The Moon And Sixpence 48.3

"Do notask me. I could not make head or tail of it. I never saw such a thing in mylife. `What shall we do with it?' I said to my wife. `We can never hang it up,' she said. `People would laugh at us. ' So she took it into an attic and putit away with all sorts of rubbish, for my wife can never throw anything away.It is her mania. Then, imagine to yourself, just before the war my brotherwrote to me from Paris, and said: `Do you know anything about an Englishpainter who lived in Tahiti? It appears that he was a genius, and his picturesfetch large prices. See if you can lay your hands on anything and send it tome. There's money to be made. ' So I said to my wife. `What about that picturethat Strickland gave me?' Is it possible that it is still in the attic?'`Without doubt, ' she answered, ` for you know that I never throw anythingaway. It is my mania. ' We went up to the attic, and there, among I know notwhat rubbish that had been gathered during the thirty years we have inhabitedthat house, was the picture. I looked at it again, and I said: `Who would havethought that the overseer of my plantation on the peninsula, to whom I lent twohundred francs, had genius? Do you see anything in the picture?' `No, ' shesaid, `it does not resemble the plantation and I have never seen cocoa-nutswith blue leaves; but they are mad in Paris, and it may be that your brotherwill be able to sell it for the two hundred francs you lent Strickland. ' Well,we packed it up and we sent it to my brother. And at last I received a letterfrom him. What do you think he said? `I received your picture, ' he said, `andI confess I thought it was a joke that you had played on me. I would not havegiven the cost of postage for the picture. I was half afraid to show it to thegentleman who had spoken to me about it. Imagine my surprise when he said itwas a masterpiece, and offered me thirty thousand francs. I dare say he wouldhave paid more, but frankly I was so taken aback that I lost my head; Iaccepted the offer before I was able to collect myself. '"Then MonsieurCohen said an admirable thing."I wishthat poor Strickland had been still alive. I wonder what he would have saidwhen I gave him twenty-nine thousand eight hundred francs for his picture."“别问我这个，我一点也看不懂。我活了一辈子也没见过这种画。‘这幅画咱们怎么办？’我问我的妻子说。‘什么时候也挂不出去，’她说，‘人家会笑掉大牙的，’就这样她把它拿到阁楼上，同各式各样的废物堆在一起。我的妻子什么东西也舍不得扔掉，这是她的习性。几年以后，你自己可以想象一下，正当大战爆发之前，我哥哥从巴黎给我写来一封信说：‘你是否听说过一个在塔希提住过的英国人？看来这人是个天才，他的画现在能卖大钱。看看你有没有办法弄到他画的任何东西，给我寄来。这件事很能赚钱。’于是我对我的妻子说：‘思特里克兰德给我的那张画还有没有？会不会仍然在阁楼上放着呢？’‘没错儿，’她回答说，‘你也知道，我什么东西都不扔。这是我的毛病。’我们两人走到阁楼上，这里堆着自从我们住到这所房子的第一天起积攒了三十年的各式各样的破烂货。那幅画就在这些我也弄不清楚到底都是些什么的废物堆里面。我又仔细看了看。我说：‘谁想得到，我的半岛上的种植园里的一个监工，一个向我借过两百法郎的人，居然是个伟大天才。你看得出这幅画哪点画得好吗？’‘看不出来，’她说，‘一点也不象咱们的种植园，再说我也从来没有见过椰子树长着蓝叶子。他们巴黎人简直发疯了，也说不定你哥哥能把那幅画卖两百法郎，正好能抵思特里克兰德欠我们的那笔债。’不管怎么说。我们还是把画包装好，给我哥哥寄去了。最后我收到了他的回信。你猜他信里面怎么说？‘画已收到，’他说，‘我必须承认，开始我还认为你在同我开玩笑。我真不应该出这笔寄费。我几乎没有胆量把它拿给同我谈过这件事的那位先生看。当他告诉我这是一件杰作，并出价三万法郎要购买它的时候，你可以想象到我是多么吃惊。我猜想他还肯出更多的钱。但是说老实话，这件事当时太出乎我的意料，弄得我简直晕头转向了。没等我脑子清醒过来以前，这笔生意已经拍板成交了。’”接着，寇汉先生又说出几句着实令人起敬的话。“我希望可怜的思特里克兰德还活着，我真想知道，在我把两万九千八百法郎卖画的钱交到他手里的时候，他会说什么。”