Day 1

Day 1：查理斯·思特里克兰德

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核心词汇

1. discern /dɪˈsɜːrn/ (v.) 识别；领悟，认识

2. pompous /ˈpɑːmpəs/ (adj.) 自大的；浮夸的；华而不实的；爱炫耀的

3. authentic /ɔːˈθentɪk/ (adj.) 真正的；可靠的；可信的

4. extol /ɪkˈstoʊl/ (v.) 颂扬；赞美；赞颂

5. complement /ˈkɑːmplɪmənt/ (n.) 补充

6. singular /ˈsɪŋɡjələr/ (adj.) 非凡的；异常的；单数的；单一的

7. innate /ɪˈneɪt/ (adj.) 先天的；固有的；与生俱来的

8. scanty /ˈskænti/ (adj.) 仅有的；稀疏的

9. outrageous /aʊtˈreɪdʒəs/ (adj.) 令人吃惊的；粗暴的；可恶的

核心短语

1. make acquaintance with sb. 结识某人，认识某人

2. out of the ordinary 不寻常

3. distinguish oneself 使某人出类拔萃，表现突出

4. eke out 竭力维持；弥补…的不足

5. prevent…from 阻止…做…

6. blaze the trail 开辟道路

The Moon and Sixpence

By W. Somerset Maugham

I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned (认识到) that there was in him anything out of the ordinary.

Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness.

I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate (好运的) politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very

discreet (不起眼的) proportions. {1}

The Prime Minister out of office is seen, too often, to have been but a pompous (自大的) rhetorician (雄辩家), and the General without an army is but the tame (平淡的) hero of a market town.

The greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic (真正的). It may be that you do not like his art, but at all events you can hardly refuse it the tribute of your interest. He disturbs and arrests.

The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule (嘲笑；笑柄), and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity (古怪行为) to defend or of perversity (的行为，这里延申为“反常的行为”) to extol (赞美) him.

His faults are accepted as the necessary complement (补充) to his merits. {2}

It is still possible to discuss his place in art, and the adulation (奉承) of his admirers is perhaps no less capricious than the disparagement of his detractors (诽谤者); but one thing can never be doubtful, and that is that he had genius (天赋).

To my mind the most interesting thing in art is the personality of the artist; and if that is singular (非凡的), I am willing to excuse a thousand faults.

I suppose Velasquez (西班牙画家) was a better painter than El Greco (西班牙画家，生于克里特岛), but custom stales (使变得不新鲜，这里指“使乏味”) one's admiration

for him: the Cretan (克里特岛人，指 El Greco), sensual and tragic, proffers the mystery of his soul like a standing sacrifice. {3}

The artist, painter, poet, or musician, by his decoration, sublime (令人崇敬的) or beautiful, satisfies the aesthetic sense; but that is akin (类似的) to the sexual instinct, and shares its barbarity (粗野): he lays before you also the greater gift of himself.

To pursue his secret has something of the fascination (魅力) of a detective story. It is a riddle (谜) which shares with the universe the merit of having no answer.

The most insignificant of Strickland's works suggests a personality which is strange, tormented (受折磨), and complex;

and it is this surely which prevents even those who do not like his pictures from being indifferent to them; it is this which has excited so curious an interest in his life and character.

It was not till 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 (以后的) writers, with more or less docility (顺从), have followed.

For a long time no critic (批评家) has enjoyed in France a more incontestable (无可置疑的) authority, and it was impossible not to be impressed by the claims he made; they seemed extravagant (过度的);

but later judgments have confirmed his estimate (判断), and the reputation of Charles Strickland is now firmly established on the lines which he laid down.

The rise of this reputation is one of the most romantic incidents in the history of art. But I do not propose to deal with Charles Strickland's work except in so far as it touches upon his character.

I cannot agree with the painters who claim superciliously (傲慢地) 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 (奇怪的) misapprehension which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly only to the craftsman: art is a manifestation (表现) of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand.

But I will allow that the critic (批评家) 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 Charles Strickland's work in a little book which is a charming example of a style, for the most part, less happily cultivated in England than in France.

