傲慢与偏见trivia (+close hand)

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atiti
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傲慢与偏见trivia (+close hand)

Post by atiti » 2005-01-16 15:25

有天晚上两三点非常郁闷无处发泄,在amazon上订了一本儿 The Annotated Pride and Prejudice,完了该干吗干吗去了,过两天想起来觉着吃饱了撑的,打算给cancel掉,发现amazon手快已经给我寄了。再过两天就收到一本儿小砖头――正文的字儿比较大,又是一页正文配一页注解,结果足有700页,赶上课本儿了。

这个注解的同志说实话够唐僧,也不知道他想针对的读者是谁,什么都注。比如handsomest给注上“most attractive. The term "handsome" was used regularly to describe women then, and had no masculine connotation.”―― 我就不信有人看过一遍pride and prejudice之后会认为达西夸伊丽莎白英俊来着。这也就罢了,像“color”给注上“blush”,“want”注上“lack”这样子的都恨不得一个时态来上一次,简直让我怀疑他抄字典凑稿费了。当然也有唐僧到娱乐的,比如Wickham初遇Darcy,Jane Austen写道“Both changed colour, one looked white, the other red”注解写道“Who turned which colour is impossible to determine.”――但是这并不妨碍他努力作出猜测,后面就接着写道“The best guess is that Wickham turned red and Darcy white, for the former turns out to have reason to be embarrassed and the latter reason to be angry; Darcy is described as becoming pale with anger in a later scene with Elizabeth”我恨不得把这段儿话打下来贴墙上,以后再觉着自己的research没意义的时候看一眼也许会觉着安慰。

但是也还是看见一些有趣儿的――当然也许就是我觉着有趣儿,别人看着跟上面儿的谁变了什么色儿也没啥区别――比如那些同当时的社会背景风俗习惯有关的,可能也是因为我对这些本来知道得太少吧,所以看了觉得有趣,拣几个记一记。

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Darcy的first name在书中只出现过两次――其实我以前只注意到一处,就是他给Elizabeth写的信后面的署名(有次无聊的时候做一个什么傲慢与偏见的测验,问到这个问题我还挺得意,结果发现那一题的正确率很高,看来大家对那封信都看得比较认真,我想象会注意到Mr. Collins的全名儿的一定少很多)。不过这里要说的是为什么他的first name是Fitzwilliam。其实以前也注意到同Colonel Fitzwilliam的last name一致,就以为是巧合而已,看注解才知道这是Darcy用的他母亲的maiden name(his mother having been the sister of Colonel Fitzwilliam's father)。后面继续解释说 This was a common practice for eldest sons in aristocratic families, especially when, as in this case, the mother came from a titled or very wealthy family. It allowed the man himself to reveal the prominence of his descent on both sides, and it allowed the mother's family to perpetuate their own name to a degree through the female line.

Lady Catherine

Lady Catherine de Bourgh 的title并不是来自婚姻――那样的话,她会被称为Lady de Bourgh. "To include her first name in her title a woman had to be the daughter of a duke, marquess, or earl, the three highest ranks of the Peerage or nobility (it later turns out to be an earl). Since the number of such nobles was small, with only around 125 at this rank in England at the time, Lady Catherine has a very high pedigree" 同理的,后面提到Darcy的母亲的时候用的是Lady Anne Darcy,也同样暗示了她的出身。注解中还引用一些Austen的信件举证她对这类细节的重视,从前还不知道她是认真到这个程度的。

Mr. Collins

都知道因为entail的关系,Mr. Collins会继承Mr. Bennet的产业,但是我从前并不知道“an entail that cannot pass to a woman also cannot pass through a woman, which means that Mr. Collins's claim cannot deribe from a mother or grandmother)”这下问题就来了,Mr. Collins和Mr. Bennet怎么会不同姓呢?书中给的解释(大意)是,他们之中一个人的ancestor因为结婚或者收养的关系改过姓,比如Emma中的Frank Churchill。我看到这个的主要感慨就是作者一点儿都没怀疑是Austen出了个bug,一定是她一向表现严谨的关系。
Last edited by atiti on 2005-02-19 13:32, edited 2 times in total.

