He knew no law of life except the full realisation, of himself at the moment. He was by turns Christian13 and Freethinker and Christian again, republican and royalist, lover of Germany and despiser of Germany, anti-Semite (in theory), and pro-Semite (in practice);[234] but in each of his many metamorphoses he was sincerely convinced that he was not only right as against all the world, but right as against the Wagner of earlier years. Feuerbach, Schopenhauer, Hafiz, and heaven knows who besides, were in turn the one great philosopher the world has known. In later life he becomes a vegetarian14: it therefore went without saying that all mankind should forthwith abjure15 meat. He has the sense to recognise that a flesh diet is imperative16 for most people in a climate like that of Northern Europe. But a little difficulty of this kind does not daunt17 him; all that European humanity has to do, he tells us, is to migrate into other parts of the world.[235] He gives us, in 1851 and 1856, two divergent interpretations19 of the philosophies that underlie20 Tannh?user and the Ring. He of course explains it all by the fact that in his "intellectual ideas" he was at first working in opposition21 to his "intuitive ideal." The truth is that in 1851 he was still something of an optimist22, while in 1856 he had become a pessimist23 with Schopenhauer.[236]
The many contradictions of his character have of course made him the easy butt24 of the satirists.[237] In 1877 there were published in the Vienna Neue Freie Presse[238] a series of letters of his to the milliner Bertha, who made him his wonderful lace shirts and satin trousers[239] and dressing-gowns, and decorated his Penzing rooms (and later his house at Tribschen) with the soft luxurious25 stuffs and colours he so loved. The witty26 editor of the Letters, Daniel Spitzer, twitted him on the inconsistency between his acts and his opinions, between his art and his life. Who would believe, he asks, that the man who indulged in these effeminacies was the same man who used to sneer27 in his books at the seductions of Paris: who, in his Opera and Drama, reproached Rossini with "living in the lap of luxury," called him the "luxurious son of Italy," and even, in a moment of towering virtue28, styled him an "ausgestochene Courtisane"; or that the Wagner who, in the deplorable squib he wrote upon the French nation after its downfall in 1871, sneered29 at the French for their passion for bouquets30, was himself ordering bouquets and rose garlands of the most extravagant31 kind from the Putzmacherin?
The man, in truth, who wrote with such a comic rage against the rich and their luxury, was himself the most luxurious of mankind. He may have admired the Spartan32 virtues33 of the poor, but he had not the least wish to practise them himself. He could not exist without a certain amount of pampering34 both of body and of soul, even in the days when, unable to make both ends meet, he was living on the charity of certain friends and borrowing at every opportunity from others. "It is with genuine desperation that I always pick up art again," he writes to Liszt on the 15th January 1854; "if I am to do this, if I am once more to renounce36 reality,—if I am to plunge37 again into the woes38 of artistic39 fancy in order to find tranquillity40 in the world of imagination, my fancy must at least be helped, my imaginative faculty41 supported. I cannot live like a dog; I cannot sleep on straw and refresh myself with bad liquor. My excitable, delicate, ardently42 craving43 and uncommonly44 soft and tender sensibility must be coaxed45 in some ways if my mind is to accomplish the horribly difficult task of creating a non-existent world."[240] A few days after it is the same story; he must have money by hook or by crook46. Liszt will understand him,—though it will be "impossible for a Philistine47 to comprehend the exuberance[241] of my nature, which in these and those moods of my life drove me to satisfy a colossal48 inner desire by such external means as must seem to him questionable,[242] and at all events unsympathetic. No one knows the needs of men like us: I myself am often surprised at regarding so many 'useless' things as indispensable."[243]
He grew more and more luxurious in middle age. The scale of expenditure49 revealed in the Putzmacherin letters, and a stray piece of information or two from other quarters, give us a hint of his recklessness in the early 'sixties,—a recklessness that brought him so near the verge18 of absolute ruin that it is terrible to think what might have happened to him had not King Ludwig come to his rescue. For the Christmas of 1863 he had, as is usual in Germany, a Christmas tree loaded with gifts for his friends. For a man without any income to speak of, very dubious50 prospects51, and a grievous load of debt, his presents were magnificent. "The mad Wagner," says Cornelius in a letter to his sister Susanne (Vienna, 11th January, 1864), "had a great Christmas tree, with a royally rich table beneath it for me. Just imagine: a marvellous heavy overcoat—an elegant grey dressing-gown—a red scarf, a blue cigar-case and tinder-box—lovely silk handkerchiefs, splendid gold shirt studs—the Struwelpeter—elegant pen-wipers with gold mottoes—fine cravats52, a meerschaum cigar-holder with his initials—in short, all sorts of things that only an Oriental imagination could think of. It made my heart heavy, and the next day I gave away half of them, and only then was I happy,—to Seraphine the gold studs, to Ernestine a lovely purse with a silver thaler, to Gustav Sch?naich a sash, to young Ruben the cigar-holder, to Fritz Porges the pen-wiper, something to each of my house people, a yellow handkerchief to Marie, a red one to Frau Müller, ... to Herr Müller the tinder-box, to Karl Müller a new waistcoat from myself, in place of which I kept the one from Wagner."