The name of this monster was Richard Wagner.2
Everything that I have said about him you can find on record -- in
newspapers, in police reports, in the testimony of people who knew him,
in his own letters, between the lines of his autobiography. And the
curious thing about this record is that it doesn't matter in the least.
Because this undersized, sickly, disagreeable, fascinating little man
was right all the time. The joke was on us. He was one of the world's
greatest dramatists; he was a great thinker; he was one of the most
stupendous musical geniuses that, up to now, the world has ever seen.
The world did owe him a living.
他是树敌的天才。对天气的见解相左，他也要诋毁人家。为结识能欣赏其作品并能为其所用的人，他不惜走后门，拉关系，用些不甚明智和难言妥当的傲慢自大化友为敌。他谱写的一篇乐剧，其中一个角色嘲讽了当时一位最权威的乐评人。不满足于此 ，他还邀请那位乐评家来走访，站在众友面前大声朗读剧本。
这位怪物就是理查德•瓦格纳。关之一切的吾之所言都有史有料：或刊载于报端，或记录于警署文件，或验述于知情人士之口，或摘录于亲笔信札，再或印证于其自传的字里行间。而这一切的一切，都无伤大雅。
因为这位身量不足却病态十足，招人讨厌但又使人着魔的小个子男人永远都是对的。世界向我们开了玩笑。他是剧作家中最杰出的巨擘之一，是伟大的思想家，是迄今为之，有目共睹的最惊世于人的音乐鬼才之一。世界的确亏欠于他。 我妄想，当时的人们定是不曾明白这点，而如今理解他音乐的人却以为他们会知道。那么即使他分秒不歇地宣扬自己又有何不妥呢？即使他一生的日日夜夜连轴夸耀自己，他对自己的溢美之词也不及身后众人言评书论之辞的一半。
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