通译双语文库:故园风雨后第十章预展——雷克斯·莫特拉姆在家里

1

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将私人预展安排在星期五，这主意是我妻子出的。“借这个时机我们可以出来听听批评家们的高见，”她说，“该是他们认真对待你的时候了。他们也知道这一点，这是他们的大好机会。如果你在星期一预展的话，那时候他们大多数人刚从乡下回来，只会在晚饭前浮皮潦草地匆匆写上几段评论——我担心的当然只是几家周刊而已。可如果给他们一个周末的时间思考呢，就可以让他们在乡间保持一种温文尔雅的假期状态。他们吃过丰盛的午餐以后会凝神静气，挽起袖口，写出一大篇华美闲适的文章来，还会不断在精美的小册子上重印……放在周五准定错不了。”

1

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IT was my wife’s idea to hold the private view on Friday. ‘We are out to catch the critics this time, I she said. ‘It’s high time they began to take you seriously, and they know it. This is their chance. If you open on Monday, they’ll most of them have just come up from the country, and they’ll dash off a few paragraphs before dinner - I’m only worrying about the weeklies of course. If we give them the week-end to think about it, we shall have them in an urbane Sunday-in-the-country mood. They’ll settle down after a good luncheon, tuck up their cuffs, and turn out a nice, leisurely full-length essay, which they’ll reprint later in a nice little book. Nothing less will do this time.’

2

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筹备画展的那个月，她在老教区和伦敦间奔波，重新厘定要邀请的客人名单，还帮忙布置画展。预展那天早晨，我打电话给茱丽娅，“我已经厌倦了那些画，再也不想看见它们了——不过我琢磨着还必须得出面。”

2

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She was up and down from the Old Rectory several times during the month of preparation, revising the list of invitations and helping with the hanging. On the morning of the private view I telephoned to Julia and said: ‘I’m sick of the pictures already and never want to see them again, but I suppose I shall have to put in an appearance.’

3

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“你想我去吗？”

3

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‘D’you want me to come?’

4

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“我想你最好别来。”

4

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‘I’d much rather you didn’t.’

5

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“西莉娅寄来了请帖，上面还用绿墨水写着‘可携亲友’。我们什么时候见面？”

5

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‘Celia sent a card with “Bring everyone” written across it in green ink. When do we meet?’

6

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“在火车站吧。你可以把我的行李捎来。”

6

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‘In the train. You might pick up my luggage.’

7

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“如果你早点收拾好了，我还可以接你一趟，把你捎到画廊下车。十二点我正好要在隔壁试衣服。”

7

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‘If you’ll have it packed soon I’ll pick you up, too, and drop you at the gallery. I’ve got a fitting next door at twelve.’

8

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我到画廊时，我妻子正站在窗前望着大街。她身后有五六个不认识的绘画爱好者正一幅画一幅画地挪着观看，手里都拿着目录册子。这些人都曾经买过一幅木版画，因而被列入了画廊赞助人名录。

8

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When I reached the gallery my wife was standing looking through the window to the street. Behind her half a dozen unknown picture-lovers were moving from canvas to canvas, catalogue in hand; they were people who had once bought a wood: cut and were consequently on the gallery’s list of patrons.

9

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“一个人还没到呢。”我妻子说，“我十点钟就到这儿了，很无聊。你坐谁的车子来的？”

9

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‘No one has come yet,’ said my wife. ‘I’ve been here since ten and it’s been very dull.Whose car was that you came in?’

10

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“茱丽娅。”

10

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‘Julia’s.’

11

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“茱丽娅的？你怎么不招呼她进来呢？奇了怪了，我才跟一个搞笑的小个子男人谈到布莱兹赫德，看上去他很知道我们似的。他说他是萨姆格拉斯先生。他显然是科泊勋爵在《每日野兽报》上提到过的已届中年的那个年轻人。我想跟他讲讲你来的，可他好像比我还熟悉你。他说许多年以前在布莱兹赫德见过你。我真希望茱丽娅进来，那我们就能问问她有关他的情况了。”

11

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‘Julia’s? Why didn’t, you bring her in? Oddly enough, I’ve just been talking about Brideshead to a funny little man who seemed to know us very well. He said he was called Mr Samgrass. Apparently he’s one of Lord Copper’s middle-aged young men on the Daily Beast. I tried to feed him some paragraphs, but he seemed to know more about you than I do. He said he’d met me years ago at Brideshead. I wish Julia had come in; then we could have asked her about him.’

12

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“我对他记忆犹新呢，那个江湖大骗子。”

12

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‘I remember him well.He’s a crook.’

13

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“是的没错，一目了然。他说的都是被他叫作‘布莱兹赫德一帮子人’的事儿。显然雷克斯·莫特拉姆已经把这个地方变成了阴谋叛乱的老巢了。你听说没有？特里萨·马奇梅因要是知道会怎么想呢？”

13

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‘Yes, that stuck out a mile. He’s been talking all about what he calls the “’Brideshead set”, Apparently Rex Mottram has made the place a nest of party mutiny. Did you know? What would Teresa Marchmain have thought?’

14

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“我今天晚上过去。”

14

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‘I’m going there tonight.’

15

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“今天晚上别去，查尔斯。你今天晚上不能去那儿，家里人都盼着你回去呢。你答应过的，一等展览准备停当你就回家来的。约翰约翰和保姆还做了一面‘欢迎’旗子。况且你还没见过卡罗琳。”

15

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‘Not tonight, Charles; you can’t go there tonight. You’re expected at home. You promised, as soon as the exhibition was ready, you’d come home. Johnjohn and Nanny have made a banner with “Welcome” on it. And you haven’t seen Caroline yet.’

16

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“我很抱歉，都定好了。”

16

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‘I’m sorry, it’s all settled.’