笑嘻嘻
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Post by 笑嘻嘻 » 2005-01-16 19:47

真有意思. :lol:
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Knowing
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Post by Knowing » 2005-01-16 20:10

关于firstname 的讨论真有意思。
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CAVA
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Post by CAVA » 2005-01-16 22:33

Atiti :-D 以姓为名的传统,在The Age of Innocence里面很是明显,Newland Archer, Newland就是谁的家族姓。我还疑惑他们那么爱在小圈子里嫁娶,到后来名字不会重复嘛?

小涵
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Post by 小涵 » 2005-01-16 22:45

真好玩儿,还有吗?

tiffany
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Post by tiffany » 2005-01-17 10:53

好玩儿。昨天看是看mansfield park, 跳着看得,先看的最后一章。就觉得间奥斯汀笔下的坏男人有两类,一类是打根儿上就坏的那种,代表人物早期作品就是这个Wickham,晚期作品persuation里面的那个eliot头衔儿继承人。还有一类,还算有良心的坏男人,一个是理智与感情里面的围了笔,还有一个乃是这个曼菲斯庄园里面的mr. crawford. 间奥斯汀不是不惋惜的感叹这两个人都是因为在太年轻的时候就经济独立,而被社会腐蚀了。都差一点点就得到了真正的幸福----娶到他们真正心爱的女人,云云。
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atiti
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Post by atiti » 2005-01-18 16:10

CAVA :-D ,Newland 是家族姓,我还真没注意到,说实话,那部小说看得早,又只草草看过一遍,现在想起人来第一反应都是丹尼尔代刘易斯维诺纳莱德米歇尔肺腑... 要是不说还真不知道19世纪的纽约上流社会这些命名习惯是不是还给保留着。说到重名儿,Darcy 那个annotation 我还有一句没抄的,“Sometimes the eldest son of each successive generation would continue to bear this name: thus Darcy's first son, if he has one, may also receive the name Fitzwilliam” 嘿嘿,Darcy如果娶得是Miss De Bourgh,生的第一个男孩first name是叫Fitzwilliam好啊,还是叫De Bourgh好啊,不知道是不是看哪个姓的实力大?简直像商标一样啊。

嗯,如果我再看见别的好玩儿的再往上添吧。不过我本来就有点儿唐僧的潜质,就怕越看越同化,得警惕着点儿。

其实说到为了笔,我当年不大喜欢sense and sensibility的原因之一就是觉得她对为了彼的处理很那个,很说教,前面好好的和Marianne 情投意合心灵相通着,后面蹭的拐了个弯儿。也许是有蛛丝马迹的给我漏过去了,也许是因为当年还年轻,不过我因为不大满意奥斯定棒打鸳鸯,也再没看过第二遍。

atiti
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Post by atiti » 2005-02-19 13:34

close hand

达西给伊丽莎白的那封信,Austen这样写到“... perceived an envelope containing two sheets of letter paper, written quite through, in a very close hand. -- The envelope itself was likewise full”注解先讲“close hand”是“compressed handwriting”,然后开始讨论这个也写满了的信封。首先“The envelope was a sheet of paper folded around the other sheets (what are now called envelopes were not widely used until the 1830's)”――这个我们看过古装片儿多少都会有点儿印象,好多时候好像里面根本都没有信纸的,都写信封里了。

