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揭秘天才们的那些怪癖

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许多旷世奇才都有不为人所知的怪癖。难怪有人说,天才和疯子只有一步之遥。今天我们就来聊聊天才们的怪癖。

揭秘天才们的那些怪癖

Leonardo Da Vinci And His Sleep Schedule
不爱睡觉的达芬奇

 Da Vinci was a painter, an engineer, a writer, a sculptor, an inventor, an architect, a pioneer in exploring human anatomy, an avid animal lover and possibly one of the most famous vegetarians (if not vegans) who ever lived. It seems that there’s nothing that this man did not do. Yet there was, it was sleeping. He wasn’t a fan of it and after conducting careful research and building up his knowledge, he started following the polyphasic sleep cycle. To put it in other words, Da Vinci’s sleep would consist of several short naps every 24 hours. Being The Renaissance man is not so easy.

达芬奇是一名画家、工程师、作家、雕塑家、发明家、建筑师、探索人类解剖学的先驱、狂热的动物爱好者,可能还是有史以来最有名的素食者之一。似乎没有什么事情是达芬奇没做过的。但是有一件事是达芬奇不爱做的,那就是睡觉。在进行了认真的研究,积累了相关知识之后,他开始采用多相睡眠法。换言之,达芬奇在一天时间内小睡多次,每次只睡一点时间。做文艺复兴代表人物可不是那么容易的事。

 

Leo Tolstoy And His Shoes
出身贵族却打扮成农民的列夫·托尔斯泰

 The giant of the Russian literature, Lev Tolstoy not only wrote historically accurate books, but he himself became of historical importance while still being alive. Despite coming from the highest layers of society, Tolstoy eventually started questioning the morale of society that he lived in and started following his own path. He became a vegetarian, started following a vigorous daily routine and denounced the looks of a rich man. He started wearing peasant clothes and shoes, which, despite not being too skilled, were made by himself.

俄罗斯文学巨匠列夫·托尔斯泰不仅写出了真实反映历史的书,他自己在世时也成为了重要的历史人物。尽管出身于社会最顶层,托尔斯泰最终开始质疑他所生活的社会的道德,并开始走自己的道路。他成了一名素食者,开始遵守严格的日常作息,并抛弃富人派头的打扮。他开始穿农民的衣服和鞋,这些衣服和鞋都是他自己做的,尽管做得不太好。

denounce[dɪ'naʊns]: vt. 谴责;公然抨击

 

Erik Satie And His Eccentricities
只吃白色食物的埃里克·萨蒂

 The prominent French composer Erik Satie was weird. Not just weird, but incomprehensibly bizarre. For starters, his eating habits were something else. He only ate food that was white, such as eggs, sugar, grated bones, salt, coconuts, rice and similar. Each day he rose at 7:18 am and would have lunch strictly at 12:11. Then dinner at 7:16 pm and he would go to bed at 10:37 pm. Also, he was a hoarder but a very specific one - he loved umbrellas and had over 100 of them. And finally, Erik Satie was such a peculiar fellow that he even belonged to a religion… That he, himself founded.

法国著名作曲家埃里克·萨蒂是个怪人。不但怪,而且让人匪夷所思。首先,他的饮食习惯完全和常人不同。他只吃白色食物,比如鸡蛋、糖、磨碎的骨头、盐、椰子、米之类。每天早上他7点18分起床,中午12点11分准时吃午饭。晚上7点16分吃晚饭,10点37分睡觉。另外,他还是个囤积狂,而且只囤积特别的东西——他喜爱雨伞,拥有100多把。最后,怪人埃里克·萨蒂还信仰一种宗教——一种他自己创立的宗教。

 

Michelangelo And His Hygiene
不讲卫生的米开朗基罗

 The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City might be celestial, but its creator, Michelangelo, one of the most important names in Western art’s history, was far from that. And for a simple reason, which is hygiene. Michelangelo slept with his clothes and boots on, without removing them for days. He avoided showering and even considered it a health hazard. Well, he might have had a point, because he lived until he was 89 years old.

梵蒂冈的西斯廷教堂也许美得出尘脱俗,但它的创造者——西方美术史上最重要的人物之一米开朗基罗却远非如此。原因很简单,就是卫生问题。米开朗基罗穿着衣服和靴子睡觉,而且好多天都不脱。他很少洗澡,甚至认为洗澡会危害身体健康。不过,他的观点也许有道理,因为他活到了89岁。

 

Honoré De Balzac And His 50 Cups Of Coffee
每天喝50杯咖啡的巴尔扎克

 'Were it not for coffee one could not write, which is to say one could not live’ is what Balzac, the renowned French novelist, playwright and the author of The Human Comedy once said. And he really meant it, because there barely was a minute when he was not sipping this elixir of life, it’s estimated that Balzac drank 50 coffee cups a day. You may wonder, how does one sleep, when you’re permanently on a caffeine rush? But that’s how Balzac liked it, since he woke up daily at 1 am so he could jump straight into writing.

“没有咖啡就无法写作,也就无法生活”,这是法国著名小说家、戏剧家、《人间喜剧》作者巴尔扎克说过的话。他真的是这么认为的,因为每时每刻他都在喝咖啡。据估计,巴尔扎克每天要喝掉50杯咖啡。你可能会好奇,不停地喝咖啡要怎么睡觉?但这正是巴尔扎克想要的,因为他每天凌晨1点醒来,这样可以立刻投入到写作中。

elixir[ɪ'lɪksɚ]: n. 不老长寿药;万能药;炼金药

 

Virginia Woolf, Friedrich Nietzsche And The Standing Desk
站着写作的伍尔芙和尼采

 Even though these two figures don’t seem to have many things in common, the British modernist Virginia Woolf, together with the subversive German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche could see themselves working in a modern office as long as they would be provided with a standing desk. They both wrote while standing up, considering it to be the only proper way to achieve something of meaning.

