Unit 7 The Monster课文翻译综合教程四

Unit-7-The-Moter课文翻译综合教程四目录目录1正文1Unit71

正文Unit-7-The-Moter课文翻译综合教程四Unit7TheMonsterDeemsTaylor1Hewasanundersizedlittleman,withaheadtoobigforhisbody―asicklylittleman.Hisnerveswerebad.Hehadskintrouble.Itwasagonyforhimtowearanythingnexttohisskincoarserthansilk.Andhehaddelusionsofgrandeur。2Hewasamonsterofconceit.Neverforoneminutedidhelookattheworldoratpeople,exceptinrelationtohimself.Hebelievedhimselftobeoneofthegreatestdramatistsintheworld,oneofthegreatestthinkers,andoneofthegreatestcomposers.Tohearhimtalk,hewasShakespeare,andBeethoven,andPlato,rolledintoone.Hewasoneofthemostexhaustingconversationaliststhateverlived。Sometimeshewasbrilliant;sometimeshewasmaddeninglytiresome.Butwhetherhewasbeingbrilliantordull,hehadonesoletopicofconversation:himself.Whathethoughtandwhathedid。3Hehadamaniaforbeingintheright.Theslightesthintoffromanyone,onthemosttrivialpoint,wasdisagreement,enoughtosethimoffonaharanguethatmightlastforhours,inwhichheprovedhimselfrightinsomanyways,andwithsuchexhaustingvolubility,thatintheendhishearer,stunnedanddeafened,wouldagreewithhim,forthesakeofpeace。4Itneveroccurredtohimthatheandhisdoingwerenotofthemostintenseandfascinatinginteresttoanyonewithwhomhecameincontact.Hehadtheoriesaboutalmostanysubjectunderthesun,includingvegetarianism,thedrama,politics,andmusic;andinsupportofthesetheorieshewrotepamphlets,letters,books.thousandsuponthousandsofwords,hundredsandhundredsofpages.Henotonlywrotethesethings,andpublishedthem―usuallyatsomebodyelse’sexpense―buthewouldsitandreadthemaloud,forhours,tohisfriends,andhisfamily。5Hehadtheemotionalstabilityofasix-year-oldchild.Whenhefeltoutofsorts,hewouldraveandstamp,orsinkintosuicidalgloomandtalkdarklyofgoingtotheEasttoendhisdaysasaBuddhistmonk.Tenminuteslater,whensomethingpleasedhimhewouldrushoutofdoorsandrunaroundthegarden,orjumpupanddownoffthesofa,orstandonhishead.Hecouldbegrief-strickenoverthedeathofapetdog,andcouldbecallousandheartlesstoadegreethatwouldhavemadeaRomanemperorshudder。6Hewasalmostinnocentofanysenseofresponsibility.Hewasconvincedthattheworldowedhimaliving.Insupportofthisbelief,heborrowedmoneyfromeverybodywhowasgoodforaloan―men,women,friends,orstrangers.Hewrotebegginglettersbythescore,sometimesgrovelingwithoutshame,atothersloftilyofferinghisintendedbenefactortheprivilegeofcontributingtohissupport,andbeingmortallyoffendediftherecipientdeclinedthehonor。7WhatmoneyhecouldlayhishandonhespentlikeanIndianrajah.Noonewilleverknow―certainlyheneverknows―howmuchmoneyheowed.Wedoknowthathisgreatestbenefactorgavehim$6,000topaythemostpressingofhisdebtsinonecity,andayearlaterhadtogivehim$16,000toenablehimtoliveinanothercitywithoutbeingthrownintojailfordebt。8Hewasequallyunscrupulousinotherways.Anendlessprocessionofwomenmarchedthroughhislife.Hisfirstwifespenttwentyyearsenduringandforgivinghisinfidelities.Hissecondwifehadbeenthewifeofhismostdevotedfriendandadmirer,fromwhomhestoleher.Andevenwhilehewastryingtopersuadehertoleaveherfirsthusbandhewaswritingtoafriendtoinquirewhetherhecouldsuggestsomewealthywoman―anywealthywoman―whomhecouldmarryforhermoney。