但是以前从没想过的是“Darcy has thus crammed his long letter into three total sheets of paper. Such economy of paper was common then, even among the wealthy, for paper was costly and postage, which was based on the weight of the letter, had become extremely high during this period. ... This made many strive for the close hand Darcy uses: Jane Austen laments in several letters her own inability to write in a close hand.” 看到最后一句,我对前面给出的达西要写蝇头小楷的原因有些疑惑了。达西先生固然要写不少信――从宾利小姐唧唧歪歪要给他修笔那段儿可以看出来;可是我们奥斯丁小姐也很能写信呀,而且不只写信,还写小说哪,只怕更废纸吧。如果奥斯丁自己都能 afford not being able to write in a close hand (despite her lamenting),就算她把他们家收入都拿来买纸买邮票了,也不到达西同学年收入的零头吧,很难相信省纸是他写小字儿的原因。

猫咪头
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Post by 猫咪头 » 2005-02-20 0:47

Atiti 反问的好。
当时的上流社会,穷人颇不少,而且风气是鄙视工作的,不能开源只好截流。拮据态颇有些现在人难以理解的。 不过达西是十足的“殷实户”,经济不该是原因。我的理解是Austen想表示达西这封信不是用情书常见的园体字,而是写得跟小抄似的,情切意真,都落在了Lizzy 眼里。

helenClaire
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Post by helenClaire » 2005-03-17 9:30

“Darcy has thus crammed his long letter into three total sheets of paper. Such economy of paper was common then, even among the wealthy, for paper was costly and postage, which was based on the weight of the letter, had become extremely high during this period. ... This made many strive for the close hand Darcy uses: Jane Austen laments in several letters her own inability to write in a close hand.”
手上有一本<<Jane Austen's Little Advice Book>>, 偶然翻到这一段编者的话 (P. 97):
Letter-writing was mostly businesslike. Since the recipient always paid the postage, an overly-long social letter was about as welcome as an overly-long collect call is now.
这么说,达西先生写蝇头小楷是对收信人的礼貌和体贴。"情切意真,都落在了Lizzy 眼里。" :wink:

atiti
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Post by atiti » 2005-03-30 21:32

helenClaire wrote:Letter-writing was mostly businesslike. Since the recipient always paid the postage, an overly-long social letter was about as welcome as an overly-long collect call is now.
咦,说到这个收信人付邮资,突然想起以前看得好象是短篇小说吧,好像是主人公(?)看见一个漂亮姑娘拿着邮递员送来的未婚夫(还是男朋友)的信,拿着信封端详半天,说没钱付邮资就还给邮递员了,这个主人公就怜香惜玉了,替姑娘付了邮资拿到了信,结果姑娘并不打开看,而是告诉这个好心人说,信里没有内容,我的significant other跟我约定好了,如果是好消息他就在信封上画个圈,不然就画个叉,所以我已经知道他说什么了。

哎,又想了想,好像不是什么短篇小说,大概就是小时候那种课外读物,大概是讲邮政系统发展的:你看,受信人付邮资是有漏洞的,所以改成寄信人贴邮票了。

atiti
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Post by atiti » 2005-04-17 2:58

情话

傲慢与偏见最开始是看的一个简写本儿,写到达西与伊莎白散步并达成我还爱你原来你也爱我的共识的当口,只有一句话的描写,大致是达西闻听衣沙白的心路历程十分欢喜像任何一个热恋中的人一样猛烈的语无伦次的就此事做出反应(The happiness which this reply produced, was such as he had probably never felt before; and he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do.)。我依稀记得当时看见violently in love很有点儿触目惊心,以为是简写本儿把达西先生的情话给吞了,拿这么一句叙述代过,并且十分好奇什么样的话当得起这样的描写。后来看了原本儿才知道原来奥斯汀根本就没写。刚才突然想起来好像就没见过奥斯丁写什么你是我浇水最多的玫瑰你是我眉间晶莹的眼泪。跑去找那段儿旁边儿的注解,果然
As in other novels, Jane Austen only provides a general summary of what is said in a successful proposal. She always avoids relating enthusiastic lovers' talk (except when she ridicules foolish examples of it). In this scene she only returns to direct dialogue when the characters have resumed speaking in more analytical or ironic tones, the tones that are most congenial to Jane Austen.

tiffany
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Post by tiffany » 2005-04-18 10:59