17

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“再说，爸爸会觉得太奇怪了吧。博伊星期日也要来家里。你还没看见那个新画室。今天晚上你不能去。他们邀请我了吗？”

17

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‘Besides, Daddy will think it so odd. And Boy is home for Sunday. And you haven’t seen the new studio. You can’t go tonight. Did they ask me?’

18

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“当然。可我知道你去不了。”

18

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‘Of course; but I knew you wouldn’t be able to come.’

19

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“现在是去不了了。可倘若你早点告诉我的话，还是可以去的。我很愿意在家里会见‘布莱兹赫德一帮子人’的。我觉得你真挺狠心的，不过现在不是跟你闹家庭纠纷的时候……克拉伦斯夫妇答应午饭前来的，他们分分钟都有可能到。”

19

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‘I can’t now. I could have, if you’d let me know earlier. I should adore to see the “Brideshead set” at home. I do think you re perfectly beastly, but this is no time for a family rumpus. The Clarences promised to come in before luncheon; they may be here any minute.’

20

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我们的谈话被打断了，尽管并不是什么王室莅临，是一家日报的女记者来访。画廊的经理人把她带到我们面前。她不是来看画展的，而是要采访我在旅行艰险中的“人性的故事”。我把她交给了我妻子，第二天她那家报纸便这样写道：“查尔斯·赖德的‘豪华古宅’之行。丛林中的毒蛇和吸血蝙蝠与梅菲尔区没有很大干系，这就是名流艺术家赖德的观点，他弃华美豪宅，而去追寻赤道非洲的残垣断壁……”

20

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We were interrupted, however, not by royalty, but by a woman reporter from one of the dailies, whom the manager of the gallery now led up to us. She had not come to see the pictures but to get a “human story” of the dangers of my journey. I left her to my wife, and next day read in her paper: ‘Charles “Stately Homes” Ryder steps off the map. That the snakes and vampires of the jungle have nothing on Mayfair is the opinion of socialite artist Ryder, who has, abandoned the houses of the great for the ruins of equatorial Africa...’

21

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几间展厅渐渐挤满了人，我很快就忙着殷勤接待了。我妻子四处交际，迎接观展的人们，给他们做介绍，巧妙地使来宾们变成是来参加一个派对。我看见她把那些朋友一个接一个地带到让人订购《赖德的拉丁美洲》的签名簿前去。

21

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The rooms began to fill and I was soon busy being civil. My wife was everywhere, greeting people, introducing people, deftly transforming the crowd into a party. I saw her lead friends forward one after another to the subscription list that had been opened for the book of Ryder’s Latin America.

22

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听见她说：“不，亲爱的，我一点儿不惊讶，你也不会想我惊讶的，对不对？你知道查尔斯只为一件事活着——那就是美。我认为他对在英国发现那种现成的美已经感到腻烦了，他只好出去，为自己创造美。他希望征服新的领域。他对乡村住宅已经给出了权威结论，是不是？不，我的意思是说，他已经完全放弃了那项工作……但我相信为了好朋友们，他总会再画一两幅的。”

22

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I heard her say: ‘No, darling, I’m not at all surprised, but you wouldn’t expect me to be, would you? You see Charles lives for one thing - Beauty. I think he got bored with finding it ready-made in England; he had to go and create it for himself. He wanted new worlds to conquer. After all, he has said the last word about country houses, hasn’t he? Not, I mean, that he’s given that up altogether. I’m sure he’ll always do one or two more for friends.’

23

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一位摄影师把我们拉到一起，闪光灯朝我们脸上一闪，这才让我们分开。

23

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A photographer brought us together, flashed a lamp in our faces, and let us part.?

24

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不一会儿，人群稍微安静了一下，随着王室成员进来，人们慢慢四散开。我看见我妻子行了屈膝礼，听见她说：“啊，阁下，您真好。”随后我就被带进给贵宾腾出来的地方，克拉伦斯公爵说道：“我想那边一定很热。”

24

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Presently there was the slight hush and edging away which follows the entry of a royal party. I saw my wife curtsey and heard her say: ‘Oh, sir, you are sweet’; then I was led into the clearing and the Duke of Clarence said: ‘Pretty hot out there I should think.’

25

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“是的，阁下。”

25

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‘It was, sir.’

26

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“多妙的手法啊，把炎热的感觉表现得纤毫毕现。看着让我穿着这件大衣都难受起来了。”

26

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‘Awfully clever the way you’ve hit off the impression of heat. Makes me feel quite uncomfortable in my greatcoat.’

27

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“哈哈！”

27

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‘Ha, ha.’

28

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他们走了以后，我妻子说：“哦哟，我们午饭要迟了。马戈特夫妇要举行午餐会向你道贺呢。”坐在出租汽车里她又说，“我刚想起一件事来。你为什么不给克拉伦斯公爵夫人写封信，请求她允许把《拉丁美洲》敬献给她呢？”

28

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When they had gone my wife said: ‘Goodness, we’re late for lunch. Margot’s giving a party in your honour, and in the taxi she said: ‘I’ve just thought of something. Why don’t you write and ask the Duchess of Clarence’s permission to dedicate Latin America to her?’

29

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“我为什么要敬献给她？”

29

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‘Why should I?’

30

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“她很喜欢这本画册。”

30

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‘She’d love it so.’

31

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“我没想过把这本书敬献给任何人。”

31

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‘I wasn’t thinking of dedicating it to anyone.’

32

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“你又来了……它是你的代表作啊，查尔斯，为什么要错失一个给人愉悦的大好机会呢？”

32

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‘There you are; that’s typical of you, Charles. Why miss an opportunity to give pleasure?’

