Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting

Translator: Thu-Huong Ha Reviewer: Youna Jung

翻译人员: Karen SONG 校对人员: Yuguo Zhang

I'm going to tell you about an affliction I suffer from.

我即将会给你讲述一个我曾受很大的折磨

And I have a funny feeling that quite a few of you

然后我有点感觉到你们有些人

suffer from it as well.

也受到过这个折磨

When I'm walking around an art gallery,

当我在一个艺术博物馆里走来走去

rooms and rooms full of paintings,

一间间的屋子里全是画

after about 15 or 20 minutes,

过了15到20分钟后

I realize I'm not thinking about the paintings.

我意识到我想的不是这些画

I'm not connecting to them.

我跟它们没有联系

Instead, I'm thinking about that cup of coffee

我满脑子想的都是要来一杯咖啡

I desperately need to wake me up.

让自己好好清醒清醒

I'm suffering from gallery fatigue.

我正在受到博物馆审美疲劳的折磨

How many of you out there suffer from --

有多少人曾有过同样的经历？

yes. Ha ha, ha ha!

哈哈，果然是有

Now, sometimes you might last longer

有时候你坚持的时间也许长过20分钟

than 20 minutes, or even shorter,

有时候不足20分钟

but I think we all suffer from it. And do you have

不过我认为我们都受过这样的折磨

the accompanying guilt?

那你们有没有伴随着一种罪恶感?

For me, I look at the paintings on the wall

对于我来说,看着墙上的那些画

and I think, somebody has decided to put them there,

然后我就想到有人决定把它们放在这里

thinks they're good enough to be on that wall,

认为他们在墙上摆着足够好

but I don't always see it.

但我不总这样想

In fact, most of the time I don't see it.

实际上,大多数情况我都不这么想

And I leave feeling actually unhappy.

然后呢我离开的时候心情还不好

I feel guilty and unhappy with myself,

我对我自己感觉到一种罪恶感以及不愉快

rather than thinking there's something wrong with the painting,

而不是感觉到是墙上那些画有问题

I think there's something wrong with me.

我会认为是我有问题

And that's not a good experience, to leave a gallery like that.

当然对于离开一个展览馆来说,那种感觉一点儿都不好玩

(Laughter)

(笑声)

The thing is, I think we should give ourselves a break.

事实上,我认为我们应该给我们自己一个暂停

If you think about going into a restaurant,

如果你想要去一家餐馆

when you look at the menu, are you expected to order

当你看菜单的时候,你期待着把菜单上

every single thing on the menu?

所有东西都点了吗?

No! You select.

不!你选.

If you go into a department store to buy a shirt,

如果你去一个大商场去买件衬衫,

are you going to try on every single shirt

你会把所有衬衫都试一遍然后

and want every single shirt?

都买下来么?

Of course not, you can be selective. It's expected.

当然不会,你可以进行选择.这都是预先想好的

How come, then, it's not so expected

那为什么当去展览馆的时候,进行选择

to be selective when we go to an art gallery?

又不是被所期待的呢?

Why are we supposed to have a connection with every single painting?

为什么我们非得跟每幅画都有个联系?

Well I'm trying to take a different approach.

我在试图走另一条路

And there's two things I do:

因此我做了以下两件事:

When I go into a gallery, first of all, I go quite fast,

当我走进一个展览馆的时候,首先我很快地走一遍

and I look at everything, and I pinpoint the ones

我每个都看,然后我把那些能让我慢下来的

that make me slow down for some reason or other.

画都记下来

I don't even know why they make me slow down, but something

我不知道为啥它们让我慢了下来,不过

pulls me like a magnet

有些东西就跟磁铁一样吸住了我

and then I ignore all the others, and I just go to that painting.

然后我把其他的全部忽略,直接去看那幅画

So it's the first thing I do is, I do my own curation.

因此我做的第一件事是自己筛选

I choose a painting. It might just be one painting in 50.

我先选一副画.有可能是50选一

And then the second thing I do is I stand in front of that painting,

然后第二件事就是站在那副画的面前

and I tell myself a story about it.

我给我自己讲个关于那画的故事

Why a story? Well, I think that we are wired,

为什么呢?嗯..因为我们是连接的

our DNA tells us to tell stories.

我们的DNA让我们去讲故事

We tell stories all the time about everything,

我们时时刻刻都在讲各种各样的故事

and I think we do it because the world is kind of a crazy, chaotic place,

因为这个世界其实挺疯狂,挺混乱的

and sometimes stories, we're trying to make sense of the world a little bit,

有时候我们可以通过故事来更进一步了解世界

trying to bring some order to it.

