It is here that I purposed to end my book. —
这是我打算结束书的地方。 —

My first idea was to begin it with the account of Strickland’s last years in Tahiti and with his horrible death, and then to go back and relate what I knew of his beginnings. —
我最初的想法是从史特里克兰在大溪地的最后几年以及他可怕的死亡开始，然后回溯讲述我所知道的他的起源。 —

This I meant to do, not from wilfulness, but because I wished to leave Strickland setting out with I know not what fancies in his lonely soul for the unknown islands which fired his imagination. —
我打算这样做，并不是出于任性，而是因为我希望留下史特里克兰出发时的情节，他充满幻想的孤独灵魂前往激发他想象力的未知岛屿。 —

I liked the picture of him starting at the age of forty-seven, when most men have already settled comfortably in a groove, for a new world. —
我喜欢他在47岁时开始启程的画面，当时大多数人已经安于舒适的生活中，开始进入新世界。 —

I saw him, the sea gray under the mistral and foam-flecked, watching the vanishing coast of France, which he was destined never to see again; —
我看见他，大风和风花皂白色的海面下，注视着法国正在消失的海岸，他注定再也看不到; —

and I thought there was something gallant in his bearing and dauntless in his soul. —
我觉得他的姿态英勇，灵魂无畏。 —

I wished so to end on a note of hope. It seemed to emphasise the unconquerable spirit of man. —
我希望如此乐观地结束。这似乎强调了人类不可战胜的精神。 —

But I could not manage it. Somehow I could not get into my story, and after trying once or twice I had to give it up; —
但我无法做到。不知怎么地，我无法进入我的故事，尝试了一两次后不得不放弃; —

I started from the beginning in the usual way, and made up my mind I could only tell what I knew of Strickland’s life in the order in which I learnt the facts.
我按照通常的方式从头开始，下定决心只能按我所知道的顺序讲述史特里克兰的生活。

Those that I have now are fragmentary. I am in the position of a biologist who from a single bone must reconstruct not only the appearance of an extinct animal, but its habits. —
我现在知道的只是一些片段。我像一个从一块骨头中必须重建出一种已灭绝动物的外观和习性的生物学家。 —

Strickland made no particular impression on the people who came in contact with him in Tahiti. —
史特里克兰没有给与他接触的人留下特别深刻的印象。 —

To them he was no more than a beach-comber in constant need of money, remarkable only for the peculiarity that he painted pictures which seemed to them absurd; —
对于他们来说，他不过是一个经常需要钱的潜水员，唯一引人注目的是他画的他们认为荒谬的画; —

and it was not till he had been dead for some years and agents came from the dealers in Paris and Berlin to look for any pictures which might still remain on the island, that they had any idea that among them had dwelt a man of consequence. —
直到他死了几年之后，代表来自巴黎和柏林的商家的人来到这个岛屿寻找可能仍然保存的画作，他们才意识到在他们中间居住过一个重要人物。 —

They remembered then that they could have bought for a song canvases which now were worth large sums, and they could not forgive themselves for the opportunity which had escaped them. —
他们当时记得他们本可以以极低的价格买到现在价值不菲的画作，他们无法原谅自己错失的机会。 —

There was a Jewish trader called Cohen, who had come by one of Strickland’s pictures in a singular way. —
有一个名叫科恩的犹太商人以一种独特的方式得到了史特里克兰的一幅画。 —

He was a little old Frenchman, with soft kind eyes and a pleasant smile, half trader and half seaman, who owned a cutter in which he wandered boldly among the Paumotus and the Marquesas, taking out trade goods and bringing back copra, shell, and pearls. —
他是一个年老的法国人，眼睛温和善良，面带微笑，同时也是商人和海员，拥有一艘快艇，勇敢地游历在帕摩图和马克萨斯之间，运送贸易货物，带回椰果、贝壳和珍珠。 —

I went to see him because I was told he had a large black pearl which he was willing to sell cheaply, and when I discovered that it was beyond my means I began to talk to him about Strickland. —
我去找他是因为有人告诉我他有一颗大黑珍珠愿意便宜卖，后来发现我买不起，便开始和他谈起了Strickland。 —

He had known him well.
他和Strickland相识甚深。

“You see, I was interested in him because he was a painter, ” he told me. —
“你看，我对他感兴趣是因为他是一个画家，”他告诉我。 —

“We don’t get many painters in the islands, and I was sorry for him because he was such a bad one. —
“在群岛中我们很少见到画家，我为他感到难过是因为他画得太糟糕了。 —

I gave him his first job. I had a plantation on the peninsula, and I wanted a white overseer. —
我给了他第一份工作。我在半岛上有一个庄园，需要一个白人监工。 —

You never get any work out of the natives unless you have a white man over them. I said to him: —
要不然本地人干不了活。我对他说： —

`You’ll have plenty of time for painting, and you can earn a bit of money. —
‘你会有足够的时间画画，而且你还能挣点钱。 —

’ I knew he was starving, but I offered him good wages. “
’我知道他挨饿了，但我给了他不错的工资。”

“I can’t imagine that he was a very satisfactory overseer, ” I said, smiling.
“我觉得他不太可能是一个令人满意的监工，”我笑着说。

“I made allowances. I have always had a sympathy for artists. It is in our blood, you know. —
“我对艺术家总是心存同情。这是我们的天性，你知道的。 —

But he only remained a few months. When he had enough money to buy paints and canvases he left me. —
但他只待了几个月。当他有足够的钱买颜料和画布时，他就离开了我。 —