33

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午餐会有十来个人，他们来都是为了向我祝贺的——尽管这话说起来会让我们的女主人和我妻子高兴，不过很明显，来人中有一半都没有听说过我的画展，他们之所以来，只因为他们受到了邀请，而且闲来无事没有其他约会。午餐时他们一直谈着辛普森夫人，不过后来他们全体，或者说几乎全体，都跟我们一起回了画廊。

33

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There were a dozen at luncheon, and though it pleased my hostess and my wife to say that they were there in my honour, it was plain to me that half of them did not know of my exhibition and had come because they had been invited and had no other engagement. Throughout luncheon they talked, without stopping, of Mrs Simpson, but they all, or nearly all, came back with us to the gallery.

34

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午餐后那一小时最忙。在场的有塔特美术馆的代理人和国家艺术收藏品基金的代理人，他们全都答应不久后要跟同事们再来，同时他们还保留了几幅油画打算进一步考虑购买。还有那个最有影响力的评论家，过去曾经用几句令人不快的赞美就把我打发掉了，而此时，他的眼睛在宽边软帽和羊毛围巾的缝隙间凝视着我，抓着我的胳膊说：“就知道你才华横溢。我全在你作品中看出来了。我一直等的就是这个。”

34

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The hour after luncheon was the busiest time. There were representatives of the Tate Gallery and the National Art Collections Fund, who all promised to return shortly with colleagues and, in the meantime, reserved certain pictures for further consideration. The most influential critic, who in the past had dismissed me with a few wounding commendations, peered out at me from between his slouch hat and woollen muffler, gripped my arm, and said: ‘I knew you had it. I saw it there. I’ve been waiting for it.’

35

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我从时髦的和老派人的言谈中都听到了一些恭维话，“如果你要我猜的话，”我无意中听到，“我再也想不到是赖德画的。画得如此阳刚英武具男子气概，如此真挚热情。”

35

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From fashionable and unfashionable lips alike I heard fragments of praise. ‘If you’d asked me to guess,’ I overheard, ‘Ryder’s is the last name would have occurred to me.? They’re so virile, so passionate.’

36

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他们全都认为自己发现了什么新东西。我的上一次画展，还是在这几间展室，是我出国前不久的事情，那时的情形与今天完全两样——观展现出了一种显而易见的厌倦迹象，人们并不怎么谈论我而是热衷于八卦画中的房子和房主的轶事。我回忆起来，也还就是那个女人，刚才对我绘画的阳刚英武和真挚热情大加称赞的，那时她站得离我很近，在一幅我呕心沥血画成的油画前说：“如此简单，不走心。”

36

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They all thought they had found something new. It had not been thus at my last exhibition in these same rooms, shortly before my going abroad. Then there had been an unmistakable note of weariness. Then the talk had been less of me than of the houses, anecdotes of their owners. That same woman, it came back to me, who now applauded my virility and passion, had stood quite near me, before a painfully laboured canvas, and said, ‘So facile.’

37

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我回忆到那次展览当然还有别的原因，就是在画展的那个星期我发现了我妻子跟人通奸。当时她也像现在这样是一个不知疲倦的女主人，而且我听到她说：“不论什么时候，如今我一看到什么可爱的东西——比如说一幅建筑画或是一幅风景画——我心里就想‘这是查尔斯画的’。我看任何东西都是通过他的眼睛来看的。于我而言，他就是英格兰。”

37

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I remembered the exhibition, too, for another reason; it was the week I detected my wife in adultery. Then, as now, she was, a tireless hostess, and I heard her say:‘Whenever I see anything lovely nowadays - a building or a piece of scenery - I think to myself, “that’s by Charles”. I see everything through his eyes. He is England to me.’

38

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我听到她那么说了，这是她说惯了的套话，贯穿我们的婚姻生活，我再三再四地感觉到自己对她说的话无动于衷。可是那一天，在这家画廊里，依然不为所动地听她说着，突然就意识到，她再也无力伤害我了，我是个自由的人了，由于她那短暂的、狡黠的失足，使我获得了解放。我被戴上的那顶绿帽子的双角让我变成了森林之王。

38

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I heard her say that; it was the sort of thing she had the habit of saying. Throughout our married life, again and again, I had felt my bowels shrivel within me at the things she said. But that day, in this gallery, I heard her unmoved, and suddenly realized that she was powerless to hurt me any more; I was a free man; she had given me my manumission in that brief, sly lapse of hers; my cuckold’s horns made me lord of the forest.

39

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这一天结束时我妻子说：“亲爱的，我必须走了。展览超级成功，不是吗？我回家会想办法告诉他们，但我希望事情还是不要变成这个样子。”

39

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At the end of the day my wife said: ‘Darling, I must go. It’s been a terrific success, hasn’t it? I’ll think of something to tell them at home, but I wish it hadn’t got to happen quite this way.’

40

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“这么说她知道了，”我想，“她很机灵。从吃午饭的时候她就开始警觉起来，嗅出味儿来了。”

40

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‘So she knows,’ I thought. ‘She’s a sharp one. She’s had her nose down since luncheon and picked up the scent.’

41

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我让她先离开这个地方，正打算跟着她出去——几个展厅里几乎都没有人了——此时听到在旋转门那儿有一个很多年没有听到过的嗓音，是一种令人难忘的故意学来的磕巴声，尖声的抗议。

41

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I let her get clear of the place and was about to follow - the rooms were nearly empty - when I heard a voice at the turnstile I had not heard for many years, an unforgettable self-taught stammer, a sharp cadence of remonstration.