[244] All this was for Cornelius alone; no doubt his other guests were treated in equally generous fashion. We happen to have his own account of this affair; it is delightful53. "Having very little ready money, but solid hopes,[245] I could now greet my few friends with tolerable good humour.... On Christmas Eve I invited them all to my house, had the Christmas tree lighted up, and gave each of them an appropriate trifle."[246]
With tastes and habits of this kind it is no wonder that he accumulated enormous debts, and came to be regarded by all his friends as perfectly54 hopeless on the financial side. King Ludwig gave him, as we have seen, 15,000 gulden with which to return to Vienna, to satisfy the more pressing of his creditors55 and to make arrangements with the others. He took up his Munich residence in the Briennerstrasse (No. 21), in October 1864, and sent for the Putzmacherin Bertha to drape and decorate it for him according to his liking56, and to provide him with the satin dressing-gowns, trousers, &c., &c., that he loved, paying her, of course, now and then when funds were more than usually plentiful57.[247] His manner of living in Munich may be guessed from the fact that he was threatened with a writ35 on the day of the projected first performance of Tristan (15th May 1865);[248] while in October of the same year he was compelled to borrow another 40,000 gulden of the King.[249] He soon earned in Munich the reputation of a reckless spendthrift, a reputation that has never left him. It is sometimes said that the standard of domestic comfort was so low among the good Müncheners of that epoch58 that a very modest expenditure upon fineries may have seemed to them a Capuan indulgence in luxury.[250] But the details of the fitting-up of one of his rooms in the Briennerstrasse are proof enough that he was giving full rein59 to his sybaritic tastes. "In the middle of the first floor was a large room containing Wagner's grand piano. On the right a door led into the so-called Grail or Satin Room, which was about 3-1/2 m. high, 4-1/2 broad, and 5 deep [roughly 11-1/2 feet by 14-1/2 feet by 16-1/2 feet]. The walls were covered with fine yellow satin, which was finished off above with yellow vallances of the same material. The two blunt corners of the long wall that faced Count von Schack's house were broken by iron galleries, making artificial recesses60. These, about 70 cm. deep (about 28 inches), were covered with rose-coloured satin in folds. Each of the iron galleries was covered with two wings of white silk tulle, trimmed with lace. The white curtains and the draperies were also adorned61 with delicate artificial roses. The room was lighted by a window at the small side at the left of the entrance. The curtains of this window were of rose-coloured satin, garnished62 with interlaced red and white satin draperies.... The top of the window curtain, the frame of the mirror [on one of the walls], and that of the picture [on another wall], were draped with rose-coloured satin, tied back with white satin bows. The ceiling was entirely63 covered with richly festooned white satin, then divided diagonally from one corner to the other with ruches of pearl grey satin of about 14 cm. wide (about 6 inches). The ceiling was also bordered on all four sides with similar pearl grey ruches; these were sown with artificial roses. The middle of the ceiling was decorated with a rosette of white satin, about 30 cm. (12 inches) in circumference64 and 25 cm. (10 inches) deep, trimmed with narrow silk lace and with roses like the others on the ceiling. The ground was covered with a soft Smyrna carpet. In the middle of the room was a soft and elastically65 upholstered couch, covered with a white flowered moire."[251] Satin, I believe, was much more expensive in the 'sixties than it is now; but any lady reader will be able to make an approximate estimate of the expense of fitting up such a room. No one to-day, of course, will presume to pass moral censure66 upon him for his love of luxury. Every sensible man surrounds himself with all the luxury he can procure67. The remarkable68 features in Wagner's case are the uncontrollable nature of the desires that urged him to their gratification at anyone's or everyone's expense, and the dualism of soul that permitted him equally to evoke69 primeval heroes and to expound70 the doctrine71 of renunciation from the centre of a bower72 of satin.
