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经典名著:月亮与六便士57
添加时间:2024-02-26 11:00:38 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • AT that moment we were interrupted by the appearance of Madame Coutras, who had been paying visits. She came in, like a ship in full sail, an imposing1 creature, tall and stout2, with an ample bust3 and an obesity4 girthed in alarmingly by straight-fronted corsets. She had a bold hooked nose and three chins. She held herself upright. She had not yielded for an instant to the enervating5 charm of the tropics, but contrariwise was more active, more worldly, more decided6 than anyone in a temperate7 clime would have thought it possible to be. She was evidently a copious8 talker, and now poured forth9 a breathless stream of anecdote10 and comment. She made the conversation we had just had seem far away and unreal.

    Presently Dr. Coutras turned to me.

    “I still have in my bureau the picture that Strickland gave me,” he said. “Would you like to see it?”

    “Willingly.”

    We got up, and he led me on to the verandah which surrounded his house. We paused to look at the gay flowers that rioted in his garden.

    “For a long time I could not get out of my head the recollection of the extraordinary decoration with which Strickland had covered the walls of his house,” he said reflectively.

    I had been thinking of it, too. It seemed to me that here Strickland had finally put the whole expression of himself. Working silently, knowing that it was his last chance, I fancied that here he must have said all that he knew of life and all that he divined. And I fancied that perhaps here he had at last found peace. The demon11 which possessed12 him was exorcised at last, and with the completion of the work, for which all his life had been a painful preparation, rest descended13 on his remote and tortured soul. He was willing to die, for he had fulfilled his purpose.

    “What was the subject?” I asked.

    “I scarcely know. It was strange and fantastic. It was a vision of the beginnings of the world, the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve—que sais-je?—it was a hymn14 to the beauty of the human form, male and female, and the praise of Nature, sublime15, indifferent, lovely, and cruel. It gave you an awful sense of the infinity16 of space and of the endlessness of time. Because he painted the trees I see about me every day, the cocoa-nuts, the banyans, the flamboyants, the alligator-pears, I have seen them ever since differently, as though there were in them a spirit and a mystery which I am ever on the point of seizing and which forever escapes me. The colours were the colours familiar to me, and yet they were different. They had a significance which was all their own. And those nude17 men and women. They were of the earth, and yet apart from it. They seemed to possess something of the clay of which they were created, and at the same time something divine. You saw man in the nakedness of his primeval instincts, and you were afraid, for you saw yourself.”

    Dr. Coutras shrugged18 his shoulders and smiled.

    “You will laugh at me. I am a materialist19, and I am a gross, fat man—Falstaff, eh?—the lyrical mode does not become me. I make myself ridiculous. But I have never seen painting which made so deep an impression upon me. Tenez, I had just the same feeling as when I went to the Sistine Chapel20 in Rome. There too I was awed21 by the greatness of the man who had painted that ceiling. It was genius, and it was stupendous and overwhelming. I felt small and insignificant22. But you are prepared for the greatness of Michael Angelo. Nothing had prepared me for the immense surprise of these pictures in a native hut, far away from civilisation23, in a fold of the mountain above Taravao. And Michael Angelo is sane24 and healthy. Those great works of his have the calm of the sublime; but here, notwithstanding beauty, was something troubling. I do not know what it was. It made me uneasy. It gave me the impression you get when you are sitting next door to a room that you know is empty, but in which, you know not why, you have a dreadful consciousness that notwithstanding there is someone. You scold yourself; you know it is only your nerves—and yet, and yet... In a little while it is impossible to resist the terror that seizes you, and you are helpless in the clutch of an unseen horror. Yes; I confess I was not altogether sorry when I heard that those strange masterpieces had been destroyed.”

    “Destroyed?” I cried.

    “Mais oui; did you not know?”

    “How should I know? It is true I had never heard of this work; but I thought perhaps it had fallen into the hands of a private owner. Even now there is no certain list of Strickland’s paintings.”

    “When he grew blind he would sit hour after hour in those two rooms that he had painted, looking at his works with sightless eyes, and seeing, perhaps, more than he had ever seen in his life before. Ata told me that he never complained of his fate, he never lost courage. To the end his mind remained serene25 and undisturbed. But he made her promise that when she had buried him—did I tell you that I dug his grave with my own hands, for none of the natives would approach the infected house, and we buried him, she and I, sewn up in three pareos joined together, under the mango-tree—he made her promise that she would set fire to the house and not leave it till it was burned to the ground and not a stick remained.”