42

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“不，我没有带请帖来……甚至不知道收没收到过请帖呢。我没参加过那次盛大集会。我没有想着硬跟西莉娅小姐交朋友。我可不想让自己的照片登在《闲话报》上。我不是上这儿显摆自己的，我是来看画展的。大概你还不知道这里有画展吧。我个人碰巧对这位艺术家感兴趣——如果这么说对你有任何意义的话。”

42

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‘No. I have not brought a card of invitation. I do not even know whether I received one. I have not come to a social function- I do not seek to scrape acquaintance with Lady Celia; I do not want my photograph in the Tatler; I have not come to exhibit myself. I have come to see the pictures. Perhaps you are unaware that there are any pictures here. I happen to have a personal interest in the artist - if that word has any meaning for you.’

43

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“安东尼，”我说，“快进来。”

43

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‘Antoine’ I said, ‘come in.’

44

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“我亲爱的，这儿有一位丑丑丑婆娘，她以为我是没没没有请帖硬要往里闯呢。我昨天刚到伦敦，吃午饭的时候凑巧听说你正在举办画展，一听这话，我当然性急地冲到这神庙来致敬啦。我变样了没有？还认得出我吗？画在什么地方？我跟你好好说道说道。”

44

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‘My dear, there is a g-g-gorgon here who thinks I am g-g-gate-crashing. I only arrived in London yesterday, and heard quite by chance at luncheon that you were having an exhibition, so, of course I dashed impetuously to the shrine to pay homage. Have I changed? Would you recognize me? Where are, the pictures? Let me explain them to you.’

45

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安东尼·布兰奇跟上次见面时比没什么变化……实际上，我最初认识他到现在都没什么变化。他轻轻穿过展室，走到那幅最醒目的油画跟前——一张丛林风景画——屏息片刻，他像一只机警的小猎犬那样仰着头，问我：“亲爱的查尔斯，你在什么地方发现这片郁郁葱葱的丛林的？是在特特特伦特，还是在德德德灵哪个温室的犄角旮旯里发现的？哪个富有的放高利贷的培育出这些绿叶子让你开心的？”

45

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Anthony Blanche had not changed from when I last saw him; not, indeed, from when I first saw him. He swept lightly across the room to the most prominent canvas - a jungle landscape paused a moment, his head cocked like a knowing terrier, and asked:‘Where, my dear Charles, did you find this sumptuous greenery? The comer of a hothouse at T-t-rent or T-t-tring? What gorgeous usurer nurture.d these fronds for your pleasure?’

46

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接着他又参观了两间展室。有那么一两次他要么深叹一口气，要么就静默不语。直到走到画室尽头了，才比之前更深更长地叹了口气，说：“这些画让我看出了，亲爱的，你沉醉在爱情里了。这就是全部了，或者，差不多全部？”

46

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Then he made a tour of the two rooms; once or twice he sighed deeply, otherwise he kept silence. When he came to the end he sighed once more, more deeply than ever, and said: ‘But they tell me, My dear, you are happy in love. That is everything, is it not, or nearly everything?’

47

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“我的画都差劲到这个地步了？”

47

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‘Are they as bad as that?’

48

-

安东尼把声音放低成尖细的低语：“亲爱的，我们可别在这些善良平庸的人前揭露你的小伎俩了吧，”——他鬼鬼祟祟地朝最后几个观众扫了一眼——“我们可不要破坏掉他们纯真的乐趣吧。我们，只有你知我知罢了，这根本就是一摊子糟糟糟透了的破破破烂事儿，咱们走吧，免得再冒犯了收藏家。我知道附近有一家名声大大坏了的小酒吧，我们还是去那儿，谈谈这回被你征征征服的别的吧。”

48

-

Anthony dropped his voice to a piercing whisper: ‘My dear, let us not expose your little imposture before these good, plain people’ - he gave a conspiratorial glance to the last remnants of the crowd - ‘let us not spoil their innocent pleasure. We know, you and I, that this is all t-t-terrible t-t-tripe. Let us go, before we offend the connoisseurs. I know of a louche little bar quite near here. Let us go there and talk of your other c-c-conquests.’

49

-

我要想起过往，就需要这样来自过往的声音。在这纷纷乱乱的一整天里，那些言不由衷的溢美之声还是在我身上产生了作用，就像一条漫长的道路上不断出现的广告牌一样，一公里接着一公里，钉在白杨树上，指引人们去住某家新开的旅馆，这样开到了车道尽头，身体僵硬，满面尘灰地到了目的地，似乎不可避免地会把车开进那家旅馆的院子，旅馆名先是招他讨厌，接着让他恼怒，最后，那旅馆名儿终于跟他身上的疲劳密不可分地连成了一体。

49

-

It needed this voice from the past to recall me; the indiscriminate chatter of praise all that crowded day had worked on me like a succession of advertisement hoardings on a long road, kilometre after kilometre between the poplars, commanding one to stay at some new hotel, so that when at the end of the drive, stiff and dusty, one arrives at the destination, it seems inevitable to turn into the yard under the name that had first bored, then angered one, and finally become an inseparable part of one’s fatigue.

50

-

安东尼带我走出画廊上了一条小街，最后来到夹在两间都破破烂烂的报刊店和药店之间的门前，上面用油漆写着：“蓝色洞窟俱乐部。只限会员。”

50

-

Anthony led me from the gallery and down a side street to a door between a disreputable newsagent and a disreputable chemist, painted with the words ‘Blue Grotto Club. Members only.’

51

-

“不大像你的环境了，亲爱的，倒挺像我的了，我向你保证。可话又说回来了，你已经在你那个环境里待了一整天了。”

51

-

‘Not quite your milieu, my dear, but mine, I assure you. After all, you have been in your milieu all day.’

52

-

他带我下了楼，从散发着猫臊气的地方走到满是杜松子酒和香烟味儿、收音机大开的地方。

52

-

He led me downstairs, from a smell of cats to a smell of gin and cigarette-ends and the sound of a wireless.

