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The name of this monster was Richard Wagner. Everything I have said about him you can findon record—in newspapers, in police reports, in the testimony of people who knew him, inhis own letters, between the lines of his autobiography. And the curious thing about this record is that it doesn't matter in the least.
这位怪杰的大名叫理查德·瓦格纳。我所谈到的关于他的一切情况都记录在案——可资查考的有报纸、警方报告、认识他的人的证言，他自己的信函以及他自传中字里行间透露的情况。可是，这种记录令人奇怪之处，在于它竟无损此公一根毫毛。
Because this undersized, sickly, disagreeable, fascinating little man was right all the time.The joke was on us. He was one of the world's greatest dramatists; he was a great thinker; he was one of the most stupendous musical geniuses that, up to now, the world has ever seen. The world did owe him a living. When you consider what he wrote—thirteen operas and music dramas, eleven of them still holding the stage, eight of them unquestionably worth ranking among the world's great musico-dramatic masterpieces—when you listen to what he wrote, the debts and heartaches that people had to endure from him don't seem much of a price. Think of the luxury with which for a time, at least, fate rewarded Napoleon,the man who ruined France and looted Europe; and then perhaps you will agree that a few thousand dollars' worth of debts were not too heavy a price to pay for the Ring trilogy.
这是因为，这位身材瘦小、一副病态、脾气乖戾、具有魔力的矮子在任何时候都无可非议。玩笑是跟我们开的。他是全世界最伟大的剧作家之一，他是一位伟大的思想家，他是迄今全世界最了不起的音乐天才之一。世人确实应该供养他。当你掂量一下他的作品时——十三部歌剧和音乐剧，其中十一部仍然占领舞台，八部无疑可当之无愧地进入世界音乐剧名作之列——当你聆听他的作品时，他欠债不还也好，伤透人心也罢，这些代价似乎不好算大。想一想命运至少曾一度赐给拿破仑，那个毁灭法国、洗劫欧洲的人的那种奢华吧。这样一比，你也许会同意，用几千元的债买来《指环》三部曲并不太贵。
