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| 《藝術》書封影像 |
「一個屬於他這個時代的人就是生活在他自己時代的人。」
馬克、瑟吉和伊凡三人老友鬼鬼，大家相知相識已經有十五年之久。
故事一開頭，瑟吉便被一幅畫迷住，他花了二十萬法郎買下它。那是一幅出自名家手筆的現代藝術，即是在以白色為基底的畫布上面僅僅塗抹了三道白色斜線的繪畫作品。馬克對於瑟吉砸大錢買下一幅全白的畫作感到不可思議。馬克一向來對現代藝術嗤之以鼻，他認為人們對於什麼是好的「藝術」應該要有多一些判斷的標準，由此才可以坦誠不諱地跟人說是一分貨值得一分錢。
伊凡則陷入了馬克和瑟吉兩人的爭論之中。他有自己的看法，既不像馬克般認為該畫乃至於瑟吉花了一筆錢購買該畫這件事令人作嘔，可是他又不像後者那樣對這一幅白中白的繪畫作品愛如初見……
* * *
（……）
馬克 | 你怎麼能在我面前說你覺得這些顏色很感人？
伊凡 | 因為這是事實。
馬克 | 事實？你覺得這些顏色很感人？
伊凡 | 是的。我覺得這些顏色很感人。
馬克 | 你覺得這些顏色很感人，伊凡？！
瑟吉 | 他覺得這些顏色很感人！他完全有權這麼說！
馬克 | 不，他沒有權利這麼說。
瑟吉 | 你是什麼意思，他沒有權利？
馬克 | 他沒有權利。
伊凡 | 我沒有權利？……
馬克 | 沒有。
瑟吉 | 為什麼他沒有權利？我覺得你狀況不好，也許你應該去看醫生。
馬克 | 他沒有權利說他覺得這些顏色很感人，因為他並不覺得。
伊凡 | 我不覺得這些顏色很感人？
馬克 | 根本沒有顏色。你看不見它們。你也不覺得它們感人。
伊凡 | 你說你自己的事吧！
馬克 | 這真的很侮辱人，伊凡！……
瑟吉 | 你以為你是誰，馬克？……
你憑什麼制定規則？你什麼都不喜歡，你鄙視每一個人。你以不屬於這個時代的人為榮……
馬克 | 那是什麼意思，屬於這個時代的人？
伊凡 | 好吧。我走了。
瑟吉 | 你要去哪裡？
伊凡 | 我走了。我不明白為什麼我必須忍受你的脾氣。
瑟吉 | 別走！你不會開始生氣吧？……如果你走了，你就是在向他屈服。
（伊凡站在那裡，猶豫不決，被兩種可能性困住。）
一個屬於他這個時代的人就是生活在他自己時代的人。
馬克 | 廢話。人怎麼可能生活在除了他自己時代的其他時代？回答我這個問題。
瑟吉 | 一個屬於他這個時代的人是那種在二十年或一百年後，人們會說他是那個時代的代表性人物。
馬克 | 嗯。
這有什麼用？
瑟吉 | 你的意思是，這有什麼用？
馬克 | 如果有一天有人說，我是我那個時代的代表，這對我有什麼用？
瑟吉 | 聽著，老朋友，我們不是在談你，如果你能想像這種事的話！我們才不在乎你呢！一個屬於他這個時代的人，我試圖向你解釋，就像你崇拜的大多數人一樣，是那些對人類有某種貢獻的人……一個屬於他這個時代的人不會認為藝術史已經在疑似佛拉蒙畫風的卡威隆（Cavaillon）景觀中終結了……
馬克 | 喀卡頌（Carcassonne）。
瑟吉 | 一樣。一個屬於他這個時代的人會在進化的基本動力中發揮著他的作用……
馬克 | 那麼，依你的看法，這是件好事。
瑟吉 | 這既不是好事也不是壞事，為什麼你總是要道德化，這只是事情的本來面目。
馬克 | 而你，比如說，你在進化的基本動力中扮演你的角色。
瑟吉 | 是的。
馬克 | 那麼伊凡呢？……
伊凡 | 當然不是。我能扮演什麼角色，像變形蟲一樣嗎？
瑟吉 | 就他而言，伊凡是這個時代的人物。
馬克 | 你怎麼看出來的？絕不是從他壁爐架上掛的那幅塗鴉！
伊凡 | 那不是塗鴉！
瑟吉 | 那就是塗鴉。
伊凡 | 不是！
瑟吉 | 有什麼區別嗎？伊凡代表了一種生活方式，一種完全現代的思維方式。你也是。對不起，但你也是一個你的時代的典型人物。事實上，你越努力不成為這樣，反而越是如此。
馬克 | 好吧，那沒問題。所以問題是什麼？
瑟吉 | 沒有問題，除了對你來說，因為你為了把自己從人群中隔離開來而感到自豪。而你永遠做不到。這就像你陷在流沙中，越是掙扎著想要脫離，反而陷得越深。現在向伊凡道歉。
馬克 | 伊凡是個懦夫。
此時，伊凡決定離開，匆忙退出。
略作停頓。
**雅絲米娜·雷札所著《藝術》劇作｜克里斯多夫·漢普頓譯自法語原著｜1996年由Faber and Faber Limited出版｜頁36—37｜以上內容均以ChatGPT 3.0譯成。◆
===
（Faber and Faber英文譯本）
Marc | How could you say, in front of me, that you find these
colours touching?
