The Moon And Sixpence 1.8

It is due tono accident that when one of his most important works, The Woman of Samaria,(4) was sold at Christie's shortly after the discussion which followed thepublication of Mr. Strickland's biography, it fetched POUNDS 235 less than ithad done nine months before when it was bought by the distinguished collectorwhose sudden death had brought it once more under the hammer. Perhaps CharlesStrickland's power and originality would scarcely have sufficed to turn thescale if the remarkable mythopoeic faculty of mankind had not brushed asidewith impatience a story which disappointed all its craving for theextraordinary. And presently Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz produced the work whichfinally set at rest the misgivings of all lovers of art.

Dr.Weitbrecht-Rotholz belongs to that school of historians which believes thathuman nature is not only about as bad as it can be, but a great deal worse; andcertainly the reader is safer of entertainment in their hands than in those ofthe writers who take a malicious pleasure in representing the great figures ofromance as patterns of the domestic virtues. For my part, I should be sorry tothink that there was nothing between Anthony and Cleopatra but an economicsituation; and it will require a great deal more evidence than is ever likelyto be available, thank God, to persuade me that Tiberius was as blameless amonarch as King George V. Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz has dealt in such terms withthe Rev.

特里克兰德的最重要的一幅作品《萨玛利亚的女人》④九个月以前曾经卖给一位有名的收藏家。由于这位收藏家后来突然逝世，这幅画再度拍卖，又被克利斯蒂购去。这次拍卖正值思特里克兰德牧师的传记出版、人们议论纷纷之际，这幅名画的价格竟比九个月以前降低了二百三十五镑；这显然不是一件偶合。如果不是人们对神话的喜爱，叫他们对这个使他们的猎奇心大失所望的故事嗤之以鼻的话，只靠思特里克兰德个人的权威和独特也许无力挽回大局的。说也凑巧，没有过多久魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士的文章就问世了，艺术爱好者们的疑虑不安终于消除了。

③《思特里克兰德，生平与作品》，画家的儿子罗伯特·思特里克兰德撰写，1913年海因曼出版。（作者注）

④根据克利斯蒂藏画目录的描述，这幅画的内容是：一个裸体女人，社会岛的土人，躺在一条小溪边的草地上，背景是棕榈树、芭蕉等热带风景。60英寸×48英寸。（作者注）

魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士隶属的这一历史学派不只相信“人之初，性本恶”，而且认为其恶劣程度是远远超过人们的想象的；用不着说，比起那些把富有浪漫色彩的人物写成道貌岸然的君子的使人败兴的作家来，这一派历史学者的著作肯定能够给予读者更大的乐趣。对于我这样的读者，如果把安东尼和克莉奥佩特拉的关系只写作经济上的联盟，我是会觉得非常遗憾的；要想劝说我让我把泰伯利欧斯⑤看作是同英王乔治五世同样的一位毫无瑕疵的君主，也需要远比手头掌握的多得多的证据（谢天谢地，这种证据看来很难找到）。