Chapter 101 Volume Two (9)

"How can you say such a thing? You are fully aware that going out with you is my great pleasure." Finally, he made a sudden 180-degree turn. "Since we are walking together," she said to me, "why not take a walk on the other side of Balbec Bay, and we will have dinner together. How beautiful it is! In fact, the coast is much more beautiful over there. I am very happy." Anverville and all of it is beginning to tire, these lonely little places, all the same, always dark green." "But your aunt's friend will be angry if you don't visit her." "Ah Her anger will always go away." "No, it shouldn't be annoying." "However, she may not realize that she receives visitors every day; whether I go tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or a week later, or half a week later. Go in a month, no problem." "What about your girlfriends?" "They've dumped me enough. It'll be my turn." "But you suggest I go to the other side, there at nine o'clock There'll be no more trains after one hour." "Well, what a difficulty! Nine o'clock is just right. Besides, the question of returning should never get in the way. There will always be a carriage, a bicycle, and so on. There are still two feet." "Since you go, you will find it, Albertina! In the area of ​​Anverville, the groves are close together, really. But...the area , it’s not the same thing.” “Even if I go there, I’m sure I’ll be able to bring you back safely.” I felt that Albertine had given up what had been arranged for me, but she didn’t want to treat me To put it bluntly, this is bound to cause someone as much pain as I did just now.Seeing that what she wanted to do couldn't come true, because I insisted on being with her, she simply gave up.She knew things were not beyond repair.Because like all women who have multiple realities in life, she holds the unshakable foundation: suspicion and jealousy.Admittedly, she did not try to arouse suspicion and jealousy, in fact, quite the opposite.But lovers are often so suspicious, and quickly sniff out lies.Because of this, Albertine, who was no more decent than other women, knew from experience (without realizing that it was a feat of jealousy) that she would be able to reunite with the person she had left behind one night.The person whom she had abandoned for my sake grieved for it, loved her all the more for it (for reasons unknown to Albertine), and, in order to avoid further suffering, he would, like me, take the initiative to be with her. It's good to rebuild the old one.But I would neither cause pain nor trouble myself, much less go down the dreadful path of spying, spying, and spying on people endlessly. "No, Albertine, I don't want to spoil your pleasure, go to your lady in Anverville, or to the house of the man who pretends to be, it doesn't matter to me. I will not go with you." , the real reason is that you really don't want me to go, that you don't want to roam with me willingly, and the evidence is that you have contradicted yourself five times without realizing it." Poor Albertine feared the more serious contradictions of which she herself was unaware.She really didn't know what she was lying about: "I contradicted myself, it's possible. The sea breeze took all my sanity, and my mind was confused. I always confuse people's names and call this person Be that person." At this moment (which showed me that she no longer needed to say nice things to convince me of her), I listened to this confession, and felt a wound ache when, in fact, she I'm just guessing about the confession. "Well, come, I'll go," she said in a miserable tone, not forgetting to look at her watch to see if it was too late to call on that person, for I had now provided her with a Excuses for my shared evening hours. "You are wicked. I changed my whole plan in order to spend a wonderful evening with you, and you accused me of lying when you didn't like it. I have never seen you so cruel. The sea I'll collect the body. I'll never see you again. (Although I'm sure she'll be back the next day, and she is, my heart still beats so hard at this. ) I was buried in the sea, I threw myself into the sea." "Like Sappho." "And insult me; you doubt not only what I say, but what I do." "But, my little one, I am not Intentionally, I swear to you, you know that Sappho did throw himself into the sea." "Intentionally, of course, you don't trust me at all." Seeing that it was only twenty minutes before the hour on the clock, she worried So she chose the shortest way to say goodbye (she apologized when she came to see me the next day; that day, in all likelihood, the person was not free), shouted "Farewell", and ran quickly. Go, with a distraught look.Maybe she was really grieving.Although she knew that she was performing better than me at this time, and she was stricter and more tolerant to herself than I was to her in comparison, she might be really worried that she would leave me in such a way. From now on, I will never want to receive her again.However, I believe it was me she was attached to, making someone more jealous than me.

A few days later in Balbec, we were in the ballroom of the casino, and Bloch's sister and cousin came in. They were both very beautiful, but because of my girlfriends, I never said hello to them when I met them. The reason, as is known, was that the younger cousin had been living with the actress whom she had befriended during my first stay.Insinuating at this, Andrea said to me in a low voice: "Oh! I agree with Albertine on this matter, and there is nothing that disgusts us both so much." As for Albertine, She was sitting on the couch with me at the time, and was about to start a conversation with me, when she saw the two immoral girls, she turned away immediately.However, I noticed that when Miss Bullock and her cousin appeared, before my girlfriend turned around, there flashed in her eyes the fierce and deep attention that often gives love The face of the mischievous girl added a serious, even dignified expression, which turned into a delicate and sad one.But Albertine immediately cast her gaze at me, still fixed and bewildered.Mademoiselle Bloch and her cousin giggled and, after some inappropriate yelling, finally left, and I asked Albertina if the fair-haired girl (friend of the actress) had been at the parade the day before. The one who won the prize. "Ah! I don't know," replied Albertine, "is there one with fair hair? Let me tell you, I don't care much for them. I never look at either of them. There is one with fair hair." of?" She asked her three girlfriends in an inquiring and detached manner?No matter who she met on the seawall every day, Albertina always looked carefully at them, but now she was so ignorant, it was too much, it could not be just pretending. "They don't seem to think much of us," I said to Albertine.I say this, perhaps on the assumption, but not consciously at the time, that if Albertine loved women, my purpose was to relieve her of all regrets, to show her that she had not attracted the attention of the two women, Therefore, generally speaking, even the most wicked woman should not have the idea of ​​a young girl who has never met. "They didn't look at us either?" she retorted casually, "but they kept looking." "You can't know," I said to her, "that you're behind their backs." "Well, and this What?" She answered me, pointing to me a big mirror embedded in the wall opposite us, before that, I really didn't realize, through this mirror, now I finally understand that when my girlfriend talks to me, Why do you always keep condensing her two beautiful eyes of anxiety.

