Pride and Penury

By

Pride and Penury

ByMary Greene

Dr. Lucy Worsley takes a trawl through Jane Austen’s homes and discovers just how close the impoverished novelist came to a slice of a huge inheritance. 露西·沃斯利博士對(duì)簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁的故居進(jìn)行了一番研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)這位貧困的小說(shuō)家曾與巨額遺產(chǎn)僅一步之遙。

Jane Austen danced the night away at the Earl of Portsmouth’s country ball at Hurstbourne Park in Hampshire—and woke up with a terrible hangover1hangover宿醉。the next morning.

[2] Oh dear, not the kind of behaviour the nation expects from our favourite lady novelist.

[3] “I believe I drank too much wine last night ... I know not how else to account for the shaking of my hand today,” a 24-year-old Jane wrote to her sister Cassandra that morning in November 1800.

She was scathing2scathing嚴(yán)厲批評(píng)的。about her dancing partners and mean about the ladies, especially three to whom “I was as civil ...as their bad breath would allow me”.

[4] Poor Jane; by this point she must have been well aware that she had little chance of meeting a Mr Darcy among her limited social circle in Hampshire,where she’d lived all her life (another dazzling engagement that same week involved dinner with neighbours, card games and being read to aloud from a pamphlet on cow-pox).

[5] A ball could mean simply rolling back the carpet and inviting a few neighbours for a dance.

“This meant that when Jane went to balls she wasn’t always meeting new people. There were a lot of familiar faces,” says historian Lucy Worsley,who looks at the houses Jane lived in to show how they in fl uenced her in a new BBC2 documentaryJane Austen: Behind Closed Doors.

[6] Unfortunately, when Jane had met an interesting man at a ball in 1796—an Irish law student, Tom Lefroy, who was visiting on holiday—it had quickly become apparent they had no future together.

As an eldest son with ten siblings,Tom had to marry money. Jane, a country parson’s daughter, could only be a youthful fl irtation.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,”says Lucy, “that this is the year Jane wrote the fi rst draft ofPride and Prejudice. In fi ction she could make sure the poor but clever heroine won both the man and his impressive house.”

[7]The Austens struggled fi nancially;they were gentry without the money to fund a genteel lifestyle. They had rich relations but their hopes of a substantial inheritance were never ful fi lled.

“Jane Austen’s novels revolve around homes lost and mansions gained, the threat of poverty and the promise of wealth,” explains Lucy, whose latest bookJane Austen At Home—released for the 200th anniversary of her death—charts3chart記錄。Jane’s experiences as a poor relation.

[8]Her life began in 1775 at Steventon Rectory in Hampshire where she would spend 25 years—more than half her life—living in the house where she was born. George Austen, her father,was a clergyman-farmer and boosted his income to ￡1,000 a year by running a boarding school.

[9]There were servants, but Jane’s mother still had her hands full with eight children. Not that they were all at home. Jane’s brother Edward was adopted as a teenager by wealthy childless cousins—common at the time to advance a relative’s prospects—who made him their heir. Another brother, George,who was epileptic, lived with a foster family, paid for by the Austens.

[10] As a young woman, Jane had an allowance of ￡20 a year from her father,which had to cover everything except board and lodging. When Mr. Austen decided to retire to Bath in 1801, when Jane was 25 and Cassandra 28, they had no choice but to tag along. Jane fainted when she was told.

[11] They took lodgings at 4 Sydney Place, still available to rent today as holiday flats. The ￡150 annual rent made quite a dent in Mr. Austen’s income, and when the lease ran out they moved down-market to a house they had rejected as being damp. Soon Mr.Austen fell ill, possibly from malaria,known as ‘the ague’ and rife in Britain then. He died in January 1805.

[12] It was the start of a downward spiral4spiral逐漸加速上升（下降）。for his widow and daughters,who were reduced to living on the charity of their male relations. They left Bath in July 1806 for Southampton, on the very same day that a wealthy old lady died: the Honourable Mary Leigh,mistress of Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire and a distant cousin of Jane’s mother.

[13] The women hurried there in an unedifying5unedifying討厭的。scramble6scramble爭(zhēng)搶。to claim part of this potentially life-changing inheritance.

“It was far and away the grandest mansion in Jane’s life,” says Lucy.There were two prospective heirs: Mrs.Austen’s wealthy cousin the Rev Thomas Leigh and her rich brother James.

[14] Jane’s uncle James struck a deal to give up his claim to Stoneleigh in exchange for the enormous sum of￡24,000, plus ￡2,000 a year for life. The bulk of the estate, which by the mid-Victorian era was worth ￡30,000 a year,went to the cousin and the Austens left without a penny.

[15] At the lowest ebb of her fortunes,Jane became a ‘visiting aunt’, earning her keep on long stays with her brother Edward by entertaining his children.Edward had an income of ￡15,000 a year thanks to his adoptive family; more than Jane’s fi ctional Mr. Darcy.

