Professor, this strange man then said, you must excuse the informality with

which I receive you, and the disorder reigning in this lounge.

教授，这个古怪人说，请您原谅我这样毫不客气地在这里接待您，请您原谅这所客厅乱七八糟的没有秩序。

Sir, I replied, without prying into who you are, might I venture to

identify you as an artist?

船长，我并不想知道您是什么人，但我现在可以猜测您是一位艺术家吧?

A collector, sir, nothing more. Formerly I loved acquiring these beautiful

works created by the hand of man.

先生，我至多不过是一个业余爱好者。我从前喜欢收藏人类双手创造出来的这些最美的作品。

I sought them greedily, ferreted them out tirelessly, and I've been able to

gather some objects of great value.

我当时是一个热烈的接触，一个不倦的追求家，因此收集了一些价值很高的美术品。

They're my last mementos of those shores that are now dead for me.

这些东西是已经死亡的陆地—对我来说—所留下的最后纪念品了。

In my eyes, your modern artists are already as old as the ancients.

在我看来，你们的那些近代的美术家也已经是古代的了，

They've existed for 2,000 or 3,000 years, and I mix them up in my mind. The

masters are ageless.

他们都已经有两三千年了，所以在我心中，也不把他们分为古代的和现代的。名家大师是没有时代的呀。

What about these composers?

这些音乐家又怎样呢?

I said, pointing to sheet music by Weber, Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven,

Haydn, Meyerbeer, Herold, Wagner,

我指着韦伯、罗西尼、莫扎特、贝多芬、海顿、梅衣比尔。海罗尔、瓦格纳、

Auber, Gounod, Victor Masse, and a number of others scattered over a full

size piano-organ, which occupied one of the wall panels in this lounge.

奥比、古诺以及其他许多人的乐谱说，这些乐谱杂乱地放在一座大型钢琴上面，钢琴占着客厅的一方格的地位。