贏得大師（轉）

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                                                                   Winning over the Master

When the young American composer Daniel Gregory Mason came to Boston to interview the great pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski , there was trouble from the start.
年輕的美國作曲家丹尼爾•格里格利•梅森來到波士頓，當他拜見偉大的鋼琴家和作曲家伊格納奇•揚•帕岱萊夫斯基時，一開始就遇到了麻煩。

Because of a misunderstanding Mason was two-and-a-half hours late for his meeting with the great pianist. Mason was waiting in the hotel lobby while Paderewski was upstairs, getting more and more aggravated by Mason’s tardiness. Finally Mason went up to see Paderewski and found him cordial enough, but Paderewski’s wife was cold and standoffish. Mason felt awkward and self-conscious. He complimented Paderewski on his “Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme.” Then he added: “Just so you don’t think that’s empty flattery, I’ll tell you frankly that I do not care so much for some of your early pieces.”
因為一個誤會，梅森和這位偉大的鋼琴家會面延遲了兩個半小時。當梅森在旅館大廳里傻等時，帕岱萊夫斯基卻在樓上房間里為他的拖拉而越來越惱火。最后梅森上樓見到帕岱萊夫斯基，他還是很熱情，但他的夫人卻冷言冷語。梅森感到尷尬和羞愧。他贊美帕岱萊夫斯基的《原主旋律上的變奏曲和賦格曲》，然后他補充道，“為了不讓您覺得這是我的空洞奉承，我得坦誠地告訴您，我不太喜歡您早期的一些樂曲。”

Paderewski’s wife gave Mason a stony look. “What pieces? What do you not care for?”
帕岱萊夫斯基夫人拉下臉來，問他：“什么樂曲？你不喜歡什么樂曲？”

Mason got in deeper. “Well, for example, I do not care so much for the ‘A Minor Concerto’.”
梅森說：“好吧，比如說《a小調協奏曲》，我就不太喜歡�！�

Her gaze was unwavering . “The concerto is one of my favorites among my husband’s compositions. I love it more and more.”
她目不轉睛地說：“在我丈夫的作品中，這首協奏曲是我最喜歡的曲子之一。我越來越喜歡了�！�

Valiantly , Mason complimented Paderewski’s use of French impressionism.
梅森又冒昧地奉承帕帕岱萊夫斯基對法國印象主義的運用如何美妙。

Now Paderewski himself spoke. “I utterly repudiate any debt to French impressionism. I do not believe in the modern French school, because it is not founded in tradition. It is erratic, bizarre, wayward. ”
這次帕岱萊夫斯基自己說話了：“我和法國印象主義一點關系也沒有。我不相信法國現代派，因為它沒有傳統根基，太怪異了，旁門左道，莫名其妙�！�

At last Mason ventured to show Paderewski a movement of his new violin sonata. Paderewski shook hands with him about eight times as he read through the sonata, singing the melody and exclaiming “beautiful!” Finally, with his music, Daniel Gregory Mason had won over the master.
最后，梅森斗膽地拿出了自己寫的小提琴奏鳴曲的一個樂章，讓帕岱萊夫斯基過目。帕岱萊夫斯基看奏鳴曲時，一邊哼唱著，一邊叫著：“太棒了！”這過程中居然和梅森握了八次手。丹尼爾•格里格利•梅森終于憑著他的音樂，贏得了大師的尊重。

Vocabulary:
1. win over: 說服，爭取。
2. Ignacy Jan Paderewski: 伊格納奇•揚•帕岱萊夫斯基（1860—1941），波蘭鋼琴家、作曲家、總理兼外交部長。主要作品有歌劇《曼魯》、鋼琴曲《小步舞曲》等，擅長解釋肖邦作品，曾主編《肖邦全集》。
3. lobby: 大廳；aggravated: 生氣的，惱怒的；tardiness: 拖拉，延后。
4. cordial: 親切的，和藹的；standoffish: 冷淡的，不友好的。
5. awkward: 尷尬的；self-conscious: 羞愧的。
6. variation: 變奏曲；fugue: 賦格曲。
7. a minor: a小調；concerto: 協奏曲。
8. unwavering: 不動搖的，堅定的。
9. valiantly: 勇敢地，英勇地。
10. repudiate: 斷絕，否定。
11. erratic: 古怪；bizarre: 奇異；wayward: 難捉摸的，反復無常的。
12. movement: 樂章；sonata: 奏鳴曲。