"But don'timagine to yourself that I make myself bad blood on that account. I took themto oblige Monsieur Stroeve, and I said I would sell them if I could. But really--" He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm interested in the young men, butvoyons, you yourself, Monsieur Stroeve, you don't think there's any talentthere. "
"I giveyou my word of honour, there's no one painting to-day in whose talent I am moreconvinced. Take my word for it, you are missing a good affair. Some day thosepictures will be worth more than all you have in your shop. Remember Monet, whocould not get anyone to buy his pictures for a hundred francs. What are theyworth now?"
"True. Butthere were a hundred as good painters as Monet who couldn't sell their picturesat that time, and their pictures are worth nothing still. How can one tell? Ismerit enough to bring success? Don't believe it. Du reste, it has still to beproved that this friend of yours has merit. No one claims it for him butMonsieur Stroeve. "
"And how, then,will you recognise merit?" asked Dirk, red in the face with anger.
"There isonly one way -- by success. "
"Philistine," cried Dirk.
"But thinkof the great artists of the past -- Raphael, Michael Angelo, Ingres, Delacroix-- they were all successful. "
"Let usgo, " said Stroeve to me, "or I shall kill this man. "
“不要认为我为这件事感到恼火。我接受他的画都是看在施特略夫先生的面上。我告诉他我尽量替他卖。但是说真的——”他耸了耸肩膀。“我对年轻人是有兴趣的，可是施待略夫先生，你自己也知道，你也并不认为他们中有什么天才。”
“我拿名誉向你担保，在所有这些画家里，再没有谁比他更有天才了。你相信我的话吧，一笔赚钱的买卖叫你白白糟蹋了。迟早有一天他的这几张画会比你铺子里所有的画加在一起还值钱。你还记得莫奈吗？当时他的一张画一百法郎都没人要。现在值多少钱了？”
“不错。但是当时还有一百个画家，一点也不次于莫奈，同样也卖不掉自己的画。现在这些人的画还是不值钱。谁知道这是怎么回事？是不是画家只要画得好就能成名呢？千万别相信这个。再说①，你的这位朋友究竟画得好不好也还没有证实。只有你施特略夫先生一个人夸奖他，我还没听见别人说他好呢。”
①原文为法语。
“那么你说说，怎样才知道一个人画得好不好？”戴尔克问道，脸都气红了。
“只有一个办法——出了名画得就好。”
“市侩，”戴尔克喊道。
“不妨想想过去的大艺术家——拉斐尔，米开朗基罗，安格尔②，德拉克罗瓦③，都是出了名的。”
②让·奥古斯特·多米尼克·安格尔（1780—1867），法国画家。
③费迪南·维克多·欧仁·德拉克罗瓦（1798—1863），法国画家。
“咱们走吧，”施特略夫对我说，“再不走的话我非把这个人宰了不可。”
