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the grey room(灰房间)-第56部分
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hand of time had indeed touched him; and sometimes his memory broke
down and he faltered with a verbal difficulty; but this only appeared to
happen when he was weary。
〃The morning is my good time;〃 he told them。 〃You will; I fear; find
me a stupid old fellow after dinner。〃
Signor Mannetti proved a tremendous talker; and implicitly revealed
that he belonged to the nobility of his country; and that he enjoyed the
friendship of many notable men。 The subject of his visit was not
mentioned on the day of his arrival。 He spoke only of Italy; laughed to
think he had passed through Florence to seek Sir Walter in England; and
then; finding his hostess a neophyte at the shrines of art; attuned himself to
the subject for her benefit。
〃If you found pictures answer to an unknown need within yourself;
that is very well;〃 he declared。 〃About music I know little; but
concerning painting a great deal。 And you desire to know; too; I see。
The spirit is willing; but the spirit probably does not know yet what lies in
front of it。 You are groping … blind; childlike … without a hand to guard
and an authority to guide。 That is merely to waste time。 When you go
back to Italy; you must begin at the beginning; if you are in earnest … not at
the middle。 Only ignorance measures art in terms of skill; for there are
no degrees in art。 None has transcended Giotto; because technique and
draughtsmanship are accidents of time; they lie outside the soul of the
matter。 Art is in fact a static thing。 It changes as the face of the sea
changes; from hour to hour; but it does not progress。 There are great and
small artists and great and small movements; as there are great and small
waves; brisk breezes and terrific tempests; but all are moulded of like
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substance。 In the one case art; in the other; the ocean; remains unchanged。
I shall plan your instruction for you; if you please; and send you to the
primitives first … the mighty ones who laid the foundations。 I lived five
years at Siena … for love of the beginnings; and you must also learn to love
and reverence the beginnings; if you would understand that light in the
darkness men call the Renaissance。〃
He broke from Mary presently; strove to interest Sir Walter; and
succeeded。
〃A benevolent autocracy is the ideal government; my friend … the ideal
of all supreme thinkers … a Machiavelli; a Nietzsche; a Stendhal; a
Gobineau。 Liberty and equality are terms mutually destructive; they
cannot exist together; for; given liberty; the strong instantly look to it that
equality shall perish。 And rightly so。 Equality is a war cry for fools … a
negation of nature; an abortion。 The very ants know better。 Doubtless
you view with considerable distrust the growing spirit of democracy; or
what is called by that name?〃
〃I do;〃 admitted Sir Walter。
〃Your monarch and mine are a little bitten by this tarantula。 I am
concerned for them。 We must not pander to the mob's leaders; for they
are not; and never have been; the many…headed thing itself。 They; not the
mob; are 'out to kill;' as you say。 But that State will soon perish that
thinks to prosper under the rule of the proletariat。 Such a constitution
would be opposed to natural law and; therefore; contain the seeds of its
own dissolution。 And its death would be inconceivably horrible; for the
death of huge; coarse organisms is always horrible。 Only distinguished
creatures are beautiful in death; or know how to die like gentlemen。〃
〃Who are on your side to…day; siguor?〃 asked Henry Lennox。
〃More than I know; I hope。 Gobineau is my lighthouse in the storm。
You must read him; if you have not done so。 He was the incarnate spirit
of the Renaissance。 He radiated from his bosom its effulgence and shot it
forth; like the light of a pharos over dark waters; he; best of all men;
understood it; and; most of all men; mourned to see its bright hope and
glory perish out of the earth under the unconquerable superstition of
mankind and the lamentable infliction of the Jewish race。 Alas! The
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Jews have destroyed many other things besides the Saviour of us all。〃
They found the Renaissance to be the favorite theme of Signor
Mannetti。 He returned again and again to it; and it was typical of him
that he could combine assurances of being a devout Catholic with
sentiments purely pagan。
〃Christianity has operated in the making of many slaves and
charlatans;〃 he said。 〃One mourns the fact; but must be honest。 It has too
often scourged the only really precious members of society from the
temple of life。 It has cast the brave and clean and virile into outer
darkness; and exalted the staple of humanity; which is never brave; or
virile; and seldom really clean。 A hideous wave submerges everything
that matters。 The proud; the beautiful … the only beings that justify the
existence of mankind … will soon be on the hills with the hawks and
leopards; and hunted like them … outcast; pariah; unwanted; hated。〃
〃The spirit of christianity is socialistic; I fear;〃 said Sir Walter。 〃It is
one of those things I do not pretend to understand; but the modern clergy
speak with a clear voice on the subject。〃
〃Do your clergy indeed speak with a clear voice?〃
〃They do; and we must; of course; listen。 Truth is apt to be painful。
And how can we reconcile our aristocratic instincts with our faith? I ask
for information and you will forgive the personality。 I find myself in
almost entire agreement with your noble sentiments。 But; as a
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