The Moon And Sixpence 47.2

"Come andhave breakfast, mate, " he said."Go tohell, " answered Strickland.I recognised myfriend's limited vocabulary, and I prepared to regard Captain Nichols as atrustworthy witness."Busted?"asked the Captain."Blastyou, " answered Strickland."Comealong with me. I'll get you some breakfast. "After amoment's hesitation, Strickland scrambled to his feet, and together they wentto the Bouchee de Pain, where the hungry are given a wedge of bread, which theymust eat there and then, for it is forbidden to take it away; and then to theCuillere de Soupe, where for a week, at eleven and four, you may get a bowl ofthin, salt soup. The two buildings are placed far apart, so that only thestarving should be tempted to make use of them. So they had breakfast, and sobegan the queer companionship of Charles Strickland and Captain Nichols.They must havespent something like four months at Marseilles in one another's society. Theircareer was devoid of adventure, if by adventure you mean unexpected orthrilling incident, for their days were occupied in the pursuit of enough moneyto get a night's lodging and such food as would stay the pangs of hunger. But Iwish I could give here the pictures, coloured and racy, which Captain Nichols'vivid narrative offered to the imagination. His account of their discoveries inthe low life of a seaport town would have made a charming book, and in thevarious characters that came their way the student might easily have foundmatter for a very complete dictionary of rogues. But I must content myself witha few paragraphs. I received the impression of a life intense and brutal,savage, multicoloured, and vivacious. It made the Marseilles that I knew,gesticulating and sunny, with its comfortable hotels and its restaurantscrowded with the well-to-do, tame and commonplace. I envied men who had seenwith their own eyes the sights that Captain Nichols described.“来跟我吃早饭去，朋友。”他说。“去你妈的。”思特里克兰德说。我一听就是我那位老朋友的语气，这时我决定把尼柯尔斯船长看作是一位可以信任的证人了。“一个子儿也没有了吧？”船长又问。“滚你的蛋。”思特里克兰德说。“跟我来。我给你弄顿早饭吃。”犹豫了一会儿，思特里克兰德从地上爬起来，两个人向一处施舍面包的救济所走去。饿饭的人可以在那里得到一块面包，但是必须当时吃掉，不准拿走。吃完面包，他们又到一个施舍汤的救济所，每天十一点到四点可以在那里得到一碗盐水稀汤，但不能连续领取一个星期。这两个机构中间隔着一大段路，除非实在饿得要命，谁也懒得跑两个地方。他们就这样吃了早饭，查理斯·思特里克兰德同尼柯尔斯船长也就这样交上了朋友。这两个人大概在马赛一起度过四个月。他俩的生活没有什么奇遇——如果奇遇意味着一件意料之外或者令人激动的事；因为他们的时间完全用在为了生活四处奔波上，他们要想弄到些钱晚间找个寻宿的地方，更要买些吃的东西对付辘辘饥肠。我真希望我能画出几幅绚丽多彩的图画，把尼柯尔斯船长的生动叙述在我想象中唤起的一幅幅画面也让读者看到。他叙述他们两人在这个海港的下层生活中的种种冒险完全可以写成一本极有趣味的书，从他们遇到的形形色色的人物身上，一个研究民俗学的人也可以找到足够的材料编纂一本有关流浪汉的大辞典。但是在这本书里我却只能用不多几段文字描写他们这一段生活。我从他的谈话得到的印象是：马赛的生活既紧张又粗野，丰富多采，鲜明生动。相形之下，我所了解的马赛——人群杂沓、阳光灿烂，到处是舒适的旅馆和挤满了有钱人的餐馆——简直变得平淡无奇、索然寡味了。那些亲眼见过尼柯尔斯船长描绘给我听的景象的人真是值得羡慕啊。