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经典名著:月亮与六便士54
添加时间:2024-02-26 10:59:45 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • As we walked along I reflected on a circumstance which all that I had lately heard about Strickland forced on my attention. Here, on this remote island, he seemed to have aroused none of the detestation with which he was regarded at home, but compassion1 rather; and his vagaries2 were accepted with tolerance3. To these people, native and European, he was a queer fish, but they were used to queer fish, and they took him for granted; the world was full of odd persons, who did odd things; and perhaps they knew that a man is not what he wants to be, but what he must be. In England and France he was the square peg4 in the round hole, but here the holes were any sort of shape, and no sort of peg was quite amiss. I do not think he was any gentler here, less selfish or less brutal5, but the circumstances were more favourable6. If he had spent his life amid these surroundings he might have passed for no worse a man than another. He received here what he neither expected nor wanted among his own people—sympathy.

    I tried to tell Captain Brunot something of the astonishment7 with which this filled me, and for a little while he did not answer.

    “It is not strange that I, at all events, should have had sympathy for him,” he said at last, “for, though perhaps neither of us knew it, we were both aiming at the same thing.”

    “What on earth can it be that two people so dissimilar as you and Strickland could aim at?” I asked, smiling.

    “Beauty.”

    “A large order,” I murmured.

    “Do you know how men can be so obsessed8 by love that they are deaf and blind to everything else in the world? They are as little their own masters as the slaves chained to the benches of a galley9. The passion that held Strickland in bondage10 was no less tyrannical than love.”

    “How strange that you should say that!” I answered. “For long ago I had the idea that he was possessed11 of a devil.”

    “And the passion that held Strickland was a passion to create beauty. It gave him no peace. It urged him hither and thither12. He was eternally a pilgrim, haunted by a divine nostalgia13, and the demon14 within him was ruthless. There are men whose desire for truth is so great that to attain15 it they will shatter the very foundation of their world. Of such was Strickland, only beauty with him took the place of truth. I could only feel for him a profound compassion.”

    “That is strange also. A man whom he had deeply wronged told me that he felt a great pity for him.” I was silent for a moment. “I wonder if there you have found the explanation of a character which has always seemed to me inexplicable16. How did you hit on it?”

    He turned to me with a smile.

    “Did I not tell you that I, too, in my way was an artist? I realised in myself the same desire as animated17 him. But whereas his medium was paint, mine has been life.”

    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. It has also to my mind a beauty of its own.

    Captain Brunot was a Breton, and had been in the French Navy. He left it on his marriage, and settled down on a small property he had near Quimper to live for the rest of his days in peace; but the failure of an attorney left him suddenly penniless, and neither he nor his wife was willing to live in penury18 where they had enjoyed consideration. During his sea faring days he had cruised the South Seas, and he determined19 now to seek his fortune there. He spent some months in Papeete to make his plans and gain experience; then, on money borrowed from a friend in France, he bought an island in the Paumotus. It was a ring of land round a deep lagoon20, uninhabited, and covered only with scrub and wild guava. With the intrepid21 woman who was his wife, and a few natives, he landed there, and set about building a house, and clearing the scrub so that he could plant cocoa-nuts. That was twenty years before, and now what had been a barren island was a garden.

    “It was hard and anxious work at first, and we worked strenuously22, both of us. Every day I was up at dawn, clearing, planting, working on my house, and at night when I threw myself on my bed it was to sleep like a log till morning. My wife worked as hard as I did. Then children were born to us, first a son and then a daughter. My wife and I have taught them all they know. We had a piano sent out from France, and she has taught them to play and to speak English, and I have taught them Latin and mathematics, and we read history together. They can sail a boat. They can swim as well as the natives. There is nothing about the land of which they are ignorant. Our trees have prospered23, and there is shell on my reef. I have come to Tahiti now to buy a schooner24. I can get enough shell to make it worth while to fish for it, and, who knows? I may find pearls. I have made something where there was nothing. I too have made beauty. Ah, you do not know what it is to look at those tall, healthy trees and think that every one I planted myself.”

    “Let me ask you the question that you asked Strickland. Do you never regret France and your old home in Brittany?”

    “Some day, when my daughter is married and my son has a wife and is able to take my place on the island, we shall go back and finish our days in the old house in which I was born.”

    “You will look back on a happy life,” I said.

    “Evidemment, it is not exciting on my island, and we are very far from the world—imagine, it takes me four days to come to Tahiti—but we are happy there. It is given to few men to attempt a work and to achieve it. Our life is simple and innocent. We are untouched by ambition, and what pride we have is due only to our contemplation of the work of our hands. Malice25 cannot touch us, nor envy attack. Ah, mon cher monsieur, they talk of the blessedness of labour, and it is a meaningless phrase, but to me it has the most intense significance. I am a happy man.”

    “I am sure you deserve to be,” I smiled.

    “I wish I could think so. I do not know how I have deserved to have a wife who was the perfect friend and helpmate, the perfect mistress and the perfect mother.”

    I reflected for a while on the life that the Captain suggested to my imagination.

    “It is obvious that to lead such an existence and make so great a success of it, you must both have needed a strong will and a determined character.”

    “Perhaps; but without one other factor we could have achieved nothing.”

    “And what was that?”

    He stopped, somewhat dramatically, and stretched out his arm.

    “Belief in God. Without that we should have been lost.”

    Then we arrived at the house of Dr. Coutras.



