The Moon And Sixpence 58.3

"Whatwonderful cushions you have, " said Mr. Van Busche Taylor.

"Do youlike them?" she said, smiling. "Bakst, you know. "

And yet on thewalls were coloured reproductions of several of Strickland's best pictures, dueto the enterprise of a publisher in Berlin.

"You'relooking at my pictures, " she said, following my eyes. "Of course,the originals are out of my reach, but it's a comfort to have these. Thepublisher sent them to me himself. They're a great consolation to me. "

"They mustbe very pleasant to live with, " said Mr. Van Busche Taylor.

"Yes;they're so essentially decorative. "

"That isone of my profoundest convictions, " said Mr. Van Busche Taylor."Great art is always decorative. "

Their eyesrested on a nude woman suckling a baby, while a girl was kneeling by their sideholding out a flower to the indifferent child. Looking over them was awrinkled, scraggy hag. It was Strickland's version of the Holy Family. Isuspected that for the figures had sat his household above Taravao, and thewoman and the baby were Ata and his first son. I asked myself if Mrs.Strickland had any inkling of the facts.

Theconversation proceeded, and I marvelled at the tact with which Mr. Van BuscheTaylor avoided all subjects that might have been in the least embarrassing, andat the ingenuity with which Mrs. Strickland, without saying a word that wasuntrue, insinuated that her relations with her husband had always been perfect.At last Mr. Van Busche Taylor rose to go. Holding his hostess' hand, he madeher a graceful, though perhaps too elaborate, speech of thanks, and left us.

 “你这些靠垫真是太了不起了，”凡·布施·泰勒先生说。

“你喜欢吗？”她笑着说，“巴克斯特①设计的，你知道。”

①雷昂·尼古拉耶维奇·巴克斯特（1866—1924），俄罗斯画家和舞台设计家。

但是墙上还挂着几张思特里克兰德的最好画作的彩色复制品；这该归功于柏林一家颇具野心的印刷商。

“你在看我的画呢，”看到我的目光所向，她说，“当然了，他的原画我无法弄到手，但是有了这些也足够了。这是出版商主动送给我的。对我来说真是莫大的安慰。”

“每天能欣赏这些画，实在是很大的乐趣，”凡·布施·泰勒先生说。

“一点儿不错。这些画是极有装饰意义的。”

“这也是我的一个最基本的看法，”凡·布施·泰勒先生说，“伟大的艺术从来就是最富于装饰价值的。”

他们的目光落在一个给孩子喂奶的裸体女人身上，女人身旁还有一个年轻女孩子跪着给小孩递去一朵花，小孩却根本不去注意。一个满脸皱纹、皮包骨的老太婆在旁边看着她们。这是思特里克兰德画的神圣家庭。我猜想画中人物都是他在塔拉窝村附近那所房子里的寄居者，而那个喂奶的女人和她怀里的婴儿就是爱塔和他们的第一个孩子。我很想知道思特里克兰德太太对这些事是不是也略知一二。

谈话继续下去。我非常佩服凡·布施·泰勒先生的老练；凡是令人感到尴尬的话题，他完全回避掉。我也非常惊奇思特里克兰德太太的圆滑；尽管她没有说一句不真实的话，却充分暗示了她同自己丈夫的关系非常融睦，从来没有任何嫌隙。最后，凡·布施·泰勒先生起身告辞，他握着女主人的一只手，向她说了一大篇优美动听、但未免过于造作的感谢词，便离开了我们。