    I did not speak for a while, for I was thinking. Then I said:

    “He remained the same to the end, then.”

    “Do you understand? I must tell you that I thought it my duty to dissuade26 her.”

    “Even after what you have just said?”

    “Yes; for I knew that here was a work of genius, and I did not think we had the right to deprive the world of it. But Ata would not listen to me. She had promised. I would not stay to witness the barbarous deed, and it was only afterwards that I heard what she had done. She poured paraffin on the dry floors and on the pandanus-mats, and then she set fire. In a little while nothing remained but smouldering embers, and a great masterpiece existed no longer.

    “I think Strickland knew it was a masterpiece. He had achieved what he wanted. His life was complete. He had made a world and saw that it was good. Then, in pride and contempt, he destroyed it.”

    “But I must show you my picture,” said Dr. Coutras, moving on.

    “What happened to Ata and the child?”

    “They went to the Marquesas. She had relations there. I have heard that the boy works on one of Cameron’s schooners27. They say he is very like his father in appearance.”

    At the door that led from the verandah to the doctor’s consulting-room, he paused and smiled.

    “It is a fruit-piece. You would think it not a very suitable picture for a doctor’s consulting-room, but my wife will not have it in the drawing-room. She says it is frankly28 obscene.”

    “A fruit-piece!” I exclaimed in surprise.

    We entered the room, and my eyes fell at once on the picture. I looked at it for a long time.

    It was a pile of mangoes, bananas, oranges, and I know not what and at first sight it was an innocent picture enough. It would have been passed in an exhibition of the Post-Impressionists by a careless person as an excellent but not very remarkable29 example of the school; but perhaps afterwards it would come back to his recollection, and he would wonder why. I do not think then he could ever entirely30 forget it.

    The colours were so strange that words can hardly tell what a troubling emotion they gave. They were sombre blues31, opaque32 like a delicately carved bowl in lapis lazuli, and yet with a quivering lustre33 that suggested the palpitation of mysterious life; there were purples, horrible like raw and putrid34 flesh, and yet with a glowing, sensual passion that called up vague memories of the Roman Empire of Heliogabalus; there were reds, shrill35 like the berries of holly—one thought of Christmas in England, and the snow, the good cheer, and the pleasure of children—and yet by some magic softened36 till they had the swooning tenderness of a dove’s breast; there were deep yellows that died with an unnatural37 passion into a green as fragrant38 as the spring and as pure as the sparkling water of a mountain brook39. Who can tell what anguished40 fancy made these fruits? They belonged to a Polynesian garden of the Hesperides. There was something strangely alive in them, as though they were created in a stage of the earth’s dark history when things were not irrevocably fixed41 to their forms. They were extravagantly42 luxurious43. They were heavy with tropical odours. They seemed to possess a sombre passion of their own. It was enchanted44 fruit, to taste which might open the gateway45 to God knows what secrets of the soul and to mysterious palaces of the imagination. They were sullen46 with unawaited dangers, and to eat them might turn a man to beast or god. All that was healthy and natural, all that clung to happy relationships and the simple joys of simple men, shrunk from them in dismay; and yet a fearful attraction was in them, and, like the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they were terrible with the possibilities of the Unknown.

    At last I turned away. I felt that Strickland had kept his secret to the grave.

    “Voyons, René, mon ami,” came the loud, cheerful voice of Madame Coutras, “what are you doing all this time? Here are the apéritifs47. Ask Monsieur if he will not drink a little glass of Quinquina Dubonnet.”

    “Volontiers, Madame,” I said, going out on to the verandah.

    The spell was broken.



