The twenty-two-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had arrived in Paris to build an international reputation. He wrote to his father Leopold in Salzburg on May 1st, 1778: Responding to an invitation of eight days prior, I drove to the house of the Duchesse de Chabot. I waited half an hour in a large room without any fire and as cold as ice. At last the Duchess came in. She was very polite, and implored me to excuse her piano since none of her instruments were in good order, but she asked me at least to give it a try. I said I’d be happy to play something but couldn’t right then because my fingers were completely numb from the cold, so I asked her to take me to a room where there was a fire. “Oh, yes, yes, you are right.” she answered. She then seated herself and spent an entire hour drawing in the company of several gentlemen all sitting in a circle around a large table, while I had the honor of waiting. The windows and doors were open so that not only my hands, but my body and feet were cold, and my head also began to ache. At last, to cut matters short, I played her miserable piano. What annoyed me most of all was that the Duchess and the gentlemen never stopped drawing for a moment, but coolly continued what they were doing, so that I had to play to an audience of chairs and tables and walls. Finally I got up and said I’d be glad to come back when some better instrument could be found, but the Duchess persuaded me to wait until her husband came in. He sat down beside me and listened with great attention, and I forgot all about the cold and the headache, and in spite of the miserable piano, played as I can play when I’m in the right mood. |
為了揚(yáng)名全世界,22歲的沃爾夫?qū)?阿瑪?shù)蠟跛?莫扎特來到巴黎。1778年5月1日,他給遠(yuǎn)在薩爾茨堡的父親里奧帕德寫了一封信: 8天前我收到德?恰波特公爵夫人的邀請,今天開車趕往她的府邸。我在一間沒有爐火的大房間里等了半小時(shí),屋子冷得跟冰窖似的。最后公爵夫人走了進(jìn)來,她很有教養(yǎng),懇求我原諒,說只能彈鋼琴,因?yàn)樗齽e的樂器都有些毛病,但她要求我至少試一下。我說我很樂意彈點(diǎn)什么,但那時(shí)還彈不了,因?yàn)槲业氖种副粌鼋┝恕N艺埶盐規(guī)У揭粋€(gè)有火爐的房間。 “哦,是的,是的,有道理!”她一邊回答,卻一邊坐下來和圍坐于大桌旁的幾位先生畫起畫來!她畫了整整一個(gè)小時(shí),我在一旁畢恭畢敬地等著。 窗戶和門都大開著,所以,不僅我的手,還有我的身子和腳挨凍,我的頭也開始疼痛。最后,為了速戰(zhàn)速決,我彈了她那架糟糕的鋼琴。最讓我懊惱的是,在我彈琴時(shí),公爵夫人和這些先生們一刻不停地畫著,冷冰冰地,所以我不得不彈給椅子、桌子和墻壁這些聽眾。 最后,我站起來說,等哪天她找到更好的樂器了,我很樂意再來,但是公爵夫人勸我再等等,直到她的丈夫走進(jìn)來。他在我旁邊坐下來,仔細(xì)聽我彈著。我忘了寒冷和頭疼,也不顧不上鋼琴破爛不堪,我心情好轉(zhuǎn)了,就盡量好好彈。 (來源:英語學(xué)習(xí)雜志) |
Vocabulary: 1. Mozart: 莫扎特(1756—1791),奧地利著名作曲家,維也納古典樂派的杰出代表。主要作品包括41部交響曲、歌劇《費(fèi)加羅的婚禮》、《魔笛》等和眾多小夜曲、室內(nèi)樂曲、教堂樂曲、鋼琴和小提琴協(xié)奏曲。 2. Duchess: 公爵夫人,女公爵。 3. implore: 懇求。 4. persuade: 勸說。 |