黄家千 选注

　　Jean-Michael Lourdis was a promising<注1> young pianist. But when the young man played, it seemed to him, as if his hands were iron. <注2> He worried so much about his playing that he became over sensitive to the reviews of his playing. <注3> Unfortunately, in those days, a critic was not considered a critic, unless he found something wrong. <注4> This attitude of the critics would often leave the young man ready to give up his dream and return home.

　　He was invited to play in Helsinki. <注5> The rich, the famous, the leaders of State were all there. Jean-Michael had one of those days where everything went wrong. That night as he played, he felt as if it were the worst concert of his young life. The next day, in the newspapers, some of the reviews were acrid and full of irony. The young musician was crushed. <注6>

　　That day, as he sat in his hotel room, he was in total despair. <注7> There came a knocking at his door. He had a visitor. The famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius<注8>had come by<注9>to congratulate the young pianist for his performance. Jean-Michael asked how he thought of that and began to quote<注10>some of the newspaper critics.“Hands of iron. No imagination. Little skill, no joy. Don’t you hear what they say?”He asked.

　　Jean Sibelius looked at young Jean-Michael and said,“Remember, son, there is no city in the world where they have erected a statue to a critic.”<注11>