柄的时代已然过去,如今为他辩护不再被视为乖僻,颂扬他也无反常理。他的缺点被接受为其优点的必要补充。我们仍可探讨他在艺术中的地位,其崇拜者的奉承或许与其诋毁者的贬损同样反复无常；但有一点毋庸置疑,那便是他拥有天才。在我看来,艺术中最有趣的是艺术家的个性；如果这个性独特,我愿原谅千般过失。我想委拉斯开兹是比埃尔·格列柯更出色的画家,但习以为常使我们对他生厌:那位克里特人,耽于感官又充满悲剧性,将自己的灵魂奥秘如永续祭品般呈现出来。艺术家--画家、诗人或音乐家--通过其装饰,崇高或美丽,满足审美感；但这与性本能相似,共享其野蛮性:他还向你奉献了他自身这份更伟大的礼物。探寻他的秘密,有着侦探小说般的吸引力。这是一个谜,与宇宙共有着无解的优点。斯特里克兰最微不足道的作品都暗示着一个奇异、痛苦而复杂的个性；正是这一点,即便那些不喜欢他画作的人也无法对其漠不关心；也正是这一点,激起了人们对他生活和性格的浓厚兴趣。

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discerned /dɪˈsɜːnd/

v. 识别,察觉➕

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out of the ordinary /aʊt əv ði ˈɔːdənri/

phrase. 不寻常的➕

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discreet /dɪˈskriːt/

adj. 谨慎的➕

🔊 It was not till four years after Strickland's death that Maurice Huret wrote that article in the Mercure de France which rescued the unknown painter from oblivion and blazed the trail which succeeding writers, with more or less docility, have followed. For a long time no critic has enjoyed in France a more incontestable authority, and it was impossible not to be impressed by the claims he made; they seemed extravagant; but later judgments have confirmed his estimate, and the reputation of Charles Strickland is now firmly established on the lines which he laid down. The rise of this reputation is one of the most romantic incidents in the history of art. But I do not propose to deal with Charles Strickland's work except in so far as it touches upon his character. I cannot agree with the painters who claim superciliously that the layman can understand nothing of painting, and that he can best show his appreciation of their works by silence and a cheque-book. It is a grotesque misapprehension which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly only to the craftsman: art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand. But I will allow that the critic who has not a practical knowledge of technique is seldom able to say anything on the subject of real value, and my ignorance of painting is extreme. Fortunately, there is no need for me to risk the adventure, since my friend, Mr. Edward Leggatt, an able writer as well as an admirable painter, has exhaustively discussed Charles Strickland's work in a little book which is a charming example of a style, for the most part, less happily cultivated in England than in France.

直到斯特里克兰去世四年后,莫里斯·于雷才在法兰西信使上发表那篇文章,将这位默默无闻的画家从遗忘中拯救出来,并为后来的作家开辟了道路,他们或顺从或稍作偏离地追随其后。长久以来,没有哪位评论家在法国享有比他更无可争议的权威,他所提出的主张不可能不令人印象深刻；这些主张似乎夸张；但后来的评判证实了他的估计,查尔斯·斯特里克兰的声誉如今已在他奠定的基础上稳固确立。这一声誉的崛起是艺术史上最浪漫的事件之一。但我不打算探讨查尔斯·斯特里克兰的作品,除非触及他的性格。我无法同意那些傲慢的画家声称外行对绘画一无所知,并以沉默和支票簿来表达对其作品的最佳欣赏。认为艺术不过是一门只有工匠才能完全理解的手艺,这是一种荒诞的误解:艺术是情感的表达,而情感说的是一种所有人都能理解的语言。但我承认,没有实践技术知识的评论家很少能说出真正有价值的内容,而我对绘画极为无知。幸运的是,我不必冒险涉足,因为我的朋友爱德华·莱格特先生,一位能干的作家兼可敬的画家,在一本小书中详尽讨论了查尔斯·斯特里克兰的作品,这本书是那种风格的一个迷人范例,而这种风格在英国远不如在法国盛行。

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oblivion /əˈblɪviən/

n. 遗忘➕

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blazed the trail /bleɪzd ðə treɪl/

phrase. 开辟道路➕

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incontestable /ˌɪnkənˈtɛstəbl/

adj. 无可争辩的➕

🔊 "A Modern Artist: Notes on the Work of Charles Strickland," by Edward Leggatt, A.R.A. Martin Secker, 1917.

《一位现代艺术家:论查尔斯·斯特里克兰的作品》,爱德华·莱格特著,A.R.A. 马丁·塞克出版社,1917年。

🔊 Maurice Huret in his famous article gave an outline of Charles Strickland's life which was well calculated to whet the appetites of the inquiring. With his disinterested passion for art, he had a real desire to call the attention of the wise to a talent which was in the highest degree original; but he was too good a journalist to be unaware that the "human interest" would enable him more easily to effect his purpose. And when such as had come in contact with Strickland in the past, writers who had known him in London, painters who had met him in the cafes of Montmartre, discovered to their amazement that where they had seen but an unsuccessful artist, like another, authentic genius had rubbed shoulders with them, and there began to appear in the magazines of France and America a succession of articles, the reminiscences of one, the appreciation of another, which added to Strickland's notoriety, and fed without satisfying the curiosity of the public. The subject was grateful, and the industrious Weitbrecht-Rotholz in his imposing monograph has been able to give a remarkable list of authorities.

