第 5 节
作者:这就是结局      更新:2023-05-17 13:23      字数:9322
  uctuation;you traced rather confusion worse confounded; at most; Timidity and physical Cold?  Some indeed said withal; he was 〃the very Spirit of Love embodied:〃  blue earnest eyes; full of sadness and kindness; purse ever open; and so forth; the whole of which; we shall now hope; for many reasons; was not quite groundless。  Nevertheless friend Teufelsdrockh's outline; who indeed handled the burin like few in these cases; was probably the best:  _Er hat Gemuth und Geist; hat wenigstens gehabt; doch ohne Organ; ohne Schicksals…Gunst; ist gegenwartig aber halb…zerruttet; halb…erstarrt_; 〃He has heart and talent; at least has had such; yet without fit mode of utterance; or favor of Fortune; and so is now half…cracked; half…congealed。〃What the Hofrath shall think of this when he sees it; readers may wonder; we; safe in the stronghold of Historical Fidelity; are careless。
  The main point; doubtless; for us all; is his love of Teufelsdrockh; which indeed was also by far the most decisive feature of Heuschrecke himself。 We are enabled to assert that he hung on the Professor with the fondness of a Boswell for his Johnson。  And perhaps with the like return; for Teufelsdrockh treated his gaunt admirer with little outward regard; as some half…rational or altogether irrational friend; and at best loved him out of gratitude and by habit。  On the other hand; it was curious to observe with what reverent kindness; and a sort of fatherly protection; our Hofrath; being the elder; richer; and as he fondly imagined far more practically influential of the two; looked and tended on his little Sage; whom he seemed to consider as a living oracle。  Let but Teufelsdrockh open his mouth; Heuschrecke's also unpuckered itself into a free doorway; besides his being all eye and all ear; so that nothing might be lost:  and then; at every pause in the harangue; he gurgled out his pursy chuckle of a cough…laugh (for the machinery of laughter took some time to get in motion; and seemed crank and slack); or else his twanging nasal; _Bravo!  Das glaub' ich_; in either case; by way of heartiest approval。  In short; if Teufelsdrockh was Dalai…Lama; of which; except perhaps in his self…seclusion; and godlike indifference; there was no symptom; then might Heuschrecke pass for his chief Talapoin; to whom no dough…pill he could knead and publish was other than medicinal and sacred。
  In such environment; social; domestic; physical; did Teufelsdrockh; at the time of our acquaintance; and most likely does he still; live and meditate。 Here; perched up in his high Wahngasse watch…tower; and often; in solitude; outwatching the Bear; it was that the indomitable Inquirer fought all his battles with Dulness and Darkness; here; in all probability; that he wrote this surprising Volume on _Clothes_。  Additional particulars:  of his age; which was of that standing middle sort you could only guess at; of his wide surtout; the color of his trousers; fashion of his broad…brimmed steeple…hat; and so forth; we might report; but do not。  The Wisest truly is; in these times; the Greatest; so that an enlightened curiosity leaving Kings and such like to rest very much on their own basis; turns more and more to the Philosophic Class:  nevertheless; what reader expects that; with all our writing and reporting; Teufelsdrockh could be brought home to him; till once the Documents arrive?  His Life; Fortunes; and Bodily Presence; are as yet hidden from us; or matter only of faint conjecture。 But; on the other hand; does not his Soul lie enclosed in this remarkable Volume; much more truly than Pedro Garcia's did in the buried Bag of Doubloons?  To the soul of Diogenes Teufelsdrockh; to his opinions; namely; on the 〃Origin and Influence of Clothes;〃 we for the present gladly return。
  CHAPTER IV。 CHARACTERISTICS。
  It were a piece of vain flattery to pretend that this Work on Clothes entirely contents us; that it is not; like all works of genius; like the very Sun; which; though the highest published creation; or work of genius; has nevertheless black spots and troubled nebulosities amid its effulgence;a mixture of insight; inspiration; with dulness; double…vision; and even utter blindness。
