The Moon And Sixpence 26.6

He was stilltoo weak to paint, and he sat in the studio, silent, occupied with God knowswhat dreams, or reading. The books he liked were queer; sometimes I would findhim poring over the poems of Mallarme, and he read them as a child reads,forming the words with his lips, and I wondered what strange emotion he gotfrom those subtle cadences and obscure phrases; and again I found him absorbedin the detective novels of Gaboriau. I amused myself by thinking that in hischoice of books he showed pleasantly the irreconcilable sides of his fantasticnature. It was singular to notice that even in the weak state of his body hehad no thought for its comfort. Stroeve liked his ease, and in his studio werea couple of heavily upholstered arm-chairs and a large divan. Strickland wouldnot go near them, not from any affectation of stoicism, for I found him seatedon a three-legged stool when I went into the studio one day and he was alone,but because he did not like them. For choice he sat on a kitchen chair withoutarms. It often exasperated me to see him. I never knew a man so entirelyindifferent to his surroundings.

他身体仍然很弱，不能作画。他沉默不语地坐在画室里，天晓得脑子里在想什么。有时候他也看书。他喜欢看的书都很怪；有时候我发现他在阅读马拉美②的诗。他读书的样子就象小孩子一样，动着嘴唇一个字一个字地拼读。我很想知道那些精巧的韵律和晦涩的诗句给他一些什么奇怪的感情。另外一些时候我发现他浸沉在嘉包里奥③的侦探小说里。我想，他对书的选择表现出组成他怪诞性格的不可调和的方面；我对自己的这个想法感到很有趣。尽管他的身体很弱，但是仍象往常一样，从不讲求舒适，这真是他奇怪的个性。施特略夫喜欢把起居环境弄得舒服一些，画室里摆着一对非常柔软的扶手椅和一张长沙发椅。思特里克兰德从来不坐这些椅子；他并不是矫揉造作，故意表示甘于艰苦，而是因为不喜欢它们。有一次我来看他，画室里只有他一个人，我发现他正坐在一只三脚凳上。如果叫他选择的话，他会喜欢不带扶手的硬背椅。他的这种习性常常叫我很恼火。我从来没有见过哪个人这么不关心周围的生活环境的。

②斯台凡·马拉美（1842—1898），法国象征派诗人。

③艾米尔·嘉包里奥（1835—1873），法国最早的侦探小说家。