From the day Godard and I stepped into the little entertainment in Angerville, although I did not agree with his high opinions, in my eyes, Albertina was no longer the same Albertina as before; When I saw her, my heart was on fire.I myself have changed entirely, just as she has become a different person to me.I no longer sincerely wish her well; I taunt her in front of her, and hurt her with insults, even if she is not there, as long as it can reach her ears, I will not let it go.However, there are also times of truce.One day I learned that Albertine and André had both accepted the Elstir's invitation.I rushed to the Elstir house by surprise, but I never expected that they would be like the students returning from school, unscrupulously making fun of the misbehaving girls on the way back, and getting the girls' kindness from it. I did not disclose my painful and unspoken pleasures in advance, for fear that I would interfere with them and deprive Albertine of the joy she hoped for.At Elstier's I found only Andre.It turned out that Albertine had chosen another day, on which her aunt might also be going to the Elstir house.So, I was thinking, Godard was probably wrong, only Andre was present, and his girlfriend was not around, which prompted me to have a good impression, and it continued to deepen, and I had a warmer feeling for Albertina in my heart. emotion.However, the goodwill didn't last long, just like a frail person with a weak constitution.The days of health will not last long, and as soon as I have a headache, I will fall ill again.Albertine always induced André to take part in some social games, not particularly excessive, but perhaps not entirely harmless;But just after calming down, the paranoia relapsed in another form.I have just noticed that André, with his peculiar grace, tenderly rests his head on Albertine's shoulder, and kisses her neck with half-closed eyes; I saw the two of them go swimming in the sea with my own eyes, and I accidentally said something. These are trivial things, just like the countless bacteria floating in the surrounding air. People absorb them every day, but they are harmless to health and temperament. It does not make it worse, but for those who are naturally susceptible to infection, it is a causative factor, a source of pain.Sometimes, even if I didn't see Albertina, and no one mentioned her to me, I often recalled Albertine's posture leaning against Chiesel. At that time, I felt that this posture was innocent But now, it is enough to disturb the peace of my heart that has been restored, and I don't even need to go outdoors to breathe harmful germs, just like Godard said, self-poisoning.And so I remembered what I had heard about Swann's love for Odette and how he had been played with all his life.To be honest, if I say that I am willing to recall these things, it is because of memories, because the introduction of others alone, and my stubborn opinion on Mrs. Swann's character have created various assumptions, which gradually led me to assemble Alberti. Na's whole character, a painful interpretation of the phases of the man's life beyond my control.All kinds of rumors from other people played a role in fueling the waves, so that in the days to come, my imagination was always assumed to have the upper hand, and I guessed that Albertine was not a good girl, and she might be no different from the former whore. Morality is used to cheating, and at the same time, I often imagine how painful the fate that awaits me will be if I really fall in love with her.

One day, when we were meeting on the seawall in front of the Grand Hotel, I made a very harsh and hurtful phone call to Albertine, and Rosemond immediately said: "Ah! You have changed to her." , In the past, everything was for her, she led you away, but now, she is not worthy to be thrown to the dogs." At that time, in order to highlight my attitude towards Albertina, I tried every means to please Andre, Even if she shared the same vice, that seemed to me easier to forgive, for when we found two fine horses, drawing Madame de Cambremer's carriage, appearing at a gallop where we were. On the right-angled road at the corner of the seawall, Andre's expression was painful and melancholy.At this moment, the chief president of the court was walking towards us, but as soon as he recognized the carriage, he jumped out of the way so that no one in our circle could see him; He took off his hat and bowed respectfully.However, the carriage did not continue to drive towards "Sea Street" as it did at the beginning, but disappeared behind the hotel's gate.After a full ten minutes, the elevator driver, out of breath, came to report to me: it was the Marchioness of Camembert who came here to visit Mr.I went upstairs to your room and then to the reading room, but I couldn't find Mr.Fortunately, I was extra careful and looked towards the beach. "As soon as he finished speaking, the Marchioness came towards me, followed by her daughter-in-law and a very polite gentleman. She was probably watching a matinee or attending a tea party nearby. Then I stopped by to take a look, and saw that her waist was bowed, although it was caused by the burden of aging, it was also because of the countless luxurious accessories on her body. She thought that she was full of beautiful things, which made her look cute and more in line with her identity. Since I came to visit people, I had to look as "dressed" as possible. In short, people from the Cambremer family often appeared in hotels "out of the blue". Dan knew that we might be going to Balbec. Mamma used to laugh at this needless worry, thinking that nothing serious could happen. But there was trouble, but in other ways, and Legrandin had nothing to do with it. connection.