Maurice Huret in his famous article gave an outline of Charles Strickland's life

which was well calculated to whet (刺激) the appetites of the inquiring.

With his disinterested (客观的) 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. {4}

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 (回忆录) of one, the appreciation of another, which added to Strickland's notoriety (远扬的名声), and fed without satisfying the curiosity of the public.

The subject was grateful, and the industrious (勤勉的) Weitbrecht-Rotholz in his imposing monograph (专题著作) has been able to give a remarkable list of authorities.

The faculty (能力) for myth is innate (固有的) 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 (狂热的) 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 (不朽).

The ironic (讽刺的) philosopher reflects with a smile that Sir Walter Raleigh is more safely inshrined in the memory of mankind because he set his cloak (披风) for the Virgin Queen to walk on than because he carried the English name to undiscovered countries.

Charles Strickland lived obscurely (隐匿地). He made enemies rather than friends.

It is not strange, then, that those who wrote of him should have eked out their scanty (仅有的) recollections with a lively fancy, and it is evident that there was enough in the little that was known of him to give opportunity to the romantic scribe;

there was much in his life which was strange and terrible, in his character something outrageous (令人吃惊的), and in his fate not a little that was pathetic.

In due course a legend arose of such circumstantiality (偶然性) that the wise historian would hesitate to attack it.

《月亮与六便士》

书籍简介

《月亮与六便士》是英国小说家威廉· 萨默赛特·毛姆的创作的长篇小说。

作品中，查理斯·思特里克兰德是个在伦敦做事的证券经纪人，他有一个富裕和美满的家庭：妻子漂亮，爱慕虚荣，两个孩子健康快乐。按理说，他应该满足于这种人世的快乐，尽管这种生活未免庸俗和平静。但是，就在他们婚后的第17个年头，他突然离家去了巴黎，抛弃了在外人看来很好的事业和家庭。就在人们以为他的出走是因为有外遇的时候，人们发现的事实却是：他原来只是为了画画。

他不停地流浪，最后来到了塔西提岛，与一个土著姑娘爱塔结了婚。爱塔一直照顾着他，直到他完成了自己的巨型壁画，身体溃烂而死。他的妻子依照他的遗言焚毁了挂满壁画的屋子，甚至没有留下一根木头。

作品表现了天才、个性与物质文明以及现代婚姻、家庭生活之间的矛盾，有着广阔的生命视角，用散发着消毒水味道的手术刀对皮囊包裹下的人性进行了犀利地解剖，混合着看客讪笑的幽默和残忍的目光。

《月亮与六便士》中的英国画家是以法国后期印象派大师保罗·高更（Paul Gauguin，1848-1903）为原型塑造的人物。

作者简介

威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆（William Somerset Maugham），英国小说家、剧作家。代表作有戏剧《圈子》，长篇小说《人生的枷锁》、《月亮与六便士》，短篇小说集《叶的震颤》、《阿金》等。

毛姆的个性坦率，常常宣言不讳，因此总是招引文艺批评界的诋毁，但他仍坚持以英、法等国为题材创作了大量短篇小说，在20世纪英国短篇小说史中，占据了重要的地位。毛姆短篇小说的标志就是冷静、客观和深刻地剖析与解读人性的弱点，人世间的人情冷暖、苦与恶、尔自我诈、道貌岸然、世态作品中无情地嘲弄、讽刺了当时西方社会中人与人之间的畸形关系、上流社会的荒诞无度以及下层人民的苦难生活，导致了人们对美好世界的幻想破灭，让人们从他的小说中亲身领略、目睹了社会的罪恶、人性的丑恶及命运的不公和多劫难。

主要人物介绍

查理斯·思特里克兰德

证券经纪人，有一个看似幸福的家庭。在他那张粗野的，显着肉欲的脸的背后，有着一颗骚动而不安的心，他饱受孤独的摧残，经受来自“神”的折磨，而他又是天生为艺术而生的人，所以，他注定在“神谕”的召唤下，在驱之不散的念头的驱使下，在时间不在场的诱惑下，冲出世俗的樊篱，走向了艺术的至境。他正是在孤独中仿徨，在孤独中冲突，在孤独中生成，在生命的最后一瞬间，在孤独中实现了灵魂的自由。