[16] Jane enjoyed the luxury of his home, Godmersham Park in Kent(thought to be the inspiration for Mr.Darcy’s Pemberley), but was embarrassed at being unable to tip the servants properly. Even the visiting hairdresser noticed and gave her a cut-price haircut.

[17] After the death of his wife, Edward decided to spend more time at his other property, Chawton House in Hampshire, and offered his mother and sisters a rent-free cottage nearby. Here was a home at last. In 1811, Jane’s fi rst book was published—Sense and Sensibility, the story of sisters who lose their home. It made ￡140, enough to keep her for three years.

[18] And yet Jane could have married and had a home of her own. She had her chances. As Lucy points out,she accepted one proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither, heir to a large estate, then turned it down in a panic.

[19] When it came down to it, Jane Austen was no romantic: a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife—a single woman of ambition might get along better without him.

樸茨茅斯伯爵一家在其位于漢普郡的赫斯特伯恩莊園舉辦舞會(huì)，簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁跳了一夜舞，第二天早上醒來(lái)，宿醉得厲害。

[2]英國(guó)人民萬(wàn)萬(wàn)想不到，他們最喜愛(ài)的女作家竟會(huì)如此。

[3] 1800年11月，就在那天早上，24歲的簡(jiǎn)寫(xiě)信給姐姐卡桑德拉：“我想我昨晚喝多了……不然今天我的手不會(huì)那么抖?！?/p>

她在信中斥責(zé)她的舞伴們，對(duì)女士很刻薄，尤其是其中的三位：“我受不了她們的口臭，但又不能失了禮節(jié)。”

[4]可憐的簡(jiǎn)；想必那時(shí)，她就已清楚意識(shí)到，想要在漢普郡有限的社交圈子里遇見(jiàn)她的“達(dá)西先生”，恐怕沒(méi)什么指望了，她這一輩子都是在漢普郡度過(guò)的。（那個(gè)星期，除了那次舞會(huì)，她的另一場(chǎng)社交活動(dòng)就是和鄰居共進(jìn)晚餐、玩玩牌，還聽(tīng)人朗讀了關(guān)于牛痘的小冊(cè)子。）

[5]所謂舞會(huì)，可能就是把家里的地毯卷一卷，邀請(qǐng)三五鄰里跳上一曲。

BBC2頻道新推出的紀(jì)錄片《簡(jiǎn)·奧斯?。鹤骷遗c故居》中，歷史學(xué)家露西·沃斯利走訪了簡(jiǎn)的故居，試圖發(fā)現(xiàn)故居對(duì)簡(jiǎn)的影響。露西說(shuō)：“也就是說(shuō)，簡(jiǎn)去參加舞會(huì)，看到的大多是熟人，很少有新面孔?！?/p>

[6] 1796年，簡(jiǎn)在舞會(huì)上認(rèn)識(shí)了一個(gè)有趣的年輕人湯姆·勒弗羅伊。湯姆是愛(ài)爾蘭人，法學(xué)學(xué)生，當(dāng)時(shí)在漢普郡度假。不幸的是，他們倆顯然不會(huì)走到一起。

湯姆有十個(gè)兄弟姐妹，作為家里的長(zhǎng)子，他得娶個(gè)富家女，而簡(jiǎn)只是一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)村牧師的女兒，所以也只能和她玩玩罷了。

露西說(shuō)：“簡(jiǎn)那年剛好寫(xiě)了《傲慢與偏見(jiàn)》的初稿，我認(rèn)為這不是巧合。至少在小說(shuō)中，她能確保貧窮但聰明的女主人公可以贏得那個(gè)男人以及他的大房子?！?/p>

[7]奧斯丁一家經(jīng)濟(jì)上十分窘迫，雖是鄉(xiāng)紳家庭，卻沒(méi)錢(qián)過(guò)上體面的生活。他們也一直想從富有的親戚那里繼承一筆可觀的遺產(chǎn)，可惜好夢(mèng)從沒(méi)做成。

露西解釋說(shuō)：“因此，簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁的小說(shuō)都會(huì)涉及失去房子與得到莊園、貧困造成的威脅與財(cái)富帶來(lái)的希望?！睘榧o(jì)念簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁逝世200周年，露西發(fā)表了新作《簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁的家庭生活：一部傳記》，講述了簡(jiǎn)作為窮親戚的一些經(jīng)歷。

[8]簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁于1775年出生于漢普郡斯蒂文頓鎮(zhèn)，隨后在出生的房子里住了大半輩子（25年）。她的父親喬治·奧斯丁是一位農(nóng)民兼牧師，還經(jīng)辦了一所寄宿學(xué)校，年收入由此增至1000英鎊。

