The Moon And Sixpence 49.1

I lived at theHotel de la Fleur, and Mrs. Johnson, the proprietress, had a sad story to tellof lost opportunity. After Strickland's death certain of his effects were soldby auction in the market-place at Papeete, and she went to it herself becausethere was among the truck an American stove she wanted. She paid twenty-sevenfrancs for it."Therewere a dozen pictures, " she told me, "but they were unframed, andnobody wanted them. Some of them sold for as much as ten francs, but mostlythey went for five or six. Just think, if I had bought them I should be a richwoman now. "But TiareJohnson would never under any circumstances have been rich. She could not keepmoney. The daughter of a native and an English sea-captain settled in Tahiti,when I knew her she was a woman of fifty, who looked older, and of enormousproportions. Tall and extremely stout, she would have been of imposing presenceif the great good-nature of her face had not made it impossible for her toexpress anything but kindliness. Her arms were like legs of mutton, her breastslike giant cabbages; her face, broad and fleshy, gave you an impression ofalmost indecent nakedness, and vast chin succeeded to vast chin. I do not knowhow many of them there were. They fell away voluminously into the capaciousnessof her bosom. She was dressed usually in a pink Mother Hubbard, and she woreall day long a large straw hat. But when she let down her hair, which she didnow and then, for she was vain of it, you saw that it was long and dark andcurly; and her eyes had remained young and vivacious. Her laughter was the mostcatching I ever heard; it would begin, a low peal in her throat, and would growlouder and louder till her whole vast body shook. She loved three things -- ajoke, a glass of wine, and a handsome man. To have known her is a privilege.我住在鲜花旅馆，旅馆的女主人，约翰生太太给我讲了一个悲惨的故事——她如何把大好良机白白错过去了。思特里克兰德死了以后，他的一些遗物在帕皮提市场上拍卖。她亲自跑了一趟，因为在拍卖的物品中有一个她需要的美国式煤油炉子。她花了二十七法郎把炉子买了下来。“有十来张画，”她对我说，“但是都没有镶框，谁也不要。有几张要卖十法郎，但是大部分只卖五、六法郎一张。想想吧，如果我把它们买下来，现在可是大富翁了。”但是蒂阿瑞·约翰生无论在什么情况下也绝对发不了财；她手头根本存不下钱。她是一个在塔希提落户的白人船长同一个土著女人结婚生的女儿。我认识她的时候，她已经五十岁了，但是样子比年纪显得还要老。她的身躯又大又壮，一身肥肉；如果不是一张只能呈现出仁慈和蔼表情来的一团和气的面孔，她的仪表会是非常威严的。她的胳臂象两条粗羊腿，乳房象两颗大圆白菜，一张胖脸满是肥肉，给人以浑身赤裸、很不雅观的感觉。脸蛋下面是一重又一重的肉下巴（我说不上她有几重下巴），嘟嘟噜噜地一直垂到她那肥胖的胸脯上。平常她总穿着一件粉红色的宽大的薄衫，戴着一顶大草帽，但是当她把头发松垂下来的时候（她常常这样做，因为她对自己的头发感到很骄傲），你会看到她生着一头又黑又长、打着小卷的秀发；此外，她的眼睛也非常年轻，炯炯有神。她的笑声是我听到过的最富有感染性的笑声；开始的时候只是在喉咙里一阵低声咯咯，接着声音越来越大，直到她那肥胖的身躯整个都哆哆嗦嗦地震颤起来。她最喜欢的是三件东西——笑话、酒同漂亮的男人。有缘同她结识真是一件荣幸的事。