并且带来一些秩序

Why not apply that to our looking at paintings?

那为什么我们不也在画上用呢?

So I now have this sort of restaurant menu

现在我手里有个餐馆的菜单似的东西

visiting of art galleries.

是参观艺术展览馆得来的

There are three paintings I'm going to show you now

我现在准备给你看三幅作品

that are paintings that made me stop in my tracks

这些是令我放慢脚步的画

and want to tell stories about them.

并且想给我讲一个故事

The first one needs little introduction --

第一个需要我介绍一下--

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer,

"戴珍珠耳环的女孩"由Johannes Vermeer创作

17th-century Dutch painter.

17世纪的荷兰画家

This is the most glorious painting.

这是我见过最繁华的绘画作品

I first saw it when I was 19,

我19岁的时候第一次看到它

and I immediately went out and got a poster of it,

然后我立刻去了海报店买了一张

and in fact I still have that poster. 30 years later it's hanging in my house.

实际上现在我还有那个海报呢,30年后还在我家挂着

It's accompanied me everywhere I've gone,

我每次去哪它都伴随着我

I never tire of looking at her.

我看她从未感到无聊

What made me stop in my tracks about her to begin with

之所以它令我放慢脚步

was just the gorgeous colors he uses

是因为这些美丽的颜色

and the light falling on her face.

以及在她脸上的坠下的光芒

But I think what's kept me still coming back

不过我认为令我不断回来欣赏的原因

year after year is another thing, and that is

是另外一个东西,那就是

the look on her face, the conflicted look on her face.

她脸上矛盾,纠结的表情

I can't tell if she's happy or sad,

我看不出来她高兴还是伤心

and I change my mind all the time.

而且我时时刻刻在改变主意

So that keeps me coming back.

因此它持续吸引我注意力

One day, 16 years after I had this poster on my wall,

一天,在我在墙上挂的这幅海报16年后,

I lay in bed and looked at her,

我躺在床上看着她

and I suddenly thought, I wonder what

然后我突然想到,我想知道

the painter did to her to make her look like that.

画家是怎样把她画成这样的

And it was the first time I'd ever thought that

那是我第一次想到这一点

the expression on her face is actually reflecting

她脸上的表情实际上反映出她对

how she feels about him.

画家本人的看法

Always before I'd thought of it as a portrait of a girl.

在我之前总认为这只不过是对一个女孩的画像,

Now I began to think of it as a portrait of a relationship.

现在我觉得是对于一段感情的描绘

And I thought, well, what is that relationship?

然后我就想到,嗯...那是什么感情呢?

So I went to find out. I did some research and discovered,

因此我做了些研究,然后发现

we have no idea who she is.

我不知道她是谁

In fact, we don't know who any of the models

实际上,我们不知道任何出现在Vermeer

in any of Vermeer's paintings are,

画中的人是谁

and we know very little about Vermeer himself.

而且我们对于Vermeer也是知道很少

Which made me go, "Yippee!"

这让我也是很兴奋!

I can do whatever I want, I can come up with whatever story I want to.

我可以想干啥干啥.我可以随便想一个故事

So here's how I came up with the story.

现在我告诉你我怎么想的故事

First of all, I thought,

首先,我想到,

I've got to get her into the house.

我得把她带到房间来,

How does Vermeer know her?

Vermeer怎么知道她的

Well, there've been suggestions that

有记录表明

she is his 12-year-old daughter.

她是他的12岁的女儿

The daughter at the time was 12 when he painted the painting.

在那副画里,他女儿当时就是12岁

And I thought, no, it's a very intimate look,

我又想到,不,这个表情很亲近,

but it's not a look a daughter gives her father.

但是不是一个女儿给爸爸的表情

For one thing, in Dutch painting of the time,

对于当时的荷兰绘画来说,

if a woman's mouth was open, it was indicating sexual availability.

如果一个女的嘴巴是张开的,就表明她是性开放的

It would have been inappropriate for Vermeer

对于Vermeer来说是不会把他女儿

to paint his daughter like that.

画成那样的

So it's not his daughter, but it's somebody

因此呢这不是他女儿,但是是一个跟

close to him, physically close to him.

他很靠近的人

Well, who else would be in the house?

那么,还有谁在他的家呢?

A servant, a lovely servant.

一个管家,很漂亮的管家

So, she's in the house.

