月亮与六便士-节选2

It was not till （not till 直到）four years after Strickland's death that Maurice Huret wrote that article in the Mercure de France which rescued the unknown painter from oblivion（遗忘） and blazed the trail which succeeding writers, with more or less docility, have followed. For a long time no critic has enjoyed in France a more incontestable（无可辩驳的） authority, and it was impossible not to be impressed by the claims he made; they seemed extravagant（奢靡无度）; but later judgments have confirmed his estimate, and the reputation of Charles Strickland is now firmly established on the lines which he laid down.

直到Strickland死去四年之后，Maurice Huret才在《法兰西信使》（一本法国杂志）发表了这篇文章，才使这位不为人所知的画家不至于被遗忘。他的这篇文章打响了第一炮，很多怯于标新的作家才沿着他的道路走了下去。在很长一段时间内法国艺术评论界更没有哪个人享有比Huret更无可辩驳的权威。Huret提出的观点不可能不让人印象深刻，看起来他对S的评价似乎极端了，但后来舆论的裁决却证实了他评价的公正；而C.S的声名便也在他定下的基调上不可动摇地建立起来了。

 The rise of this reputation is one of the most romantic incidents（发生的事） in the history of art. But I do not propose to deal with Charles Strickland's work except in so far a（只要）s it touches upon his character. I cannot agree with the painters who claim superciliously that the layman（外行） can understand nothing of painting, and that he can best show his appreciation of their works by silence and a cheque-book（支票簿）. It is a grotesque（奇形怪状） misapprehension（误解） which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly only to the craftsman: art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand. 

C.S名声噪起在艺术史上是最浪漫的事件之一了。但我不打算对C.S的作品给予评价除非作品会涉及到画家的性格时。我不同意某些画家的看法，他们傲慢的声称外行根本理解不了绘画，他们对于作品所能表示的赞赏最好就是一言不发的拿出支票簿。对于艺术有一种很荒谬误解就是没有人能比能工巧匠更能完美的理解艺术品了：而艺术是综合了我们的情感进行表露，并且这种情感所形成的语言是所有人都可以理解的。

But I will allow that the critic who has not a practical knowledge of technique is seldom able to say anything on the subject of real value, and my ignorance of painting is extreme. Fortunately, there is no need for me to risk the adventure, since my friend, Mr. Edward Leggatt, an able writer as well as an admirable painter, has exhaustively discussed（详尽的讨论） Charles Strickland's work in a little book(1) which is a charming example of a style, for the most part, less happily cultivated in England than in France.

(1) "A Modern Artist: Notes on the Work of Charles Strickland, " by Edward Leggatt, A. R. H. A. Martin Secker, 1917.

但我同意，艺术家如果没有对艺术的技巧没有实际知识是没法对艺术作出什么有价值的评价的，而我对绘画几乎一窍不通。幸运的是，对我来说没必要去冒这个险，因为我的朋友Edward Leggatt先生，一位才华横溢的作家，同时也是一位受人尊敬的画家，他曾在一本小书里把他的作品进行过详尽的讨论，书里优美的文风为我们设立了一个典范。可惜，这样的文风在今天的英国不如在法国那么流行了。

Maurice Huret in his famous article gave an outline of Charles Strickland's life which was well calculated to whet the appetites of the inquiring. With his disinterested passion for art, he had a real desire to call the attention of the wise to a talent which was in the highest degree original; but he was too good a journalist to be unaware that the "human interest" would enable him more easily to effect his purpose.

M.H在他著名的文章里给C.S的生平进行过简单的描述。作者有意吊一下读者的胃口。他对艺术的热情毫不搀杂个人的好恶，他这篇文章的真正目的是唤起那些有头脑的人对一个独特的天才画家的注意力。但是HURET是一个写文章方面的老手，他深知（不会不知道），只有引起读者“兴趣”的文章才更容易达到目的。