The Moon And Sixpence 57.5

The colourswere so strange that words can hardly tell what a troubling emotion they gave.They were sombre blues, opaque like a delicately carved bowl in lapis lazuli,and yet with a quivering lustre that suggested the palpitation of mysteriouslife; there were purples, horrible like raw and putrid flesh, and yet with a glowing,sensual passion that called up vague memories of the Roman Empire ofHeliogabalus; there were reds, shrill like the berries of holly -- one thoughtof Christmas in England, and the snow, the good cheer, and the pleasure ofchildren -- and yet by some magic softened till they had the swooningtenderness of a dove's breast; there were deep yellows that died with anunnatural passion into a green as fragrant as the spring and as pure as thesparkling water of a mountain brook. Who can tell what anguished fancy madethese fruits? They belonged to a Polynesian garden of the Hesperides. There wassomething strangely alive in them, as though they were created in a stage ofthe earth's dark history when things were not irrevocably fixed to their forms.They were extravagantly luxurious. They were heavy with tropical odours. Theyseemed to possess a sombre passion of their own. It was enchanted fruit, totaste which might open the gateway to God knows what secrets of the soul and tomysterious palaces of the imagination. They were sullen with unawaited dangers,and to eat them might turn a man to beast or god. All that was healthy andnatural, all that clung to happy relationships and the simple joys of simplemen, shrunk from them in dismay; and yet a fearful attraction was in them, and,like the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they were terriblewith the possibilities of the Unknown.

At last Iturned away. I felt that Strickland had kept his secret to the grave.

" Voyons,Rene, mon ami, " came the loud, cheerful voice of Madame Coutras,"what are you doing all this time? Here are the aperitifs. Ask Monsieur ifhe will not drink a little glass of Quinquina Dubonnet. "

"Volontiers, Madame, " I said, going out on to the verandah.

The spell wasbroken.

这幅画的着色非常怪异，叫人感到心神不宁，其感觉是很难确切说清的。浓浊的蓝色是不透明的，有如刻工精细的青金石雕盘，但又颤动着闪闪光泽，令人想到生活的神秘悸动；紫色象腐肉似的叫人感到嫌恶，但与此同时又勾起一种炽热的欲望，令人模糊想到亥里俄嘉巴鲁斯①统治下的罗马帝国；红色鲜艳刺目，有如冬青灌木结的小红果——一个人会联想英国的圣诞节，白雪皑皑，欢乐的气氛和儿童的笑语喧哗——，但画家又运用自己的魔笔，使这种光泽柔和下来，让它呈现出有如乳鸽胸脯一样的柔嫩，叫人神怡心驰；深黄色有些突兀地转成绿色，给人带来春天的芳香和溅着泡沫的山泉的明净。谁能知道，是什么痛苦的幻想创造出这些果实的呢？该不是看管金苹果园的赫斯珀里得斯三姐妹②在波利尼西亚果园中培植出来的吧！奇怪的是，这些果实都象活的一样，仿佛是在混沌初开时创造出来的，当时任何事物还都没有固定的形体，丰实肥硕，散发着浓郁的热带气息，好象具有一种独特的忧郁的感情。它们是被施展了魔法的果子，任何人尝了就能打开通向不知道哪些灵魂秘密的门扉，就可以走进幻境的神秘宫殿。它们孕育着无法预知的危险，咬一口就可能把一个人变成野兽，但也说不定变成神灵。一切健康的、正常的东西，淳朴人们所有的一切美好的情谊、朴素的欢乐都远远地避开了它们；但它们又具有莫大的诱惑力，就象伊甸园中能分辨善恶的智慧果一样，能把人带进未知的境界。

①一名埃拉嘉巴鲁斯（205？—222），罗马帝国皇帝。

②根据希腊神话，赫斯珀里得斯姐妹负责看管赫拉女神的金苹果树，并有巨龙拉冬帮助守卫。

最后，我离开了这幅画。我觉得思特里克兰德一直把他的秘密带进了坟墓。

“喂，雷耐，亲爱的①，”外面传来了库特拉斯太太的兴高采烈的响亮的声音，“这么半天，你在干什么啊？开胃酒②已经准备好了。问问那位先生③愿意不愿意喝一小杯规那皮杜邦内酒。”

①②③原文为法语。

“当然愿意，夫人④，”我一边说一边走到阳台上去。

④原文为法语。

图画的魅力被打破了。