The Moon And Sixpence 1.10

Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholzwas an enthusiastic admirer of Charles Strickland, and there was no danger thathe would whitewash him. He had an unerring eye for the despicable motive inactions that had all the appearance of innocence. He was a psycho-pathologist,as well as a student of art, and the subconscious had few secrets from him. Nomystic ever saw deeper meaning in common things. The mystic sees the ineffable,and the psycho-pathologist the unspeakable. There is a singular fascination inwatching the eagerness with which the learned author ferrets out everycircumstance which may throw discredit on his hero. His heart warms to him whenhe can bring forward some example of cruelty or meanness, and he exults like aninquisitor at the auto da fe of an heretic when with some forgotten story hecan confound the filial piety of the Rev. Robert Strickland. His industry hasbeen amazing. Nothing has been too small to escape him, and you may be surethat if Charles Strickland left a laundry bill unpaid it will be given you in extenso,and if he forebore to return a borrowed half-crown no detail of the transactionwill be omitted.

魏特布瑞希特-罗特霍尔兹博士是查理斯·思特里克兰德的一位热心的崇拜者，如果他想为思特里克兰德涂脂抹粉本来是不会有什么危险的。但他的目光敏锐，一眼就望穿了隐含在一些天真无邪的行为下的可鄙的动机。他既是一个艺术研究者，又是一个心理——病理学家。他对一个人的潜意识了如指掌。没有哪个探索心灵秘密的人能够象他那样透过普通事物看到更深邃的意义。探索心灵秘密的人能够看到不好用语言表达出来的东西，心理病理学家却看到了根本不能表达的事物。我们看到这位学识渊深的作家如何热衷于搜寻出每一件使这位英雄人物丢脸的细节琐事，真是令人拍案叫绝。每当他列举出主人公一件冷酷无情或者卑鄙自私的例证，他的心就对他更增加一分同情。在他寻找到主人公某件为人遗忘的轶事用来嘲弄罗伯特·思特里克兰德牧帅的一片孝心时，他就象宗教法庭的法官审判异教徒那样乐得心花怒放。他写这篇文章的那种认真勤奋劲儿也着实令人吃惊。没有哪件细小的事情被他漏掉，如果查理斯·思特里克兰德有一笔洗衣账没有付清，这件事一定会被详细记录下来；如果他欠人家一笔借款没有偿还，这笔债务的每一个细节也绝对不会遗漏；这一点读者是完全可以放心的。