"Is itpossible for any man to disregard others entirely?" I said, though more tomyself than to him. "You're dependent on others for everything inexistence. It's a preposterous attempt to try to live only for yourself and byyourself. Sooner or later you'll be ill and tired and old, and then you'llcrawl back into the herd. Won't you be ashamed when you feel in your heart thedesire for comfort and sympathy? You're trying an impossible thing. Sooner orlater the human being in you will yearn for the common bonds of humanity. "

"Come andlook at my pictures. "

"Have youever thought of death?"

"Whyshould I? It doesn't matter. "

I stared athim. He stood before me, motionless, with a mocking smile in his eyes; but forall that, for a moment I had an inkling of a fiery, tortured spirit, aiming atsomething greater than could be conceived by anything that was bound up withthe flesh. I had a fleeting glimpse of a pursuit of the ineffable. I looked atthe man before me in his shabby clothes, with his great nose and shining eyes,his red beard and untidy hair; and I had a strange sensation that it was onlyan envelope, and I was in the presence of a disembodied spirit.

"Let us goand look at your pictures, " I said.

“一个人可能完全不理会别人吗？”我说，与其说是问他还不如说是问我自己，“生活中无论什么事都和别人息息相关，要想只为自己、孤零零地一个人活下去是个十分荒谬的想法。早晚有一天你会生病，会变得老态龙钟，到那时候你还得爬着回去找你的同伙。当你感到需要别人的安慰和同情的时候，你不羞愧吗？你现在要做的是一件根本不可能的事。你身上的人性早晚会渴望同其他的人建立联系的。”

“去看看我的画吧！”

“你想到过死吗？”

“何必想到死？死有什么关系？”

我凝望着他。他一动不动地站在我面前，眼睛里闪着讥嘲的笑容。但是尽管他脸上是这种神情，一瞬间我好象还是看到一个受折磨的、炽热的灵魂正在追逐某种远非血肉之躯所能想象的伟大的东西。我瞥见的是对某种无法描述的事物的热烈追求。我凝视着站在我面前的这个人，衣服褴褛，生着一个大鼻子和炯炯发光的眼睛，火红的胡须，蓬乱的头发。我有一个奇怪的感觉，这一切只不过是个外壳，我真正看到的是一个脱离了躯体的灵魂。

“好吧，去看看你的画吧。”我说。