彭蒙惠英语：Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian¹ Andersen

 

By Juliana Hanford / This article was reprinted and

edited for length with permission from Literary Traveler

 

The 200th anniversary of Andersen’s birth has arrived, and people are still trying to unearth² the ‘real’ Andersen

 

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Hans Christian Andersen is probably the most famous Dane in literary history, but his rise from poor shoemaker’s son to internationally renowned³ author was a troubled one. On April 2, 1805, Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, to parents who had only been married for two months. He had half-siblings born out of wedlock⁴, an aunt who ran a brothel, and a mentally deranged⁵ grandfather who was known to the town’s children as “Crazy Anders.”

 

At the age of 7, Andersen had his first encounter with the theater. Once, after seeing an opera, Andersen came home and began to reenact the scenes, making up his own gibberish language. In 1818, after his father died, his mother remarried. Their tiny home became too small a stage for Andersen’s ambition. At the age of 14, he moved to Copenhagen. From this point on, he struggled in his attempts to overcome his poor social standing⁶ and insinuate⁷ himself into upper class society.

 

A Love of Travel

Fortunately, Andersen’s talents as a writer began to pay off when a director for the Royal Theatre read one of the boy’s plays. He had Andersen tutored and schooled at university with the king’s money.

 

In 1831, Andersen visited Germany on his first journey outside of Denmark, and found the experience so moving that he wrote a travel journal, which was published that year. Andersen fell in love with traveling. Fortunately, in 1833, the king provided him with a travel grant from public funds. For two years, Andersen journeyed to Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy.

 

In 1835, Andersen published Fairy Tales for Children. Over the years, he continued to publish and to travel all across Europe. Invitations came from fellow writers such as Charles Dickens, as well as from kings.

 

 

Vocabulary Focus

unearth (v) [5Qn5E:W] to discover proof or some other information, especially after careful searching

renowned (adj) [ri5naund] famous, well-known

gibberish (n) [5dVibEriF] spoken or written words that are nonsense and have no meaning

insinuate oneself into (v phr) to use clever, secret and sometimes unpleasant methods to gradually become part of something

 

Specialized⁸ Terms

out of wedlock (idiom) 非婚生，私生 of parents who are not married

brothel (n) 妓院 a place where one can go and pay to have sex with prostitutes

mentally deranged (adj phr) 精神错乱的 relating to one whose mind does not function properly; insane

grant (n) 特支费，补助款项 a sum of money given, especially by the government, to a person or organization for a special purpose

 

 

安徒生

 

安徒生200岁诞辰已经到来，但世人还在尝试发掘“真实的”安徒生

 

吴四明 译

 

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安徒生可能是文学史上最有名的丹麦人，但是从贫穷鞋匠的儿子崛起为享誉全球的作家，这段历程极为艰辛。1805年4月2日，安徒生出生于丹麦的欧登塞，当时父母才刚结婚两个月。他有几位非婚生子女的异父母手足；还有一位经营妓院的阿姨；以及一位精神异常的祖父，镇上的孩子都叫他“疯安”。

安徒生7岁那年第一次与戏院邂逅。有一次他看完歌剧，回家后就开始原戏重演，并发明了只有自己才听得懂的语言。1818年，他父亲去世后母亲改嫁，那个小小的家所提供的舞台已容纳不了安徒生的野心。14岁那年，他搬到哥本哈根去。从那个时候开始，他一直不断奋斗，企图超越自己贫穷低下的社会地位而挤进上流社会。

 

对旅游的热爱

幸运地，安徒生写作方面的天分，在皇家戏院的一位导演看过这个小男生所写的一个剧本后，开始受到注意。他用国王的经费让安徒生接受家教的个别指导，并到大学去上课。

1831年，安徒生生平第一次到丹麦境外旅行，拜访了德国；这次的经验令他深受感动，他还因此写了旅行日志，并于同年出版。安徒生自此爱上了旅行。幸运地，1833年国王从公共基金中拨了一笔旅游特支费给他。之后的两年中，安徒生的足迹踏遍了德国、法国、瑞士及意大利。

1835年，安徒生出版了《童话故事集》。接下来的那几年他连续出版作品，也不断到欧洲各地旅行。狄更斯等同行作家，以及各国国王的邀约纷至沓来。

 

 

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 unearth   

v.发掘，掘出，从洞中赶出

参考例句：

• Most of the unearth relics remain intact.大多数出土文物仍保持完整无损。
• More human remains have been unearthed in the north.北部又挖掘出了更多的人体遗骸。

3 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

4 wedlock   

n.婚姻，已婚状态

参考例句：

• My wife likes our wedlock.我妻子喜欢我们的婚姻生活。
• The Fawleys were not made for wedlock.范立家的人就跟结婚没有缘。

5 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 insinuate   

vt.含沙射影地说，暗示

参考例句：

• He tried to insinuate himself into the boss's favor.他设法巧妙地渐渐取得老板的欢心。
• It seems to me you insinuate things about her.我觉得你讲起她来，总有些弦外之音。

8 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。