The Moon and Sixpence 1
Chapter I
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;
我承認(rèn)當(dāng)我第一次和charles Strickland碰面時(shí)，我從未有任何一個(gè)瞬間察覺(jué)到他是那么的與眾不同。直到現(xiàn)在，極少有人會(huì)懷疑他的偉大。這份偉大不是政客或者軍功赫赫的戰(zhàn)士的那種，這與其說(shuō)是偉大不如說(shuō)是特定局勢(shì)下賦予的威名，這是由他們的身份帶來(lái)的。
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(夸張的修辭）, and the General without an armyis 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.
生詞：discreet 形容詞.（言行）謹(jǐn)慎的，考慮周到的 網(wǎng)絡(luò).小心的，慎重的，言行謹(jǐn)慎的
但隨著時(shí)間的流逝有的人的偉大越來(lái)越顯得微不足道了。人們經(jīng)?？吹揭呀?jīng)離任的首相不過(guò)是一個(gè)夸張愛(ài)演的演說(shuō)家，一位退役的將軍不過(guò)是小鎮(zhèn)英雄。Charles Strickland的偉大是不可忽視的，就像你也許不喜歡他的藝術(shù)，但是你會(huì)難以拒絕他對(duì)你的吸引力。
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（吹捧） of his admirers is perhaps no less capricious（變化無(wú)常的） than the disparagement （輕蔑）of his detractors（詆毀者）;
他的作品時(shí)常擾亂你的心又能夠扣住你的心弦。那個(gè)他備受眾人嘲笑的時(shí)代已經(jīng)過(guò)去了，當(dāng)人們?yōu)樗q護(hù)或者贊美時(shí)不必被認(rèn)為是怪異不可理解的。人們已經(jīng)承認(rèn)他的缺陷已經(jīng)成為了他的美德中不可缺少的部分。他在藝術(shù)上的地位盡待爭(zhēng)論，但對(duì)于那些詆毀和輕蔑他的人和他的崇拜者來(lái)說(shuō)對(duì)他的贊美也許都出于任性、
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.
但有一件事是無(wú)可爭(zhēng)議的，那就是他確實(shí)是一個(gè)天才。在我心里藝術(shù)最有趣的在于藝術(shù)家的個(gè)人性格，假如藝術(shù)家是獨(dú)特的，即使他有一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)，我也愿意給他說(shuō)出一千個(gè)理由...我認(rèn)為Velasquez比起El Greco是一位更優(yōu)秀的畫家，但傳統(tǒng)意識(shí)中對(duì)他的作品看起來(lái)更多是乏味無(wú)趣的：他的作品就像克里特島人，富有肉欲又兼具了悲劇的美，使他的作品的靈魂充滿了謎一樣的殉道者的精神。
The artist,painter, poet, or musician, by his decoration, sublime or beautiful, satisfies the aesthetic sense; but that is a kin 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.
一位藝術(shù)家，畫家，詩(shī)人，或者音樂(lè)家也好。用他的崇高的，美麗的作品把世界裝扮起來(lái)，滿足人們的審美，但也就像人類的本性一樣，充滿了美好，但也有粗鄙不堪的地方。他們向世人展示著他們偉大的作品以及他們本人，探求藝術(shù)家的本性就像看偵探小說(shuō)一樣令人興奮不已，這就像探求宇宙的秘密，如此迷人但也許不會(huì)有答案。
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.
Strickland工作中最不顯赫的作品也能讓人們模模糊糊的和他的性格聯(lián)系起來(lái)，古怪，倍感折磨，復(fù)雜.那些不喜歡他的作品的人肯定就是因?yàn)檫@個(gè)原因。但也正是那么多的人的對(duì)他的人生和性格擁有強(qiáng)烈好奇心。
