(雙語)月亮和六便士 第48章(3)

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"You see, I was interested in him because he was a painter," he told me. "We don't get many painters in the islands, and I was sorry for him because he was such a bad one. I gave him his first job. I had a plantation on the peninsula, and I wanted a white overseer. You never get any work out of the natives unless you have a white man over them. I said to him: 'You'll have plenty of time for painting, and you can earn a bit of money.' I knew he was starving, but I offered him good wages."

“你知道，我對(duì)他感興趣是因?yàn)樗莻€(gè)畫家，”他對(duì)我說，“很少有畫家到我們這些島上來，我很可憐他，因?yàn)槲矣X得他畫的畫很蹩腳。他的頭一個(gè)工作就是我給他的。我在半島上有一個(gè)種植園，需要一個(gè)白人監(jiān)工。除非有個(gè)白人監(jiān)督著他們，這些土人是絕不肯給你干活的。我對(duì)他說：‘你有的是時(shí)間畫畫兒，你還可以掙點(diǎn)錢?！抑浪诎ゐI，但是我給他的工資很高?！?/p>

"I can't imagine that he was a very satisfactory overseer," I said, smiling.

“我想他不是一個(gè)令人滿意的監(jiān)工。”我笑著說。

"I made allowances. I have always had a sympathy for artists. It is in our blood, you know. But he only remained a few months. When he had enough money to buy paints and canvases he left me. The place had got hold of him by then, and he wanted to get away into the bush. But I continued to see him now and then. He would turn up in Papeete every few months and stay a little while; he'd get money out of someone or other and then disappear again. It was on one of these visits that he came to me and asked for the loan of two hundred francs. He looked as if he hadn't had a meal for a week, and I hadn't the heart to refuse him. Of course, I never expected to see my money again. Well, a year later he came to see me once more, and he brought a picture with him. He did not mention the money he owed me, but he said: 'Here is a picture of your plantation that I've painted for you.' I looked at it. 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."

“我對(duì)他的要求并不苛刻。我對(duì)藝術(shù)家總是同情的。我們一家人生來就是這樣，你知道。但是他只干了幾個(gè)月的活兒。等他攢夠了錢，能夠買油彩和畫布的時(shí)候，他就想離開這地方，跑到荒林里去。但是我還是經(jīng)常不斷地能見到他。每過幾個(gè)月他就到帕皮提來一次，待幾天；他會(huì)從隨便哪個(gè)人手里弄到點(diǎn)錢，于是又無影無蹤了。正是在他這樣一次訪問時(shí)，他到我家里來，要向我借兩百法郎。他的樣子象是一個(gè)禮拜沒吃一頓飽飯了，我不忍心拒絕他。當(dāng)然了，我知道這筆錢我絕不會(huì)再要回來了。你猜怎么著，一年以后，他又來看我了，帶著一幅畫。他沒提向我借錢的事，他只說：‘這是一幅你那座種植園的畫，是我給你畫的。’我看了看他的畫。我不知道該說什么。當(dāng)然了，我還是對(duì)他表示感謝。他走了以后，我把這幅畫拿給我的妻子看。”