雙語(yǔ)·邦斯舅舅 三十九、狼狽為奸

XXXIX

The greater part of Pons' collection was installed in a great old-fashioned salon such as French architects used to build for the old noblesse; a room twenty-five feet broad, some thirty feet in length, and thirteen in height. Pons' pictures to the number of sixty-seven hung upon the white-and-gold paneled walls; time, however, had reddened the gold and softened the white to an ivory tint, so that the whole was toned down, and the general effect subordinated to the effect of the pictures. Fourteen statues stood on pedestals set in the corners of the room, or among the pictures, or on brackets inlaid by Boule; sideboards of carved ebony, royally rich, surrounded the walls to elbow height, all the shelves filled with curiosities; in the middle of the room stood a row of carved credence-tables, covered with rare miracles of handicraft—with ivories and bronzes, wood-carvings and enamels, jewelry and porcelain.

As soon as Elie Magus entered the sanctuary, he went straight to the four masterpieces; he saw at a glance that these were the gems of Pons' collection, and masters lacking in his own. For Elie Magus these were the naturalist's desiderata for which men undertake long voyages from east to west, through deserts and tropical countries, across southern savannahs, through virgin forests.

The first was a painting by Sebastian del Piombo, the second a Fra Bartolommeo della Porta, the third a Hobbema landscape, and the fourth and last a Durer—a portrait of a woman. Four diamonds indeed! In the history of art, Sebastian del Piombo is like a shining point in which three schools meet, each bringing its pre-eminent qualities. A Venetian painter, he came to Rome to learn the manner of Raphael under the direction of Michael Angelo, who would fain oppose Raphael on his own ground by pitting one of his own lieutenants against the reigning king of art. And so it came to pass that in Del Piombo's indolent genius Venetian color was blended with Florentine composition and a something of Raphael's manner in the few pictures which he deigned to paint, and the sketches were made for him, it is said, by Michael Angelo himself. If you would see the perfection to which the painter attained (armed as he was with triple power), go to the Louvre and look at the Baccio Bandinelli portrait; you might place it beside Titian's Man with a Glove, or by that other Portrait of an Old Man in which Raphael's consummate skill blends with Correggio's art; or, again, compare it with Leonardo da Vinci's Charles VIII, and the picture would scarcely lose. The four pearls are equal; there is the same lustre and sheen, the same rounded completeness, the same brilliancy. Art can go no further than this. Art has risen above Nature, since Nature only gives her creatures a few brief years of life. Pons possessed one example of this immortal great genius and incurably indolent painter; it was a Knight of Malta, a Templar kneeling in prayer. The picture was painted on slate, and in its unfaded color and its finish was immeasurably finer than the Baccio Bandinelli. Fra Bartolommeo was represented by a Holy Family, which many connoisseurs might have taken for a Raphael. The Hobbema would have fetched sixty thousand francs at a public sale; and as for the Durer, it was equal to the famous Holzschuer portrait at Nuremberg for which the kings of Bavaria, Holland, and Prussia have vainly offered two hundred thousand francs again and again. Was it the portrait of the wife or the daughter of Holzschuer, Albrecht Durer's personal friend?—The hypothesis seems to be a certainty, for the attitude of the figure in Pons' picture suggests that it is meant for a pendant, the position of the coat-of-arms is the same as in the Nuremberg portrait; and, finally, the oetatis suoe XLI accords perfectly with the age inscribed on the picture religiously kept by the Holzschuers of Nuremberg, and but recently engraved.

The tears stood in Elie Magus' eyes as he looked from one masterpiece to another.

He turned round to La Cibot, "I will give you a commission of two thousand francs on each of the pictures if you can arrange that I shall have them for forty thousand francs," he said. La Cibot was amazed at this good fortune dropped from the sky.

Admiration, or, to be more accurate, delirious joy, had wrought such havoc in the Jew's brain, that it had actually unsettled his habitual greed, and he fell headlong into enthusiasm, as you see.

And I?—— put in Remonencq, who knew nothing about pictures.

Everything here is equally good, the Jew said cunningly, lowering his voice for Remonencq's ears; "take ten pictures just as they come and on the same conditions. Your fortune will be made."