思特里克兰德太太

她出身于英国世家，结交社会名流，举手投足端庄典雅，完全符合上流社会所要求的女性风范。在社交场合她总能巧妙地不让冷场出现，还能引导大家的谈话总是环绕一个共同的主题。她根本不能想象、也不能接受丈夫为了心中一个神圣的理想——“我必须画画儿”而离开她。不过，在她那一类女性中她还是聪明的，当她最后得知实情后她绝望了：如果是私奔，他早晚都会厌倦，她也能原谅他（这是她的高人之处）；如果是为了一个理想，

一切就都完了。她可以是一个女人的对手，却不是某种观念的对手

勃朗什

与思特里克兰德太太晚年优裕安详的生活正相反，勃朗什这个“仿佛心里藏着什么似的”令人难以捉摸的女子却流星般从这个世上——也从思特里克兰德冷酷的心中倏然而逝。她曾是一个罗马贵族的家庭教师，被男主人骗去了纯真的爱情，身临绝境准备自尽时，幸遇好心的平庸艺术家施特略夫，二人结了婚且非常“幸福”。“

爱塔

塔是塔希提岛当地土著居民，她在塔拉窝河旁有一小块地产，女房东说“那里收获的椰子干按现在的市价足够你舒舒服服过日子，你画画要多少时间就有多少时间。”她很节俭，把在鲜花旅店帮工挣的钱都攒了起来，她不在乎那些繁文缚节，非常通情达理，她不要求当着的面举行什么仪式，这并不意味着她是个没人娶的姑娘：她很漂亮，也很自爱，从不跟人乱来，她做这一切仅仅因为她喜欢思特里克兰德。与前面二桩婚姻的貌合神离相比，他们的婚姻生活简单而幸福。

本章讲义 1. I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions.

我所谓的伟大不是走运的政治家或是立战功的军人的伟大；这种人显赫一时，与其说是他们本身的特质倒不如说他们沾了他们地位的光；一旦事过境迁，他们的伟大也就黯然失色了。

[句子解析]

这句话描写了不同于查理斯·思特里克兰德的那种伟大。

[1] the fortunate politician 走运的政治家

the successful soldier 立功的军人

这两种人的伟大得益于他们的“职位”，而不是他们本身。

belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man

belongs to A rather than B

属于 A 而不属于 B

[2] a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions.

a change of circumstances 环境的变化

it 指前面提到的政治家或军人的 greatness，随着环境的变化，这种伟大会逐渐失色。

2. The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule, and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him. His faults are accepted as the necessary complement to his merits.

思特里克兰德受人挪揄讥嘲的时代已经过去了，为他辩护或甚至对他赞誉也不再被看作是某些人的奇行怪癖了。他的瑕疵在世人的眼中已经成为他的优点的必不可少的补充。

[句子解析]

[1] ridicule 嘲笑；笑柄

eccentricity 古怪行为

perversity 本意为“的行为”，联系上下文，这里可以延申为“反常的行为，古怪/怪异的行为”。

extol 颂扬；赞美；赞颂

[2] The time has passed when… 表示 “什么什么样的时代已经过去了” 。

when he was an object of ridicule 当他是一个嘲讽对象

所以这句话的意思是，“他被当作嘲讽对象”的时代已经过去了。

[3] …it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him.

这句话要注意 or 连接了两种并列情况：

It is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend him.

为他辩护不再被当成是奇怪行为。

It is no longer a mark of perversity to extol him.

赞美他不再被当成是怪异的行为。

（也就是说， 如果是在以前，若有人为他辩护，或有人赞美他，这种辩护或赞美就会并被看作是怪异行为。）

3. I suppose Velasquez was a better painter than El Greco, but custom stales one's admiration for him: the Cretan, sensual and tragic, proffers the mystery of his soul like a standing sacrifice.

