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发表于 2013-5-21 14:16:47
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The Moon and Sixpence
剧透慎入
单单看书名,很难想象《月亮和六便士》讲述的是一个什么故事;小说通篇没有提起书名的来历,wiki上说,书名来自毛姆另一本小说——《人性的枷锁》的一篇评论,评论写道“主人公菲利普像所有年轻人一样,终日仰望月亮,却没有看到脚下的六便士银币”According to some sources, the title, the meaning of which is not explicitly revealed in the book, was taken from a review of Of Human Bondage in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet."[1] According to a 1956 letter from Maugham, "If you look on the ground in search of a sixpence, you don't look up, and so miss the moon."
所以,《月亮与六便士》是理想和现实的故事,是艺术与面包的故事,Strickland抛弃一切追求艺术,不为名利所困,是一个伟大的艺术家。可是Strickland做为一个男人,一个朋友,一个丈夫,一个父亲,做为一个传统意义上的普通人,都是十足的恶棍。用当下流行的话来说,他的故事就是一个自私的负心男人背叛一个朋友和两个女人,并给第三个女人当小白脸的故事,他在书中的任何一个篇章都可以作为天涯热帖被国人唾骂。
小说中的“我”几次分析Strickland的性格,做为一个自然人,他不在乎任何人,也不在乎自己;他从不感激别人的付出,对救了自己的“朋友”(也许他根本没有把任何人当做朋友)没有丝毫感激,反而理所应当的破坏了他的家庭;他对爱自己的女人呼之即来,挥之即去,一切都建立在自己的需要;他对抛妻弃子毫无羞愧之心;归根结底,他没有常人的思想和道德观念,他不在乎任何人,甚至是自己的肉体。可是作为艺术家,他不追求名利,不顾别人的误解,一心追求自己的艺术,失明后也画出惊世之作。他自成一派,是一个令人敬仰的艺术家。小说中的“我”也说:
Strickland was an odious man, but I still think he was a great one.
小说通篇都在谈论艺术,什么是艺术?艺术是史上最宝贵的东西,是要一直寻找的东西,是不用向世人证明自己已经找到的东西。Strickland把自己封闭在自己的小世界里,画出一幅幅惊世之作,却在死后让妻子付之一炬,也只有像他这样对艺术纯粹追求的人,才能达到如此境界。如果他在面临别人的质疑时动摇,怀疑自己,如果他为贫困所迫,迎合世俗的需要,他都不会成为一个艺术家。在某种程度上说,艺术家需要凌驾在生活之上,不为世俗所扰,才能纯粹的追求艺术。但是追求艺术的道路是孤立无援的,Strickland的后半生虽有恋人陪伴,但内心始终孤独的追求艺术。在成为艺术家的道路上,除了自身的才华,超脱的境界,心灵上的孤独,还要有坚定的信念。
Why should you think that beauty, which is the most precious thing in the world, lies like a stone on the beach for the careless passer-by to pick up idly? Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul. And when he has made it, it is not given to all to know it. To recognize it you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that he sings to you, and to hear it again in your own heart you want knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination.
作为一个自然人,爱情对Strickland来说一文不值,他很自私,他对艺术的追求超越了世上所有的事物,艺术给他带来的满足感是爱情所不可比拟的。他觉得爱情只是生活中的一小部分,只是偶尔需要,而女人则觉得爱情就是生命的全部。这是男人和女人的区别。也许这世上也有为爱而生的男人,但是Strickland一定不是其中的一员。关于爱情,最理想的状况就是为爱而生的男人找到为爱而生的女人,但是命运弄人,为爱而生的男女爱上不需要爱情的人,只能悲剧收场。
For in men, as a rule, love is but an episode which takes its place among the other affairs of the day, and the emphasis laid on it in novels gives it an importance which is untrue to life. There are few men to whom it is the most important thing in the world, and they are not very interesting ones; even women, with whom the subject is of paramount interest, have a contempt for them. They are flattered and excited by them, but have an uneasy feeling that they are poor creatures. But even during the brief intervals in which they are in love, men do other things which distract their mind; the trades by which they earn their living engage their attention; they are absorbed in sport; they can interest themselves in art. For the most part, they keep their various activities in various compartments, and they can pursue one to the temporary exclusion of the other. They have a faculty of concentration on that which occupies them at the moment, and it irks them if one encroaches on the other. As lovers, the difference between men and women is that women can love all day long, but men only at times.
关于这部小说,可以谈论的很多,艺术、人性、爱情、追求…… Strickland是一个富有争议性的人物,也是一个让人又爱又恨的艺术家。
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