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    1 compassion [kəmˈpæʃn] 3q2zZ   第8级
    n.同情,怜悯
    参考例句:
    • He could not help having compassion for the poor creature. 他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
    • Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children. 她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。
    2 vagaries [ˈveɪgəriz] 594130203d5d42a756196aa8975299ad   第11级
    n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 );异想天开;异常行为;难以预测的情况
    参考例句:
    • The vagaries of fortune are indeed curious.\" 命运的变化莫测真是不可思议。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
    • The vagaries of inclement weather conditions are avoided to a certain extent. 可以在一定程度上避免变化莫测的恶劣气候影响。 来自辞典例句
    3 tolerance [ˈtɒlərəns] Lnswz   第7级
    n.宽容;容忍,忍受;耐药力;公差
    参考例句:
    • Tolerance is one of his strengths. 宽容是他的一个优点。
    • Human beings have limited tolerance of noise. 人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。
    4 peg [peg] p3Fzi   第8级
    n.木栓,木钉;vt.用木钉钉,用短桩固定
    参考例句:
    • Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall. 把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
    • He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
    5 brutal [ˈbru:tl] bSFyb   第7级
    adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的
    参考例句:
    • She has to face the brutal reality. 她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
    • They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer. 他们表面上温文有礼,骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
    6 favourable [ˈfeɪvərəbl] favourable   第8级
    adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的
    参考例句:
    • The company will lend you money on very favourable terms. 这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
    • We found that most people are favourable to the idea. 我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。
    7 astonishment [əˈstɒnɪʃmənt] VvjzR   第8级
    n.惊奇,惊异
    参考例句:
    • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment. 他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
    • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action. 我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
    8 obsessed [əb'ses] 66a4be1417f7cf074208a6d81c8f3384   第8级
    adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的
    参考例句:
    • He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
    • The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。
    9 galley [ˈgæli] rhwxE   第11级
    n.(飞机或船上的)厨房;单层甲板大帆船;军舰舰长用的大划艇;
    参考例句:
    • The stewardess will get you some water from the galley. 空姐会从厨房给你拿些水来。
    • Visitors can also go through the large galley where crew members got their meals. 游客还可以穿过船员们用餐的厨房。
    10 bondage [ˈbɒndɪdʒ] 0NtzR   第10级
    n.奴役,束缚
    参考例句:
    • Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage. 奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
    • They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief. 他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
    11 possessed [pəˈzest] xuyyQ   第12级
    adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
    参考例句:
    • He flew out of the room like a man possessed. 他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
    • He behaved like someone possessed. 他行为举止像是魔怔了。
    12 thither [ˈðɪðə(r)] cgRz1o   第12级
    adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的
    参考例句:
    • He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate. 他逛来逛去找玩伴。
    • He tramped hither and thither. 他到处流浪。
    13 nostalgia [nɒˈstældʒə] p5Rzb   第9级
    n.怀乡病,留恋过去,怀旧
    参考例句:
    • He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth. 也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
    • I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song. 我听到这首喜爱的旧歌,心中充满了怀旧之情。
    14 demon [ˈdi:mən] Wmdyj   第10级
    n.魔鬼,恶魔
    参考例句:
    • The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness. 贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
    • He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years. 他多年来病魔缠身。
    15 attain [əˈteɪn] HvYzX   第7级
    vt.达到,获得,完成
    参考例句:
    • I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
    • His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。
    16 inexplicable [ˌɪnɪkˈsplɪkəbl] tbCzf   第10级
    adj.无法解释的,难理解的
    参考例句:
    • It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted. 当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的,现在已经无法说清楚了。
    • There are many things which are inexplicable by science. 有很多事科学还无法解释。
    17 animated [ˈænɪmeɪtɪd] Cz7zMa   第11级
    adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的
    参考例句:
    • His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion. 他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
    • We had an animated discussion over current events last evening. 昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。
    18 penury [ˈpenjəri] 4MZxp   第10级
    n.贫穷,拮据
    参考例句:
    • Hardship and penury wore him out before his time. 受穷受苦使他未老先衰。
    • A succession of bad harvest had reduced the small farmer to penury. 连续歉收使得这个小农场主陷入了贫困境地。
    19 determined [dɪˈtɜ:mɪnd] duszmP   第7级
    adj.坚定的;有决心的;v.决定;断定(determine的过去分词)
    参考例句:
    • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation. 我已决定毕业后去西藏。
    • He determined to view the rooms behind the office. 他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
    20 lagoon [ləˈgu:n] b3Uyb   第10级
    n.泻湖,咸水湖
    参考例句:
    • The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish. 那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
    • This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment. 将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。
    21 intrepid [ɪnˈtrepɪd] NaYzz   第10级
    adj.无畏的,刚毅的
    参考例句:
    • He is not really satisfied with his intrepid action. 他没有真正满意他的无畏行动。
    • John's intrepid personality made him a good choice for team leader. 约翰勇敢的个性适合作领导工作。
    22 strenuously ['strenjuəsli] Jhwz0k   第7级
    adv.奋发地,费力地
    参考例句:
    • The company has strenuously defended its decision to reduce the workforce. 公司竭力为其裁员的决定辩护。
    • She denied the accusation with some warmth, ie strenuously, forcefully. 她有些激动,竭力否认这一指责。
    23 prospered [ˈprɔspəd] ce2c414688e59180b21f9ecc7d882425   第7级
    成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认,这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
    • Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。
    24 schooner [ˈsku:nə(r)] mDoyU   第12级
    n.纵帆船
    参考例句:
    • The schooner was driven ashore. 那条帆船被冲上了岸。
    • The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate. 急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。
    25 malice [ˈmælɪs] P8LzW   第9级
    n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋
    参考例句:
    • I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks. 我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
    • There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits. 他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

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