(双语)月亮和六便士 第1章(3)
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. And when such as had come in contact with Strickland in the past, writers who had known him in London, painters who had met him in the cafes of Montmartre, discovered to their amazement that where they had seen but an unsuccessful artist, like another, authentic genius had rubbed shoulders with them there began to appear in the magazines of France and America a succession of articles, the reminiscences of one, the appreciation of another, which added to Strickland's notoriety, and fed without satisfying the curiosity of the public. The subject was grateful, and the industrious Weitbrecht-Rotholz in his imposing monograph has been able to give a remarkable list of authorities.The faculty for myth is innate in the human race. It seizes with avidity upon any incidents, surprising or mysterious, in the career of those who have at all distinguished themselves from their fellows, and invents a legend to which it then attaches a fanatical belief. It is the protest of romance against the commonplace of life. The incidents of the legend become the hero's surest passport to immortality. The ironic philosopher reflects with a smile that Sir Walter Raleigh is more safely inshrined in the memory of mankind because he set his cloak for the Virgin Queen to walk on than because he carried the English name to undiscovered countries.
莫利斯·胥瑞在他那篇驰名的文章里简单地勾画了查理斯·思特里克兰德的生平；作者有意这样吊一下读者的胃口。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极为独特的天才画家的注意力。但是胥瑞是一个善于写文章的老手，他不会不知道，只有引起读者“兴味” 的文章才更容易达到目的。后来那些在思特里克兰德生前曾和他有过接触的人——有些人是在伦敦就认识他的作家，有些是在蒙特玛特尔咖啡座上和他会过面的画家 ——极其吃惊地发现，他们当初看作是个失败的画家，一个同无数落魄艺术家没有什么不同的画家，原来是个真正的天才，他们却交臂失之。从这时起，在法国和美国的一些杂志上就连篇累牍地出现了各式各类的文章：这个写对思特里克兰德的回忆，那个写对他作品的评述。结果是，这些文章更增加了思特里克兰德的声誉，挑起了、但却无法满足读者的好奇心。这个题目大受读者欢迎，魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹下了不少工夫，在他写的一篇洋洋洒洒的专题论文【《查理斯·思特里克兰德，生平与作品》，哲学博士雨果·魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹着，莱比锡1914年施威英格尔与汉尼施出版，原书德文。（作者注）】里开列了一张篇目，列举出富有权威性的一些文章。制造神话是人类的天性。对那些出类拔萃的人物，如果他们生活中有什么令人感到诧异或者迷惑不解的事件，人们就会如饥似渴地抓住不放，编造出种种神话，而且深信不疑，近乎狂热。这可以说是浪漫主义对平凡暗淡的生活的一种抗议。传奇中的一些小故事成为英雄通向不朽境界的最可靠的护照。瓦尔特·饶利爵士【瓦尔特·饶利爵士（1552？—1618），英国历史学家及航海家】之所以永远珍留在人们记忆里是因为他把披风铺在地上，让伊丽莎白女皇踏着走过去，而不是因为他把英国名字带给了许多过去人们从来没有发现的国土；一个玩世不恭的哲学家在想到这件事时肯定会哑然失笑的。