莫里斯·于雷在其著名文章中勾勒了查尔斯·斯特里克兰的生平,这巧妙地激发了探求者的兴趣。凭借他对艺术无私的热情,他真诚希望智者能注意到这份高度原创的才华；但他也是个精明的记者,深知“人性趣味”能更轻松地达成目的。当那些过去接触过斯特里克兰的人--在伦敦认识他的作家,在蒙马特咖啡馆遇见他的画家--惊讶地发现,他们曾视其为一个失败艺术家,如常人一般,而真正的天才却曾与他们擦肩而过时,法国和美国的杂志上开始接连出现文章,有回忆录,有评论,增添了斯特里克兰的名声,却未能满足公众的好奇心。这个话题令人感激,勤奋的魏特布雷希特-罗托尔茨在其宏大的专著中给出了一份非凡的权威列表。

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whet /wɛt/

v. 刺激➕

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disinterested /dɪsˈɪntrɪstɪd/

adj. 无私的➕

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notoriety /ˌnəʊtəˈraɪəti/

n. 恶名➕

🔊 The faculty for myth is innate in the human race. It seizes with avidity upon any incidents, surprising or mysterious, in the career of those who have at all distinguished themselves from their fellows, and invents a legend to which it then attaches a fanatical belief. It is the protest of romance against the commonplace of life. The incidents of the legend become the hero's surest passport to immortality. The ironic philosopher reflects with a smile that Sir Walter Raleigh is more safely enshrined in the memory of mankind because he set his cloak for the Virgin Queen to walk on than because he carried the English name to undiscovered countries. Charles Strickland lived obscurely. He made enemies rather than friends. It is not strange, then, that those who wrote of him should have eked out their scanty recollections with a lively fancy, and it is evident that there was enough in the little that was known of him to give opportunity to the romantic scribe; there was much in his life which was strange and terrible, in his character something outrageous, and in his fate not a little that was pathetic. In due course a legend arose of such circumstantiality that the wise historian would hesitate to attack it.

编造神话的能力是人类与生俱来的。它贪婪地抓住那些在生涯中显得出类拔萃者的任何意外或神秘事件,编造传说,并对此抱以狂热信仰。这是浪漫对生活平庸的抗议。传说事件成为英雄通向不朽的最可靠护照。那位讽刺的哲学家微笑着沉思,沃尔特·罗利爵士之所以更稳固地铭刻在人类记忆中,是因为他为童贞女王铺下斗篷让她行走,而非因为他将英国之名带到了未发现之地。查尔斯·斯特里克兰默默无闻地生活。他树敌多于交友。因此,那些写他的人用活跃的想象力来弥补他们贫乏的回忆,这并不奇怪；显然,关于他的那点已知之事足以给浪漫的文人提供机会；他的生活中有许多奇异而可怕之处,性格中有些东西令人愤慨,命运中不乏悲情。适时地,一个细节详尽的传说兴起,令明智的历史学家都不敢贸然挑战。

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innate /ɪˈneɪt/

adj. 天生的➕

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avidity /əˈvɪdɪti/

n. 热切➕

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fanatical /fəˈnætɪkl/

adj. 狂热的➕

🔊 But a wise historian is precisely what the Rev. Robert Strickland is not. He wrote his biography avowedly to "remove certain misconceptions which had gained currency" in regard to the later part of his father's life, and which had "caused considerable pain to persons still living." It is obvious that there was much in the commonly received account of Strickland's life to embarrass a respectable family. I have read this work with a good deal of amusement, and upon this I congratulate myself, since it is colourless and dull. Mr. Strickland has drawn the portrait of an excellent husband and father, a man of kindly temper, industrious habits, and moral disposition. The modern clergyman has acquired in his study of the science which I believe is called exegesis an astonishing facility for explaining things away, but the subtlety with which the Rev. Robert Strickland has "interpreted" all the facts in his father's life which a dutiful son might find it inconvenient to remember must surely lead him in the fullness of time to the highest dignities of the Church. I see already his muscular calves encased in the gaiters episcopal. It was a hazardous, though maybe a gallant thing to do, since it is probable that the legend commonly received has had no small share in the growth of Strickland's reputation; for there are many who have been attracted to his art by the detestation in which they held his character or the compassion with which they regarded his death; and the son's well-meaning efforts threw a singular chill upon the father's admirers. It is due to no accident that when one of his most important works, The Woman of Samaria, was sold at Christie's shortly after the discussion which followed the publication of Mr. Strickland's biography, it fetched pounds 235 less than it had done nine months before when it was bought by the distinguished collector whose sudden death had brought it once more under the hammer. Perhaps Charles Strickland's power and originality would scarcely have sufficed to turn the scale if the remarkable mythopoeic faculty of mankind had not brushed aside with impatience a story which disappointed all its craving for the extraordinary. And presently Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz produced the work which finally set at rest the misgivings of all lovers of art.

