Of Human Bondage 人性的枷锁 Chapter 50

Philip could not get the unhappy event out of his head. What troubled him most was the uselessness of Fanny's effort. No one could have worked harder than she, nor with more sincerity ¹; she believed in herself with all her heart; but it was plain that self-confidence meant very little, all his friends had it, Miguel Ajuria among the rest; and Philip was shocked by the contrast between the Spaniard's heroic endeavour and the triviality of the thing he attempted. The unhappiness of Philip's life at school had called up in him the power of self-analysis; and this vice ², as subtle as drug-taking, had taken possession of him so that he had now a peculiar ³ keenness in the dissection ⁴ of his feelings. He could not help seeing that art affected ⁵ him differently from others. A fine picture gave Lawson an immediate ⁶ thrill. His appreciation ⁷ was instinctive ⁸. Even Flanagan felt certain things which Philip was obliged to think out. His own appreciation was intellectual. He could not help thinking that if he had in him the artistic ⁹ temperament ¹⁰ (he hated the phrase, but could discover no other) he would feel beauty in the emotional, unreasoning way in which they did. He began to wonder whether he had anything more than a superficial cleverness of the hand which enabled him to copy objects with accuracy. That was nothing. He had learned to despise technical dexterity ¹¹. The important thing was to feel in terms of paint. Lawson painted in a certain way because it was his nature to, and through the imitativeness of a student sensitive to every influence, there pierced individuality. Philip looked at his own portrait of Ruth Chalice ¹², and now that three months had passed he realised that it was no more than a servile copy of Lawson. He felt himself barren. He painted with the brain, and he could not help knowing that the only painting worth anything was done with the heart., ,He had very little money, barely sixteen hundred pounds, and it would be necessary for him to practise the severest economy. He could not count on earning anything for ten years. The history of painting was full of artists who had earned nothing at all. He must resign himself to penury ¹³; and it was worth while if he produced work which was immortal ¹⁴; but he had a terrible fear that he would never be more than second-rate. Was it worth while for that to give up one's youth, and the gaiety of life, and the manifold chances of being? He knew the existence of foreign painters in Paris enough to see that the lives they led were narrowly provincial ¹⁵. He knew some who had dragged along for twenty years in the pursuit of a fame which always escaped them till they sunk into sordidness ¹⁷ and alcoholism. Fanny's suicide had aroused memories, and Philip heard ghastly stories of the way in which one person or another had escaped from despair. He remembered the scornful advice which the master had given poor Fanny: it would have been well for her if she had taken it and given up an attempt which was hopeless., ,Philip finished his portrait of Miguel Ajuria and made up his mind to send it to the Salon ¹⁸. Flanagan was sending two pictures, and he thought he could paint as well as Flanagan. He had worked so hard on the portrait that he could not help feeling it must have merit. It was true that when he looked at it he felt that there was something wrong, though he could not tell what; but when he was away from it his spirits went up and he was not dissatisfied. He sent it to the Salon and it was refused. He did not mind much, since he had done all he could to persuade himself that there was little chance that it would be taken, till Flanagan a few days later rushed in to tell Lawson and Philip that one of his pictures was accepted. With a blank face Philip offered his congratulations, and Flanagan was so busy congratulating himself that he did not catch the note of irony ¹⁹ which Philip could not prevent from coming into his voice. Lawson, quicker-witted, observed it and looked at Philip curiously ²⁰. His own picture was all right, he knew that a day or two before, and he was vaguely ²¹ resentful of Philip's attitude. But he was surprised at the sudden question which Philip put him as soon as the American was gone., , ,'What do you mean?', ,'I wonder if it's worth while being a second-rate painter. You see, in other things, if you're a doctor or if you're in business, it doesn't matter so much if you're mediocre ²². You make a living and you get along. But what is the good of turning out second-rate pictures?', ,He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意 。,He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。