Again the three thieves looked each other in the face, each one of them overcome with the keenest of all joys—sated greed. All of a sudden the sick man's voice rang through the room; the tones vibrated like the strokes of a bell:

Who is there? called Pons.

Monsieur! just go back to bed! exclaimed La Cibot, springing upon Pons and dragging him by main force. "What next! Have you a mind to kill yourself?—Very well, then, it is not Dr. Poulain, it is Remonencq, good soul, so anxious that he has come to ask after you!—Everybody is so fond of you that the whole house is in a flutter. So what is there to fear?"

It seems to me that there are several of you, said Pons.

Several? that is good! What next! Are you dreaming!—You will go off your head before you have done, upon my word!—Here, look!—and La Cibot flung open the door, signed to Magus to go, and beckoned to Remonencq.

Well, my dear sir, said the Auvergnat, now supplied with something to say, "I just came to ask after you, for the whole house is alarmed about you.—Nobody likes Death to set foot in a house!—And lastly, Daddy Monistrol, whom you know very well, told me to tell you that if you wanted money he was at your service——"

He sent you here to take a look round at my knick-knacks! returned the old collector from his bed; and the sour tones of his voice were full of suspicion.

A sufferer from liver complaint nearly always takes momentary and special dislikes to some person or thing, and concentrates all his ill-humor upon the object. Pons imagined that some one had designs upon his precious collection; the thought of guarding it became a fixed idea with him; Schmucke was continually sent to see if any one had stolen into the sanctuary.

Your collection is fine enough to attract the attention of chineurs, Remonencq answered astutely. "I am not much in the art line myself; but you are supposed to be such a great connoisseur, sir, that with my eyes shut—supposing, for instance, that you should need money some time or other, for nothing costs so much as these confounded illnesses; there was my sister now, when she would have got better again just as well without. Doctors are rascals that take advantage of your condition to—"

Thank you, good-day, good-day, broke in Pons, eying the marine store-dealer uneasily.

I will go to the door with him, for fear he should touch something, La Cibot whispered to her patient.

Yes, yes, answered the invalid, thanking her by a glance.

La Cibot shut the bedroom door behind her, and Pons' suspicions awoke again at once. She found Magus standing motionless before the four pictures. His immobility, his admiration, can only be understood by other souls open to ideal beauty, to the ineffable joy of beholding art made perfect; such as these can stand for whole hours before the Antiope—Correggio's masterpiece—before Leonardo's Gioconda, Titian's Mistress, Andrea del Sarto's Holy Family, Domenichino's Children Among the Flowers, Raphael's little cameo, or his Portrait of an Old Man—Art's greatest masterpieces.

Be quick and go, and make no noise, said La Cibot.

The Jew walked slowly backwards, giving the pictures such a farewell gaze as a lover gives his love.

三十九、狼狽為奸

邦斯美術(shù)館存放大部分作品的屋子，是從前建筑師替法國(guó)舊貴族設(shè)計(jì)的那種老式客廳，有二十五英尺寬，三十英尺長(zhǎng)，十三英尺高。四面掛著邦斯藏的六十七幅畫(huà)，墻上裝有白漆描金的護(hù)壁板，白漆已經(jīng)發(fā)黃，描金已經(jīng)變紅，和諧的色調(diào)倒也不妨害畫(huà)的效果。柱頭上放著十四座雕像，有的在屋角，有的在畫(huà)中間，柱子一律是布勒出品?？勘诎肴烁叩牡匚粩[著紫檀木酒柜，每個(gè)都刻花，富麗堂皇，放的是各式古玩?？蛷d中間，一排雕花的食器柜上全是最珍貴的手工藝品：象牙，銅器，木雕，琺瑯，金銀器物，瓷器，等等。

猶太人踏進(jìn)寶殿，立刻認(rèn)出四幅最精彩的畫(huà)，直奔過(guò)去，那些作家是他的收藏中沒(méi)有的。他的心情，仿佛博物學(xué)者發(fā)現(xiàn)了采集不到的標(biāo)本，不惜從西方跑到東方，踏進(jìn)熱帶，跋涉沙漠，橫渡大草原，穿越原始森林去尋訪的。

