These commendations, to be quite frank, were very far from gratifying to me; when at length they left me to myself, my reflections took this course:— So the only attraction in my work is that it is unusual, and does not follow the beaten track; good vocabulary, orthodox composition, insight, subtlety8, Attic9 grace, general constructive10 skill — these may for aught I know be completely wanting; else indeed they would hardly have left them unnoticed, and approved my method only as new and startling. Fool that I was, I did indeed guess, when they jumped up to applaud, that novelty was part of the attraction; I knew that Homer spoke11 truly when he said there is favour for the new song; but I did not see that novelty was to have so vast a share — the whole, indeed — of the credit; I thought it gave a sort of adventitious12 charm, and contributed, its part to the success, but that the real object of commendation — what extracted the cheers — was those other qualities. Why, I have been absurdly self-satisfied, and come very near believing them when they called me the one and only real Greek, and such nonsense. But behold13, my gold is turned to ashes; my fame, after all, is little different from that enjoyed by a conjuror14.
Now I should like to give you an illustration from painting. The great Zeuxis, after he had established his artistic15 supremacy16, seldom or never painted such common popular subjects as Heroes, Gods, and battle-pieces; he was always intent on novelty; he would hit upon some extravagant17 and strange design, and then use it to show his mastery of the art. One of these daring pieces of his represented a female Centaur18, nursing a pair of infant Centaur twins. There is a copy of the picture now at Athens, taken exactly from the original. The latter is said to have been put on ship — board for Italy with the rest of Sulla’s art treasures, and to have been lost with them by the sinking of the ship, off Malea, I think it was. The picture of the picture I have seen, and the best word-picture I can manage of that I am now to give you; I am no connoisseur19, you must understand, but I have a vivid recollection of it as I saw it in an Athenian studio not long ago; and my warm admiration20 of it as a work of art may perhaps inspire me with a clear description.
On fresh green-sward appears the mother Centaur, the whole equine part of her stretched on the ground, her hoofs22 extended backwards23; the human part is slightly raised on the elbows; the fore24 feet are not extended like the others, for she is only partially25 on her side; one of them is bent26 as in the act of kneeling, with the hoof21 tucked in, while the other is beginning to straighten and take a hold on the ground — the action of a horse rising. Of the cubs27 she is holding one in her arms suckling it in the human fashion, while the other is drawing at the mare’s dug like a foal. In the upper part of the picture, as on higher ground, is a Centaur who is clearly the husband of the nursing mother; he leans over laughing, visible only down to the middle of his horse body; he holds a lion whelp aloft in his right hand, terrifying the youngsters with it in sport.
There are no doubt qualities in the painting which evade28 analysis by a mere29 amateur, and yet involve supreme30 craftsmanship31 — such things as precision of line, perfect mastery of the palette, clever brush-work, management of shadow, perspective, proportion, and relation of the parts to the whole; but I leave all that to the professionals whose business it is to appreciate it; what strikes me especially about Zeuxis is the manifold scope which he has found for his extraordinary skill, in a single subject. You have in the husband a truly terrible savage32 creature; his locks toss about, he is almost covered with hair, human part as well as equine; the shoulders high to monstrosity; the look, even in his merry mood, brutal33, uncivilized, wild.
In contrast with him, the animal half of the female is lovely; a Thessalian filly, yet unbroken and unbacked, might come nearest; and the human upper half is also most beautiful, with the one exception of the ears, which are pointed34 as in a satyr. At the point of junction35 which blends the two natures, there is no sharp line of division, but the most gradual of transitions; a touch here, a trait there, and you are surprised to find the change complete. It was perfectly36 wonderful, again, to see the combination of wildness and infancy37, of terrible and tender, in the young ones, looking up in baby curiosity at the lion-cub, while they held on to breast and dug, and cuddled close to their dam.
Zeuxis imagined that when the picture was shown the technique of it would take visitors by storm. Well, they did acclaim38 him; they could hardly help that, with such a masterpiece before them; but their commendations were all in the style of those given to me the other night; it was the strangeness of the idea, the fresh unhackneyed sentiment of the picture, and so on. Zeuxis saw that they were preoccupied39 with the novelty of his subject, art was at a discount, and truth of rendering40 quite a minor41 matter. ‘Oh, pack it up, Miccio,’ he said to his pupil, ‘and you and the others take it home; these people are delighted with the earthy part of the work; the questions of its aim, its beauty, its artistic merit, are of no importance whatever; novelty of subject goes for much more than truth of rendering.’
So said Zeuxis, not in the best of tempers. Antiochus Soter had a somewhat similar experience about his battle with the Galatians. If you will allow me, I propose to give you an account of that event also. These people were good fighters, and on this occasion in great force; they were drawn42 up in a serried43 phalanx, the first rank, which consisted of steel-clad warriors44, being supported by men of the ordinary heavy-armed type to the depth of four-and-twenty; twenty thousand cavalry45 held the flanks; and there were eighty scythed46, and twice that number of ordinary war chariots ready to burst forth47 from the centre. These dispositions48 filled Antiochus with apprehension49, and he thought the task was too hard for him. His own preparations had been hurried, on no great scale, and inadequate50 to the occasion; he had brought quite a small force, mostly of skirmishers and light-armed troops; more than half his men were without defensive51 armour52. He was disposed to negotiate and find some honourable53 composition.
