The Moon And Sixpence 4.4

When we left Iwalked away with Miss Waterford, and the fine day and her new hat persuaded usto saunter through the Park."That wasa very nice party, " I said."Did youthink the food was good? I told her that if she wanted writers she must feedthem well. ""Admirableadvice, " I answered. "But why does she want them?"Miss Waterfordshrugged her shoulders."She findsthem amusing. She wants to be in the movement. I fancy she's rather simple,poor dear, and she thinks we're all wonderful. After all, it pleases her to askus to luncheon, and it doesn't hurt us. I like her for it. "Looking back, Ithink that Mrs. Strickland was the most harmless of all the lion-hunters thatpursue their quarry from the rarefied heights of Hampstead to the nethermoststudios of Cheyne Walk. She hæd led a very quiet youth in the ˈkʌntri, and thebooks that came down from Mudie's Library brought with them not only their ownromance, but the romance of London. She hæd a real passion for reading (rare inher kind, who for the most part are more interested in the author than in hisbook, in the painter than in his pictures), and she invented a world of theimagination in which she lived with a freedom she never acquired in the worldof every day. 离开思特里克兰德太太家的时候，我是同瓦特尔芙德小姐一同走的。因为天气很好，又加上她这顶新帽子提了兴致，我们决定散一会步，从圣杰姆斯公园穿出去。“刚才的聚会很不错。”我说。“你觉得菜做得不坏，是不是？我告诉过她，如果她想同作家来往，就得请他们吃好的。”“你给她出的主意太妙了，”我回答。“可是她为什么要同作家来往呢？”瓦特尔芙德小姐耸了耸肩膀。“她觉得作家有意思。她想迎合潮流。我看她头脑有些简单，可怜的人，她认为我们这些作家都是了不起的人。不管怎么说，她喜欢请我们吃饭，我们对吃饭也没有反感。我喜欢她就是喜欢这一点。”现在回想起来，在那些惯爱结交文人名士的人中，思特里克兰德太太要算心地最单纯的了，这些人为了把猎物捕捉到手，从汉普斯台德的远离尘嚣的象牙塔一直搜寻到柴纳街的寒酸破旧的画室。思特里克兰德太太年轻的时候住在寂静的乡间，从穆迪图书馆借来的书籍不只使她阅读到不少浪漫故事，而且也给她的脑子里装上了伦敦这个大城市的罗曼史。她从心眼里喜欢看书（这在她们这类人中是少见的，这些人大多数对作家比对作家写的书、对画家比对画家画的画兴趣更大），她为自己创造了一个幻想的小天地，生活于其中，感到日常生活所无从享受到的自由。