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当前位置:首页 -> 10级英语阅读 - > 经典名著:月亮与六便士44
经典名著:月亮与六便士44
添加时间:2024-02-26 10:54:46 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • A certain importance attaches to the views on art of painters, and this is the natural place for me to set down what I know of Strickland’s opinions of the great artists of the past. I am afraid I have very little worth noting. Strickland was not a conversationalist, and he had no gift for putting what he had to say in the striking phrase that the listener remembers. He had no wit. His humour, as will be seen if I have in any way succeeded in reproducing the manner of his conversation, was sardonic1. His repartee2 was rude. He made one laugh sometimes by speaking the truth, but this is a form of humour which gains its force only by its unusualness; it would cease to amuse if it were commonly practised.

    Strickland was not, I should say, a man of great intelligence, and his views on painting were by no means out of the ordinary. I never heard him speak of those whose work had a certain analogy with his own—of Cezanne, for instance, or of Van Gogh; and I doubt very much if he had ever seen their pictures. He was not greatly interested in the Impressionists. Their technique impressed him, but I fancy that he thought their attitude commonplace. When Stroeve was holding forth3 at length on the excellence4 of Monet, he said: “I prefer Winterhalter.” But I dare say he said it to annoy, and if he did he certainly succeeded.

    I am disappointed that I cannot report any extravagances in his opinions on the old masters. There is so much in his character which is strange that I feel it would complete the picture if his views were outrageous5. I feel the need to ascribe to him fantastic theories about his predecessors6, and it is with a certain sense of disillusion7 that I confess he thought about them pretty much as does everybody else. I do not believe he knew El Greco. He had a great but somewhat impatient admiration8 for Velasquez. Chardin delighted him, and Rembrandt moved him to ecstasy9. He described the impression that Rembrandt made on him with a coarseness I cannot repeat. The only painter that interested him who was at all unexpected was Brueghel the Elder. I knew very little about him at that time, and Strickland had no power to explain himself. I remember what he said about him because it was so unsatisfactory.

    “He’s all right,” said Strickland. “I bet he found it hell to paint.”

    When later, in Vienna, I saw several of Peter Brueghel’s pictures, I thought I understood why he had attracted Strickland’s attention. Here, too, was a man with a vision of the world peculiar10 to himself. I made somewhat copious11 notes at the time, intending to write something about him, but I have lost them, and have now only the recollection of an emotion. He seemed to see his fellow-creatures grotesquely13, and he was angry with them because they were grotesque12; life was a confusion of ridiculous, sordid14 happenings, a fit subject for laughter, and yet it made him sorrowful to laugh. Brueghel gave me the impression of a man striving to express in one medium feelings more appropriate to expression in another, and it may be that it was the obscure consciousness of this that excited Strickland’s sympathy. Perhaps both were trying to put down in paint ideas which were more suitable to literature.

    Strickland at this time must have been nearly forty-seven.



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    1 sardonic [sɑ:ˈdɒnɪk] jYyxL   第10级
    adj.嘲笑的,冷笑的,讥讽的
    参考例句:
    • She gave him a sardonic smile. 她朝他讥讽地笑了一笑。
    • There was a sardonic expression on her face. 她脸上有一种嘲讽的表情。
    2 repartee [ˌrepɑ:ˈti:] usjyz   第11级
    n.机敏的应答
    参考例句:
    • This diplomat possessed an excellent gift for repartee. 这位外交官具有卓越的应对才能。
    • He was a brilliant debater and his gift of repartee was celebrated. 他擅长辩论,以敏于应答著称。
    3 forth [fɔ:θ] Hzdz2   第7级
    adv.向前;向外,往外
    参考例句:
    • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth. 风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
    • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession. 他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
    4 excellence [ˈeksələns] ZnhxM   第8级
    n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德
    参考例句:
    • His art has reached a high degree of excellence. 他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
    • My performance is far below excellence. 我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。
    5 outrageous [aʊtˈreɪdʒəs] MvFyH   第8级
    adj.无理的,令人不能容忍的
    参考例句:
    • Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone. 她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
    • Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous. 本地电话资费贵得出奇。
    6 predecessors [ˈpri:disesəz] b59b392832b9ce6825062c39c88d5147   第8级
    n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身
    参考例句:
    • The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗? 来自《简明英汉词典》
    7 disillusion [ˌdɪsɪˈlu:ʒn] HtTxo   第7级
    vt.使不再抱幻想,使理想破灭
    参考例句:
    • Do not say anything to disillusion them. 别说什么叫他们泄气的话。
    • I'd hate to be the one to disillusion him. 我不愿意成为那个让他幻想破灭的人。
    8 admiration [ˌædməˈreɪʃn] afpyA   第8级
    n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
    参考例句:
    • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene. 他对风景之美赞不绝口。
    • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists. 我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
    9 ecstasy [ˈekstəsi] 9kJzY   第8级
    n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷
    参考例句:
    • He listened to the music with ecstasy. 他听音乐听得入了神。
    • Speechless with ecstasy, the little boys gazed at the toys. 小孩注视着那些玩具,高兴得说不出话来。
    10 peculiar [pɪˈkju:liə(r)] cinyo   第7级
    adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
    参考例句:
    • He walks in a peculiar fashion. 他走路的样子很奇特。
    • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression. 他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
    11 copious [ˈkəʊpiəs] koizs   第9级
    adj.丰富的,大量的
    参考例句:
    • She supports her theory with copious evidences. 她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
    • Every star is a copious source of neutrinos. 每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。
    12 grotesque [grəʊˈtesk] O6ryZ   第8级
    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。
    13 grotesquely [ɡrəʊ'tesklɪ] grotesquely   第8级
    adv. 奇异地,荒诞地
    参考例句:
    • Her arched eyebrows and grotesquely powdered face were at once seductive and grimly overbearing. 眉棱棱着,在一脸的怪粉上显出妖媚而霸道。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
    • Two faces grotesquely disfigured in nylon stocking masks looked through the window. 2张戴尼龙长袜面罩的怪脸望着窗外。
    14 sordid [ˈsɔ:dɪd] PrLy9   第10级
    adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的
    参考例句:
    • He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
    • They lived in a sordid apartment. 他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。

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