The place had got hold of him by then, and he wanted to get away into the bush. —
那时候这个地方已经对他有了吸引力，他想要离开去丛林里。 —

But I continued to see him now and then. —
但我还是偶尔会见到他。 —

He would turn up in Papeete every few months and stay a little while; —
他每隔几个月就会出现在帕皮提，并待上一段时间；” —

he’d get money out of someone or other and then disappear again. —
他总是从某人那里借到钱，然后又消失了。 —

It was on one of these visits that he came to me and asked for the loan of two hundred francs. —
就在其中一次访问中，他来找我借了两百法郎。 —

He looked as if he hadn’t had a meal for a week, and I hadn’t the heart to refuse him. —
他看上去好像已经一个星期没吃饭了，我没忍心拒绝他。 —

Of course, I never expected to see my money again. —
当然，我从未指望能看到我的钱还回来。 —

Well, a year later he came to see me once more, and he brought a picture with him. —
嗯，一年后他又来看我一次，并带了一幅图片。 —

He did not mention the money he owed me, but he said: —
他没有提到他欠我的钱，但他说： —

`Here is a picture of your plantation that I’ve painted for you. ‘ I looked at it. —
“这是我为你画的一幅你的种植园的画。” 我看了看。 —

I did not know what to say, but of course I thanked him, and when he had gone away I showed it to my wife. “
我不知道说什么，但当然我还是谢过他，他走后我把它给妻子看。

“What was it like?” I asked.
“它是什么样子？” 我问。

“Do not ask me. I could not make head or tail of it. I never saw such a thing in my life. —
“别问我。我根本看不懂。我这辈子从没见过这种东西。 —

What shall we do with it?' I said to my wife.We can never hang it up, ’ she said. —
“我们要怎么处理？”我对妻子说。 “我们永远不能把它挂起来，”她说。 —

`People would laugh at us. ‘ So she took it into an attic and put it away with all sorts of rubbish, for my wife can never throw anything away. —
“人们会笑话我们的。” 所以她把它带到阁楼里和各种垃圾一起放着，因为我妻子永远舍不得扔掉任何东西。 —

It is her mania. Then, imagine to yourself, just before the war my brother wrote to me from Paris, and said: —
这是她的癖好。 然后，想象一下，就在战争爆发前，我哥从巴黎写信给我，说： —

`Do you know anything about an English painter who lived in Tahiti? —
“你知道在大溪地住过的英国画家吗？ —

It appears that he was a genius, and his pictures fetch large prices. —
据说他是天才，他的画卖得很高价格。 —

See if you can lay your hands on anything and send it to me. There’s money to be made. —
看看能不能找到什么东西送给我。有钱可赚。 —

’ So I said to my wife. `What about that picture that Strickland gave me?’ —
所以我对我妻子说：“那幅斯特里克兰给我的那幅画怎么样？” —

Is it possible that it is still in the attic?’ —
它还可能在阁楼里吗？ —

Without doubt, ' she answered, for you know that I never throw anything away. It is my mania. —
“毫无疑问，”她回答道，“因为你知道我从不扔任何东西。这是我的癖好。” —

’ We went up to the attic, and there, among I know not what rubbish that had been gathered during the thirty years we have inhabited that house, was the picture. —
我们上了阁楼，在那堆我不知道是在我们住了三十年的房子里积攒的垃圾当中，找到了那幅画。 —

I looked at it again, and I said: `Who would have thought that the overseer of my plantation on the peninsula, to whom I lent two hundred francs, had genius? —
我又看了看它，说：“谁会想到在半岛上我的庄园监督，向我借了两百法郎，竟有天赋呢？” —

Do you see anything in the picture?’ No, ' she said,it does not resemble the plantation and I have never seen cocoa-nuts with blue leaves; —
你能在画中看出什么吗？”“没有，”她说，“它不像庄园，我也从来没见过叶子是蓝色的椰子； —

but they are mad in Paris, and it may be that your brother will be able to sell it for the two hundred francs you lent Strickland. —
但在巴黎人们很疯狂，也许你的兄弟会把它卖了应你借给斯特里克兰的两百法郎。 —

’ Well, we packed it up and we sent it to my brother. And at last I received a letter from him. —
我们把它打包寄给了我兄弟。最后我收到了他的一封信。 —

What do you think he said? I received your picture, ' he said,and I confess I thought it was a joke that you had played on me. —
你猜他说了什么？“我收到了你的那幅画，”他说，“我承认我以为你在开玩笑。 —

I would not have given the cost of postage for the picture. —
邮费的钱我也不想花在这幅画上。 —

I was half afraid to show it to the gentleman who had spoken to me about it. —
我几乎害怕把它拿给曾跟我谈到这幅画的那位先生看。 —

Imagine my surprise when he said it was a masterpiece, and offered me thirty thousand francs. —
当他说这是一件杰作，并提出三万法郎的时候，想象一下我的惊讶。 —

I dare say he would have paid more, but frankly I was so taken aback that I lost my head; —
说实话，他也许会出更多，但坦率地说我那时太震惊以致失去了理智； —

I accepted the offer before I was able to collect myself. ‘”
在我冷静下来之前，我接受了这个交易。”

Then Monsieur Cohen said an admirable thing.
科恩先生说了一句了不起的话。

“I wish that poor Strickland had been still alive. —
“我希望可怜的斯特里克兰还活着。 —

I wonder what he would have said when I gave him twenty-nine thousand eight hundred francs for his picture. “
我想知道当我给他二万九千八百法郎买他的画时，他会说什么。”