四幅畫(huà)中第一幅是塞巴斯蒂亞諾·德·皮翁博的，第二幅是弗拉·巴多洛美奧的，第三幅是霍培瑪?shù)娘L(fēng)景，第四幅是亞爾倍·丟勒的《女像》，簡(jiǎn)直是四寶！在繪畫(huà)史上，塞巴斯蒂亞諾是集三大畫(huà)派的精粹于一身的人。他原來(lái)是威尼斯畫(huà)家，到羅馬去在米開(kāi)朗琪羅的指導(dǎo)之下學(xué)拉斐爾的風(fēng)格。米開(kāi)朗琪羅有心訓(xùn)練自己的大弟子，用拉斐爾的方法去攻倒拉斐爾。因此，塞巴斯蒂亞諾雖是懶散的天才，但在為數(shù)有限而相傳稿本出于米開(kāi)朗琪羅手筆的畫(huà)上，的確把威尼斯派的色彩，佛羅倫薩派的布局，與拉斐爾的風(fēng)格熔于一爐。這種兼有三家之長(zhǎng)的藝術(shù)，其完美的程度可以從巴黎美術(shù)館藏的《龐第奈里肖像》[1]上看到，它可以毫無(wú)愧色地與提香的《拿著手套的人》，拉斐爾的那幅兼有柯勒喬之妙的《老人像》，萊昂納多·達(dá)·芬奇的《查理八世像》相比。這四幅都有一樣的光彩與色澤，異曲同工，價(jià)值相等。人類(lèi)的藝術(shù)可以說(shuō)是至此而極。它還勝過(guò)自然，因?yàn)樽匀唤绲拿啦贿^(guò)是曇花一現(xiàn)。邦斯藏的塞巴斯蒂亞諾的畫(huà)，是畫(huà)在石板上的《瑪?shù)屡山掏降钠矶\》，其鮮艷，工整，沉著，還有過(guò)于《龐第奈里肖像》。巴多洛美奧的《圣家庭》，可能有好多鑒賞家認(rèn)作拉斐爾的畫(huà)?；襞喱?shù)娘L(fēng)景在標(biāo)賣(mài)時(shí)可以值到六萬(wàn)法郎。丟勒的《女像》，很像有名的紐倫堡的《霍邱肖像》?；羟窈蛠G勒是朋友，那張肖像曾經(jīng)由荷蘭、普魯士、巴維哀幾邦的君主出到二十萬(wàn)法郎想收買(mǎi)，而且想收買(mǎi)了幾次都沒(méi)成功。邦斯這幅，畫(huà)的或許便是霍邱的妻子或女兒。這假定很有可能，因?yàn)楫?huà)上女人所擺的姿勢(shì)，顯然跟另一張是對(duì)稱(chēng)的；而爵徽的畫(huà)法、地位，在兩幅上也相同。最后，旁邊寫(xiě)的四十一歲，也和另一幅上的年齡相配。不消說(shuō)，紐倫堡霍邱家的后人對(duì)那幅藏畫(huà)素來(lái)視為至寶，最近才完成了一張銅刻的圖。

埃里·瑪古斯輪流瞧著四幅畫(huà)，眼淚都冒上來(lái)了。

“這幾張畫(huà)，你要是能讓我花四萬(wàn)法郎買(mǎi)到，我每張送你兩千法郎酬勞……”他咬著西卜女人的耳朵說(shuō)。西卜女人聽(tīng)到這一筆天外飛來(lái)的橫財(cái)，不由得愣住了。

猶太人的欣賞到了如醉若狂的境界；神志亂了，平時(shí)的貪心也動(dòng)搖了，他沒(méi)頭沒(méi)腦地沉浸在里面了。

“那么我呢？……”雷蒙諾克問(wèn)，他對(duì)畫(huà)還是外行。

“這里的東西都沒(méi)有什么高低，”猶太人很狡猾地附著奧弗涅人的耳朵說(shuō)，“隨便挑十張畫(huà)，跟我一樣的條件，你就發(fā)財(cái)啦！”

