Nature and Art自然與藝術

By James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Nature contains the elements, in colour and form, of all pictures, as the keyboard contains the notes of all music.

無論從色彩還是形狀來講，大自然都蘊涵著所有的繪畫成分，就如同鍵盤包含著所有音樂的音符一樣。

But the artist is born to pick, and choose, and group with science, these elements, that the result may be beautiful - as the musician gathers his notes, and forms his chords, until he brings forth from chaos glorious harmony.

而藝術家天生便具有這種才華，從這些成分加以選擇，并巧妙的結合起來，繪一幅美麗的畫卷。這就好比是音樂家從無序的聲音中選擇音符，形成自己的和弦之音，創作出優美和諧的樂章。

To say to the painter, that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player, that he may sit on the piano .., The dignity of the snow-capped mountain is lost in distinctness, but the joy of the tourist is to recognize the traveller on the top. The desire to see, for the sake of seeing, is, with the mass, alone the one to be gratified, hence the delight in detail.

如果說畫家是以大自然的本貌去創作，那么對于演奏家而言，他便可以坐在鋼琴旁了……高山巍立，白雪皚皚，卻因過于清晰而失去了威嚴，然而攀爬者卻因能一睹登顛者之風采而獨享一份樂趣。與眾人登高一望，滿足極目遠眺之愿，然樂趣卻也只體現在一睹細枝末節罷了。

And when the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili, and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairy-land is before us - then the wayfarer hastens home; the working man and the cultured one, the wise man and the one of pleasure, cease to understand, as they have ceased to see, and Nature, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings her exquisite song to the artist alone, her son and her master - her son in that he loves her, her master in that he knows her.

傍晚，詩般迷霧如面紗籠罩溪邊，破舊的房屋隱遁于昏暗的夜色中，高聳的煙囪好似一座座鐘樓，間間庫房宛如夜里的宮殿，整座城市懸于天宇，一切如仙境般呈現在我們眼前。此時，旅人疾步踏歸途;而無論是勞動者，有學識者，智者，還是享樂之人，均因再看不見這一切而無頓悟。曾經歌唱的大自然，此刻只為藝術家吟唱美妙的旋律，他既是她的兒子也是她的主人——愛而為其子，知而為其主。

To him her secrets are unfolded; to him her lessons have become gradually clear. He looks at her flower, not with the enlarging lens, that he may gather facts for the botanist, but with the light of the one who sees in her choice selection of brilliant tones and delicate tints, suggestions of future harmonies.

為藝術家，大自然展示著她的奧秘;也只因他，其內涵才漸漸得以顯現。藝術家對花的觀察，不是用植物學家收集實證的放大鏡，而是用一屢光，透過它便可以看到由燦爛的色調及美妙的色彩所將描繪出的和諧畫面。

He does not confine himself to purposeless copying, without thought, each blade of grass, as commended by the inconsequent, but, in the long curve of the narrow leaf, corrected by the straight tall stem, he learns how grace is wedded to dignity, how strength enhances sweetness, that elegance shall be the result.

他不會像那些于此不搭調的人那樣，不假思索，毫無目的地謄摹每一片葉子;相反地，他卻從卷曲的葉脈和細長的莖干中，領略到其莊嚴中透著優雅，力量中透著甜美，最終創作出高雅美妙的作品。

In the citron wing of the pale butterfly, with its dainty spots of orange, he sees before him the stately halls of fair gold, with their slender saffron pillars, and is taught how the delicate drawing high upon the walls shall be traced in tender tones of orpiment, and repeated by the base in notes of graver hue.

一只淺色的蝴蝶，柚色的翅膀上嵌有精美的橘色斑點，而呈現在他眼前的卻是金碧輝煌的殿堂上豎著細長金黃立柱，并意識到那謄于高墻上的精美畫卷，是以柔和的雄黃色配以更淡的底色描繪而成。

In all that is dainty and lovable he finds hints for his own combinations, and thus is Nature ever his resource and always at his service, and to him is naught refused.

所有的這些精美可愛的色彩都給予他創作的靈感。大自然成了他創作的源泉，為他服務，無絲毫拒絕。