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    1 imposing [ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ] 8q9zcB   第8级
    adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的
    参考例句:
    • The fortress is an imposing building. 这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
    • He has lost his imposing appearance. 他已失去堂堂仪表。
    2 stout [staʊt] PGuzF   第8级
    adj.强壮的,结实的,勇猛的,矮胖的
    参考例句:
    • He cut a stout stick to help him walk. 他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
    • The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。
    3 bust [bʌst] WszzB   第9级
    vt.打破;vi.爆裂;n.半身像;胸部
    参考例句:
    • I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
    • She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust. 她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。
    4 obesity [əʊ'bi:sətɪ] Dv1ya   第8级
    n.肥胖,肥大
    参考例句:
    • One effect of overeating may be obesity. 吃得过多能导致肥胖。
    • Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods. 糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。
    5 enervating [ˈenəˌveɪtɪŋ] enervating   第10级
    v.使衰弱,使失去活力( enervate的现在分词 )
    参考例句:
    • The folds of her scarlet silk gown gave off the enervating smell of poppies. 她那件大红绸袍的衣褶里发出销魂蚀骨的罂粟花香。 来自辞典例句
    6 decided [dɪˈsaɪdɪd] lvqzZd   第7级
    adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
    参考例句:
    • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents. 这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
    • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting. 英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
    7 temperate [ˈtempərət] tIhzd   第8级
    adj.温和的,温带的,自我克制的,不过分的
    参考例句:
    • Asia extends across the frigid, temperate and tropical zones. 亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
    • Great Britain has a temperate climate. 英国气候温和。
    8 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。
    9 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。
    10 anecdote [ˈænɪkdəʊt] 7wRzd   第7级
    n.轶事,趣闻,短故事
    参考例句:
    • He departed from the text to tell an anecdote. 他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
    • It had never been more than a family anecdote. 那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。
    11 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。
    12 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。
    13 descended [di'sendid] guQzoy   第7级
    a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
    参考例句:
    • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
    • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
    14 hymn [hɪm] m4Wyw   第8级
    n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌
    参考例句:
    • They sang a hymn of praise to God. 他们唱着圣歌,赞美上帝。
    • The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn. 合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。
    15 sublime [səˈblaɪm] xhVyW   第10级
    adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的
    参考例句:
    • We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature. 我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
    • Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea. 奥运会,就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。
    16 infinity [ɪnˈfɪnəti] o7QxG   第8级
    n.无限,无穷,大量
    参考例句:
    • It is impossible to count up to infinity. 不可能数到无穷大。
    • Theoretically, a line can extend into infinity. 从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。
    17 nude [nju:d] CHLxF   第10级
    adj.裸体的;n.裸体者,裸体艺术品
    参考例句:
    • It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude. 这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
    • She doesn't like nude swimming. 她不喜欢裸泳。
    18 shrugged [ʃ'rʌɡd] 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce   第7级
    vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
    参考例句:
    • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
    • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    19 materialist [məˈtɪəriəlɪst] 58861c5dbfd6863f4fafa38d1335beb2   第8级
    n. 唯物主义者
    参考例句:
    • Promote materialist dialectics and oppose metaphysics and scholasticism. 要提倡唯物辩证法,反对形而上学和烦琐哲学。
    • Whoever denies this is not a materialist. 谁要是否定这一点,就不是一个唯物主义者。
    20 chapel [ˈtʃæpl] UXNzg   第9级
    n.小教堂,殡仪馆
    参考例句:
    • The nimble hero, skipped into a chapel that stood near. 敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
    • She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel. 那个星期天的下午,她在小教堂的演出,可以说是登峰造极。
    21 awed [ɔ:d] a0ab9008d911a954b6ce264ddc63f5c8   第7级
    adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声,人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    22 insignificant [ˌɪnsɪgˈnɪfɪkənt] k6Mx1   第9级
    adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的
    参考例句:
    • In winter the effect was found to be insignificant. 在冬季,这种作用是不明显的。
    • This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced. 这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。
    23 civilisation [sɪvɪlaɪ'zeɪʃən] civilisation   第8级
    n.文明,文化,开化,教化
    参考例句:
    • Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation. 能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
    • This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation. 这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。
    24 sane [seɪn] 9YZxB   第8级
    adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的
    参考例句:
    • He was sane at the time of the murder. 在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
    • He is a very sane person. 他是一个很有头脑的人。
    25 serene [səˈri:n] PD2zZ   第8级
    adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的
    参考例句:
    • He has entered the serene autumn of his life. 他已进入了美好的中年时期。
    • He didn't speak much, he just smiled with that serene smile of his. 他话不多,只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
    26 dissuade [dɪˈsweɪd] ksPxy   第9级