[9]雖然家里有仆人，但簡(jiǎn)的母親依然還是圍著八個(gè)孩子忙得團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)。不過(guò)，不是八個(gè)孩子都住在家里。簡(jiǎn)的哥哥愛(ài)德華年少時(shí)被有錢(qián)無(wú)子嗣的表親家領(lǐng)養(yǎng)做繼承人，以延續(xù)香火，這種情況在當(dāng)時(shí)很常見(jiàn)。另一個(gè)哥哥喬治患有癲癇癥，由家里出錢(qián)寄養(yǎng)在另一戶人家。

[10]作為未出嫁的女兒，簡(jiǎn)每年只有父親給的20英鎊零花錢(qián)，用作吃住以外的所有開(kāi)銷。1801年，奧斯丁先生決定退休并搬去巴思住。剛得知父親的決定時(shí)，簡(jiǎn)和卡桑德拉都很難過(guò)，簡(jiǎn)甚至?xí)灹诉^(guò)去，但兩姐妹別無(wú)選擇，只能跟隨父母去巴思。那年，簡(jiǎn)25歲，卡桑德拉28歲。

[11]奧斯丁一家搬到巴思后住在悉尼公寓4號(hào)（目前該公寓還在，可租用度假）。租金每年150英鎊，花掉了奧斯丁先生收入的好大一部分，所以租期一到，奧斯丁一家便搬到了另一處住所，那里要低一個(gè)檔次，當(dāng)初他們?cè)蜻@處房子潮濕而沒(méi)有租賃。沒(méi)過(guò)多久，奧斯丁先生就病了，得的可能是當(dāng)時(shí)正肆虐英國(guó)的瘧疾。他于1805年1月去世。

[12]在那之后，奧斯丁夫人和女兒的境遇每況愈下，最后只能靠男性親戚接濟(jì)度日。1806年7月的一天，她們離開(kāi)了巴思，前往南安普敦。正是在那一天，奧斯丁夫人年邁的遠(yuǎn)方表親瑪麗·利女士去世，她是沃里克郡斯通萊莊園的女主人，非常富有。

[13]母女三人急忙趕去，企圖爭(zhēng)奪部分遺產(chǎn)，雖然很不光彩，但卻可能改變她們的生活。

露西說(shuō)：“那是簡(jiǎn)這輩子見(jiàn)過(guò)的最宏偉的莊園?！鼻f園的繼承人有兩位：奧斯丁夫人的表親托馬斯·利牧師和她哥哥詹姆斯，兩人都十分富有。

[14]簡(jiǎn)的舅舅詹姆斯最后放棄了斯通萊莊園的繼承權(quán)，以換取一筆24000英鎊的巨款，另外，在他有生之年，每年還能獲得2000英鎊。就這樣，這棟在維多利亞時(shí)代中期年收入高達(dá)30000英鎊的房產(chǎn)最后由托馬斯繼承，奧斯丁一家空手而歸。

[15]日子最艱難的時(shí)候，簡(jiǎn)長(zhǎng)期住在哥哥愛(ài)德華家，照顧他的孩子，做起了“陪同姑姑”并以此度日。愛(ài)德華繼承了養(yǎng)父母的遺產(chǎn)，年收入多達(dá)15000英鎊，比她小說(shuō)中的達(dá)西先生還多。

[16]簡(jiǎn)很喜歡愛(ài)德華的豪華住所——位于肯特的古德漢姆莊園（被認(rèn)為是達(dá)西先生彭伯利莊園的原型），但是因?yàn)闊o(wú)法給仆人合適的小費(fèi)，簡(jiǎn)有些尷尬。即便是上門(mén)服務(wù)的理發(fā)師也注意到了，幫她理發(fā)時(shí)還給了優(yōu)惠價(jià)。

[17]妻子去世后，愛(ài)德華決定在其位于漢普郡的查頓莊園長(zhǎng)住，還在附近為他的生母和兩個(gè)妹妹提供了一座村舍，沒(méi)要租金。母女三人總算又有了家。1811年，簡(jiǎn)的第一本書(shū)《理智與情感》出版，講述姐妹倆失去住房的故事。簡(jiǎn)拿到了140英鎊的稿費(fèi)，夠她三年的生活費(fèi)。

[18]事實(shí)上，簡(jiǎn)本來(lái)是有機(jī)會(huì)結(jié)婚并擁有自己的家庭的。露西指出，簡(jiǎn)曾接受巨額遺產(chǎn)繼承人哈里斯·彼格-威瑟的求婚，但隨后又慌忙拒絕了。

[19]歸根結(jié)底，簡(jiǎn)·奧斯丁并不浪漫：“凡是有錢(qián)的單身漢，總想娶位太太”，而有抱負(fù)的未婚女不嫁，也許過(guò)得更好。

傲慢與貧窮

文/瑪麗·格林譯/譚云飛

（譯者單位：對(duì)外經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易大學(xué)英語(yǔ)學(xué)院）