"Can I stay if I don't bother you?" Albertine asked me (I ignored the tears in her eyes from what I had just said to her harshly, but not gleefully. ), "I have something to talk to you about." A feather hat with a sapphire brooch pinned to the top was casually placed on Mrs. de Cambremer's wig, like a symbol, showing off is essential, but But it looked pretentious, and it didn't matter where it was placed, in a word, its elegance was purely a matter of custom, but it was superfluous for the hat to sit there still.In spite of the sweltering heat, the amiable lady wore a short cloak, as black as jet, and a long ermine shawl, which seemed not to be adapted to the heat of the day, but to the character of propriety.Madame de Cambremer also wears a baroness coat of arms on her breast, attached to a chain.Hanging as if with a crucifix on his chest.The gentleman, a well-known lawyer in Paris, of a distinguished family, came to stay three days at the Cambremer house.He is the type of person who is an expert in his profession, so that he looks down on his profession, for example, they will say: "I know I defend well, but because of this, I feel that defense is no longer interesting"; or Will say: "I have no interest in doing this; I know I have done a good job." They are naturally intelligent, full of artistic appreciation, just in the prime of life, successful, rich, and see themselves shining with "smart" nature And "artist" temperament, and recognized by peers, this nature and temperament also endowed them with a certain taste and appreciation.They love paintings, but what they love is not the masterpieces of really great artists, but the works of high-profile artists, and they do not hesitate to spend a lot of money to buy the paintings of the latter.Le Cidane was the artist that Cambremer's friend liked, and besides, he was very pleasant.He talked eloquently about books, not about the works of veritable masters, but about the works of self-appointed masters.The bibliophile has only one annoying defect, and that is that he often uses certain ready-made expressions, such as "for the most part", etc., which give the impression that what he intends to express is large and incomplete.Madame de Cambremer told me that she had come to visit me on the occasion of a matinee concert given by friends near Balbec, in order to fulfill the promise she had made to Robert de Saint-Loup. "You know, he will definitely be here for a few days soon. His uncle Charlus is on vacation at the residence of his cousin, the Duchess of Luxembourg, and M. de Saint-Loup will take the opportunity to say hello to his aunt and to see him at the same time. The unit he was in, when he was on the team, he was well-liked and respected. We used to have officers and they always spoke highly of him when they told us about him. If only you two could come to Fedina and cheer us on , that would be great." I introduced Albertine and her friend to her.Madame de Cambremer told her daughter-in-law our names.The little daughter-in-law has always been icy cold towards the little nobles who have to deal with around Fedina, lest she will lose face with them, but she is uncharacteristically towards me, and stretches out her hand to me with a smile, as if facing Robert de Saint As a friend of Lou, she is at ease and happy; she seems to be good at socializing, but the hidden de Saint-Loup has already revealed to her that I have a close relationship with the Gelmont family.In this way, Madame de Cambremer, on the contrary to her mother-in-law, has two different etiquettes.If I met her through her brother Legrandin, the former attitude towards me is more than enough, cold and unbearable; but towards the relatives and friends of the Gelmont family, she is afraid that she will not smile enough. .The most suitable place in the hotel to receive visitors is the reading room. This place was so terrible in the past. Now, I come and go as much as ten times a day, and I can come and go freely, like a master, just like those who are still ill. Seriously insane people were locked up in the asylum for a long time, and over time, the doctor gave them the key to the door.For