The Moon And Sixpence 4.3

Mrs. Jay, awarethat impropriety is the soul of wit, made observations in tones hardly above awhisper that might well have tinged the snowy tablecloth with a rosy hue.Richard Twining bubbled over with quaint absurdities, and George Road,conscious that he need not exhibit a brilliancy which was almost a by-word,opened his mouth only to put food into it. Mrs. Strickland did not talk much,but she had a pleasant gift for keeping the conversation general; and whenthere was a pause she threw in just the right remark to set it going once more.She was a woman of thirty-seven, rather tall and plump, without being fat; shewas not pretty, but her face was pleasing, chiefly, perhaps, on account of herkind brown eyes. Her skin was rather sallow. Her dark hair was elaboratelydressed. She was the only woman of the three whose face was free of make-up,and by contrast with the others she seemed simple and unaffected.

The dining-roomwas in the good taste of the period. It was very severe. There was a high dadoof white wood and a green paper on which were etchings by Whistler in neatblack frames. The green curtains with their peacock design, hung in straightlines, and the green carpet, in the pattern of which pale rabbits frolickedamong leafy trees, suggested the influence of William Morris. There was bluedelft on the chimneypiece. At that time there must have been five hundreddining-rooms in London decorated in exactly the same manner. It was chaste,artistic, and dull.

杰伊太太知道得很清楚，逾越礼规的言词是机智的灵魂，因此时不时地用不高于耳语的音调说一些足能使雪白的台布泛上红晕的话语。理查·特维宁则滔滔不绝地发表荒唐离奇的谬论。乔治·娄德知道他的妙语惊人已经尽人皆知，用不着再施展才华，因此每次张口只不过是往嘴里添送菜肴。思特里克兰德太太说话不多，但是她也有一种可爱的本领，能够引导大家的谈话总是环绕着一个共同的话题；一出现冷场，她总能说一句合适的话使谈话继续下去。思特里克兰德太太这一年三十七岁，身材略高，体态丰腴，但又不显得太胖。她生得并不美，但面庞很讨人喜欢，这可能主要归功于她那双棕色的、非常和蔼的眼睛。她的皮肤血色不太好，一头黑发梳理得非常精巧。在三个女性里面，她是唯一没有施用化妆品的，但是同别人比较起来，这样她反而显得更朴素、更自然。

餐室是按照当时的艺术风尚布置的，非常朴素。白色护墙板很高，绿色的糊墙纸上挂着嵌在精致的黑镜框里的惠斯勒①的蚀刻画。印着孔雀图案的绿色窗帘线条笔直地高悬着。地毯也是绿颜色的，地毯上白色小兔在浓郁树荫中嬉戏的图画使人想到是受了威廉·莫利斯②的影响。壁炉架上摆着白釉蓝彩陶器。当时的伦敦一定有五百间餐厅的装演同这里一模一样，淡雅，别致，却有些沉闷。

①杰姆斯·艾波特·麦克奈尔·惠斯勒（1834—1903），美国画家和蚀刻画家，长期定居英国。

②威廉·莫利斯（1834—1896），英国诗人和艺术家。