哎,你们有没有发现英国人有个常见病叫做gout,需要泡温泉吹海风才能缓解症状,所以bath的温泉那么有名。
我很疑惑这个到底是个啥病,翻字典好像是什么炎症,真奇怪
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silkworm
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Post by silkworm » 2005-04-18 11:08

金山词霸说是痛风。
A disturbance of uric-acid metabolism occurring predominantly in males, characterized by painful inflammation of the joints, especially of the feet and hands, and arthritic attacks resulting from elevated levels of uric acid in the blood and the deposition of urate crystals around the joints. The condition can become chronic and result in deformity.

小说里是只有男人才得这个病么?

tiffany
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Post by tiffany » 2005-04-18 11:13

1?没有留意,回去注意注意
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Jun
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Post by Jun » 2005-04-18 11:36

It's a disease caused by high level of uric acid in blood, often affects toe joints and knee joints. It is actually quite common in Taiwan.

Gout used to be called the disease of kings, because it is related to high dietary intake of meat (ie, animal protein). Only rich people could afford to eat a lot of protein.
此喵已死,有事烧纸

helenClaire
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Post by helenClaire » 2005-04-19 11:20

atiti wrote:情话
我依稀记得当时看见violently in love很有点儿触目惊心,以为是简写本儿把达西先生的情话给吞了,拿这么一句叙述代过,并且十分好奇什么样的话当得起这样的描写。后来看了原本儿才知道原来奥斯汀根本就没写。刚才突然想起来好像就没见过奥斯丁写什么你是我浇水最多的玫瑰你是我眉间晶莹的眼泪。
奥斯汀迷网站上,把<<Emma>>里这段话用重体字体摘出来,一致认为是她写得最“激烈”的动作和话语: :lol:
For a moment or two nothing was said, and she was unsuspicious of having excited any particular interest, till she found her arm drawn within his, and pressed against his heart, and heard him thus saying, in a tone of great sensibility, speaking low,

"Time, my dearest Emma, time will heal the wound.―Your own excellent sense―your exertions for your father's sake―I know you will not allow yourself―." Her arm was pressed again, as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, "The feelings of the warmest friendship―Indignation―Abominable scoundrel!"―And in a louder, steadier tone, he concluded with, "He will soon be gone. They will soon be in Yorkshire. I am sorry for her. She deserves a better fate."

Emma understood him; and as soon as she could recover from the flutter of pleasure, excited by such tender consideration, replied,

Knowing
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Post by Knowing » 2007-04-03 9:25

The Historical Context of 'Pride and Prejudice'
这个作者前几天上freshair 来着。他说的有些事情蛮有趣的。比如FUN 在那时是俗语,LIDDY 老是用这个词就暗示她教养不好。还有,马车分很多种,显示身份不同,就好想我们现在开什么牌子的车能区分阶级。
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Jun
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Post by Jun » 2007-04-03 9:36

Yeah, upper class people at that time didn't have FUN. :p

miumiu
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Post by miumiu » 2007-04-03 11:41

最近在看Geogiana, Duchess of Devonshire的传记,好几处都跟上面提到的吻合
比如用"handsome“来形容女人的美丽,还有上流社会令人发指的无聊生活,唯一刺激的消遣就是赌博-从王储开始算,大大小小公侯伯子男爵们,常常终生都是欠着巨额债的。我就奇怪他们怎么就做到逢赌必输的,赌博赌博,总有人赢钱的吧,怎么从来没见有过描写呢?
有谁能8一8Geogiana就好了,也是一传奇女子,跟Diana一样出身Spenser家族,一样美貌无双,在整个英国社会都是风头一时无两的人物,可惜一样的红颜薄命

85192820

Post by 85192820 » 2007-04-11 5:19

1半英文1半中文你累吗~

Jun
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Post by Jun » 2007-04-11 7:11

小盆友,连发十四篇毫无内容的废话帖,你不累吗?

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