this reason, I offered to Mrs. de Cambremer to take her to the reading room.As the place no longer aroused my timidity, so for me its charms were gone, things changed like faces.I felt at ease when I made this suggestion to her.But she declined, preferring to stay outside, so we all sat out on the terrace of the hotel.I found a book by Madame de Sevigny on the terrace, and put it away carefully. It must have been taken away by my mother when she heard that I was being visited.My mother, like my grandmother, was terrified of such a swarm of outsiders, worried that she would be surrounded and never get out, and would often run away in a hurry, making my father and me laugh at her.Madame de Cambremer held the handle of a parasol, from which were hung several embroidered bags, one a utility bag, the other a gold purse with strands of pomegranate thread hanging from it, and a handkerchief.I thought it better for her to put them on the chair; but I also felt that it would be indecent and useless to ask her to give up these ornaments which she carried with her on her rounds of the country and holy society.We stared at the calm sea, where seagulls were flying, densely packed like white flower crowns.As social schmoozing and the desire to please bring us down to mediocre "alto" levels, we tend to be liked not by virtue of our own superior qualities, but by our belief that we deserve to be appreciated by those around us , so as to please me, so I naturally began to talk to Madame de Cambremer, born of the Legrandin family, probably in the same way as her brother.I said of the seagulls: "They are as motionless and white as water lilies." Indeed, the gulls seemed to offer the rippled wave a lifeless target to manipulate, so that the wave fell flat on the continuous undulations. In , it is in stark contrast to the seagull, and it seems that it has gained vitality under the impetus of a certain kindness.The marquise, who has the inheritance of her deceased husband, tirelessly praised the beautiful sea view we enjoyed in Balbec, and envied me, saying that she was in Raspreier (but she did not live there this year), and Weiji's eyes Overlooking, just now you can see the waves.She has two distinctive habits, both related to her love of art (especially music) and her lack of teeth.Whenever she talks about aesthetics, her salivary glands are like some animals in estrus, and then enter the peak secretion period, just like a toothless old woman, dripping saliva from the corners of her lips with slightly thin whiskers, which is really out of place.She let out a long hiss quickly, and swallowed again, as if to continue breathing.If it was music of unusual beauty, she would raise her arms in ecstasy and judge aloud, cadenced, sonorous, and twanging nasally if necessary.However, I never dreamed that the unremarkable Balbec Beach could really provide a "sea view". Mrs. de Cambremer's ordinary words actually changed my view on this aspect.I turned to her and said that I have often heard people admire the incomparable view of the blue sea at Las Pulières. , through the entire row of glass windows, one can see the sea covered by green branches at the end of the garden, and even Balbeck Beach can be seen as far as the eye can see, while another row of window glass faces the valley far away. "Thank you for your praise: the sea in the greenery. It's so charming, it looks... like a fan." From her deep breath, which was designed to swallow saliva and dry her mustache, I Feel that her compliments are sincere.But the Marquise, who was born in the Legrandin family, was always cold, not to express contempt for what I said, but to sneer at what her mother-in-law said.Besides, she not only despised her mother-in-law's shrewdness, but deplored her gallantry, always fearing that the Compbremers were not well known. "How beautiful the place-names are," I said, "and I would like to know the history of all these place-names." "I can tell you about Raspree," the old woman replied gently, "that is from my ancestors." A house, belonged to my grandmother Arashby's family, her family is not very prominent, but it is a long-standing and respectable