月亮和六便士

“……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癖，他的命運中又不乏悲壯凄愴的遭遇?！?/p>

小說主人公查理斯·思特里克蘭德是一個英國證券交易所的經紀人，本已有牢靠的職業和地位、美滿的家庭，人屆中年后突然決定聽循內心的呼喚，像“被魔鬼附了體”，毅然棄家出走，到巴黎學畫。后來遠遁到與世隔絕的塔希提島，在那里他終于找到靈魂的歸屬，創作出一幅幅曠世杰作。

英國著名作家弗吉尼亞·伍爾芙評論說:“讀《月亮和六便士》就像一頭撞在了高聳的冰山上，令平庸的日常生活徹底解體!”

沒有艱澀難懂的語言，這是一部就算是對大塊頭名著望而卻步的你都可較為輕松讀完的經典名作。小說文字深刻，會有許多讓人稱奇、回味無窮的表達。節選部分為主人公和“我”的關于為何出走的對話，以及“我”聽說思特里克蘭德“一到塔希提就好像回到家里一樣”后有感而發的一段評論。清晰英音，適合跟讀模仿，文章的用詞到位、句式富于變化，是讀者模仿寫作的范文。

Chapter 12

“Then， what in God’s name have you left her for?”

“I want to paint.”

I looked at him for quite a long time. I did not understand. I thought he was mad. It must be remembered that I was very young， and I looked upon him as a middle-aged man. I forgot everything but my own amazement.

“But you’re forty.”

“That’s what made me think it was high time to begin.”

“Have you ever painted?”

“I rather wanted to be a painter when I was a boy， but my father made me go into business because he said there was no money in art. I began to paint a bit a year ago. For the last year I’ve been going to some classes at night.”

“Was that where you went when Mrs. Strickland thought you were playing 1)bridge at your club?”

“That’s it.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“I preferred to keep it to myself.”

“Can you paint?”

“Not yet. But I shall. That’s why I’ve come over here. I couldn’t get what I wanted in London. Perhaps I can here.”

“Do you think it’s likely that a man will do any good when he starts at your age? Most men begin painting at eighteen.”

“I can learn quicker than I could when I was eighteen.”

“What makes you think you have any 2)talent?”

He did not answer for a minute. His 3)gaze rested on the passing 4)throng， but I do not think he saw it. His answer was no answer.

“I’ve got to paint.”

“Aren’t you taking an awful chance?”

He looked at me then. His eyes had something strange in them， so that I felt rather uncomfortable.

“How old are you? Twenty-three?”

It seemed to me that the question was5)beside the point. It was natural that I should take chances; but he was a man whose youth was past， a stockbroker with a position of respectability， a wife and two children. A course that would have been natural for me was 6)absurd for him. I wished to be quite fair.

“Of course a 7)miracle may happen， and you may be a great painter， but you must confess the chances are a million to one against it. It’ll be an awful sell if at the end you have to acknowledge that you’ve 8)made a hash of it.”

“I’ve got to paint，” he repeated.

“Supposing you’re never anything more than third-rate， do you think it will have been worth while to give up everything? After all， in any other walk of life it doesn’t matter if you’re not very good; you can get along quite comfortably if you’re just 9)adequate; but it’s different with an artist.”

“You 10)blasted fool，” he said.

“I don’t see why， unless it’s folly to say the obvious.”

“I tell you I’ve got to paint. I can’t help myself. When a man falls into the water it doesn’t matter how he swims， well or badly: he’s got to get out or else he’ll drown.”

There was real passion in his voice， and in spite of myself I was 11)impressed. I seemed to feel in him some 12)vehement power that was struggling within him; it gave me the sensation of something very strong， 13)overmastering， that held him， as it were， against his will. I could not understand. He seemed really to be possessed of a devil， and I felt that it might suddenly turn and 14)rend him.

Chapter 50

I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings， but they have always a 15)nostalgia for a home they know not. They are strangers in their birthplace， and the leafy lanes they have known from childhood or the populous streets in which they have played， remain but a place of passage. They may spend their whole lives aliens among their 16)kindred and remain 17)aloof among the only scenes they have ever known. Perhaps it is this sense of strangeness that sends men far and wide in the search for something 18)permanent， to which they may attach themselves. Perhaps some deeprooted 19)atavism urges the wanderer back to lands which his ancestors left in the dim beginnings of history. Sometimes a man hits upon a place to which he mysteriously feels that he belongs. Here is the home he sought， and he will settle amid scenes that he has never seen before， among men he has never known， as though they were familiar to him from his birth. Here at last he finds rest.

第12章

“那么你到底是為什么離開她的?”

“我要畫畫兒。”

我目不轉睛地盯著他許久。我一點兒也不理解。我想這個人準是瘋了。提個醒，我那時還很年輕，我把他看做是一個中年人。當時我除了感到自己的驚詫外什么都不記得了。

“可是你已經四十了。”

“正是因為這樣我才想，如果現在再不開始就太晚了?！?/p>

“你過去畫過畫兒嗎?”

“我小的時候很想當個畫家，可是我父親叫我去做生意，因為他認為學藝術賺不了錢。