The Painted Veil

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前言

这本英文书读了挺长一段时间的，其最大的特点是将人性刨析的淋漓尽致，还详细描述了爱情中的那些不美好：背叛、猜忌、报复，还有我们终将面对的离别和自我救赎，关于人生的终极探讨。看完这本书之后又去看了一遍翻拍的电影，其实还是有许多感慨吧。故事的结局还是有改动的，大概是为了满足观众对美好结局的幻想，其实我还是比较喜欢小说的结局，还是挣脱不了人性的枷锁！

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一、人物介绍

1. Walter

本书的男主，是一位细菌科学家，爱读书，有学识。他的性格真的和《Pride and Prijudice》中男主的性格很像，两人都是寡言、无趣、深情、学识渊博的人。刚开始介绍了男主的外貌特征：

He was short, but not thickset, slight rather and thin; dark and clean-shaven, with very regular,clean-cut features. His eyes were almost black, but not large, they were not very mobile and they rested on objects with a singular persistence; they were curious, but not very pleasant eyes. With his straight, delicate nose, his fine brow and well-shaped mouth he ought to have been good-looking. But surprisingly enough he was not. He had no gaiety.

起初只是介绍了男主这么多，但随着故事的推进，介绍男主的面纱也逐渐被揭开。

He has brains and character; and that, is a very unusual combination. If a man single-handed can put a stop to this frightful epidemic he’s going to do it. He is doctoring the sick, cleaning the city up, trying to get the drinking water pure. He’s risking his life twenty times a day. He’s got Colonel Yu in his pocket and he’s induced him to put the troops at his disposal. He’s even put a little pluck into the magistrate and the old man is really trying to do something. And the nuns at the convent swear by him. They think he is a hero.

2. Kitty

本书女主：She is silly ,frivolous and empty-headed. Her aims and ideals were vulgar and common-place. She is a second-rate. She married Walter only for convenience.

3. Charlie

女主爱的人同时也是女主红杏出墙的对象：当然，女主并不是他唯一的情人。

He is far and away the most popular man in Hong-Kong. But this is his stock in trade. He is made a science of popularity. He has the gift of making everyone he meets feel that he is the one person in the world he wants to see. He is always ready to do a service that isn’t any trouble to himself, and even if he doesn’t do what you want he manages to give you the impression that it’s only because it’s not humanly possible. Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome. He is a very stupid man. He gives you the impression that he dashes off his work and gets it through from sheer brilliancy. Nothing of the kind . He is industrious as a Eurasian clerk.

4. Waddington

本书中最喜欢的人物，相貌可能不怎样，但非常有智慧，句句金言): 他是霍乱区的一个代理委员。

His funny little face was gaily puckered. His boldness had deceived her into thinking him no longer young, he is well under forty. His face , small under a high, rounded forehead, was unlined and fresh-coloured; it was ugly like a monkey’s, but with an ugliness that was not without charm; it was an amusing face. His features, his nose and his mouth, were hardly larger than child’s, and he had small, very bright blue eyes. His eyebrows were fair and scanty. He looked like a funny little old boy.

5. Mother Superior

修道院的院长，家族背景十分强大。也是影响女主使她的一生发生转变的重要的一个人。

She was a woman of middle age, she might have been forty or fifty, it was impossible to say, for there were few wrinkles on her smooth, pale face. She was far from young chiefly from the dignity of her bearing, her assurance, and the emaciation of her strong and beautiful hands. The face was long, with a large, even teeth; the nose,though not small, was delicate and sensitive; but it was the eyes, under their thin black brows, which gave her face its intense and tragic character. They were very large, black, and though not exactly cold, by their calm steadiness strangely compelling. Your first thought when you looked at her was that as a girl she must have been beautiful, but in a moment you realized that this was a woman whose beauty, depending on character, had grown with advancing years. Her voice was deep, low and controlled, and whether she spoke English or in French she spoke slowly. But the most striking thing about her was the air she had of authority tempered by Christian charity; you felt in her the habit of command. To be obeyed was natural to her,but she accepted obedience with humility. You could not fail to see that she was deeply conscious of the authority of the church which upheld her.

感悟

个人感悟，转载请引用

主要就是上述五人，当然书中还提到了Charlie的老婆，她的老婆是个精明能干的人，所以Charlie离不开她的老婆，她的老婆直到她的老公出轨，在她眼里，他老公出轨的对象都是些二流货色，包括女主。书中还写到Waddington的老婆是一位满洲格格，作者在她这个角色上将东方女性的美描绘的淋漓尽致。

1. 最惨男主，他非常爱女主，直到发现她出轨，他的内心一直在挣扎，所以为了报复她，他是想将她带到霍乱的地区，之后想让她感染掉瘟疫死掉，但没想到，最后死的人是他自己，他直到死也没有说原谅女主，不过书中一些暗示表明男主最后已经原谅了女主，但他不能原谅他自己，不能原谅他曾将爱过女主，和她结婚。就像书中描绘的那样：He walk in darkness.所以我觉得男主的死对他来说可能是一种解脱，他终于不再饱受内心的痛苦与煎熬！看完电影的这一场景，这段很还原。
   
   

3. 令人厌恶的女主，刚开始答应男主的求婚也是为了自身的利益，考虑到自己年龄也不小了，而自己的妹妹也嫁人了，为了不输给自己的妹妹，并且不让她的母亲一直叨叨叨，最后选择嫁给了男主（这些男主心里都知道），但她并不爱男主。从一开始就注定了这段婚姻的不幸。而且，他与男主的爱好完全不同，她喜欢social, 骑马，打高尔夫等运动的男生。而男主只会玩桥牌，他热衷于科研事业，在他眼里，女主的喜好是那么粗俗，鄙视。所以根本就是两个世界的人。所以三观，性格，品味，完全格格不入。

   不过这也不能全怪女主，而是受女主原生家庭的影响，她的母亲是一位虚荣、攀比、有野心的人，对他的老公非常苛刻，所以在她两个女儿的眼里，她的父亲不过是免费供她们吃住的人。女主的父亲也是个不幸的人。而且女主的母亲为了钓到金龟婿，利用女主的美貌在各种舞会上社交。女主就是受其及家庭影响变得愚蠢，轻浮，浪荡。不过最后女主慢慢成长了，她明白了一切，所以最后她说到：如果她有一个女儿，她绝对不会让自己的女儿像她自己一样。

4. 电影最后女主爱上了男主，并且当她与曾经出墙的对象再次见面时，非常淡定从容，一切都淡然了。但在书中并不是这种结局，直到男主死的最后那一刻，她也没有爱上男主，当女主再次见到曾经出墙的对象，也是她爱的人，她自己又不受控制了，所以她最后选择了离开那个有他的城市。

5. 人也是，如果你不做，那你永远也无法激发出自己的潜力。

6. 人的虚无缥缈一语道尽：A little smoke lost in the air, that was the life of people.

7. 当我们做的事情能够让我们获得内心的安宁，那就是我们要追求的"道"。可真正有多少人明白自己追求的"道"究竟是什么呢？

8. 人性的阴暗点：一听到某人做某事时，明明这件事并不是值得高兴的一件事，但会因为心里的阴暗而私自高兴。所以我觉得人之初，性并不是善的。而是人之初，性本恶，人只不过是在后来社会的不断教化下，才逐步成善。

                    愿我们早点找到心里的那条"道"！