The Moon And Sixpence 2.3

Now the warhas come, bringing with it a new attitude. Youth has turned to gods we of anearlier day knew not, and it is possible to see already the direction in whichthose who come after us will move. The younger generation, conscious ofstrength and tumultuous, have done with knocking at the door; they have burstin and seated themselves in our seats. The air is noisy with their shouts. Oftheir elders some, by imitating the antics of youth, strive to persuadethemselves that their day is not yet over; they shout with the lustiest, butthe war cry sounds hollow in their mouth; they are like poor wantons attemptingwith pencil, paint and powder, with shrill gaiety, to recover the illusion oftheir spring. The wiser go their way with a decent grace. In their chastenedsmile is an indulgent mockery. They remember that they too trod down a satedgeneration, with just such clamor and with just such scorn, and they foreseethat these brave torch-bearers will presently yield their place also. There isno last word. The new evangel was old when Nineveh reared her greatness to thesky. These gallant words which seem so novel to those that speak them were saidin accents scarcely changed a hundred times before. The pendulum swingsbackwards and forwards. The circle is ever travelled anew.

战争来了，战争也带来了新的生活态度。年轻人求助于我们老一代人过去不了解的一些神祇，已经看得出继我们之后而来的人要向哪个方向活动了。年轻的一代意识到自己的力量，吵吵嚷嚷，早已经不再叩击门扉了。他们已经闯进房子里来，坐到我们的宝座上，空中早已充满了他们喧闹的喊叫声。老一代的人有的也模仿年轻人的滑稽动作，努力叫自己相信他们的日子还没有过去；这些人同那些最活跃的年轻人比赛喉咙，但是他们发出的呐喊听起来却那么空洞，他们有如一些可怜的浪荡女人，虽然年华已过，却仍然希望靠涂脂抹粉，靠轻狂浮荡来恢复青春的幻影。聪明一点儿的则摆出一副端庄文雅的姿态。他们的莞尔微笑中流露着一种宽容的讥诮。他们记起了自己当初也曾经把一代高踞宝座的人践踏在脚下，也正是这样大喊大叫、傲慢不逊；他们预见到这些高举火把的勇士们有朝一日同样也要让位于他人。谁说的话也不能算最后拍板。当尼尼微城昌盛一时、名震遐迩的时候，新福音书已经老旧了。说这些豪言壮语的人可能还觉得他们在说一些前人未曾道过的真理，但是实际上连他们说话的腔调前人也已经用过一百次，而且丝毫也没有变化。钟摆摆过来又荡过去，这一旅程永远反复循环。