評論
打印
"What was it like?" I asked.
“他畫得怎么樣？”我問。
"Do not ask me. I could not make head or tail of it. I never saw such a thing in my life. 'What shall we do with it?' I said to my wife. 'We can never hang it up,' she said. 'People would laugh at us.' So she took it into an attic and put it away with all sorts of rubbish, for my wife can never throw anything away. It is her mania. Then, imagine to yourself, just before the war my brother wrote to me from Paris, and said: 'Do you know anything about an English painter who lived in Tahiti? It appears that he was a genius, and his pictures fetch large prices. See if you can lay your hands on anything and send it to me. There's money to be made.' So I said to my wife. 'What about that picture that Strickland gave me?' Is it possible that it is still in the attic?' 'Without doubt,' she answered, 'for you know that I never throw anything away. It is my mania.' We went up to the attic, and there, among I know not what rubbish that had been gathered during the thirty years we have inhabited that house, was the picture. I looked at it again, and I said: 'Who would have thought that the overseer of my plantation on the peninsula, to whom I lent two hundred francs, had genius? Do you see anything in the picture?' 'No,' she said, 'it does not resemble the plantation and I have never seen cocoa-nuts with blue leaves; but they are mad in Paris, and it may be that your brother will be able to sell it for the two hundred francs you lent Strickland.' Well, we packed it up and we sent it to my brother. And at last I received a letter from him. What do you think he said? 'I received your picture,' he said, 'and I confess I thought it was a joke that you had played on me. I would not have given the cost of postage for the picture. I was half afraid to show it to the gentleman who had spoken to me about it. Imagine my surprise when he said it was a masterpiece, and offered me thirty thousand francs. I dare say he would have paid more, but frankly I was so taken aback that I lost my head; I accepted the offer before I was able to collect myself.'"
“別問我這個，我一點也看不懂。我活了一輩子也沒見過這種畫。‘這幅畫咱們怎么辦？’我問我的妻子說。‘什么時候也掛不出去，’她說，‘人家會笑掉大牙的，’就這樣她把它拿到閣樓上，同各式各樣的廢物堆在一起。我的妻子什么東西也舍不得扔掉，這是她的習性。幾年以后，你自己可以想象一下，正當大戰爆發之前，我哥哥從巴黎給我寫來一封信說：‘你是否聽說過一個在塔希提住過的英國人？看來這人是個天才，他的畫現在能賣大錢。看看你有沒有辦法弄到他畫的任何東西，給我寄來。這件事很能賺錢。’于是我對我的妻子說：‘思特里克蘭德給我的那張畫還有沒有？會不會仍然在閣樓上放著呢？’‘沒錯兒，’她回答說，‘你也知道，我什么東西都不扔。這是我的毛病。’我們兩人走到閣樓上，這里堆著自從我們住到這所房子的第一天起積攢了三十年的各式各樣的破爛貨。那幅畫就在這些我也弄不清楚到底都是些什么的廢物堆里面。我又仔細看了看。我說：‘誰想得到，我的半島上的種植園里的一個監工，一個向我借過兩百法郎的人，居然是個偉大天才。你看得出這幅畫哪點畫得好嗎？’‘看不出來，’她說，‘一點也不象咱們的種植園，再說我也從來沒有見過椰子樹長著藍葉子。他們巴黎人簡直發瘋了，也說不定你哥哥能把那幅畫賣兩百法郎，正好能抵思特里克蘭德欠我們的那筆債。’不管怎么說。我們還是把畫包裝好，給我哥哥寄去了。最后我收到了他的回信。你猜他信里面怎么說？‘畫已收到，’他說，‘我必須承認，開始我還認為你在同我開玩笑。我真不應該出這筆寄費。我幾乎沒有膽量把它拿給同我談過這件事的那位先生看。當他告訴我這是一件杰作，并出價三萬法郎要購買它的時候，你可以想象到我是多么吃驚。我猜想他還肯出更多的錢。但是說老實話，這件事當時太出乎我的意料，弄得我簡直暈頭轉向了。沒等我腦子清醒過來以前，這筆生意已經拍板成交了。’”
Then Monsieur Cohen said an admirable thing.
接著，寇漢先生又說出幾句著實令人起敬的話。
"I wish that poor Strickland had been still alive. I wonder what he would have said when I gave him twenty-nine thousand eight hundred francs for his picture."
“我希望可憐的思特里克蘭德還活著，我真想知道，在我把兩萬九千八百法郎賣畫的錢交到他手里的時候，他會說什么。”
