月亮和六便士 第四十二章(1)

 Chapter 42 第四十二章

I did not know why Strickland had suddenly offered to show them to me. I welcomed the opportunity. 我不知道为什么思特里克兰德突然主动提出来要让我看他的画，但是对这样一个机会我是非常欢迎的。
A man's work reveals him. 作品最能泄露一个人的真实思想和感情。
In social intercourse 1 he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept,   在交际应酬中，一个人只让你看到他希望别人接受他的一些表面现象，
and you can only gain a true knowledge of him by inferences from little actions, of which he is unconscious, 你只能借助他无意中作出的一些小动作，
and from fleeting 2 expressions, which cross his face unknown to him. 借助不知不觉中掠过他脸上的一些表情对他作出正确的了解。
Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem. 有些时候，人们把一副假面装得逼真，时间久了，他们真会变成他们装扮的这样一个人了。
But in his book or his picture the real man delivers himself defenceless. 但是在他写的书、画的画里面，他却毫无防范地把自己显露出来。
His pretentiousness 3 will only expose his vacuity 4. 如果他作势唬人，那只能暴露出他的空虚。
The lathe 5 painted to look like iron is seen to be but a lathe. 他那些涂了油漆冒充铁板的木条还会看出来只不过是木条。
No affectation of peculiarity 6 can conceal 7 a commonplace mind. 假充具有独特的个性无法掩盖平凡庸俗的性格。
To the acute observer no one can produce the most casual work without disclosing the innermost secrets of his soul. 对于一个目光敏锐的观察者，即使一个人信笔一挥的作品也完全可以泄露他灵魂深处的隐秘。
As I walked up the endless stairs of the house in which Strickland lived, I confess that I was a little excited. 我必须承认，当我走上思特里克兰德住处的无穷无尽的楼梯时，我感到有一些兴奋。
It seemed to me that I was on the threshold of a surprising adventure. 我似乎马上就要步入一场奇异的冒险。
I looked about the room with curiosity. 我好奇地环顾了一下他的小屋子。
It was even smaller and more bare than I remembered it. 这间屋子好象比我记忆中的更小、家具什物也更少了。
I wondered what those friends of mine would say who demanded vast studios, and vowed 8 they could not work unless all the conditions were to their liking 9. 我有些朋友总需要宽大的画室，坚持要条件必备才能作画，我倒想知道他们对这间画室作何感想。
"You'd better stand there," he said, “你最好站在这儿，”他指着一块地方说，
pointing to a spot from which, presumably, he fancied I could see to best advantage what he had to show me. 他可能认为在他把画拿给我看的时候，这是一个最适合观赏的角度。
"You don't want me to talk, I suppose," I said. “我想你不愿意我说话吧，”我说。
"No, blast you; I want you to hold your tongue." “这还用问，他妈的。我要你闭住你的嘴巴。”
He placed a picture on the easel, and let me look at it for a minute or two; then took it down and put another in its place. 他把一幅画放在画架上，叫我看一两分钟，然后取下来再放上另一张。
I think he showed me about thirty canvases. 我估计他一共给我看了三十来张。
It was the result of the six years during which he had been painting. 这是他作画以来六年的成绩。
He had never sold a picture. 他一张也没有出售。
The canvases were of different sizes. 这些画大小不一
The smaller were pictures of still-life and the largest were landscapes. 画幅小一些的是静物，最大的是风景。
There were about half a dozen portraits. 有半打左右是人物、肖像。
"That is the lot," he said at last. “就是这些，”最后他说。