And then heshowed me more. I discovered that in Paris he had been painting just the samestale, obviously picturesque things that he had painted for years in Rome. Itwas all false, insincere, shoddy; and yet no one was more honest, sincere, andfrank than Dirk Stroeve. Who could resolve the contradiction?

I do not knowwhat put it into my head to ask:

"I say,have you by any chance run across a painter called Charles Strickland?"

"Youdon't mean to say you know him?" cried Stroeve.

"Beast," said his wife.

Stroevelaughed.

"Mapauvre cherie. " He went over to her and kissed both her hands. "Shedoesn't like him. How strange that you should know Strickland!"

"I don'tlike bad manners, " said Mrs. Stroeve.

Dirk,laughing still, turned to me to explain.

"Yousee, I asked him to come here one day and look at my pictures. Well, he came,and I showed him everything I had. " Stroeve hesitated a moment withembarrassment. I do not know why he had begun the story against himself; hefelt an awkwardness at finishing it. "He looked at -- at my pictures, andhe didn't say anything. I thought he was reserving his judgment till the end.And at last I said: `There, that's the lot!' He said: `I came to ask you tolend me twenty francs. '"

接着他又拿出更多的画来。我发现他在巴黎画的还是他在罗马画了很多年的那些陈腐不堪、花里胡哨的画。这些画画得一丝也不真实、毫无艺术价值，然而世界上却再没有谁比这些画的作者、比戴尔克·施特略夫更心地笃实、更真挚坦白的了。这种矛盾谁解释得了呢？

我不知道自己为什么会突然问他道：

“我问你一下，不知道你遇见过一个叫查理斯·思特里克兰德的画家没有？”

“你是说你也认识他？”施特略夫叫喊起来。

“这人太没教养了，”他的妻子说。

施特略夫笑了起来。

“我的可怜的宝贝①。”他走到她前面，吻了吻她的两只手。“她不喜欢他。真奇怪，你居然也认识思特里克兰德。”

①原文为法语。

“我不喜欢不懂礼貌的人，”施特略夫太太说。

戴尔克的笑声一直没有停止，转过身来给我解释。

“你知道，有一次我请他来看看我的画。他来了，我把我的画都拿给他看了。”说到这里，施特略夫有些不好意思，踌躇了一会儿。我不理解为什么他开始讲这样一个于他脸面并不光彩的故事；他不知道该怎样把这个故事说完。“他看着——我的画，一句话也不说。我本来以为他等着把画都看完了再发表意见。最后我说：‘就是这些了！’他说：‘我来是为了向你借二十法郎。’”