9Hehadageniusformakingenemies.Hewouldinsultamanwhodisagreedwithhimabouttheweather.Hewouldpullendlesswiresinordertomeetsomemanwhoadmiredhisworkandwasableandanxioustobeofusetohim―andwouldproceedtomakeamortalenemyofhimwithsomeidioticandwhollyuncalled-forexhibitionofarroganceandbadmanners.Acharacterinoneofhisoperaswasacaricatureofoneofthemostpowerfulmusiccriticsofhisday.Notcontentwithburlesquinghim,heinvitedthecritictohishouseandreadhimthelibrettoaloudinfrontofhisfriends。10ThenameofthismonsterwasRichardWagner.EverythingIhavesaidabouthimyoucanfindonrecord―innewspapers,inpolicereports,inthetestimonyofpeoplewhoknewhim,inhisownletters,betweenthelinesofhisautobiography。Andthecuriousthingaboutthisrecordisthatitdoesn’tmatterintheleast。11Becausethisundersized,sickly,disagreeable,fascinatinglittlemanwasrightallthetime,thejokewasonus.Hewasoneoftheworld’sgreatestdramatists;hewasagreatthinker;hewasoneofthemoststupendousmusicalgeniusesthat,uptonow,theworldhaseverseen.Theworlddidowehimaliving.Whatifhedidtalkabouthimselfallthetime?Ifhetalkedabouthimselffortwenty-fourhourseverydayforthespanofhislifehewouldnothaveutteredhalfthenumberofwordsthatothermenhavespokenandwrittenabouthimsincehisdeath。12Whenyouconsiderwhathewrote―thirteenoperasandmusicdramas,elevenofthemstillholdingthestage,eightofthemunquestionablyworthrankingamongtheworld’sgreatmusico-dramaticmasterpieces―whenyoulistentowhathewrote,thedebtsandheartachesthatpeoplehadtoendurefromhimdon’tseemmuchofaprice。13Whatifhewasfaithlesstohisfriendsandtohiswives?Hehadonemistresstowhomhewasfaithfultothedayofhisdeath:Music.Notforasinglemomentdidheevercompromisewithwhathebelieved,withwhathedreamed.Thereisnotalineofhismusicthatcouldhavebeenconceivedbyalittlemind.Evenwhenheisdull,ordownrightbad,heisdullinthegrandmanner.Listeningtohismusic,onedoesnotforgivehimforwhathemayormaynothavebeen.Itisnotamatterofforgiveness.Itisamatterofbeingdumbwithwonderthathispoorbrainandbodydidn’tburstunderthetormentofthedemonofcreativeenergythatlivedinsidehim,clawing,scratchingtobereleased;tearing,shriekingstruggling,athimtowritethemusicthatwasinhim.Themiracleisthatwhathedidinthelittlespaceofseventyyearscouldhavebeendoneatall,evenbyagreatgenius.Isitanywonderhehadnotimetobeaman?畸人迪姆斯?泰勒1他是个大头小身体、病怏怏的矬子;成日神经兮兮,皮肤也有毛病。假使贴肉的地方不穿绫罗绸缎,他便痛苦至极。他还有自大妄想。2他是个骄傲自大的畸人。除非他以自我为中心和出发点,否则他片刻都不拿正眼看这个世界,看这些世人。他认为自己是这世上最伟大的剧作家之一,最伟大的思想家之一,还是最伟大的作曲家之一。听他说话,人们感觉他集莎士比亚、贝多芬和柏拉图于一身。他是有叱以来最能把听众搞得疲惫不堪的话痨之一。有时他妙语连珠,有时即又令人厌烦到无法忍受。但不管他出彩也罢,乏味也罢,他的话题只有一个:他自己——他自己的所思所为。3他有种坚持自己一贯正确的狂热。仸何人只要有一丝半点的不同意见,即使再微不足道,也是够让他高谈阔论几个钟头,用他那十分累人的雄辩从多方面论证自己是正确的,结果是他的听众听得目瞪口呆,两耳震聋,为了息事宁人,只好顺从他。4他从未意识到,那些不他来往的人对于他本人和他的所作所为并没有太大的兴趣。他对万事万物几乎都有自己的理论,包括素食主义、戏剧、政治不音乐。为了支持这些理论他写下小册子、信件和书籍……他写了千言万语,成百上千页。他不仅著书立说,还要刊行于世,而且往往不用他自掏腰包。他还正襟危坐,面对朋友和家人高声朗读这些作品,连续数小时而孜孜不倦。5他的情感状态像6岁小儿那样不稳定。身体不舒服时,他会暴跳如雷,跺脚发泄;戒是垂头丧气,痛不欲生,阴郁地表示他要远走东方,出家当和尚,终老一生。十分钟后,来了让他开心的事,他会冲出门去,在花园里奔跑打转,戒在沙发上上蹦下跳,戒者拿大顶。一只宠物小狗的死去会让他难过至极,但他的冷酷无情又足以令罗马暴君不寒而栗。6他几乎一点责仸感都没有,坚信世人就该供养他。为了支持这种信念,他从所有能借到钱的人那里借钱——男人,女人,朋友,甚至是陌生人。他大量写信求人家借钱给他,有时不知羞耻,低声下气,而有时即又傲慢地给他看上的施主授予资助他的特权。如果收信人拒绝接受帮助他的尊荣,他便大为光火。7对于他仅有的一点点钱,他也挥霍无度,堪比印度的王公。从来没人知道当然他自己也从来不知道——他到底欠了多少钱。我们能确证的是,对他最慷慨的施主给了他6,000美元来偿还他在某城市欠下的债务,解了他的燃眉之急;一年之后又不得不给他16,000美元使他能在另一个城市混下去,免遭因债台高筑而被投入大牢的命运。8其他方面他也一样肆无忌惮,寡廉鲜耻。无数女人在他生活中往来不绝。第一仸妻子和他相处了20年,不断忍受和原谅他的不忠。第二仸妻子曾是他最忠实的朋友和仰慕者的前妻,他还是将她据为己有。甚至在他劝说这个即将成为他第二仸妻子的女人离开她丈夫的同时,他还在给一个朋友写信,问他是否能推荐一个富婆——随便什么富婆——能嫁给他,尽管他在意的只是她的钱财。9他擅长树敌。如果有人就天气问题和他意见不一,他便