Yvan | Because it's the truth.
Marc | The truth? You find these colours touching?
Yvan | Yes. I find these colours touching.
Marc | You find these colours touching, Yvan?!
Serge | He finds these colours touching! He's perfectly entitled to!
Marc | No, he's not entitled to.
Serge | What do you mean, he's not entitled to?
Marc | He's not entitled to.
Yvan | I'm not entitled to?...
Marc | No.
Serge | Why is he not entitled to? I don't think you're very well, perhaps you
ought to go and see someone.
Marc | He's not entitled to say he finds these colours touching, because he
doesn't.
Yvan | I don't find these colours touching?
Marc | There are no colours. You can't see them. And you don't find them
touching.
Yvan | Speak for yourself!
Marc | This is really demeaning, Yvan!...
Serge | Who do you think you are, Marc?...
Who are you to legislate?
You don't like anything, you despise everyone. You take pride in not being a
man of your time ...
Marc | What's that supposed to mean, a man of my time?
Yvan | Right. I'm off.
Serge | Where are you going?
Yvan | I'm off. I don't see why I have to put up with your tantrums.
Serge | Don't go! You're not going to start taking offence, are you?... If you
go, you're giving in to him.
(Yvan stands there,
hesitating, caught between two possibilities.)
A man of his time is a man who lives in his own time.
Marc | Balls. How can a man live in any other time but his own? Answer me that.
Serge | A man of his time is someone of whom it can be said in twenty years' or
in a hundred years' time, he was representative of his era.
Marc | Hm.
To what end?
Serge | What do you mean, to what end?
Marc | What use is it to me if one day somebody says, I was representative of
my era?
Serge | Listen, old fruit, we're not talking about you, if you can imagine such
a thing! We don't give a fuck about you! A man of his time, I'm trying to
explain to you, like most people you admire, is someone who makes some
contribution to the human race . . . A man of his time doesn't assume the
history of Art has come to an end with a pseudo-Flemish view of Cavaillon...
Marc | Carcassonne.
Serge | Same thing. A man of his time plays his part in the fundamental dynamic
of evolution...
Marc | And that's a good thing, in your view.
Serge | It's not good or bad, why do you always have to moralize, it's just the
way things are.
Marc | And you, for example, you play your part in the fundamental dynamic of
evolution.
Serge | I do.
Marc | What about Yvan?...
Yvan | Surely not. What sort of part can an amoeba play?
Serge | In his way, Yvan is a man of his time.
Marc | How can you tell? Not from that daub hanging over his mantelpiece!
Yvan | That is not a daub!
Serge | It is a daub.
Yvan | It is not!
Serge | What's the difference? Yvan represents a certain way of life, a way of
thinking which is completely modern. And so do you. I'm sorry, but you're a
typical man of your time. And in fact, the harder you try not to be, the more
you are.
Marc | Well, that's all right then. So what's the problem?
Serge | There's no problem, except for you, because you take pride in your
desire to shut yourself off from humanity. And you'll never manage it. It's
like you're in a quicksand, the more you struggle to get out of it, the deeper you
sink. Now apologize to Yvan.
Marc | Yvan is a coward.
At this point, Yvan makes
his decision, and exits in a rush.
Slight pause.
“Art” by Yasmina Reza | Translated from the French by Christopher Hampton | First published in 1996 by Faber and Faber Limited | pp.36–38◆