她在房间里

How do we get her into the studio?

那我们怎么把她弄到工作室里呢?

We don't know very much about Vermeer,

我们对于Vermeer不是很了解

but the little bits that we do know, one thing we know

不过对于他起码我们知道他与一个

is that he married a Catholic woman, they lived with her mother

天主教的女人结婚了,他们与她母亲同住

in a house where he had his own room

在他自己有一个房间的房子里--

where he -- his studio. He also had 11 children.

他的工作室.他还有11个小孩,

It would have been a chaotic, noisy household.

家里按说应该非常吵闹和乱

And if you've seen Vermeer's paintings before,

不过你如果之前看过Vermeer画的画,

you know that they're incredibly calm and quiet.

你知道他画的画都特别的镇静和安静

How does a painter paint such calm, quiet paintings with 11 kids around?

一个画家是怎样在11孩子身边画出这样安静的作品呢?

Well, he compartmentalizes his life.

他把自己的生活隔离了起来

He gets to his studio, and he says, "Nobody comes in here.

每回他进工作室的时候,他会说:"没人能进这里."

Not the wife, not the kids. Okay, the maid can come in and clean."

妻子不行,孩子不行.好吧,管家可以进去进行打扫

She's in the studio. He's got her in the studio, they're together.

这样她就在工作室里面,他们在一起

And he decides to paint her.

于是他决定给她画副画

He has her wear very plain clothes.

他让她穿上很朴素的衣服

Now, all of the women, or most of the women in Vermeer's other paintings

在Vermeer的画里,大多数女人

wore velvet, silk, fur, very sumptuous materials.

都穿天鹅绒,丝质品,毛制品,非常奢侈的衣服

This is very plain; the only thing that isn't plain

但这却很朴素,唯一一个不朴素的

is her pearl earring.

是她的珍珠耳环

Now, if she's a servant, there is no way she could afford

如果她是个管家的话,显然她不可能买得起

a pair of pearl earrings.

这样的耳环

So those are not her pearl earrings. Whose are they?

因此这些耳环不是她的,那是谁的呢?

We happen to know, there's a list of Catharina, the wife's clothes.

不过我们得知他妻子Catharina的衣服

Amongst them a yellow coat with white fur,

其中有一件是带着白色毛的黄色大衣

a yellow and black bodice,

一件黄色加黑色的紧身上衣

and you see these clothes on lots of other paintings,

你可以在其他很多作品中见到

different women in the paintings, Vermeer's paintings.

在Vermeer的作品中见到

So clearly, her clothes were lent to various different women.

因此很明显,她妻子的衣服曾借给过很多人

It's not such a leap of faith to take

说那对耳环其实是他妻子的

that that pearl earring actually belongs to his wife.

其实也并不夸张

So we've got all the elements for our story.

因此呢我们把故事中所有元素都找到了

She's in the studio with him for a long time.

她在工作室里与他呆了很长时间

These paintings took a long time to make.

这些画用了很长时间

They would have spent the time alone, all that time.

他们单独在一起呆了很长时间

She's wearing his wife's pearl earring.

她在戴着他妻子的耳环,

She's gorgeous. She obviously loves him. She's conflicted.

她长得漂亮极了.她很爱他.但是她又很矛盾

And does the wife know? Maybe not.

那他妻子知道么?估计不知道.

And if she doesn't, well --

如果她不知道的话,那么呢....

that's the story.

好吧,故事完了.

(Laughter)

(笑声)

The next painting I'm going to talk about

下一个我要讲的画叫做

is called "Boy Building a House of Cards" by Chardin.

"建造卡片房子的男孩"由Chaedin创作

He's an 18th-century French painter best known for his still lifes,

他是个以他的静止生命绘画所著名的18世纪法国画家

but he did occasionally paint people.

不过他偶尔也画画人

And in fact, he painted four versions of this painting,

实际上,他画过这幅画的四个版本

different boys building houses of cards, all concentrated.

不同的造卡片房子的男孩,都是聚集在一起的

I like this version the best, because some of the boys

我最喜欢的是这个版本,因为这里面有些男孩年轻点,

are older and some are younger, and to me, this one,

有些年长点,而且对我来说

like Goldilocks's porridge, is just right.

这幅就像是Goldilock的粥,感觉太对了

He's not quite a child, and he's not quite a man.

他不是完全一个小孩,也不是完全一个男人

He's absolutely balanced between innocence and experience,

他完全介于天真的成熟之间

and that made me stop in my tracks in front of this painting.