但罗伯特·斯特里克兰牧师恰恰不是一位明智的历史学家。他写这部传记公开声称要“消除某些关于他父亲晚年生活的广为流传的误解”,这些误解“给仍在世的人带来了相当大的痛苦”。显然,公众普遍接受的关于斯特里克兰生活的描述中,有许多足以让一个体面家庭尴尬的内容。我读这部作品时颇感有趣,并为此庆幸,因为它平淡无奇。斯特里克兰先生描绘了一位优秀丈夫和父亲的形象,一个性情温和、习惯勤奋、道德端正的人。现代牧师在研习一门我相信称为解经学的科学时,获得了惊人的开脱事物的能力,但罗伯特·斯特里克兰牧师“诠释”他父亲生活中所有尽责的儿子可能觉得不便记起的事实时所展现的微妙技巧,定会引领他最终登上教会的最高尊位。我已看到他肌肉发达的小腿裹在主教的绑腿里。这是一个冒险之举,虽或许英勇,因为普遍接受的传说很可能在斯特里克兰声誉的增长中贡献不小；因为许多人被他的艺术所吸引,是由于憎恶他的性格或同情他的死亡；而儿子善意的努力却给父亲的崇拜者带来了奇异的寒意。在斯特里克兰先生的传记出版后引发的讨论之后不久,他最重要的作品之一撒玛利亚妇人在佳士得拍卖时,售价比九个月前低了235英镑--那时它被一位著名收藏家购得,其突然去世使得它再次被拍卖,这绝非偶然。或许,如果不是人类非凡的神话编造能力不耐烦地摒弃了一个让所有渴望非凡的故事,查尔斯·斯特里克兰的力量和原创性未必足以扭转局面。不久,魏特布雷希特-罗托尔茨博士的作品最终平息了所有艺术爱好者的疑虑。

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avowedly /əˈvaʊɪdli/

adv. 公开地➕

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misconceptions /ˌmɪskənˈsɛpʃənz/

n. 误解➕

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embarrass /ɪmˈbærəs/

v. 使尴尬➕

🔊 Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz belongs to that school of historians which believes that human nature is not only about as bad as it can be, but a great deal worse; and certainly the reader is safer of entertainment in their hands than in those of the writers who take a malicious pleasure in representing the great figures of romance as patterns of the domestic virtues. For my part, I should be sorry to think that there was nothing between Anthony and Cleopatra but an economic situation; and it will require a great deal more evidence than is ever likely to be available, thank God, to persuade me that Tiberius was as blameless a monarch as King George V. Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz has dealt in such terms with the Rev. Robert Strickland's innocent biography that it is difficult to avoid feeling a certain sympathy for the unlucky parson. His decent reticence is branded as hypocrisy, his circumlocutions are roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified as treachery. And on the strength of peccadillos, reprehensible in an author, but excusable in a son, the Anglo-Saxon race is accused of prudishness, humbug, pretentiousness, deceit, cunning, and bad cooking. Personally I think it was rash of Mr. Strickland, in refuting the account which had gained belief of a certain "unpleasantness" between his father and mother, to state that Charles Strickland in a letter written from Paris had described her as "an excellent woman," since Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz was able to print the letter in facsimile, and it appears that the passage referred to ran in fact as follows: "God damn my wife. She is an excellent woman. I wish she was in hell." It is not thus that the Church in its great days dealt with evidence that was unwelcome.

魏特布雷希特-罗托尔茨博士属于那派历史学家,他们认为人性不仅坏到极致,而且更糟；当然,读者在他们手中比在那些以恶意为乐、将浪漫的伟大人物描绘成家庭美德典范的作家手中,更能确保娱乐。就我而言,若认为安东尼与克莉奥佩特拉之间只有经济利益关系,我会感到遗憾；并且需要比上帝保佑下可能获得的证据多得多,才能说服我提比略是和乔治五世国王一样无可指责的君主。魏特布雷希特-罗托尔茨博士以这样的措辞处理罗伯特·斯特里克兰牧师无辜的传记,以至于很难不对这位不幸的牧师产生某种同情。他得体的缄默被斥为虚伪,他的委婉被直斥为谎言,他的沉默被诽谤为背叛。基于一位作者身上可指责但在儿子身上可原谅的小过失,盎格鲁-撒克逊种族被指控为拘谨、虚伪、自负、欺骗、狡诈和烹饪糟糕。我个人认为,斯特里克兰先生在反驳关于他父母间某种“不愉快”的流行说法时,声称查尔斯·斯特里克兰在巴黎写的一封信中将母亲描述为“一位出色的女人”,这未免轻率,因为魏特布雷希特-罗托尔茨博士能够以传真件形式印制这封信,而信中相关段落实际上如下:“上帝诅咒我的妻子。她是个出色的女人。我希望她在地狱里。”教会在其鼎盛时期并非如此处理不受欢迎的证据。

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malicious /məˈlɪʃəs/

adj. 恶意的➕

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hypocrisy /hɪˈpɒkrəsi/

n. 虚伪➕

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peccadillos /ˌpɛkəˈdɪləʊz/

n. 小过失➕

Chapter one: (第一章)