[短文閱讀] 一件紀念品 part 5

網路摘錄文章:

A RELIC

By Max Beerbohm

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1956/1956-h/1956-h.htm#2H_4_0001

paragraph 6

I felt I might know at any moment, and had but to give my mind to it. Maupassant was an impeccable artist, but I think the secret of the hold he had on the young men of my day was not so much that we discerned his cunning as that we delighted in the simplicity which his cunning achieved. I had read a great number of his short stories, but none that had made me feel as though I, if I were a writer, mightn't have written it myself. Maupassant had an European reputation. It was pleasing, it was soothing and gratifying, to feel that one could at any time win an equal fame if one chose to set pen to paper. And now, suddenly, the spring had been touched in me, the time was come. I was grateful for the fluke by which I had witnessed on the terrace that evocative scene. I looked forward to reading the MS. of 'The Fan' — to-morrow, at latest. I was not wildly ambitious. I was not inordinately vain. I knew I couldn't ever, with the best will in the world, write like Mr. George Meredith.

我覺得提筆的衝動隨時將至，而我只能放任心意等待。莫泊桑是完美無瑕的藝術家，他對我們那代的年輕人的影響力與其說是我們欣賞他的狡黠，不如說是我們喜歡他狡黠中所達到的簡單純粹。我讀了很多他寫的短篇故事，我覺得，如果我當個作家，沒有一篇他的作品我自己寫不來。莫泊桑在歐洲有盛名。對一個選擇提筆寫作的人，若能在某一時期獲得跟他同等的名聲，都將令人感到愉快，安慰與滿足。而現在，突然靈感泉源開啟，時候到了。我很感激有幸在露台目睹那現在想起來的一幕。我期待能讀到'The Fan'的手稿，最遲明天。我沒有狂熱的野心，也無過度的自負。我自知即使我立天下大志也永遠無法寫得如George Meredith一般。

Those wondrous works of his, seething with wit, with poetry and philosophy and what not, never had beguiled me with the sense that I might do something similar. I had full consciousness of not being a philosopher, of not being a poet, and of not being a wit. Well, Maupassant was none of these things. He was just an observer, like me. Of course he was a good deal older than I, and had observed a good deal more. But it seemed to me that he was not my superior in knowledge of life. I knew all about life through him.

那些作品中充滿智慧，詩句，哲理令人熱血沸騰，卻從來不會讓我以為，我也能做到同樣的事。我完全自知不是個哲學家，詩人或智者。然而，莫泊桑也全都不是。他只是一個觀察者，跟我一樣。當然他比我年長得多，見識更多，但我不覺得他在生活見聞上是我的前輩。透過他，我了解生活的一切。

impeccable [記憶法] [ɪm`pɛkəbl; im'pɛkəbl] 沒有缺點 [瑕疵] 的,完善的
hold [記憶法] [hold; hould] 把握力 have a hold on(對…有影響力)
discern [記憶法] [dɪ'sə:n] vt. 辨別, 看清楚, 瞭解 vi. 辨別, 看清楚, 瞭解 [法] 目睹, 認識, 洞悉
cunning [記憶法] [`kʌnɪŋ; 'kʌniŋ] 巧妙
delighted [記憶法] [dɪ`laɪtɪd; di'laitid] 歡喜的,高興的
reputation [記憶法] [ˌrɛpjə`tɛʃən; ˌrɛpju'tɛiʃn] 名聲,名譽
soothing [記憶法] <<形容詞>> 安慰的,撫慰的
gratifying [記憶法] 令人滿意的; 使人滿足的; 舒服的; 令人愉快的
fluke [記憶法] 僥倖
evocative [記憶法] [ɪ`vɑkətɪv, ɪ`vok-; i'vɔkətiv] 喚起的; 召喚的
inordinately [記憶法] ad. 紊亂地, 不規則地, 無限制地, 過分地, 無節制地, 放縱地, 過度地
vain [記憶法] [vɛn; vɛin] 自負的,虛榮心強的
wondrous [記憶法] [`wʌndrəs; 'wʌndrəs] 驚人的,令人驚奇的,不可思議的
seething [記憶法] 沸騰的
wit [記憶法] [wɪt; wit] 智慧
beguile [記憶法] [bɪ`gaɪl; bi'gail] <事物>迷住<人>,使…著迷
superior [記憶法] [sə`pɪrɪɚ, sʊ-; su:'piəriə, sə-] 前輩