这就是为什么这幅画令我放慢了脚步

And I looked at his face. It's like a Vermeer painting a bit.

我看着他的脸.有点像是Vermmer画的

The light comes in from the left, his face is bathed

光从左边进来,他的脸

in this glowing light. It's right in the center of the painting,

被光芒笼罩着.就在画面的正中央

and you look at it, and I found that when I was looking at it,

如果你看看的话,当我看的时候

I was standing there going,

我就站在那说话:"

"Look at me. Please look at me."

看着我.快看着我."

And he didn't look at me. He was still looking at his cards,

不过他还是看着他的卡片

and that's one of the seductive elements of this painting is,

这是他的画诱惑人的一个地方

he's so focused on what he's doing that he doesn't look at us.

他在专注于自己正在干的事情以至于他不关注别人

And that is, to me, the sign of a masterpiece,

对我来说,那就是一副杰作的标志

of a painting when there's a lack of resolution.

一个缺少决心的画

He's never going to look at me.

他永远不会看着我

So I was thinking of a story where,

因此我在想一个故事

if I'm in this position, who could be there looking at him?

如果我在那个位置的时候,谁又会看着我呢?

Not the painter, I don't want to think about the painter.

不会是画家,我不想去想那个画家

I'm thinking of an older version of himself.

我在想一个更老一点的他自己

He's a man, a servant, an older servant looking at this younger servant,

他是个男人,一个管家,一个年长的管家看着这个年轻的管家

saying, "Look at me. I want to warn you about

说到:"看着我.我想要告诫你

what you're about to go through. Please look at me."

你将会遇到什么.请看着我."

And he never does.

不过他从来不看

And that lack of resolution, the lack of resolution in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" --

就是那种决心的缺少,在"戴着珍珠耳环的女孩"中

we don't know if she's happy or sad.

我们不知道她到底是高兴还不伤心

I've written an entire novel about her,

我写过整个一本关于她的小说,

and I still don't know if she's happy or sad.

但是我还是不知道她到底是高兴还是难过

Again and again, back to the painting,

一次又一次,我回到那幅画

looking for the answer, looking for the story to fill in that gap.

想找到一个答案,找到一个能给出答案的故事

And we may make a story, and it satisfies us momentarily,

而我们可以编一个故事,它可以使我们暂时性的满足

but not really, and we come back again and again.

不过不是完全的,然后我们再次回来

The last painting I'm going to talk about

最后一个我要讲述的画呢

is called "Anonymous" by anonymous. (Laughter)

叫做"匿名",是由匿名画的.(笑声)

This is a Tudor portrait bought by the National Portrait Gallery.

这是一个对都铎的描绘,是由国家素肖像览馆购买的

They thought it was a man named Sir Thomas Overbury,

他们认为这是个叫Thomas Overbury的男人

and then they discovered that it wasn't him,

不过在他们发现不是他后,

and they have no idea who it is.

他们就不知道是谁了

Now, in the National Portrait Gallery,

在国家肖像展览馆中,

if you don't know the biography of the painting,

如果你不知道作品的来龙去脉

it's kind of useless to you.

那就没什么用了

They can't hang it on the wall, because they don't know who he is.

他们没法把这幅作品挂出来,因为他们不知道他是谁

So unfortunately, this orphan spends most of his time in storage,

因此很可惜,这个孤儿在库房度过了大多数的时间

along with quite a number of other orphans,

同时跟其他的一堆孤儿一起度过的

some of them some beautiful paintings.

有一些是很美丽的绘画

This painting made me stop in my tracks for three reasons:

有三个原因这幅画让我停了下来

One is the disconnection between his mouth

一个是他的带着笑容的嘴巴与留恋的眼睛

that's smiling and his eyes that are wistful.

之间的分离

He's not happy, and why isn't he happy?

他不是很高兴,不过为什么呢?

The second thing that really attracted me

第二个吸引我的是

were his bright red cheeks.

他亮红的脸蛋

He is blushing. He's blushing for his portrait being made!

他脸都红了,因为别人在给他画肖像

This must be a guy who blushes all the time.

肯定是一个脸很容易红的家伙

What is he thinking about that's making him blush?

那他在想什么以至于他的脸红了呢?

The third thing that made me stop in my tracks

第三件事就是

is his absolutely gorgeous doublet.

他非常漂亮的紧身上衣

Silk, gray, those beautiful buttons.