family in the provinces." "Why, not very prominent?" Her daughter-in-law interrupted her abruptly. "There is a large pane of glass in Bayeux Cathedral with the family's coat of arms painted throughout, and the central church in Avranches displays their memorabilia. If you are interested in these ancient names," she went on, "It is a pity that you are a year late. Despite the difficulties of redesignating a parish, we have managed to have a dean in the parish of Creek Doben, in the district of which I own land, It was at Combray, a long way from here, and the abbot's stay in Clicter was slowly weakening his nerves. Unfortunately, he was old and the air of the sea had no effect; his neurasthenia was getting worse. It got worse and worse, and finally came back to Combray. However, when he was our neighbor, he used to look up the old deeds and certificates, read everything, and had a lot of fun. Later, he wrote a book on the history of the place names in this area. Strange pamphlet. Besides, it fascinated him, and it is said that he devoted his last years to writing a great book on Combray and the adjoining regions. I will send you the pamphlet on the Fedina district when I get back. You sent it. It is really the result of painstaking and painstaking research. In it, you can read some very interesting things about our old house in Raspreier, my mother-in-law is too modest." "Never mind Well, this year," replied Madame de Cambremer, who was the owner of her deceased husband's estate, "Raspreère is no longer ours, it is not mine. I feel that you have a talent for painting, and you It’s time to paint, how I want to show you the view of Fedina, it is more beautiful than Raspley.” The reason is very clear, since the Cambremers rented Raspley to Verdurin After returning home, the condescending terrain of Chateau Raspleier suddenly lost the place it had occupied in their minds for many years, and no longer had the unique advantages of the local area—the sea and the valley can be seen at the same time, and suddenly—— —after renting out—it caused them a lot of trouble. To get in and out of Raspree, you have to go up and down the mountain, which is extremely inconvenient.In short, it seems that Madame de Cambremer rented out Raspleier not to increase her income, but simply to give her horses a rest.She forgot that she had lived in Fedina for two months before, and often lamented that she had to climb to the top of the mountain to see the sea for a long time, and it looked like a moving picture. By the side, you can watch it to your heart's content, and I am so happy. "I've only discovered the sea at this age," she used to say, "what a joy! It's done me so much good! I would have rented Raspberry for nothing to force myself to live in Fedina. Ah."

-------- ①The original text is Camembert, which is the name of a cheese. The elevator driver's pronunciation is very bad, and it is confused with cambremer (Cambremer). "Let's talk about something interesting," resumed Legrandin's sister, who at first called the old Marchioness "my mother-in-law," but who, as time went on, became presumptuous towards her. "You mentioned water lilies just now: I think you must know the water lilies painted by Claude Monet. What a genius! I am particularly interested in this, because it is near Combray, which I just told you about my estate The place where..." But she hesitated, and it was better not to say more about Combray. "Ah! It must be the set of paintings that Elstir, the greatest painter of our time, told us," exclaimed Albertina, who had been silent all the time.Mrs. de Cambremer took a deep breath, swallowed another mouthful of saliva, and said loudly: "Ah! It can be seen that Mademoiselle loves art." The lawyer looked like an expert, and said with a smile: "Miss , please allow me to prefer Le Cidane to Elstier." After all, he seems to have admired or seen to be appreciated some of Elstier's "bold attempts", Then he said: "Elstier is very talented, he can even be said to be an avant-garde, but I really don't know why he gave up halfway, he, he ruined his life." About Elstier, De. Mrs. Cambremer felt that the lawyer had a