三個(gè)人你望著我，我望著你；貪欲獲得了滿足，每個(gè)人都咂摸著人生最大的快樂(lè)。不料病人一聲叫喊，像鐘聲似的在空氣中余音不絕……

“誰(shuí)呀？……”邦斯嚷著。

“先生，你睡下去呀！”西卜女人奔過(guò)去硬要邦斯睡下，“嗯！你不想活嗎？……來(lái)的不是波冷先生，是那個(gè)好人雷蒙諾克，他不放心你，特意來(lái)打聽(tīng)你的消息！……瞧大家對(duì)你多好，全屋子的人都在為你著急。你怕什么呢？”

“我聽(tīng)你們有好幾個(gè)人呢。”病人說(shuō)。

“好幾個(gè)！哦！你在做夢(mèng)嗎？這樣下去，你會(huì)發(fā)瘋的，告訴你！……好，你瞧吧?！蔽鞑放吮歼^(guò)去打開(kāi)房門(mén)，遞個(gè)眼色叫瑪古斯退后去，叫雷蒙諾克上前來(lái)。

“噯，親愛(ài)的先生，”奧弗涅人順著西卜女人的口氣說(shuō)，“我來(lái)伺候你，這屋里的人為了你都覺(jué)得害怕……你知道，誰(shuí)都不喜歡屋子有死神進(jìn)門(mén)的！……還有莫尼斯特洛老頭，你不是跟他很熟嗎？他要我對(duì)你說(shuō)，倘使要用錢(qián)，他可以幫忙……”

“哼，他派你來(lái)瞧瞧我的古董！……”老收藏家起了疑心，說(shuō)話很不客氣。

害肝病的人幾乎都有一種特殊的、說(shuō)來(lái)就來(lái)的反感；他們的肝火會(huì)盯住某一件東西或某一個(gè)人。邦斯一心一意只想守護(hù)他的寶物，以為有人在覬覦它們；他平日常叫許模克去瞧瞧可有人溜進(jìn)禁地。

“你的收藏相當(dāng)精，可能引起收貨的人注意，”雷蒙諾克很調(diào)皮地回答，“我對(duì)高等古玩是外行，但大家認(rèn)為你先生是大鑒賞家，所以我雖然不大懂，也愿意閉著眼睛向你先生買(mǎi)點(diǎn)東西……倘使你要用錢(qián)的話，因?yàn)檫@些要命的病是最花錢(qián)的……上回我姊妹鬧肚子，十天工夫就花了三十銅子，其實(shí)不吃藥也會(huì)好的……醫(yī)生都是些壞蛋，專(zhuān)門(mén)趁火打劫……”

“再見(jiàn)，先生，謝謝你。”邦斯一邊回答，一邊很不放心地把眼睛盯著舊貨鬼。

“我送他出去吧，”西卜女人輕輕地告訴病人，“免得他拿了什么東西?！?/p>

“對(duì)，對(duì)?！辈∪瞬粍俑屑さ叵蛭鞑放诉f了個(gè)眼色。

西卜女人帶上房門(mén)，這個(gè)舉動(dòng)可又引起了邦斯的疑心。她走出去看見(jiàn)瑪古斯一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地站在四幅畫(huà)前面。只有能體會(huì)理想的美，對(duì)登峰造極的藝術(shù)有股說(shuō)不出的感情，會(huì)幾小時(shí)地站在那里鑒賞達(dá)·芬奇的《蒙娜麗莎》，柯勒喬的《安底奧潑》，安特萊·但爾·薩多的《圣家庭》與《提香的情婦》，陶米尼耿的《花叢中的兒童》，拉斐爾的單色畫(huà)和《老人像》的人，才能了解瑪古斯那種出神的境界。

“你輕輕地走吧！”西卜女人吩咐他。

猶太人慢慢地、一步一步地倒退出去，眼睛老瞅著畫(huà)，好比一個(gè)情人望著情婦向她告別。

注解：

[1]　此畫(huà)一向被認(rèn)為是塞巴斯蒂亞諾·德·皮翁博的杰作，但現(xiàn)代學(xué)者已斷定為同時(shí)代的勃龍齊諾的作品。