尽管这两个人似乎没太多共同点,但英国现代主义作家弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙和德国颠覆性哲学家弗里德里希·尼采都适合有站立式办公桌的现代办公室。两人都是站着写作,他们认为只有这样才能写出有意义的东西。

subversive[sʌb'vɝsɪv]: adj. 破坏性的;从事颠覆的

 

Ludwig Van Beethoven And The 60 Coffee Beans
数咖啡豆精确到粒的贝多芬

 Ludwig van Beethoven did write the glorious “Symphony No. 9”, which is now the anthem of European Union, while being already deaf, but, of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of his input into musical history. Yet stellar results require astronomic discipline. Each morning Beethoven counted by hand 60 coffee beans from which he would make his perfect cup of coffee. Also, in order to restart his creative muscles after writing too much music, he would pour cold water on his head.

贝多芬确实是在耳聋的状态下写出辉煌的第九交响曲的,这首曲子现已成为欧盟的盟歌。当然,这只是贝多芬的音乐轶事的冰山一角。诚然,只有极端的自律才能达到这样非凡的成就。每天早上贝多芬都要用手精确地数出60粒咖啡豆来泡出完美的咖啡。此外,为了重启因写作了太多乐章而疲软的创造力,他会往头上浇冷水。

stellar[ˈstelər]: adj. 一流的

 

Andy Warhol And His Wigs
酷爱假发的安迪·沃霍尔

 Andy Warhol, the face of pop art, is easy to distinguish from a crowd. Because he indeed was a dandy and took great care of his looks, and most importantly, his iconic hairdo. Which was, actually… A wig. Warhol have the unusual habit of collecting wigs. Eventually, he hoarded a collection of 40 wigs.

人们很容易就能在人群中认出波普艺术的代表安迪·沃霍尔。因为他是个不折不扣的花花公子,对自己的外表非常讲究,而他最看重的就是他标志性的发型。实际上,那是一顶假发。沃霍尔有收集假发的特殊癖好。他总共囤积了40顶假发。

dandy['dændi]: n. 花花公子;好打扮的人

 

Glenn Gould And His Hypochondria
一年四季都穿大衣带手套的格伦·古尔德

 A big name in the world of classical music, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould was famous not only for his virtuosic skills and unique playing style. He also was a very odd character with many the eccentricities of a hyper hypochondriac. He always wore an overcoat and gloves in all temperatures because of his fears of catching germs and getting sick. And when performance time arrived, he would always bring his own chair with him, no matter where the concert took place. It always had to be his own, magical chair.

作为古典音乐界的大人物,加拿大钢琴家格伦·古尔德的名气不仅源自他杰出的演奏技巧和独特的演奏风格,他还是一个超级古怪的疑心病患者。无论是什么温度,他总是穿着一件大衣,戴着手套,因为他害怕感染细菌而生病。到了演奏的时候,他总会带上自己的椅子,无论音乐会在哪里举行。他一定要坐在自己的那把神奇的椅子上。

virtuosic[,vɜːtʃʊ'ɒsɪk]: adj. 艺术名家的

hypochondriac[,haɪpə'kɑndrɪæk]: n. 疑病患者

 

Pablo Picasso And His Revolver
随身带枪的毕加索

 First of all, not many people know that Pablo Picasso is just the short version of his full name, which is, actually Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. For real. But he became famous for being an unstoppable force wherever he went. He changed art forever, he was not discouraged by critics and he even was not scared when facing the Gestapo, the secret Nazi police. Yet he was unmovable in his daily life as well, because wherever he went, he carried a revolver, so that not many would dare to mess with this hot-tempered Spanish legend.

首先,没有多少人知道巴勃罗·毕加索只是他名字的缩写,他的全名是巴布罗·迭戈·何塞·弗朗西斯科·狄·保拉·胡安·纳波穆西诺·玛莉亚·狄·洛斯·雷梅迪奥斯·西普里亚诺·狄·拉·圣地西玛·特里尼达·路易斯·毕加索。千真万确。不过他出名是因为无论他走到哪里,他都是不可阻挡的力量。他永远地改变了艺术,他不会因为评论而灰心,甚至在直面盖世太保(纳粹秘密警察)时也不害怕。与此同时,他的日常生活又是雷打不动的,无论他走到哪里,他都要随身携带一把左轮手枪,因此很少有人敢惹这位脾气火爆的西班牙传奇人物。

 

Salvador Dali And His Wife
把妻子当女神一样供起来的萨尔瓦多·达利

 When someone thinks of surrealism, chances are that Dali and his pomade-covered mustache comes to one’s mind. His life was as eccentric and surreal as his paintings, but apart from driving around with a car filled with cauliflowers and walking around Paris with an anteater, there was something that seems even more peculiar. Once he married his muse and love of his life, Gala, he treated her like a goddess. He bought her a castle and was allowed to visit her, his wife, only with a written invitation.

只要想到超现实主义,人们就会想到达利和他那油亮的胡子。他的一生就如他的画作一样奇特和超现实,除了载着一车花椰菜到处走,还有带着一头食蚁兽在巴黎街头散步以外,达利还有一件更为诡异的事情。在他娶了自己的缪斯女神也是他最爱的女人加拉之后,他就把加拉当女神一样供了起来。他给加拉买了一座城堡,只有收到书面邀请才能去城堡拜访她。

pomade[pə'med]: n. 润发油

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