(雙語)月亮和六便士 第1章(4)

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Charles Strickland lived obscurely. He made enemies rather than friends. It is not strange, then, that those who wrote of him should have eked out their scanty recollections with a lively fancy, and it is evident that there was enough in the little that was known of him to give opportunity to the romantic scribe; there was much in his life which was strange and terrible, in his character something outrageous, and in his fate not a little that was pathetic. In due course a legend arose of such circumstantiality that the wise historian would hesitate to attack it.But a wise historian is precisely what the Rev. Robert Strickland is not. He wrote his biography avowedly to "remove certain misconceptions which had gained currency" in regard to the later part of his father's life, and which had "caused considerable pain to persons still living." It is obvious that there was much in the commonly received account of Strickland's life to embarrass a respectable family. I have read this work with a good deal of amusement, and upon this I congratulate myself, since it is colourless and dull. Mr. Strickland has drawn the portrait of an excellent husband and father, a man of kindly temper, industrious habits, and moral disposition. The modern clergyman has acquired in his study of the science which I believe is called exegesis an astonishing facility for explaining things away, but the subtlety with which the Rev. Robert Strickland has "interpreted" all the facts in his father's life which a dutiful son might find it inconvenient to remember must surely lead him in the fullness of time to the highest dignities of the Church. I see already his muscular calves encased in the gaiters episcopal. It was a hazardous, though maybe a gallant thing to do, since it is probable that the legend commonly received has had no small share in the growth of Strickland's reputation; for there are many who have been attracted to his art by the detestation in which they held his character or the compassion with which they regarded his death; and the son's well-meaning efforts threw a singular chill upon the father's admirers.

講到查理斯·思特里克蘭德，生前知道他的人并不多。他樹了不少敵人，但沒有交下什么朋友。因此，那些給他寫文章的人必須借助于活躍的想象以彌補貧乏的事實，看來也就不足為奇了。非常清楚，盡管人們對思特里克蘭德生平的事跡知道得并不多，也盡夠浪漫主義的文人從中找到大量鋪陳敷衍的材料，他的生活中有不少離奇可怕的行徑，他的性格里有不少荒謬絕倫的怪僻，他的命運中又不乏悲壯凄愴的遭遇。經(jīng)過一段時間，從這一系列事情的演繹附會中便產(chǎn)生了一個神話，明智的歷史學(xué)家對這種神話是不會貿(mào)然反對的。羅伯特·思特里克蘭德牧師偏偏不是這樣一位明智的歷史學(xué)家。他認為有關(guān)他父親的后半生人們誤解頗多，他公開申明自己寫這部傳記【《思特里克蘭德，生平與作品》，畫家的兒子羅伯特·思特里克蘭德撰寫，1913年海因曼出版。（作者注）】就是為了“排除某些成為流傳的誤解”，這些謬種流傳“給生者帶來很大的痛苦”。誰都清楚，在外界傳播的思特里克蘭德生平軼事里有許多使一個體面的家庭感到難堪的事。我讀這本傳記的時候忍不住啞然失笑，但也暗自慶幸，幸好這本書寫得實在枯燥乏味。思特里克蘭德牧師在傳記里刻劃的是一個體貼的丈夫和慈祥的父親，一個性格善良、作風(fēng)勤奮、品行端正的君子。當(dāng)代的教士在研究人們稱之為《圣經(jīng)》詮釋這門學(xué)問中都學(xué)會了遮掩粉飾的驚人本領(lǐng)，但羅伯特·思特里克蘭德牧師用以“解釋” 他父親行狀（這些開行動都是一個孝順的兒子認為值得記住的）的那種精思敏辯，在時機成熟時肯定會導(dǎo)致他在教會中榮獲顯職的。我好象已經(jīng)看到他那筋骨強健的小腿套上了主教的皮裹腿了。他做的是一件危險的，但或許是很勇敢的事，因為思特里克蘭德之所以名傳遐邇，在很大程度上要歸功于人們普遍接受了的傳說。他的藝術(shù)對很多人有那么大的魅力，或者是由于人們對他性格的嫌惡，或者是對他慘死的同情；而兒子的這部旨在為父親遮羞掩丑的傳記對于父親的崇拜者卻不啻當(dāng)頭澆了一盆冷水。