我料想，委拉斯凯兹是个比埃尔-格列柯更高超的画家，可是由于所见过多，使我们感到他的绘画有些乏味。而那位克里特岛画家的作品却有一种肉欲和悲剧性的美，仿佛作为永恒的牺牲似地把自己灵魂的秘密呈献出来。

[句子解析]

Velasquez 指迪埃戈-罗德里盖斯-德-西尔瓦-委拉斯凯兹（1599-1660），西班牙画家。

El Greco 埃尔-格列柯（1541-1614？），西班牙画家，生于克里特岛。所以第二句话

中 the Cretan 指的是 El Greco。

这段话的意思是，一般都认为 Velasquez 是个更厉害的画家，但是由于人们经常见到他的作品，所以对他的作品感到乏味。反而是比较不厉害的 El Greco 的作品更有独特的美。

理解这两位作家的背景才会更好地理解这段话。

4. 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.

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。

[句子解析]

Maurice Huret 莫利斯·胥瑞写了一篇文章，作为一个经常写文章的人，他是很了解如何吸引读者的，但是，在这篇文章中他只简单地勾画了查理斯·思特里克兰德的生平。

[1] disinterested 无私的；公正的；客观的

[2] he had a real desire to call the attention of the wise to a talent

call the attention of A to B唤起 A 对 B 的注意

call the attention of the wise to a talent 唤起有头脑的人对一个天才的注意

习题解析

1. How do people see Charles Strickland now?

A. Few will be found to accept his greatness.

B. His greatness was the same as a fortunate politician’s or a successful soldier’s.

C. People may not like his art but they can hardly refuse it.

本题解析

解析：C。文章开篇讲到，Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness. “我”刚开始认识查理斯·思特里克兰德的时候，从来没注意到这个人有什么与众不同的地方，但是今天却很少有人不承认他的伟大了。A 错误；“我”说的这种伟大并不是走运的政治家或是立战功的军人的伟大，因为这种伟大有可能因为他们的职位，B 错误。

2. What’s “my” opinion on the personality of an artist?

A. If an artist has singular personality, I am willing to excuse his faults.

B. An artist with a thousand faults can not be excused though he has singular personality.

C. An artist with few faults can have singular personality.

本题解析

解析：A。To my mind the most interesting thing in art is the personality of the artist; and if that is singular, I am willing to excuse a thousand faults. 依“我”看来 ，艺术中最令人感兴趣的就是艺术家的个性；如果艺术家赋有独特的性格，尽管他有一千个缺点，我也可以原谅他。

3. For which reason that people were interested in Strickland’s life and character?

A. Strickland has a detective story.

B. The works of Strickland shows a strange, tormented and complex personality.

C. Strickland always lays before you the great gift of himself.

本题解析

解析：B。The most insignificant of Strickland's works suggests a personality which is strange, tormented, and complex… “我” 认为思特里克兰德的作品中呈现奇特、受着折磨和复杂的性格，因为这一点，即使不喜欢他的人也不能对他漠不关心；使

很多人对他的生活和性格充满好奇和浓厚兴趣。

4 Charles Strickland was rescued and his reputation was established firmly due to_______.

A. Maurice Huret.

B. The author.

C. The efforts he made.

本题解析

解析：A。直到思特里克兰德去世四年以后，莫利斯·胥瑞（Maurice Huret）才写了那篇发表在《法兰西信使》上的文章，使这位不为人所知的画家不致湮没无闻。因为莫利斯·胥瑞在艺术评论界很有权威，所以他的论点给人们留下深刻印象，后来的裁决也证实了他对思特里克兰德的称许是很公正的，这样 ，思特里克兰德的称许的名声建立起来了。

5. What did we know about Charles Strickland according to the end of the text?

A. He made friends rather than enemies.

B. He lived obscurely (隐匿地).

C. He wrote a legend according to his experience.

本题解析

解析：B。Charles Strickland lived obscurely. He made enemies rather than friends. A 错误，B 正确。人们对思特里克兰德知之甚少，所以要借助于想象来弥补他的故事，时间久了，从这一系列事情中便会产生一个神话。C 错误。