English Original
Richard Wagner was an undersized man with a head too large for his body, a sickly figure with bad nerves and delusions of grandeur.
He was a monster of conceit. He viewed the world and people solely in relation to himself. To him, he was not only the most important person in the world, but the only one who existed. He believed himself to be among the greatest dramatists, thinkers, and composers. Listening to him, one would think he was Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Plato combined into a single person. And one had ample opportunity to listen, for he was one of the most exhausting conversationalists ever. An evening with Wagner meant an evening spent listening to a monologue. He could be brilliant or maddeningly tiresome, but his sole topic was always himself: his thoughts and his deeds.
He had a mania for being right. The slightest disagreement on the most trivial point would trigger a harangue lasting hours. With exhausting volubility, he would prove himself right in countless ways until his listener, stunned and deafened, would agree simply for the sake of peace.
中文翻译
理查德·瓦格纳身材矮小，脑袋大得与身体不成比例，是个体弱多病、神经质且怀有宏大妄想的人。
他是个自负的怪物。他看待世界和他人，无一不是从自身出发。在他眼中，他不仅是世界上最重要的人，甚至是唯一存在的人。他自认为是世界上最伟大的剧作家、思想家和作曲家之一。听他说话，你会觉得他是莎士比亚、贝多芬和柏拉图的结合体。而你总有大量机会听他说话，因为他是有史以来最令人疲惫的交谈者之一。与瓦格纳共度一晚，就意味着要听一晚的独白。他有时才华横溢，有时又令人恼火地乏味，但唯一的话题永远是他自己：他的想法和他的作为。
他有一种必须正确的偏执。哪怕在最琐碎的问题上有一丝不同意见，都会引发他长达数小时的长篇大论。他会以令人疲惫的滔滔雄辩，用无数种方式证明自己是对的，直到听众被震得头晕目眩、耳聋眼花，最终为了求得安宁而同意他的观点。