  Without committing ourselves to those enthusiastic praises and prophesyings of the _Weissnichtwo'sche Anzeiger_; we admitted that the Book had in a high degree excited us to self…activity; which is the best effect of any book; that it had even operated changes in our way of thought; nay; that it promised to prove; as it were; the opening of a new mine…shaft; wherein the whole world of Speculation might henceforth dig to unknown depths。  More specially may it now be declared that Professor Teufelsdrockh's acquirements; patience of research; philosophic and even poetic vigor; are here made indisputably manifest; and unhappily no less his prolixity and tortuosity and manifold ineptitude; that; on the whole; as in opening new mine…shafts is not unreasonable; there is much rubbish in his Book; though likewise specimens of almost invaluable ore。  A paramount popularity in England we cannot promise him。  Apart from the choice of such a topic as Clothes; too often the manner of treating it betokens in the Author a rusticity and academic seclusion; unblamable; indeed inevitable in a German; but fatal to his success with our public。
  Of good society Teufelsdrockh appears to have seen little; or has mostly forgotten what he saw。  He speaks out with a strange plainness; calls many things by their mere dictionary names。  To him the Upholsterer is no Pontiff; neither is any Drawing…room a Temple; were it never so begilt and overhung:  〃a whole immensity of Brussels carpets; and pier…glasses; and ormolu;〃 as he himself expresses it; 〃cannot hide from me that such Drawing…room is simply a section of Infinite Space; where so many God…created Souls do for the time meet together。〃  To Teufelsdrockh the highest Duchess is respectable; is venerable; but nowise for her pearl bracelets and Malines laces:  in his eyes; the star of a Lord is little less and little more than the broad button of Birmingham spelter in a Clown's smock; 〃each is an implement;〃 he says; 〃in its kind; a tag for _hooking…together_; and; for the rest; was dug from the earth; and hammered on a stithy before smith's fingers。〃  Thus does the Professor look in men's faces with a strange impartiality; a strange scientific freedom; like a man unversed in the higher circles; like a man dropped thither from the Moon。 Rightly considered; it is in this peculiarity; running through his whole system of thought; that all these shortcomings; over…shootings; and multiform perversities; take rise:  if indeed they have not a second source; also natural enough; in his Transcendental Philosophies; and humor of looking at all Matter and Material things as Spirit; whereby truly his case were but the more hopeless; the more lamentable。
  To the Thinkers of this nation; however; of which class it is firmly believed there are individuals yet extant; we can safely recommend the Work:  nay; who knows but among the fashionable ranks too; if it be true; as Teufelsdrockh maintains; that 〃within the most starched cravat there passes a windpipe and weasand; and under the thickliest embroidered waistcoat beats a heart;〃the force of that rapt earnestness may be felt; and here and there an arrow of the soul pierce through?  In our wild Seer; shaggy; unkempt; like a Baptist living on locusts and wild honey; there is an untutored energy; a silent; as it were unconscious; strength; which; except in the higher walks of Literature; must be rare。  Many a deep glance; and often with unspeakable precision; has he cast into mysterious Nature; and the still more mysterious Life of Man。  Wonderful it is with what cutting words; now and then; he severs asunder the confusion; sheers down; were it furlongs deep; into the true centre of the matter; and there not only hits the nail on the head; but with crushing force smites it home; and buries it。On the other hand; let us be free to admit; he is the most unequal writer breathing。  Often after some such feat; he will play truant for long pages; and go dawdling and dreaming; and mumbling and maundering the merest commonplaces; as if he were asleep with eyes open; which indeed he is。
  Of his boundless Learning; and how all reading and literature in most known tongues; from _Sanchoniathon_ to _Dr。 Lingard_; from your Oriental _Shasters_; and _Talmuds_; and _Korans_; with Cassini's _Siamese fables_; and Laplace's _Mecanique Celeste_; down to _Robinson Crusoe_ and the _Belfast Town and Country Almanack_; are familiar to him;we shall say nothing:  for unexampled as it is with us; to the Germans such universality of study passes without wonder; as a thing commendable; indeed; but natural; indispensable; and there of course。  A man that devotes his life to learning; shall he not be learned?
  In respect of style our Author manifests the same genial capability; marred too often by the same rudeness; inequality; and apparent want of intercourse with the higher classes。  Occasionally; as above hinted; we find consummate vigor; a true inspiration; his burning thoughts step forth in fit burning words; like so many full…formed Minervas; issuing amid flame and splendor f