53

-

“是‘屋顶上的牛肉’乐队里一个脏老头给我的这个地址。我太感激他了。离开英国这么久，这种合心适意的小酒吧变化可真快。昨天晚上我头一次来这儿，那时候就已经自在得跟在自己家里一样了。晚上好，西里尔。”

53

-

‘I was given the address by a dirty old man in the Boeuf sur le Toit. I am most grateful to him. I have been out of England so long, and really sympathetic little joints like this change so fast. I presented myself here for the first time yesterday evening, and already I feel quite at home. Good evening, Cyril.’

54

-

“哟，托尼，又来啦？”吧台后的一个年轻人说道。

54

-

‘ ‘Lo, Toni, back again?’ said the youth behind the bar.

55

-

“我们得喝上几杯，找个角落坐下。你应该记得呢，亲爱的，在这儿你特别显眼……我可不可以说……非同寻常啊，就像我在布布布拉特俱乐部似的。”

55

-

‘We will take our drinks and sit in a comer. You must remember, my dear, that here you are just as conspicuous and, may I say, abnormal, my dear, as I should be in B-b-bratt’s.’

56

-

房间四壁涂着钴蓝色的涂料，地板上铺着钴蓝色的地毯。天花板和墙壁上杂乱无章地贴着银鱼金鱼花纸，五六个小年轻一边饮酒，一边玩着老虎机。一个看上去稍年长、整洁，可是醉醺醺的人像是管事的，水果软糖贩卖机那里还围着几个人说笑。这时那群小年轻里有一位走到我们跟前说：“你这位朋友想跳跳伦巴吗？”

56

-

The place was painted cobalt; there was cobalt lineoleum on the floor. Fishes of silver and gold paper had been pasted haphazard on ceiling and walls. Half a dozen youths were drinking and playing with the slot-machines; an older, natty, crapulous-looking man seemed to be in control; there was some sniggering round the fruit-gum machine; then one of the youths came up to us and said, ‘Would your friend care to rhumba?’

57

-

“不想，汤姆，他不想跳，我也不乐意再给你酒喝了……不用费口舌，现在不给。这是个厚颜无耻的家伙，专事坑蒙拐骗的掘金者，亲爱的。”

57

-

‘No, Tom, he would not, and I’m not going to give you a drink; not yet, anyway.That’s a very impudent boy, a regular little gold-digger, my dear.’

58

-

“喂，”我说，并且摆出一副轻松自在的样子来，其实在这么个贼窝里怎么也轻松不起来，“这些年来你都做了些什么？”

58

-

‘Well,’ I said, affecting an ease I was far from feeling in that den, what have you been up to all these years?’

59

-

“亲爱的，我们到这儿来要谈的是你做了什么。我一直留意你呢，亲爱的。我可是个忠诚的老家伙，一直关注你来着。”他讲话的时候，那吧台，那酒保，那蓝色的柳条编的家具，那台老虎机，那台留声机，那在地毯上跳舞的一对年轻人，那些围着自动贩卖机聒噪的人，那个坐在我们对面角落里穿着紫纹笔挺西装喝酒的年长者……整个这些乏味又诡秘的细节地方，似乎都在渐渐隐去，我仿佛回到了牛津，从罗斯金的哥特式窗子眺望着基督教会学院的草地。

59

-

‘My dear, it is what you have been up to that we are here to talk about. I’ve been watching you, my dear. I’m a faithful old body and I’ve kept my eye on you.’ As he spoke the bar and the bar-tender, the blue wicker furniture, the gambling-machines, the gramophone, the couple of youths dancing on the oilcloth, the youths sniggenng round the slots,. the purple-veined, stiffly-, dressed elderly man drinking in the corner opposite us, the whole drab and furtive joint seemed to fade, and I was back in Oxford looking out over Christ Church meadow through a window of Ruskin-Gothic.

60

-

“我看过你的第一次画展，”安东尼说，“我觉得这个画展——很迷人。有张画是马奇梅因公馆内里，英国腔十足，精准又美妙。‘查尔斯已经干出点儿事情来了，’我说，‘不是他想做也不是他能做的一切，但还是做出了一些成绩。’

60

-

‘I went to your first exhibition,’ said Anthony; ‘I found it - charming. There was an interior of Marchmain House, very English, very correct, but quite delicious. “Charles has done something,” I said; “not all he will do, not all he can do, but something.”

61

-

“亲爱的，就算那时候我还是有一些不懂呢。我觉得你的绘画中带着一种绅士派头，你一定记得我又不是英国人，不过我真心不能理解那种想有教养的热情劲儿。对我来说，英国人的势利眼甚至比他们的道德观更加可怕。但我还是说了，‘查尔斯已经搞了些美好的东西。不知道下次他会干点儿什么出来？’

61

-

‘Even then, my dear, I wondered a little. It seemed to me that there was something a little gentlemanly about your painting. You must remember I am not English; I cannot understand this keen zest to be well-bred. English snobbery is more macabre to me even than English morals. However, I said, “Charles has done something delicious. What will he do next?”

