Charles Strickland was the protagonist in the novel The Moon and Sixpence. He used to be a stockbroker, and lived a life that was thought to be happy and satisfactory. But someday he quit and left his family without any indicator. People gossiped that he must abandon his wife and children and cheated on his wife.
查尔斯·斯特里克兰是小说《月亮和六便士》的主人公。他曾经是一名证券经纪人，过着在别人看来幸福和满意的生活。但有一天他毫无预兆地辞了职，离开了家。人们八卦他肯定是抛妻弃子，和别的人跑了。
But who knew the truth? “I” was the storyteller, “I” was asked by Mrs. Strickland to find out why Strickland left them for her. So the story happened. “I” saw Strickland working on drawing, saw him become poor, saw him fall ill and no one took care of him. And “I” asked other people about the rest life after he left Paris.He went to Tahiti in the South Pacific and married a local woman Etta. They lived in isolation, where he painted every day. Unfortunately, he soon became infected with leprosy, and a year before his death, he became blind. Etta took care of him until he finished his giant mural and died of body ulceration.
但谁又知道真相呢？“我”是故事讲述者，斯特里克兰夫人请求“我”帮她找到斯特里克兰离开他们的原因。故事由此展开。“我”看到斯特里克兰在画画，看到他变得穷困潦倒，看到他生病了却没有人照顾他。“我”问其他人他离开巴黎后的生活。他去了南太平洋的塔希提岛，娶了当地的一个女人埃塔。他们住在与世隔绝的地方，他每天都在那里画画。不幸的是，他染上了麻风病，在他死前一年，他失明了。埃塔一直照顾他，直到他完成自己的巨型壁画，身体溃烂而死。
Nobody can understand Strickland. Even his paintings became very expensive after he died and those people bought his paintings, they just thought that it couldn’t be better if they knew him or realized his talents for painting earlier which can let them make more money.
没有人能理解斯特里克兰。甚至在他死后，他的画变得很贵，那些人买了他的画，他们只是想，如果他们认识他，或者更早地看到他的绘画才能，让他们能赚到更多的钱，那就再好不过了。
I also felt astonished that there was this kind of person like Strickland all over the world, and I felt angry at his abandonment of his wife and children at first. But when I went on reading the book, a kind of respect arose spontaneously from the bottom of my heart. He just chased his dream with nothing got in hand. And now, how many people can be like him? Just chasing his own dream? Every time I read this book, I would think of Marilyn, a mother in Everything I Never Tell You. Marilyn also tried to realize her dream, but she failed because she was pregnant and didn't want to lose the child, so she went back to home and remained to be a housewife.
我也很惊讶，世界上竟有像斯特里克兰这样的人。一开始我对他抛弃妻儿感到愤怒。但当我继续读这本书的时候，一种尊重从心底油然而生。他只是在什么都没有的情况下去追逐自己的梦想。现在，有多少人能像他一样？只是为了去实现自己的梦想？每次读这本书，我都会想起玛丽莲，她是《无声告白》里的一位母亲。玛丽莲也试图实现她的梦想，但她失败了，因为她怀孕了，而且她不想失去孩子，所以她回到家里，继续做一个家庭主妇。
There was a famous saying about the book: “There were sixpence all over the floor, but he looked up and saw the moon. ” The author of the book later explained why it was called The Moon and Sixpence. He said: ”If you keep looking for a sixpence coin without raising your head, you will lose the moon. ”
关于这本书有一句名言：“满地都是六便士，他却抬头看见了月亮。”这本书的作者后来解释了为什么它被称为《月亮和六便士》。他说：“假如你低头在地上不住地要找寻一块六便士硬币，头也不抬起来一下，那么，你就会丢掉月亮。”
If you are chasing your dream, just keep and follow your heart.
如果你正在追逐你的梦想，请继续坚持，听从你心底的声音。
Author: Xiao Nan
Date: April 2, 2021