Theodotas of Rhodes, however, a brave and skilful54 officer, put him in heart again. Antiochus had sixteen elephants; Theodotas advised him to conceal55 these as well as he could for the present, not letting their superior height betray them; when the signal for battle was given, the shock just at hand, the enemy’s cavalry charging, and their phalanx opening to give free passage to the chariots, then would be the time for the elephants. A section of four was to meet the cavalry on each flank, and the remaining eight to engage the chariot squadron. ‘By this means,’ he concluded, ‘the horses will be frightened, and there will be a stampede into the Galatian infantry56.’ His anticipations57 were realized, thus:
Neither the Galatians nor their horses had ever seen an elephant, and they were so taken aback by the strange sight that, long before the beasts came to close quarters, the mere sound of their trumpeting58, the sight of their gleaming tusks59 relieved against dark bodies, and minatory60 waving trunks, was enough; before they were within bow-shot, the enemy broke and ran in utter disorder61; the infantry were spitted on each other’s spears, and trampled62 by the cavalry who came scurrying63 on to them. The chariots, turning in like manner upon their own friends, whirled about among them by no means harmlessly; it was a Homeric scene of ‘rumbling tumbling cars’; when once the horses shied at those formidable elephants, off went the drivers, and ‘the lordless chariots rattled64 on,’ their scythes65 maiming and carving66 any of their late masters whom they came within reach of; and, in that chaos67, many were the victims. Next came the elephants, trampling68, tossing, tearing, goring69; and a very complete victory they had made of it for Antiochus.
The carnage was great, and all the Galatians were either killed or captured, with the exception of a quite small band which got off to the mountains; Antiochus’s Macedonians sang the Paean70, gathered round, and garlanded him with acclamations on the glorious victory. But the King — so the story goes — was in tears; ‘My men,’ he said, ‘we have more reason for shame; saved by those sixteen brutes71! if their strangeness had not produced the panic, where should we have been?’ And on the trophy72 he would have nothing carved except just an elephant.
Gentlemen, de me fabula; are my resources like those of Antiochus — quite unfit for battle on the whole, but including some elephants, some queer impositions, some jugglery73, in fact? That is what all the praise I hear points at. The things I really relied upon seem to be of little account; the mere fact that my picture is of a female Centaur exercises fascination74; it passes for a novelty and a marvel75, as indeed it is. The rest of Zeuxis’s pains is thrown away, I suppose. But ah, no, not thrown away —; you are connoisseurs76, and judge by the rules of art. I only hope the show may be worthy77 of the spectators.
点击收听单词发音
1 laudatory | |
adj.赞扬的 | |
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2 exclamations | |
n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 );感叹;感叹语;感叹词 | |
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3 discrepancy | |
n.不同;不符;差异;矛盾 | |
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4 crammed | |
adj.塞满的,挤满的;大口地吃;快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满;填入;临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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5 paradoxes | |
n.似非而是的隽语,看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 );用于语言文学中的上述隽语;有矛盾特点的人[事物,情况] | |
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6 originality | |
n.创造力,独创性;新颖 | |
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7 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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8 subtlety | |
n.微妙,敏锐,精巧;微妙之处,细微的区别 | |
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9 attic | |
n.顶楼,屋顶室 | |
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10 constructive | |
adj.建设的,建设性的 | |
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11 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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12 adventitious | |
adj.偶然的 | |
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13 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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14 conjuror | |
n.魔术师,变戏法者 | |
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15 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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16 supremacy | |
n.至上;至高权力 | |
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17 extravagant | |
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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18 centaur | |
n.人首马身的怪物 | |
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19 connoisseur | |
n.鉴赏家,行家,内行 | |
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20 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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21 hoof | |
n.(马,牛等的)蹄 | |
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22 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23 backwards | |
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地 | |
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24 fore | |
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
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25 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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26 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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27 cubs | |
n.幼小的兽,不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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28 evade | |
vt.逃避,回避;避开,躲避 | |
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29 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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30 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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31 craftsmanship | |
n.手艺 | |
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32 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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33 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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34 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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35 junction | |
n.连接,接合;交叉点,接合处,枢纽站 | |
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36 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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37 infancy | |
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期 | |
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38 acclaim | |
v.向…欢呼,公认;n.欢呼,喝彩,称赞 | |
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39 preoccupied | |
adj.全神贯注的,入神的;被抢先占有的;心事重重的v.占据(某人)思想,使对…全神贯注,使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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40 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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41 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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42 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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43 serried | |
adj.拥挤的;密集的 | |
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44 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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45 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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46 scythed | |
v.(长柄)大镰刀( scythe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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48 dispositions | |
安排( disposition的名词复数 ); 倾向; (财产、金钱的)处置; 气质 | |
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49 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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50 inadequate | |
adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的 | |
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51 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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52 armour | |
(=armor)n.盔甲;装甲部队 | |
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53 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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54 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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55 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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56 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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57 anticipations | |
预期( anticipation的名词复数 ); 预测; (信托财产收益的)预支; 预期的事物 | |
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58 trumpeting | |
大声说出或宣告(trumpet的现在分词形式) | |
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59 tusks | |
n.(象等动物的)长牙( tusk的名词复数 );獠牙;尖形物;尖头 | |
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60 minatory | |
adj.威胁的;恫吓的 | |
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61 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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62 trampled | |
踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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63 scurrying | |
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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64 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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65 scythes | |
n.(长柄)大镰刀( scythe的名词复数 )v.(长柄)大镰刀( scythe的第三人称单数 ) | |
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66 carving | |
n.雕刻品,雕花 | |
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67 chaos | |
n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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68 trampling | |
踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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69 goring | |
v.(动物)用角撞伤,用牙刺破( gore的现在分词 ) | |
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70 paean | |
n.赞美歌,欢乐歌 | |
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71 brutes | |
兽( brute的名词复数 ); 畜生; 残酷无情的人; 兽性 | |
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72 trophy | |
n.优胜旗,奖品,奖杯,战胜品,纪念品 | |
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73 jugglery | |
n.杂耍,把戏 | |
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74 fascination | |
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋 | |
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75 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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76 connoisseurs | |
n.鉴赏家,鉴定家,行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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77 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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