point, but she compared Monet with Le Cidane, which made her guest very sad.Call her stupid, I can't; but she's too shrewd, and I feel it's useless to me.At this time, the sun was setting, and the seagulls were covered in yellow, just like the water lilies in another oil painting in the same series of paintings by Monet.I said that I was familiar with the painting (I continued to imitate the brother's language, so far I have not dared to name him), and added that it was a coincidence that she did not expect to come the day before Here, otherwise at the same time, she would have been lucky enough to appreciate the brilliance of Poussin's pen.If standing in front of her was a Norman squire who was not familiar with the Gelmont family at all, and the squire had clearly stated that she should have come here the day before, Mrs. de Cambremer-Le Grandin would have will fly into a rage.But, if I am more presumptuous, she is as sweet as honey, and mellow; in the warm atmosphere of this wonderful evening, I can do whatever I want, in this big honey cake so rarely offered by Madame de Cambremer Gathering honey in the middle of the day, this pastry of hers was a perfect substitute for the small cakes I hadn't thought of offering to entertain guests.However, although the name Poussin did not hurt the politeness of this high-class lady, it aroused the protest of this madam who loved painting art.Upon hearing the name, she smacked her lips six times with her tongue almost without a break. The smacking sound was originally intended to warn the child, to signal to the child that he was doing something stupid, and to signal that she was doing something stupid. When blaming your child for what you did, recidivism is strictly prohibited. "My God, among the talented painters like Monet, don't mention such a talentless antique like Poussin. I will make no secret of you. I think he is a vulgar and annoying fellow. Whether you Anyway, I can't call that thing a painting anyway. Monet, Degas, Manet, yes, these are painters! It's very strange," she continued, her inquiring and joyful eyes fixed Staring intently at a point in the sky, he seemed to catch a glimpse of his own thoughts there. "It's very strange. In the past, I liked Manet better. But now, although I still admire Manet, which is good, I think I may like Monet even more. Ah! The cathedral!" She said nothing. Without scruples, but also courteously, she introduced to me the process of her emotional development.It can be felt that the importance of several processes in the development of her aesthetic taste is no less important than the evolution of Monet's different painting styles in her own opinion.However, I have nothing to boast about because she disclosed to me the object of her admiration, because even in the presence of a dull provincial woman, she would not be able to restrain her inner desire for five minutes. The other party confessed.A lady in Avranches, who could not even tell Mozart and Wattner apart, said in front of Mrs. de Cambremer: "During our stay in Paris, we did not encounter anything interesting and new. I went to the Opera Comique, and they played "Pleyas and Mélisande", which is very bad." When Madame de Cambremer heard this, she was so angry that she couldn't help shouting: " On the contrary, it is a small masterpiece." Immediately afterwards, the "argument" began.It may be a Combray habit, learned from my grandmother's sisters, who euphemistically called this behavior "fighting for a good cause", and they especially liked to participate in dinner parties, because They know that at the dinner party, there will be a weekly struggle to defend their God against uneducated philistines.Madame de Cambremer is just like that, very "excited", and often "disputes in the face" over artistic issues, just as other people argue endlessly over political issues.If she defended Debussy, it was almost as if she was defending a girlfriend whose behavior was accused of behavior.But she should have understood that once she said, "Oh no, that's a little masterpiece," she couldn't talk about art and culture in the house of her rehabilitated girlfriend. The whole development process, otherwise, the two of them would have agreed on it without arguing. "I must ask Le Cidane what he thinks of Poussin," said the lawyer to me. "He is reserved and taciturn, but I will be able to elicit his thoughts skillfully."

