简·奥斯丁无果而终的恋情
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【导读】 简·奥斯丁（Jane Austen, 1775~1817），19世纪英国小说家，其《傲慢与偏见》（Pride and Prejudice）是中国读者最为熟知的一部小说。简·奥斯丁年轻的时候身材高挑、相貌姣好，并不缺乏追求者，简也经历过几次简短的恋情，但都无果而终。在普通人看来，未婚终究是憾事一桩，但简并不后悔，她觉得单身生活不仅让她避免了和自己不喜欢的人在一起的命运，也让她有了追求文学创作的自由。放弃了结婚的打算后，简一直和家人生活在一起，过着简单的生活，致力于小说创作。1817年7月17日，简·奥斯丁因患阿迪森病（Addison’s Disease）在姐姐卡桑德拉的怀中安详死去。
Jane Austen in Love
In the autumn of 1792, not long before her 17th birthday, Jane Austen came out into society. She was a tall, slender and pretty young girl who had fine brown hair, a pair of bright eyes and a small but well?shaped nose. Mrs. Mitford, once a neighbor of the Austen family described Jane as “the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembered.” At the age of 20, she already had several admirers and it seemed quite unnecessary for her mother Mrs. Austen to worry that her younger daughter’s talents were such as would make it difficult to find a husband to suit her.
Of the various young men to whom Jane referred at this time, the only friendship which might have developed into romance was in fact that with Tom Lefroy. Tom was a good?looking and serious young man, slightly younger than Jane Austen. In the autumn of 1795， he had just completed his degree at Trinity College, Dublin① and came to visit his English uncle and aunt for a Christmas holiday. He and Jane danced at four balls in two months and were so greatly attracted to each other that the Lefroy family thought the attraction might lead to a formal engagement between them. Madame Lefroy blamed Tom for paying court to Jane when he knew he didn’t have enough money to support a wife and therefore sent him away to London to continue his legal studies. Tom and Jane never met again. In 1799, Tom married a friend’s sister. Although his marriage was very happy, he never forgot Jane Austen.
In 1802 Jane Austin was to experience her second romance when she and her elder sister Cassandra were visiting Manydown in Hampshire. On the evening of December 2, the 21?year?old Harris Bigg?Wither, plain, awkward and stammering, proposed marriage to Jane. Jane accepted his proposal, but after thinking about it overnight, broke off the engagement. Harris was a wealthy man with an income of about 12,000 pounds per year—more than Darcy in Pride and Prejudice② had. Jane was now 27 and aware that once her father died she would have little income. Jane might gain worldly advantages from the marriage but she lacked genuine feelings for Harris, and moreover she was 6 years older and much cleverer than Harris.
Although the possibility of marriage was far from Jane’s life, the companionship of her elder sister Cassandra had many attractions. Later in her life, Jane felt relieved to have avoided the disadvantages of married life such as the risk of childbirth and the possibility of being tied to an uncongenial partner, just as she had wrote in a letter that “Nothing can be compared to the misery of being bound without love.” If she had been married to Harris or anyone else, would Jane Austen have the time and freedom to finish and publish Pride and Prejudice? Possibly not. Living quietly with her mother and sister gave her the freedom she needed to write and she created in her novels powerful and charming romances that we can hardly experience in real life.
Notes to the Text:
① Trinity College, Dublin 都柏林（圣）三一学院，爱尔兰著名学府，成立于1592年，位于爱尔兰首都都柏林，曾培养出斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift），王尔德（Oscar Wilde），贝克特（Samuel Beckett）等文学大家。
② Pride and Prejudice 《傲慢与偏见》，Darcy是小说中的主人公。
Ⅰ. Words and Expressions.
