Professor, this strange man then said, you must excuse the informality with
which I receive you, and the disorder reigning in this lounge.
教授,這個古怪人說,請您原諒我這樣毫不客氣地在這里接待您,請您原諒這所客廳亂七八糟的沒有秩序。
Sir, I replied, without prying into who you are, might I venture to
identify you as an artist?
船長,我并不想知道您是什么人,但我現(xiàn)在可以猜測您是一位藝術(shù)家吧?
A collector, sir, nothing more. Formerly I loved acquiring these beautiful
works created by the hand of man.
先生,我至多不過是一個業(yè)余愛好者。我從前喜歡收藏人類雙手創(chuàng)造出來的這些最美的作品。
I sought them greedily, ferreted them out tirelessly, and I've been able to
gather some objects of great value.
我當(dāng)時是一個熱烈的接觸,一個不倦的追求家,因此收集了一些價值很高的美術(shù)品。
They're my last mementos of those shores that are now dead for me.
這些東西是已經(jīng)死亡的陸地—對我來說—所留下的最后紀(jì)念品了。
In my eyes, your modern artists are already as old as the ancients.
在我看來,你們的那些近代的美術(shù)家也已經(jīng)是古代的了,
They've existed for 2,000 or 3,000 years, and I mix them up in my mind. The
masters are ageless.
他們都已經(jīng)有兩三千年了,所以在我心中,也不把他們分為古代的和現(xiàn)代的。名家大師是沒有時代的呀。
What about these composers?
這些音樂家又怎樣呢?
I said, pointing to sheet music by Weber, Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven,
Haydn, Meyerbeer, Herold, Wagner,
我指著韋伯、羅西尼、莫扎特、貝多芬、海頓、梅衣比爾。海羅爾、瓦格納、
Auber, Gounod, Victor Masse, and a number of others scattered over a full
size piano-organ, which occupied one of the wall panels in this lounge.
奧比、古諾以及其他許多人的樂譜說,這些樂譜雜亂地放在一座大型鋼琴上面,鋼琴占著客廳的一方格的地位。