"Besides," continued Madame de Cambremer, "I hate sunsets, which are romantic and too dramatic. That's why I hate my mother-in-law's house, and those southern plants. Look, it looks like a Monte Carlo garden. That's why I like your side better. It's darker and more real; It's raining, it's muddy, it's terrible. Like in Venice, I don't like the Grand Canal; I don't think there's anything more fascinating than the water in a small river. Besides, it's an environmental issue." "However," I said to her, feeling that the only way to restore Poussin's place in Madame de Cambremer's heart was to tell her that Poussin was in fashion again: "Mr. Degas affirms that the world has never seen It is more beautiful than Poussin de Chantilly." "Really? I am not an expert in de Chantilly's paintings," replied Madame de Cambremer, who did not want to hold on to Degas. Opposite view. "But I can say that those paintings he exhibited in the Louvre are all failures." "Degas also admired those paintings very much." "I have to look at those paintings again. It's been a long time, my brain I am not impressed." After a moment's silence, she answered me, as if she must soon appreciate Poussin, and that this change of opinion should not depend on what I have just told her, but on her intentions. Carry out a rigorous and conclusive supplementary appraisal of Poussin's paintings in the Louvre Museum, so that I can finally revise my opinion.

Although she has not yet expressed her appreciation for Poussin, the topic has been postponed until the next time. It can be seen that this is the beginning of retreat.代纳的花卉如何如何美。她口吻谦逊，谈起了她房后本堂神甫的那个小巧玲珑的花园，清晨，她身著晨衣，推门步入花园，给孔雀喂食，寻觅生下的蛋儿，采摘百日草花或玫瑰花，用来给奶油蛋或油炸菜肴的四周点缀成一道花栅，放置在狭长的桌布上，令人想起花园里的通幽曲径。 “确实，我们有的是玫瑰花，”她对我说，“我们家的玫瑰花圃靠住宅都有点儿太近了，有些天不那么叫人头晕。”我朝她媳妇转过身子，为满足她现代派的情趣，对她说道：“真是一部名副其实的《普莱雅斯》，那玫瑰花香飘至楼座。乐曲中弥漫的芳香是那么浓烈，我本来就对花粉和玫瑰过敏，每当我听到这场戏，就呛得我直打喷嚏。” “《普莱雅斯》，多么伟大的杰作！”德·康布尔梅夫人高声赞叹，“我对它如痴如醉。”说罢，她向我靠近，手舞足蹈，俨然一位野女人想对我大献媚态，舞弄着十指，想捕捉住臆想中的音符，并哼起什么玩艺儿来，我猜想恐怕就是她想象的普莱雅斯告别的那段唱吧，她一直往下唱，感情始终那么热烈奔放，仿佛此时此刻，德·康布尔梅夫人勾起了我对这场戏的回忆，这举足轻重，或许更是为了向我显示她对此记忆犹新。“我觉得这都剧比《巴西法尔》还更美，”她又添了一句，“因为《巴西法尔》中，极为精彩的美妙乐章交织着某种朦朦胧胧的旋律性短句，正因为是旋律性的，所以过时了。”我转而对老太太说：“我知道您是位伟大的音乐家，夫人，我多么希望听听您的高见。”德·康布尔梅—勒格朗丹夫人看着大海，故意避开对话。她认为婆婆喜爱的并非音乐，婆婆那受到普遍赞誉、事实上也出类拔萃的音乐才华，依她看只不过是所谓的才华而已，是毫无实际意义的卖弄技巧。确实，肖邦的弟子就她一人还活在人世了，她有充足的理由断言，通过她，大师的演奏技巧及“情感”只传达给了德·康布尔梅夫人；可是，对勒格朗丹的妹妹来说，演奏酷似肖邦，这远不成其为一种证据，因为她本人最蔑视的莫过于这位波兰音乐家了。“噢！它们飞起来了。”阿尔贝蒂娜向我指着海鸥，大声嚷叫，海鸥一时摆脱了它们花的隐蔽身份。一齐冲太阳飞去。“它们的巨翼阻碍了它们飞行。”德·康布尔梅夫人说道，显然把海鸥与信天翁混为一谈了。“我十分喜爱它们，我在阿姆斯特丹常见到海鸥。”阿尔贝蒂娜说，“它们对大海的气味感觉灵敏，甚至透过街上的路石都闻得出来。”“啊！您去过荷兰，您熟悉弗美尔家族吗？”德·康布尔梅夫人冲动地问道，那腔调仿佛在问：“你熟悉盖尔芒特家族吗？”因为附庸风雅，往往是换了对象而不换腔调。阿尔贝蒂娜说不认识：她准以为那些人还健在。可表面没有流露出来。“我要是为您弹奏音乐，将非常高兴。”德·康布尔梅夫人对我说，“可您知道，我弹奏的尽是你们这一代再也不感兴趣的东西。我上学时肖邦可受崇拜了。”说这句话时，她放低了声音，因为她害怕媳妇，知道儿媳认为肖邦算不上什么音乐，所以其作品演奏得好坏都毫无意义。儿媳承认婆婆不乏演奏技巧，经过音群弹奏得均匀而清晰。“可永远别想从我嘴里说出她是一个音乐家。”德·康布尔梅—勒格朗丹夫人一锤定音道。原因是她自以为“先进”，而且（唯在艺术方面）“从不过左”，她不仅设想音乐在发展，而且觉得它只是顺着一条线发展，德彪西在某种意义上说是个“超瓦格纳”，比瓦格纳更先进一些。她并意识不到，如果说德彪西并不象她几年后可能会认为的那样，独立于瓦格纳，因为不管怎样，人们总要利用已到手的武器，以最终摆脱暂时失败的境地，那么，当人们对那些无所不包、淋漓尽致的作品开始腻烦之后，他便会想方设法，以满足相反的需要。当然，有的理论暂时为这种反应提供依据，就象某些政治理论，以法律为依托，反对宗教团体，反对东方的战争（反自然教育、黄祸等等）。人们常说，简练的艺术适应于高速发展的时代，就好比人们常说，未来的战争不可能持续半个月，或者随着铁道的发展，靠公共马车沟通联系的穷乡僻壤将受冷落，需要汽车致力于这些地区的振兴云云。人们常常提醒，不要搞疲了听众的注意力，仿佛我们没有广泛的兴趣，全仰仗艺术家来启发最高度的注意力。殊不知有些人读一篇平庸的文章，不到十行就累得打呵欠，但每年却要去拜罗伊特，听四联剧。再说，迟早有一天会宣告，德彪西的地位与马斯内①一样岌岌可危，《梅莉桑特》引起的震动也将烟消云散，沦落到《曼侬》同样的地步。因为各种学派就象细菌与血球，自相残杀，以斗争来保证自己生命的持续。不过，这一天尚未到来。