    vt.劝阻,阻止
    参考例句:
    • You'd better dissuade him from doing that. 你最好劝阻他别那样干。
    • I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares. 我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。
    27 schooners [ˈsku:nəz] 88eda1cebb18c03d16c7c600a86ade6c   第12级
    n.(有两个以上桅杆的)纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • You've already drunk three schooners of sherry. 你已经喝了三大杯雪利酒了。 来自辞典例句
    • Might l beg the honour of pouring the privileged schooners myself? 请问我能不能自己倒尊贵的大杯酒? 来自电影对白
    28 frankly [ˈfræŋkli] fsXzcf   第7级
    adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
    参考例句:
    • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all. 老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
    • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform. 坦率地说,我不反对改革。
    29 remarkable [rɪˈmɑ:kəbl] 8Vbx6   第7级
    adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
    参考例句:
    • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills. 她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
    • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines. 这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
    30 entirely [ɪnˈtaɪəli] entirely   第9级
    ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
    参考例句:
    • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
    • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
    31 blues [blu:z] blues   第9级
    n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐
    参考例句:
    • She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues. 她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
    • He was in the blues on account of his failure in business. 他因事业失败而意志消沉。
    32 opaque [əʊˈpeɪk] jvhy1   第7级
    adj.不透光的;不反光的,不传导的;晦涩的
    参考例句:
    • The windows are of opaque glass. 这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
    • Their intentions remained opaque. 他们的意图仍然令人费解。
    33 lustre [ˈlʌstə(r)] hAhxg   第11级
    n.光亮,光泽;荣誉;vi.有光泽,发亮;vt.使有光泽
    参考例句:
    • The sun was shining with uncommon lustre. 太阳放射出异常的光彩。
    • A good name keeps its lustre in the dark. 一个好的名誉在黑暗中也保持它的光辉。
    34 putrid [ˈpju:trɪd] P04zD   第12级
    adj.腐臭的;有毒的;已腐烂的;卑劣的
    参考例句:
    • To eat putrid food is liable to get sick. 吃了腐败的食物容易生病。
    • A putrid smell drove us from the room. 一股腐臭的气味迫使我们离开这房间。
    35 shrill [ʃrɪl] EEize   第9级
    adj.尖声的;刺耳的;vt.&vi.尖叫
    参考例句:
    • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn. 哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
    • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter. 刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
    36 softened ['sɒfənd] 19151c4e3297eb1618bed6a05d92b4fe   第7级
    (使)变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰
    参考例句:
    • His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
    • The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。
    37 unnatural [ʌnˈnætʃrəl] 5f2zAc   第9级
    adj.不自然的;反常的
    参考例句:
    • Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way? 她有任何反常表现吗?
    • She has an unnatural smile on her face. 她脸上挂着做作的微笑。
    38 fragrant [ˈfreɪgrənt] z6Yym   第7级
    adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的
    参考例句:
    • The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn. 深秋的香山格外美丽。
    • The air was fragrant with lavender. 空气中弥漫薰衣草香。
    39 brook [brʊk] PSIyg   第7级
    n.小河,溪;vt.忍受,容让
    参考例句:
    • In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook. 在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
    • The brook trickled through the valley. 小溪涓涓流过峡谷。
    40 anguished ['æŋɡwɪʃd] WzezLl   第7级
    adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式)
    参考例句:
    • Desmond eyed her anguished face with sympathy. 看着她痛苦的脸,德斯蒙德觉得理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The loss of her husband anguished her deeply. 她丈夫的死亡使她悲痛万分。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
    41 fixed [fɪkst] JsKzzj   第8级
    adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
    参考例句:
    • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet? 你们俩选定婚期了吗?
    • Once the aim is fixed, we should not change it arbitrarily. 目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
    42 extravagantly [ɪk'strævəɡəntlɪ] fcd90b89353afbdf23010caed26441f0   第7级
    adv.挥霍无度地
    参考例句:
    • The Monroes continued to entertain extravagantly. 门罗一家继续大宴宾客。 来自辞典例句
    • New Grange is one of the most extravagantly decorated prehistoric tombs. 新格兰奇是装饰最豪华的史前陵墓之一。 来自辞典例句
    43 luxurious [lʌgˈʒʊəriəs] S2pyv   第7级
    adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的
    参考例句:
    • This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone. 这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
    • The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings. 这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。
    44 enchanted [ɪn'tʃɑ:ntɪd] enchanted   第9级
    adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词
    参考例句:
    • She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
    • He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。
    45 gateway [ˈgeɪtweɪ] GhFxY   第8级
    n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法
    参考例句:
    • Hard work is the gateway to success. 努力工作是通往成功之路。
    • A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
    46 sullen [ˈsʌlən] kHGzl   第9级
    adj.愠怒的,闷闷不乐的,(天气等)阴沉的
    参考例句:
    • He looked up at the sullen sky. 他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
    • Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well. 苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐, 因为昨晚没睡好。
    47 aperitifs [əˌperˈti:fs] 901d7a18811aebbd63950d01581d575b   第11级
    n.(饭前饮用的)开胃酒( aperitif的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • Server welcomes the party by name, suggests cocktails or aperitifs. 前台服务员向客人问好,并推荐酒水。 来自互联网

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