62

-

“我看到的你下一个物件是帅呆了的鸿篇巨制——《乡村和外省建筑》，是这么个名字吧？的确是巨制无疑，亲爱的，我在里面发现什么了呢？魅力。‘不特别对我的胃口，’我想，‘这些也太过英国风情了。’我喜欢热烈火辣的东西，你知道，我可不喜欢什么雪松和树荫，什么黄瓜三明治、银罐子之类的，也不喜欢英国姑娘打网球时穿的那种英国姑娘必穿的网球服——不是这些，也不喜欢简·奥斯汀、米米米特福德小姐那种。坦白讲，亲爱的查尔斯，我对你极度失望。‘我是一个退化了的老德德德戈，’我说，‘可查尔斯呢——我指的是你的艺术，亲爱的——却是一位穿着绣花白纱衣的院长之女。’

62

-

‘The next thing I saw was your very handsome volume “Village and Provincial Architecture”, was it called? Quite a tome, my dear, and what did I find? Charm again. “Not quite my cup of tea,” I thought; “this is too English.” I have the fancy for rather spicy things, you know, not for the shade of the cedar tree, the cucumber sandwich, the silver cream-jug, the English girl dressed in whatever English girls do wear for tennis - not that, not Jane Austen, not M-m-miss M-m-mitford. Then, to be frank, dear Charles, I despaired of you. “I am a degenerate old d-d-dago,” I said “and Charles - I speak of your art, my dear - is a dean’s daughter in flowered muslin.”

63

-

“设想一下我今天午餐时有多惊讶吧。所有人都在谈论你。我的女主人是我母亲的一个朋友，一位斯图伊弗桑特·奥格兰德夫人，也是你的朋友，亲爱的。那样一个冥顽不化的老东西！完全不是我想象的能和你打交道的人。但是，他们全都看过你的画展，谈论的也全是你，说你是怎么逃走的，亲爱的，逃到热带去了，又是怎么成了另一个高更，另一个兰波的。你能想象到我这颗老心脏是怎么怦怦乱跳的吧。

63

-

‘Imagine then my excitement at luncheon today. Everyone was talking about you. My hostess was a friend of my mother’s, a Mrs Stuyvesant Oglander; a friend of yours, too, my dear. Such a frump! Not at all the society I imagined you to keep. However, they, had all been to your exhibition, but it was you they talked of, how you had broke away, my dear, gone to the tropics, become a Gauguin, a Rimbaud. You can imagine how my old heart leaped.

64

-

“‘可怜的西莉娅，’他们说，‘她毕竟为赖德做了这么多事。’‘他的一切都要归功于她，这太糟糕了。’‘还竟然和茱丽娅搞到一块儿了，’他们说，‘还是她在美国表现成那样之后。’‘正当人家要回到雷克斯怀抱的时候。’

64

-

‘ “Poor Celia,” they said, “after all she’s done for him.” “He owes everything to her. It’s too bad.” “And with Julia,” they said, “after the way she behaved in America.” “Just as she was going back to Rex.”

65

-

“‘可是绘画怎么样呢，’我说，‘还是跟我聊聊那些画好了。’

65

-

‘ “But the pictures,” I said; “Tell me about them.”

66

-

“‘噢，那些画啊，’他们说，‘这些画不同凡响。’什么‘跟他以往的画完全两样’，什么‘很有力量’了，‘十分野蛮’，‘我认为这些画简直不健康。’斯图伊弗桑特·奥格兰德这么说。

66

-

‘Oh, the pictures,” they said; “they’re most peculiar.” “Not at all what he usually does.” “Very forceful.” “Quite barbaric.” “I call them downright unhealthy,” said Mrs Stuyvesant Oglander.

67

-

“亲爱的，我在椅子上几乎都坐不住了。我真想冲出屋子，跳上一辆出租汽车，说：‘把我拉到查尔斯的不健康的画展去。’我到了那儿，可是午饭后的画廊挤挤挨挨一大堆荒唐无聊的妇女，戴着鬼知道是什么式样的帽子。我先歇了一小会儿缓缓神——就在这儿休息的，跟西里尔、汤姆，还有一些漂亮的小家伙一起，在这儿休息的。后来在不合时宜的五点钟我又急不可耐地杀回去了。那个急不可耐的劲儿哟，亲爱的。可是我发现了什么呢？我发现，亲爱的，不就是一场特调皮、特成功的恶作剧么。我一下子就想到了亲爱的塞巴斯蒂安，当时他非常喜欢戴假胡须。这又是一种魅力，我亲爱的，是那种简单的、滑腻的、英国式的魅力，装得神气活现。”

67

-

‘My dear, I could hardly keep still in my chair. I wanted to dash out of the house and leap in a taxi and say, “Take me to Charles’s unhealthy pictures.” Well, I went, but the gallery after luncheon was so full of absurd women in the sort of hats they should be made to eat, that I rested a little - I rested here with Cyril and Tom and these saucy boys. Then I came back at the unfashionable time of five o’clock, all agog, my dear; and what did I find? I found, my dear, a very naughty and very successful practical joke. It reminded me of dear Sebastian when he liked so much to dress up in false whiskers. It was charm again, my dear, simple, creamy English charm, playing tigers.’

68

-

“你——说得太对了。”我说。

68

-

‘You’re-quite right,’ I said.

69

-

“亲爱的，当然我是对的。多少年前我说的就是对的——说起来我还挺高兴的，比我们俩显出来的都久——当时我就警告过你的。我有一回带你出去吃晚餐，就警告过你要提防魅力。明确又详细地警告过你要提防弗莱特他们家的人。魅力是一种会损害伟大的英格兰的疾病。这疾病在潮湿的英伦三岛以外不存在。它碰上谁杀谁，神佛不惧。它扼杀爱情，扼杀艺术。我真的担心，亲爱的查尔斯，它也会把你扼杀掉。”

69

-

‘My dear, of course I’m right. I was right years ago - more years, I am happy to say, than either of us shows - when I warned you. I took you out to dinner to warn you of charm. I warned you expressly and in great detail of the Flyte family. Charm is the great English blight. It does not exist outside these damp islands. It spots and kills anything it touches. It kills love; it kills art; I greatly fear, my dear Charles, it has killed you.’

70

-

那个叫汤姆的年轻人又走近我们。“别耍我了，托尼，给我买杯酒吧。”我想起还要搭火车，就离开安东尼让他和他纠缠去了。

70

-

The youth called Tom approached us again. ‘Don’t be a tease, Toni; buy me a drink.’ I remembered my train and left Anthony with him.