-------- ①马斯内（1842—1912），法国著名歌剧作曲家，《曼侬》为其代表作。 犹如在证券交易所，上涨趋势一发生，所有持票人都想趁机捞一把，同样，部分受人蔑视的作者利用逆反心理，因祸得福，或许因为他们本来就不该受到歧视，抑或很简单，是他们存心招惹鄙视——宣扬这些人，可以说是一种新鲜事儿。人们甚至不惜在某段孤立的历史中，寻觅若干不循规蹈矩、富有才华的艺术家，现时的发展趋势对其声誉似乎不会有多少影响，但总有那么一位大师顺带提起他们的名字，表示赞许。遇到此类情形，十有八九是因为这位大师，不管他是何人，也不管他的学派如何唯我独尊，总是以自己独特的情感作出判断，唯才是爱，给予富有才智的人才以正确的评价，即使才气不足，只要他过去曾尝过甜头，与他青少年时代一段爱好有关，他也照样给予好评。此外，便是因为某些属于另一个时代的艺术家，在一首普通的乐曲中，道破了与大师不谋而合的某种极相似的东西，大师渐渐领悟到了。于是乎，大师便将古人视作先驱，来一个彻底的改头换面，喜欢在自己的作品中作出与前人一时一地亲如手足的努力。正因为如此，普桑的作品竟有透纳的手笔，孟德斯鸠的著作会有福楼拜的词句。偶尔，大师偏爱的议论是一种将错就错，人们弄不清此错源于何处，但却传播到学派中来了。被列举的名字因此挂上了这一学派的招牌，适时处于其保护伞之下，因为在选择大师方面，即使有某种自由的、真正的鉴赏力而言，但学派本身只接受理论的指导。正是这样，思维惯于按偏离方向发展，忽而转向一个方向，忽而又转向相反的方向，将上天的光芒洒向某一数量的作品，也许出于正确评价的需要，也可能为了标新立异，或许其审美情趣起了作用，也可能因为一时心血来潮，德彪西在这些作品中掺入了肖邦的成份。这些作品一旦受到绝对令人信赖的鉴赏家的推崇，赢得了《普莱雅斯》带来的普遍赞誉，便重放异彩，那些尚未重听的人们，一个个多么渴望能喜欢上这些作品，以至于身不由己地再次去听，尽管给人以心甘情愿的假象。但是，德·康布尔梅—勒格朗丹夫人一年中有一部分时间待在外省。即使在巴黎，因身体有病，也往往闭门不出，确实，由此而造成了某些麻烦，明显表现在德·康布尔梅夫人选择用语上，她自认为自己说得很时髦，可实际上她所选择的用语更适合于书面运用，两者的细微差异，她体味不出，因为这些用语往往是她阅读偶得，而不是从交谈中学到的。不过，交谈对准确了解人们的主张和时兴的用语而言，其必要性并不相同。然而，异彩焕发。对此，评论界尚未公开宣告。其消息仅通过“年轻人”的闲谈传播开来。德·康布尔梅—勒格朗丹对此一无所知。我以向她传播消息为乐事，但却对着她婆婆说话，就象玩台球，要想击中球，得借助台边的弹力。为此，我告诉她婆婆，肖邦不仅远远没有过时，反而是德彪西宠爱的音乐家。“嗨，真有趣。”媳妇妙不可言地微微一笑，对我说道，仿佛这不过是《普莱雅斯》的作者推出的反常现象。不过，现在完全可以断定，从此之后，她对肖邦的作品将洗耳恭听，甚至满怀愉悦。因此，我刚才这番话为老太太吹响了解放的号角，在她的脸庞上重新反映出对我表示感激的表情，尤其是欣喜的神情。她的双眼闪闪发亮，犹如名为《拉迪德》或《三十五载囚徒生活》一剧中的拉迪德；她敞开胸脯，深深地呼吸大海的空气，好似在《菲德利奥》一剧中，当囚徒们终于呼吸到“富有生机的空气”的时刻，那胸脯扩张的形象，贝多芬表现得惟妙惟肖。我以为她就要把长有细须的嘴唇贴到我的脸颊上。“怎么，您喜欢肖邦？嗬，他喜欢肖邦，他喜欢肖邦。”她高声嚷叫起来，激动得鼻子齉齉作响，那语气就象在询问：“怎么，您也熟悉德·弗朗克多夫人？”所不同的是，我与德·弗朗克多夫人的关系对她来说可能毫不相干，可我对肖邦的了解却把她抛入如痴如狂的艺术境界。唾液的超量分泌也不足以表达。她甚至没有费心体会一下德彪西对肖邦的再创造所起的作用，只是感觉到我作出的是赞许的评价。音乐的激情左右了她。“埃洛迪！埃洛迪！他喜欢肖邦。”她胸脯高高鼓起，双臂在空中乱舞。“啊！我早就感觉到您富有音乐天赋。”她赞叹道。“我完全明白，象，象您这样一位艺术家，肯定喜爱音乐。多美妙啊！”她声音中仿佛夹杂着沙砾，沙沙作响，似乎为了效仿德谟斯梯尼，向我表达她对肖邦的强烈感情，不惜用满滩卵石填装自己的嘴巴。潮水一直冲到了她未及时保护的短面纱，面纱湿了，潮水也终于落了，侯爵夫人这才用绣花手绢揩净了白花花的唾沫，刚才由于回忆起肖邦，那唾沫浸透了她满唇浓汗毛。

“我的上帝，”德·康布尔梅—勒格朗丹夫人对我说，“我觉得我婆婆耽搁得太久了点，她忘了我们还要到我叔父德谢·努维尔家用晚餐呢。再说，康康不喜欢久等。”康康把我弄糊涂了，我还以为是只狗呢。可对德谢·努维尔的亲朋好友来说，自然不成问题。随着年龄的增大，年轻的侯爵夫人以如此音调称呼他们尊贵的姓氏的乐趣减少了。不过，当初正是为了品尝个中的乐趣，她才下决心成了这门婚事，在其他社交圈子里，若提及德·谢努维尔家族，习惯上往往（除非贵族姓氏的表示词“德”前面为元音结尾的词，因为在相反情况下，必须将重音落在“德”字上，语言中不允许不加停顿，出现类似德谢努梭夫人的称呼法）牺牲“德”字后面的停顿。人们常称呼：“德谢努维尔先生。”在康布尔梅家族，遵循的是相反的传统，但同样不可违反。被取消的是“德”与谢努维尔之间的停顿。无论姓氏前涉及的是我表兄还是我表妹的名字，也总是称德谢·努维尔，而从不叫德·谢努维尔。（对谢努维尔家族的长者，人们常称“我们的叔父”，因为在费代纳，大家还没有时髦到象盖尔芒特家族那样称“叔子”的程度，盖尔芒特家族的人称呼别人时存心含糊不清，不是省了这个音，就是吃了这个音，外国人的姓名一律本国化，与古法语或现代方言一样令人莫名其妙。）凡进入这一家族的人，在德谢·努维尔这一称呼方式上，都马上会得到提醒，而勒格朗丹—康布尔梅小姐却用不着谁来提醒。有一天，她去做客，听到一位少女说“我姨娘德·于塞”、“我叔父德·罗安”什么的，当时没有很快明白过来这原来是些显赫的姓氏，平常，她把这两个姓习惯发成：于塞斯和罗昂。她为此感到惊诧，尴尬和羞辱，就好象有人发现面前的餐桌上摆着一件新发明的器具，不知如何使用，迟迟不敢动手用餐。可是，第二天夜里和后来的日子里，她便鹦鹉学舌，欣喜地喊叫“我姨妈德·于塞”，把结尾的“斯”字给吃掉了，而这正是她在前一天感到惊诧不已的，可现在，若连这也不了解，那在她看来该又多俗气，以致当她的一位女友跟她谈及德·于塞斯公爵夫人的半身雕像时，勒格朗丹小姐马上沉下脸来，声调傲慢地冲着对方道：“您起码总可以把音发准吧：德·于塞夫人。”此后，她茅塞顿开，明白了无论是将实实在在的物质转化为愈来愈微妙的元素，还是她体体面面从父亲那儿继承下来的万贯家财，或是她在索邦刻苦攻读，在加罗的课上也好，从师布吕纳蒂埃也罢，在拉穆勒音乐会上也同样，始终勤奋治学，从而获得的全面教育，凡此种种，终将消失，在日后哪一天喊一声“我姨娘德·于塞”而感受到的乐趣中得到升华。她脑中始终缠绕着这个念头，至少在新婚燕尔的那段时光，决心要继续多与人交往，当然不是她喜欢的女友，不是她心甘情愿为之作出牺牲的女友，而是那些她不喜欢的人，她所希冀的仅仅是能对这些人说一声（既然这是她这桩婚事的目的所在）：“我这就把您引见给我姨娘德·于塞。”当她发现这一联姻难以实现时，便改口说：“我把您介绍给我姨娘德谢·努维尔”或“我一定设法安排您和于塞家族的人聚餐。”与德·康布尔梅结成夫妻，这给勒格朗丹小姐提供了夸口许诺的机会，但能夸口的仅仅是前半句，而后半句却未能如愿以偿，因她婆婆经常涉足的并非她本人当初想象、如今仍然幻想结交的上流圈子。为此，与我“道完”圣卢后（特意借用罗贝尔的用语，因为我与她交谈时，若借用勒格朗丹的惯用语，那她准会通过反向联想，用罗贝尔的土语与我对话，而她又不知道罗贝尔的土语恰是从拉谢尔那儿借用的），她拇指与食指一并，半阖起双眼，仿佛在凝视某件精巧赞歌，其炽炽之情，不禁令人以为她在热恋着他（人们确也断言过去在东锡尔时，罗贝尔曾是她的情人），可实际上，只不过想让我接过她的话再重复一遍，以便给她机会最终说上一句：“您与盖尔芒特公爵夫人关系极为亲密，我有病在身，很少出门，我也知道她深居简出，活动只限于上等友人的圈子，我觉得这很好，可对她本人了解甚少，不过，我知道她是一个绝对出类拔萃的女性。”得知德·康布尔梅夫人与盖尔芒特公爵夫人几乎不认识，为显得我与她同样渺小，我对此话题一带而过，回答她说，我与她兄弟勒格朗丹先生更为熟悉。一听到这个姓氏，她也摆出避而不谈的神态，与我方才的姿态如出一辙，只不过其中掺杂了一种不快的神情，以为我口出此言，并非自谦的表示，而是存心对她的羞辱。莫非她为自己出生在勒格朗丹家而感到绝望、苦恼？至少她丈夫的姐妹、姑嫂们是这么认为的，这些外省的贵夫人什么人也不认识，什么事也不知晓，对德·康布尔梅的聪慧、教养、家财、甚至对她得病前的床第之欢都深为嫉妒。“她一心只想这种事，就是这种事要了她的命。”这些恶毒的外省女人只要议论德·康布尔梅夫人，对谁都少不了说这句话，不过更乐意对平民百姓宣扬，因为如果对方自命不凡而又愚蠢透顶，那么，她们便借此断言平民百姓如何卑鄙龌龊，从而显示出她们对对方是多么和蔼可亲；若对方看似羞怯，但却工于心计，有话放在心里，那么，她们表面上便装山礼貌周全，而实际上却转弯抹角，对对方大肆嘲弄。但是，倘若这些太太自以为切中了她们这位亲戚的要害，那她们完全错了。德·康布尔梅夫人早就忘了自己是勒格朗丹家出生的。自然就更谈不上为自己的出身感到痛苦了。她为我勾起了她的回忆而恼火，一声不吭，仿佛没有明白我的话，觉得没必要加以补充或证实。

“我们来访仓促，主要原因并非我们要去看望亲眷。”德·康布尔梅老太太对我解释道，比起儿媳来，她对称呼“谢·努维尔”的乐趣无疑更为厌倦。“主要嘛，是为了免得这么多人打扰您，让您受累，先生都没有敢把妻儿一起带来。”她指着律师说，“母子俩现在都在沙滩上散步，还等着我们呢，他们也许都等得不耐烦了。”我让他们一一指给我看，紧接着跑去找他们娘俩。妻子圆圆的脸蛋，状若毛莨科的某些花卉，眼角带有甚为明显的植物状标志。人的性格特征代代相传，恰如植物一般，铭刻在母亲脸上的那一标记在儿子的眼角更为显目，有助于人们把他们分门别类。我对他妻儿的热情态度感动了律师。“您该有点儿身置异邦的感觉吧，这儿大多是外国人。”他两只眼睛看着我，一边对我说，他生来不喜欢外国人，尽管他的主顾中为数不少，为此，他想看看我对他的排外态度是否抱有敌意，倘若如此，他便可让步：“当然，某太太……可能是位迷人的女性。这是个评判准则的问题。”由于我当时对外国人一无定见，所以对他的态度并未表示异议，但心里感到踏实了。最后，他甚至邀我择日去巴黎到他府上做客，见见他收藏的勒西达内的画，并请我与康布尔梅家人同行，他显然以为我与他们关系亲密。“我邀请勒西达内一起作客。”他对我说道，坚信我此后必将一心期待着这一旁福时日的到来。“您到时可以亲眼见到，那人多么风雅。他的绘画作品，您看了定会心醉神迷。当然，我不能与那些大收藏家相比，可我相信，他自己的爱作，我拥有的数量最多。更为令您产生兴趣的，是您刚刚在巴尔贝克度过假，而那些画都是海景，至少大部分是海景。”带有植物状标志的妻儿虔诚地静听着。人们感觉到，他们在巴黎的住宅仿佛是一座勒西达内的殿堂。这种殿堂并非多余。当神祗对自身产生怀疑时，这些献身于他创造的作品的人们便适时提供毋庸置疑的证据，神衹可借此轻松地填补上自我评价的裂缝。