Bülow once confessed to Weissheimer that he could not make out how Wagner managed to get through so much money. The secret apparently was that he had to indulge himself liberally in luxuries in order to put into practice his doctrine of renunciation. Here is an instance given us by Weissheimer himself from the dark days of 1862. Through the non-performance of Tristan at Vienna, Wagner had been disappointed of the expected honorarium73, which, as was usual with him, had been squandered74 in advance.
He had been in the habit of giving splendid dinners after the concerts to his friends and the chief performers; and his hotel-keeper had a two months' bill against him for food and lodging75. "One evening when Tausig and I were with him, he bemoaned76 and lamented77 his wretched condition. We listened to him sympathetically, and sat miserably78 on the sofa, while he paced up and down in nervous haste. Suddenly he stopped and said, 'Here, I know what I need,' ran to the door, and rang vigorously. Tausig whispered to me, 'What's he up to? He looks just like Wotan after he has come to some great resolution.' The waiter came in sight slowly and hesitatingly—these people soon see how the wind is blowing—and was no less astonished than we when Wagner said, 'Bring me at once two bottles of champagne79 on ice!' 'Heavens above—in this state!' we said when the waiter had gone out. But Wagner gave us a fervid80 dissertation81 on the indispensability of champagne precisely82 when a situation was desperate: only this could help us over the painfulness of it."[252]
Glasenapp tells how in the very last years of his life he could not work unless surrounded by soft lines and colours and perfumes. His almost morbid83 sensitivity multiplied enormously the ordinary pleasant or unpleasant sensations of touch and of sight. When in a difficulty with his composition he would stroke the folds of a soft curtain or table-cover till the right mood came. Not only the fabrics84 but the lines about him had to be melting, indefinite: he could not endure even books in the room he was working in, or bear to let his eyes follow the garden paths; "they suggested the outer world too definitely and prevented concentration." Among scents85 he particularly loved attar of roses, which he used to get direct from Paris—sent to him, however, under the fictitious86 name and address of "Mr. Bernard Schnappauf, Ochsengasse, Bayreuth," his barber obtaining delivery of it for him.[253] Such was the creator of the heroic, athletic87 boy Siegfried,—this poor little sickly, supersensitive, self-indulgent being who could hardly deny himself the smallest of his innocent little voluptuousnesses. The antinomy would be unresolvable did we not know from a hundred other cases that art is not life, and that the artist may be very different from his art. The Grand Duke of Baden once wounded Wagner deeply by declaring that he "could distinguish between the work and the man."[254] We have often to make that distinction with Wagner.
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1
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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7
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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deceptions
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| 欺骗( deception的名词复数 )； 骗术，诡计 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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vegetarian
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| n.素食者；adj.素食的 | |
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abjure
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| v.发誓放弃 | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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daunt
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| vt.使胆怯，使气馁 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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underlie
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| v.位于...之下，成为...的基础 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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optimist
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| n.乐观的人，乐观主义者 | |
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pessimist
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| n.悲观者；悲观主义者；厌世 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bouquets
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| n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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pampering
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| v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的现在分词 ) | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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47
philistine
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| n.庸俗的人；adj.市侩的，庸俗的 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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51
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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52
cravats
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| n.（系在衬衫衣领里面的）男式围巾( cravat的名词复数 ) | |
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53
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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54
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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56
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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60
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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61
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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garnished
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| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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elastically
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| adv.有弹性地，伸缩自如地 | |
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66
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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70
expound
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| v.详述；解释；阐述 | |
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71
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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72
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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honorarium
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| n.酬金，谢礼 | |
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squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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bemoaned
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| v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的过去式和过去分词 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹 | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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80
fervid
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| adj.热情的；炽热的 | |
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81
dissertation
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| n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文 | |
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82
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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83
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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84
fabrics
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| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
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85
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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86
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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87
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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