月亮和六便士 第1章(2)

 　　It was not till four years after Strickland's death  直到思特里克兰德去世四年以后，

　　that Maurice Huret wrote that article in the Mercure de France which rescued the unknown painter from oblivion and blazed the trail  莫利斯·胥瑞才写了那篇发表在《法兰西信使》上的文章，使这位不为人所知的画家不致湮没无闻。他的这篇文章打响了第一炮，

　　which succeeding writers, with more or less docility¹, have followed.  很多怯于标新的作家这才踏着他的足迹走了下去。

　　For a long time no critic has enjoyed in France a more incontestable authority,  在很长一段时间内法国艺术评论界更没有哪个人享有比胥瑞更无可争辩的权威。

　　and it was impossible not to be impressed by the claims he made; they seemed extravagant;  胥瑞提出的论点不可能不给人以深刻的印象，看起来他对思特里克兰德的称许似乎有些过分，

　　but later judgments² have confirmed his estimate, and the reputation of Charles Strickland is now firmly established on the lines which he laid down.  但后来舆论的裁决却证实了他评价的公正；而查理斯·思特里克兰德的声名便也在他所定的调子上不可动摇地建立起来了。

　　The rise of this reputation is one of the most romantic incidents in the history of art.  思特里克兰德声名噪起，这在艺术史上实在是最富于浪漫主义味道的一个事例。

　　But I do not propose to deal with Charles Strickland's work except in so far as it touches upon his character.  但是我在这里并不想对查理斯·思特里克兰德的艺术作品有所评论，除非在这些作品涉及到画家性格的时候。

　　I cannot agree with the painters who claim superciliously³ that the layman⁴ can understand nothing of painting,  我对某些画家的意见不敢苟同，他们傲慢地认为外行根本不懂得绘画，

　　and that he can best show his appreciation⁵ of their works by silence and a cheque-book.  门外汉要表示对艺术的鉴赏，最好的方法就是免开尊口，大大方方地掏出支票簿。

　　It is a grotesque⁶ misapprehension which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly⁷ only to the craftsman:  老实讲，把艺术看作只有名工巧匠才能完全理解的艺术技巧，其实是一种荒谬的误解。

　　art is a manifestation⁸ of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand.  艺术是什么？艺术是感情的表露，艺术使用的是一种人人都能理解的语言。

　　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,  但是我也承认，艺术评论家如果对技巧没有实际知识，是很少能作出真正有价值的评论的；

　　and my ignorance of painting is extreme.  而我自己对绘画恰好是非常无知的。

　　Fortunately, there is no need for me to risk the adventure, since my friend, Mr. Edward Leggatt,  幸而在这方面我无庸冒任何风险，因为我的朋友爱德华·雷加特先生

　　an able writer as well as an admirable painter,  既是一位写文章的高手，又是一位深有造诣的画家，

　　has exhaustively discussed Charles Strickland's work in a little book  他在一本小书里对查理斯·思特里克兰德的作品已经作了详尽的探索；

　　"A Modern Artist： Notes on the Work of Charles Strickland， " by Edward Leggatt， A. R. H. A. Martin Secker， 1917. 【《一位当代画家，对查理斯·思特里克兰德绘画的评论》，爱尔兰皇家学院会员爱德华·雷加特着，1917年马丁·塞克尔出版。（作者注）】

　　which is a charming example of a style, for the most part, less happily cultivated in England than in France. 这本书的优美文风也为我们树立了一个典范。很可惜，这种文风今天在英国远不如在法国那么时兴了。

1 docility   

n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服

参考例句：

• He was trying to plant the seed of revolt, arouse that placid peasant docility. 他想撒下反叛的种子，唤醒这个安分驯良的农民的觉悟。 来自辞典例句
• With unusual docility, Nancy stood up and followed him as he left the newsroom. 南希以难得的顺从站起身来，尾随着他离开了新闻编辑室。 来自辞典例句

2 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

3 superciliously   

adv.高傲地；傲慢地

参考例句：

• Madame Defarge looked superciliously at the client, and nodded in confirmation. 德伐日太太轻蔑地望了望客人，点头同意。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 layman   

n.俗人，门外汉，凡人

参考例句：

• These technical terms are difficult for the layman to understand.这些专门术语是外行人难以理解的。
• He is a layman in politics.他对政治是个门外汉。

5 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

6 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。