The Moon And Sixpence 53.1

Tenez, voila leCapitaine Brunot, " said Tiare, one day when I was fitting together whatshe could tell me of Strickland. "He knew Strickland well; he visited himat his house. "

I saw amiddle-aged Frenchman with a big black beard, streaked with gray, a sunburnedface, and large, shining eyes. He was dressed in a neat suit of ducks. I hadnoticed him at luncheon, and Ah Lin, the Chinese boy, told me he had come fromthe Paumotus on the boat that had that day arrived. Tiare introduced me to him,and he handed me his card, a large card on which was printed Rene Brunot, andunderneath, Capitaine au Long Cours. We were sitting on a little verandahoutside the kitchen, and Tiare was cutting out a dress that she was making forone of the girls about the house. He sat down with us.

"Yes; Iknew Strickland well, " he said. "I am very fond of chess, and he wasalways glad of a game. I come to Tahiti three or four times a year for mybusiness, and when he was at Papeete he would come here and we would play. Whenhe married" -- Captain Brunot smiled and shrugged his shoulders -- "enfin, when he went to live with the girl that Tiare gave him, he asked me togo and see him. I was one of the guests at the wedding feast. " He lookedat Tiare, and they both laughed. "He did not come much to Papeete afterthat, and about a year later it chanced that I had to go to that part of theisland for I forgot what business, and when I had finished it I said to myself:` Voyons, why should I not go and see that poor Strickland?' I asked one or twonatives if they knew anything about him, and I discovered that he lived notmore than five kilometres from where I was.

“看啊，那就是布吕诺船长①，”有一天，我脑子里正在往一块拼缀蒂阿瑞给我讲的关于思特里克兰德的片片断断的故事时，她忽然喊叫起来。“这个人同思特里克兰德很熟。他到思特里克兰德住的地方去过。”

①原文为法语。

我看到的是一个已过中年的法国人，蓄着一大捧黑胡子，不少已经花白，一张晒得黝黑的面孔，一对闪闪发光的大眼睛。他身上穿着一套很整洁的帆布衣服。其实吃午饭的时候我已经注意到他了，旅馆的一个中国籍侍者阿林告诉我，他是从包莫图斯岛来的，他乘的船当天刚刚靠岸。蒂阿瑞把我引见给他；他递给我一张名片。名片很大，当中印着他的姓名——勒内·布吕诺，下面一行小字是“龙谷号船长”。我同蒂阿瑞当时正坐在厨房外面的一个小凉台上，蒂阿瑞在给她手下的一个女孩子裁衣服。布吕诺船长就和我们一起坐下了。

“是的，我同思特里克兰德很熟，”他说。“我喜欢下棋，他也是只要找到个棋友就同人下。我每年为了生意上的事要到塔希提来三四回，如果他凑巧也在帕皮提，总要找我来一起玩几盘。后来，他结婚了，”——说到结婚两个字布吕诺船长笑了笑，耸了一下肩膀——“在同蒂阿瑞介绍给他的那个女孩子到乡下去住以前，他邀请我有机会去看看他。举行婚礼那天我也是贺客之一。”他看了蒂阿瑞一眼，两个人都笑了。“结婚以后，他就很少到帕皮提来了。大约一年以后，凑巧我到他居住的那一带去，我忘了是为办一件什么事了。事情办完以后，我对自己说：‘嗳，我干嘛不去看看可怜的思特里克兰德呀？’我向一两个本地的人打听，问他们知道不知道有这么一个人，结果我发现他住的地方离我那儿还不到五公里远。