71

-

站在挨着餐车的月台上，看到我和茱丽娅的行李正打眼前过，茱丽娅那个面带愠色的女仆大摇大摆地在搬运工旁边走着。茱丽娅在临关车厢门的时候才到，她不慌不忙地在我前面坐好。我的这张桌子是两个人共用的。这趟列车十分方便，晚餐前半小时开车，晚餐后半小时到达。这之后我们没有按照马奇梅因夫人在世时的规矩换乘支线列车，而是在换乘车站会合的。火车开出帕丁顿站的时候天已经黑下来了，灯火辉煌的城市先让位于零星灯火的郊区，以后又让位于黑黢黢的田野。

71

-

As I stood on the platform by the restaurant-car I saw my luggage and Julia’s go past with Julia’s sour-faced maid strutting beside the porter. They had begun shutting the carriage doors when Julia arrived, unhurried, and took her place in front of me. I had a table for two. This was a very convenient train; there was half an hour before, dinner and half and hour after it; then, instead of changing to the branch line, as had been the rule in Lady Marchmain’s day, we were met at the junction. It was night as we drew out of Paddington, and the glow of the town gave place first to the scattered lights of the suburbs, then to the darkness of the fields.

72

-

“我们好像好多天没见了。”我说。

72

-

‘It seems days since I saw you,’ I said.

73

-

“才六个小时。昨天一整天我们都在一起。你看起来相当疲倦。”

73

-

‘Six hours; and we were together all yesterday. You look worn out.’

74

-

“这一天简直是噩梦——来宾、批评家、克拉伦斯公爵夫妇，后来又是马戈特家的午餐会，最后在一家同性恋酒吧，我的画挨了半个小时合理的责骂才算完……我觉得西莉娅知道咱们的事了。”

74

-

‘It’s been a day of nightmare - crowds, critics, the Clarences, a luncheon party at Margot’s, ending up with half an hour’s well-reasoned abuse of my pictures in a pansy bar...I think Celia knows about us.’

75

-

“哦，总有一天她要知道的。”

75

-

‘Well, she had to know some time.’

76

-

“而且好像大家都知道了。我那位同性恋朋友到伦敦还不到二十四小时就已经听说了。”

76

-

‘Everyone seems to know. My pansy friend had not been in London twenty-four hours before he’d heard.’

77

-

“该死的。”

77

-

‘Damn everybody.’

78

-

“雷克斯怎么样？”

78

-

‘What about Rex?’

79

-

“雷克斯根本就不算什么，”茱丽娅说，“压根儿没这么个人。”

79

-

‘Rex isn’t anybody at all,’ said Julia; ‘he just doesn’t exist.’

80

-

火车加快速度，冲过黑暗，这时桌子上的刀叉发出叮叮当当的响声，玻璃杯里杜松子酒和苦艾酒形成的小圆圈，拉长成椭圆，又缩成圆形，随着车厢的晃动，酒凑到唇边，又流回去，没有洒溅出来。我把这一天抛到脑后。茱丽娅把帽子摘下来，丢到顶上的架子上，然后又抖了抖她那深夜般漆黑的头发，轻松地叹了口气——这叹息适合在枕边，在将熄的炉火旁，在看得到星星和秃树的卧室敞开的窗边被听到。

80

-

The knives and forks jingled on the table as we sped through the darkness; the little- circle of gin and vermouth in the glasses lengthened to oval, contracted again, with the sway of the carriage, touched the lip, lapped back again, never spilt; I was leaving the day behind me. Julia pulled off her hat and tossed it into the rack above her, and shook her night-dark hair with a little sigh of ease - a sigh fit for the pillow, the sinking firelight, and a bedroom window open to the stars and the whisper of bare trees.

81

-

“查尔斯，你回来可太棒了，像往日一样。”

81

-

‘It’s great to have you back, Charles; like the old days.’

82

-

“像往日一样？”我想。

82

-

‘Like the old days?’ I thought.

83

-

雷克斯四十刚刚出头，已经发福了。他的加拿大口音没有了，代之以他所有朋友共有的沙哑大嗓门，好像为了让观众听到他们的声音而不停大吼来的，好像青春一去不复返，没时间等待说话的机会，也没时间去倾听，没时间去回答……只有打着哈哈笑上一笑的工夫——从喉咙里挤出的笑声喑哑沉闷，聊表善心而已。

83

-

Rex, in his early forties, had grown heavy and ruddy; he had lost his Canadian accent and acquired instead the hoarse, loud tone that was common to all his friends, as though their voices were perpetually strained to make themselves heard above a crowd, as though, with youth forsaking them, there was no time to wait the opportunity to speak, no time to listen, no time to reply; time for a laugh - a throaty mirthless laugh, the base currency of goodwill.

84

-

挂毯大厅里有五六个朋友：政治家们，都是四十出头的年轻保守党人，头发稀疏，患着高血压病；一位从煤矿来的社会主义者，他已经抓住了那种发音清晰的语言精髓，嘴上叼着的雪茄烟都嚼成末了，在往酒杯里倒酒的时候他的手直发抖；一位比其他人岁数都大的金融家，从人家对待他的态度可以猜出他比别人有钱；一位害相思病的专栏作家，一个人默默无语，阴郁地死盯着在座的唯一的女人——大家管她叫“格里泽尔”，是个放荡女人，大家都偷偷地有点怕她。

84

-

There were half a dozen of these friends in the Tapestry Hall: politicians; ‘young Conservatives’ in the early forties, with sparse hair and high blood-pressure; a Socialist from the coal-mines who had already caught their clear accents, whose cigars came to pieces on his lips, whose hand shook when he poured himself out a drink; a financier older than the rest, and, one might guess from the way they treated him, richer; a love-sick columnist, who alone was silent, gloating sombrely on the only woman of the party; a woman they called ‘Grizel’, a knowing rake whom, in their hearts, they all feared a little.

