"For long ago I had the idea that he was possessed of a devil." “很久以前，我正是也有这种想法。我觉得他这个人是被魔鬼抓住了。”

"And the passion that held Strickland was a passion to create beauty. “使思特里克兰德着了迷的是一种创作欲，他热切地想创造出美来。

It gave him no peace. It urged him hither and thither. 这种激情叫他一刻也不能宁静。逼着他东奔西走。

He was eternally a pilgrim, haunted by a divine nostalgia, and the demon within him was ruthless. 他好像是一个终生跋涉的朝香者，永远思慕着一块圣地。盘踞在他心头的魔鬼对他毫无怜悯之情。

There are men whose desire for truth is so great that to attain it they will shatter the very foundation of their world. 世上有些人渴望寻获真理，他们的要求非常强烈，为了达到这个目的，就是叫他们把生活的基础完全打翻，也在所不惜。

Of such was Strickland, only beauty with him took the place of truth. 思特里克兰德就是这样一个人；只不过他追求的是美，而不是真理。

I could only feel for him a profound compassion." 对于像他这样的人，我从心眼里感到怜悯。”

"That is strange also. 你说的这一点也很奇怪。

A man whom he had deeply wronged told me that he felt a great pity for him." “有一个他曾经伤害过的人也这样对我说，说他非常可怜思特里克兰德。”

I was silent for a moment. 我沉默了一会儿。

"I wonder if there you have found the explanation of a character which has always seemed to me inexplicable. “我很想知道，对于一种我一直感到迷惑不解的性格，你是不是已经找到了答案。

How did you hit on it?" 你怎么会想到这个道理的？”

He turned to me with a smile. 他对我笑了笑。

"Did I not tell you that I, too, in my way was an artist? “我不是告诉你了，从某一个角度讲，我也是个艺术家吗？

I realised in myself the same desire as animated him. 我在自己身上也深深感到激励着他的那种热望。

But whereas his medium was paint, mine has been life." 但是他的手段是绘画，我的却是生活。”

Then Captain Brunot told me a story which I must repeat, since, if only by way of contrast, it adds something to my impression of Strickland. 布吕诺船长这时给我讲了一个故事，我想我应该在这里说一说。因为即使作为对比，这个故事对我记叙思特里克兰德的生平也能说明一些问题。

It has also to my mind a beauty of its own. 再说，我认为这个故事本身就是非常美的。