丝质,灰色,带着美丽的扣子

And you know what it makes me think of,

它令我想到

is it's sort of snug and puffy; it's like a duvet spread over a bed.

这件衣服很温暖很舒服,就跟在床上的一床羽绒被一样

I kept thinking of beds and red cheeks,

我不断想着床和他们的红脸蛋

and of course I kept thinking of sex when I looked at him,

当然我看他的时候,我一直在想着性爱,

and I thought, is that what he's thinking about?

然后我就想,他是不是就在想性爱呢?

And I thought, if I'm going to make a story,

我又想到,如果我要编一个故事,

what's the last thing I'm going to put in there?

我最不想编的是什么?

Well, what would a Tudor gentleman be preoccupied with?

一个都铎的绅士应该全神贯注与谁呢?

And I thought, well, Henry VIII, okay.

嗯..应该是亨利八世,好吧.

He'd be preoccupied with his inheritance, with his heir.

他应该对他的家产和遗产很着迷

Who is going to inherit his name and his fortune?

谁会继承他的名字的财富呢?

You put all those together, and you've got your story

你把这些都加进去,你就有你的故事了

to fill in that gap that makes you keep coming back.

这样你就填满了漏洞,使得你不断回来

Now, here's the story.

这就是我的故事

It's short.

非常短

"Rosy"

"玫瑰红"

I am still wearing the white brocade doublet Caroline gave me.

我还是穿着Caroline给我的白色棉缎的紧身上衣

It has a plain high collar, detachable sleeves

它有个高的领子,可以卸掉的袖子

and intricate buttons of twisted silk thread,

以及用卷在一起复杂丝线做成的扣子

set close together so that the fit is snug.

这些都在一起因此衣服穿起来很舒服

The doublet makes me think of a coverlet on the vast bed.

紧身上衣使我想起了在一张大床上的床单

Perhaps that was the intention.

也许这是我的初衷

I first wore it at an elaborate dinner her parents held in our honor.

我在她家长举行的一次晚宴上第一次穿这件衣服,

I knew even before I stood up to speak

在我站起来说话之前我就

that my cheeks were inflamed.

知道我的脸蛋发烫

I have always flushed easily, from physical exertion,

我从来都是很容易就脸红了,体育锻炼,

from wine, from high emotion.

红酒,以及强的情感

As a boy, I was teased by my sisters and by schoolboys,

当我是个小孩的时候,我被我的姐姐们和在学校的男孩们嘲笑

but not by George.

不过George从未嘲笑我

Only George could call me Rosy.

只有George把我叫做玫瑰红

I would not allow anyone else.

我只允许他一个人这么叫

He managed to make the word tender.

他想要让这个世界更加温暖

When I made the announcement, George did not

当我在发表演讲时,George

turn rosy, but went pale as my doublet.

没有变玫瑰红,但却变得跟我紧身上衣一样白

He should not have been surprised.

他不应该变得这么惊讶

It has been a common assumption

应该很容易就推测出来

that I would one day marry his cousin.

有一天我要区他的表妹

But it is difficult to hear the words aloud.

不过实际听到这一刻却很难

I know, I could barely utter them.

我几乎说不出来了

Afterwards, I found George on the terrace overlooking the kitchen garden.

在那之后,我看到George在阳台上鸟瞰厨房的花园

Despite drinking steadily all afternoon, he was still pale.

尽管他整个下午都在思考,但他的脸还是白的

We stood together and watched the maids cut lettuces.

我们站在一起,注视着管家把生菜切掉

"What do you think of my doublet?" I asked.

"你觉得我的紧身上衣怎么样?"我问到

He glanced at me. "That collar looks to be strangling you."

他扫了我一眼."领子看起来要把你勒死."

"We will still see each other," I insisted.

"我们还会见面的."我坚定地说到

"We can still hunt and play cards and attend court.

"我们还是可以去打猎,去玩牌,还有出席在法院.

Nothing need change."

没有任何事会改变."

George did not speak.

George没说话

"I am 23 years old. It is time for me to marry

"我都23岁了.也该是结婚和找继承人

and produce an heir. It is expected of me."

的时候了.对我来说这都是理所当然的."

George drained another glass of claret and turned to me.

George喝干了另一杯葡萄酒然后转了过来

"Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, James.

"我对你的婚姻表示祝贺,James.

I'm sure you'll be content together."

我相信你们在一起一定很幸福."

He never used my nickname again.

至此之后,他再也没有用过我的昵称了.

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

(鼓掌)

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

(鼓掌)