1. affected adj. 假装的。例：She showed an affected interest in my ideas about Beijing Love Story and I realized she might not be my type. 她假装对我关于《北京爱情故事》的观点感兴趣，我意识到她可能不是我的菜。
2. stammering adj. 结巴的。例：In Countryside Love Story, Liu Neng is a middle?aged bald and stammering farmer who is keen on getting petty advantages but at the same time always ready to give others a helping hand. 在《乡村爱情》中刘能是一个秃顶、结巴的中年农民，虽然爱占小便宜但却乐于助人。
3. genuine adj. 真实的，真正的。例：After watching the 3D version of Titanic, Xiao Luo and his girlfriend argued whether Rose was in genuine love with Jack. 看完3D版的《泰坦尼克号》后，小罗和女友争论罗丝是否真爱杰克。
4. uncongenial adj. 志趣（意趣）不相投的。例：Later in his life, Dickens found he was uncongenial with his wife Catherine and separated with her. 狄更斯后来发现他和妻子凯瑟琳志趣不投，和她分居了。
5. refer to 提及，参考。例：It may not be a good habit to refer to the dictionary whenever you come across a new word while reading. 在阅读中凡是碰到生词就查字典可能不是个好习惯。
During his conversation with Yongqiang, Li Daguo constantly refers to Xiangxiu—he may be in love with her. 在和永强谈话中，李大国不停提到香秀，他可能是爱上她了。
6. be attracted to... 为……所吸引，爱上。例：Short, poor and silly girls are easily attracted to tall, rich and handsome guys. 又矮又穷的傻女孩很容易爱上高富帅。
7. blame sb. for sth. 因……而责备……。例：If you always blame others for your own mistakes you shall never grow up. 如果你总是因自己的错误而怪罪他人，那么你永远也不会长大。
8. break off 折断，中断。如：He broke a piece of jade and gave it to her as a token of their love. 他掰断一块玉送给她作为他们爱情的标志。
9. pay court to sb. 追求，求爱。例： Zhao Yutian once paid court to Chen Yannan but was turned down. 赵玉田曾一度追求陈艳南，但被拒绝了。
Ⅱ. Sentence Structure.
... the only friendship which might have developed into romance was in fact that with Tom Lefroy.
【注释】 本句中“might have done sth.”是对过去可能发生的事情的推测。由于史料的缺乏，对奥斯丁的爱情只能推测，所以本文中用了不少“情态动词＋have＋动词过去分词”的结构来表示对过去情况的推测。
Ⅲ. Fill in the blanks by translating the Chinese into English.
1. After three years of teaching, Song Xiao has a lot of experience. （获得）
2. Doctors told him that too much drinking will his health. （影响）
3. A friend will not desert you when you are in trouble. （真正的）
4. Mike put a ring on Susan’s finger and asked her to marry him . （认真地）
5. Dickens was good at many things, writing and giving lectures. （比如）
6. For more information about the author, please the next chapter. （参考）
7. Su Xiaoxiao and RuanYu were each other at first sight. （喜欢）
8. All roads Rome. （通往）
9. In Beijing Love Story, Xiaomeng the society for his misfortune. （责备）
10. Shen Bing Xiaomeng’s words and hugged him tightly. （打断）
Ⅳ. Complete the following sentences by translating the Chinese into English.
1. Tom Lefroy loved Jane Austen when he was young for when he was old he said Jane was the object of his youthful admiration. （一定）
2. Jane married Harris, but she refused him. （本能够）
3. If Jane didn’t die early, she created more great novels. （可能会）
4. You accompanied her home last night after seeing Titanic. （本应该）
5. When Tony was old， he regretted that he married a bad?tempered girl who he did not love. （不该）
V. Finish the following blanks with words according to the first letters given to you.
The title had to be c ①, as another novel called First Impressions had been published in 1800, and Jane c ② across the phrase “Pride and Prejudice” in a novel written by Fanny Burney. In the autumn of 1812， Jane submitted the manuscript to Egerton who b ③ the copyright from her for ￡110 and published the novel immediately. The novel a ④ at the end of January, 1813 and t ⑤ out to be so p ⑥ that a second edition was necessary in the autumn of that year. The title?page read“By the Author of Sense and Sensibility” and the literate public was puzzled and wanted to know the i ⑦ of the writer. One gentleman known for his literary reputation asked Jane’s brother Henry Austen to read it, s ⑧“I should like to know who is the a ⑨, for it is much t ⑩ clever to have been written by a woman.” The playwright Sheridan told a friend to“buy it immediately for it was one of the cleverest things he ever read”.
Keys:
Ⅲ. gained 2. affect 3. genuine 4. in earnest / earnestly 5. such as 6. refer to 7. attracted to/fond of 8. lead to 9. blames 10. broke off / interrupted
Ⅳ. 1. must have 2. could have 3. might have 4. should have 5. shouldn’t have
Ⅴ. ① changed ② came ③ bought ④ appeared ⑤ turned ⑥ popular ⑦ identity ⑧ saying ⑨ author ⑩ too