85

-

他们，包括格里泽尔在内，都怕茱丽娅。她跟他们打了招呼，抱歉说她没能在这儿欢迎他们，彬彬有礼的样子使谁都说不出话来。然后她过来和我坐在壁炉边，谈话声浪又起，在我们耳边轰隆着。

85

-

They all feared Julia, too, Grizel included. She greeted them and apologized for not being there to welcome them, with a formality which hushed there for a minute; then she came and sat with me near the fire, and the storm of talk arose once more and whirled about our ears.

86

-

“当然啦，他可以娶她，第二天就宣布她是王后。”

86

-

‘Of course, he can marry her and make her queen tomorrow.’

87

-

“十月我们会有机会。干吗不把意大利舰队打发到法国或者公海的海底去呢？我们为什么不把斯培西亚炸成火海呢？我们为什么不在潘特莱里亚岛登陆呢？”

87

-

‘We had our chance in October. Why didn’t we send the Italian fleet to the bottom of Mare Nostrum? Why didn’t we blow Spezia to blazes? Why didn’t we land on Pantelleria?’

88

-

“佛朗哥不过是个德国间谍，他们试图拥护他上台，好去建立空军基地轰炸法国。不管怎么样，现在已经摊牌了。”

88

-

‘Franco’s simply a German agent. They tried to put him in to prepare air bases to bomb France. That bluff has been called, anyway.’

89

-

“这会使英国的君主制比都铎王朝以来的任何时期都更强大。人民是拥护它的。”

89

-

‘It would make the monarchy stronger than it’s been since Tudor times. The people are with him.’

90

-

“新闻界是拥护它的。”

90

-

‘The Press are with him.’

91

-

“我是拥护它的。”

91

-

‘I’m with him.’

92

-

“怎么着？除了几个没结婚的老处女，谁还会操心离婚不离婚的事呢？”

92

-

‘Who cares about divorce now except a few old maids who aren’t married, anyway?’

93

-

“如果他一意孤行非要跟那帮老家伙摊牌的话，那他们就会消失得像……像……”

93

-

‘If he has a show-down with the old gang, they’ll just disappear like, like...’

94

-

“我们为什么不封锁运河？我们为什么不轰炸罗马呢？”

94

-

‘Why didn’t we close the canal? Why didn’t we bomb Rome?’

95

-

“没有那个必要。只需要一次强硬照会就……”

95

-

‘It wouldn’t have been necessary. One firm note...’

96

-

“只需要一次强硬的演说。”

96

-

‘One firm speech.’

97

-

“一次摊牌。”

97

-

‘One show-down.’

98

-

“无论如何，佛朗哥会很快回摩洛哥的。我今天看到查普刚从巴塞罗那回来……”

98

-

‘Anyway, Franco will soon be skipping back to Morocco. Chap I come from Barcelona...’

99

-

“查普是刚从贝尔维迪尔堡回来的……”

99

-

‘...Chap just come from Fort Belvedere...’

100

-

“查普刚从威尼斯宫回来……”

100

-

‘...Chap just come from the Palazzo Venezia... ‘

101

-

“我们的全部要求就是摊牌。”

101

-

‘All we want is a show-down.’

102

-

“和鲍德温摊牌。”

102

-

‘A show-down with Baldwin.’

103

-

“和希特勒摊牌。”

103

-

‘A show-down with Hitler.’

104

-

“和那帮坏蛋摊牌。”

104

-

‘A show-down with the Old Gang.’

105

-

“……但愿我能看到我的祖国，克莱夫和纳尔逊的土地……”

105

-

‘...That I should live to see my country, the land of Clive and Nelson...’

106

-

“……我的霍金斯和德雷克的祖国。”

106

-

‘...My country of Hawkins and Drake.’

107

-

“……我的帕麦斯顿的祖国……”

107

-

‘...My country of Palmerston... ‘ saw today just

108

-

“请你千万别这样好吗？”格里泽尔对那个专栏作家说，他一直颇为伤感地想扭她的手腕，“我刚好不喜欢这样。”

108

-

‘Would you very much mind not doing that?’ said Grizel to the columnist, who had been attempting in a maudlin manner to twist her wrist; ‘I don’t happen to enjoy it.’

109

-

“我也不知道哪样东西更可怕，”我说，“是西莉娅的策略和时装，还是雷克斯的政治和金钱。”

109

-

‘I wonder which is the more horrible,’ I said, ‘Celia’s Art and Fashion or Rex’s Politics and Money.’

110

-

“干吗为他们操心？”

110

-

‘Why worry about them?’

111

-

“哦，亲爱的，为什么爱情竟然让我仇恨起世界来了？不是应该完全相反才对么。我觉得好像整个人类，还有上帝，都在阴谋加害我们。”

111

-

‘Oh, my darling, why is it that love makes me hate the world? It’s supposed to have quite the opposite effect. I feel as though all mankind, and God, too, were in a conspiracy against us.’

112

-

“他们正在暗算，正在暗算。”

112

-

‘They are, they are.’

113

-

“但是尽管如此，我们还是拥有了幸福。此时此刻我们拥有它，他们无法再伤害我们了，对吗？”

113

-

‘But we’ve got our happiness in spite of them; here and now, we’ve taken possession of it. They can’t hurt us, can they?’

114

-

“今天晚上不会，现在不会。”

114

-

‘Not tonight; not now.’

115

-

“那会有多少个晚上不会呢？”

115

-

第十章 预展——雷克斯·莫特拉姆在家里|Chapter 10