When the young American composer Daniel Gregory Mason came to Boston to interview the great pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski , there was trouble from the start.

年轻的美国作曲家丹尼尔•格里格利•梅森来到波士顿，当他拜见伟大的钢琴家和作曲家伊格纳奇•扬•帕岱莱夫斯基时，一开始就遇到了麻烦。

Because of a misunderstanding Mason was two-and-a-half hours late for his meeting with the great pianist. Mason was waiting in the hotel lobby while Paderewski was upstairs, getting more and more aggravated¹ by Mason’s tardiness². Finally Mason went up to see Paderewski and found him cordial enough, but Paderewski’s wife was cold and standoffish. Mason felt awkward and self-conscious. He complimented Paderewski on his “Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme.” Then he added: “Just so you don’t think that’s empty flattery, I’ll tell you frankly³ that I do not care so much for some of your early pieces.”

因为一个误会，梅森和这位伟大的钢琴家会面延迟了两个半小时。当梅森在旅馆大厅里傻等时，帕岱莱夫斯基却在楼上房间里为他的拖拉而越来越恼火。最后梅森上楼见到帕岱莱夫斯基，他还是很热情，但他的夫人却冷言冷语。梅森感到尴尬和羞愧。他赞美帕岱莱夫斯基的《原主旋律上的变奏曲和赋格曲》，然后他补充道，“为了不让您觉得这是我的空洞奉承，我得坦诚地告诉您，我不太喜欢您早期的一些乐曲。”

Paderewski’s wife gave Mason a stony⁴ look. “What pieces? What do you not care for?”

帕岱莱夫斯基夫人拉下脸来，问他：“什么乐曲？你不喜欢什么乐曲？”

Mason got in deeper. “Well, for example, I do not care so much for the ‘A Minor⁵ Concerto⁶’.”

梅森说：“好吧，比如说《a小调协奏曲》，我就不太喜欢。”

Her gaze was unwavering . “The concerto is one of my favorites among my husband’s compositions. I love it more and more.”

她目不转睛地说：“在我丈夫的作品中，这首协奏曲是我最喜欢的曲子之一。我越来越喜欢了。”

Valiantly⁷ , Mason complimented Paderewski’s use of French impressionism.

梅森又冒昧地奉承帕帕岱莱夫斯基对法国印象主义的运用如何美妙。

Now Paderewski himself spoke⁸. “I utterly⁹ repudiate¹⁰ any debt to French impressionism. I do not believe in the modern French school, because it is not founded in tradition. It is erratic¹¹, bizarre, wayward. ”

这次帕岱莱夫斯基自己说话了：“我和法国印象主义一点关系也没有。我不相信法国现代派，因为它没有传统根基，太怪异了，旁门左道，莫名其妙。”

At last Mason ventured to show Paderewski a movement of his new violin sonata¹². Paderewski shook hands with him about eight times as he read through the sonata, singing the melody and exclaiming “beautiful!” Finally, with his music, Daniel Gregory Mason had won over the master.

最后，梅森斗胆地拿出了自己写的小提琴奏鸣曲的一个乐章，让帕岱莱夫斯基过目。帕岱莱夫斯基看奏鸣曲时，一边哼唱着，一边叫着：“太棒了！”这过程中居然和梅森握了八次手。丹尼尔•格里格利•梅森终于凭着他的音乐，赢得了大师的尊重。