名人认知系列 文人骚客8：A Tale of Dickens 狄更斯记

A Tale of Dickens

狄更斯记

Charles Dickens, second of eight children, was born in Portsea, England, in 1812 during the new industrial age. Dickens’s father was at the time a clerk in the navy pay office. He was well paid but often ended in financial troubles. When Charles was two the family moved to London, where he had two years，schooling, and then to Chatham, where he received some education. Charles was a frail¹ boy, and the family’s frequent moves to ever poorer housing distressed² him greatly.

狄更斯于1812年出生在英格兰的波特西，家里有8个孩子，他排行老二。当时是新产业时代，他的父亲当 时在海军出纳室供职，收入颇丰，却经常入不敷出。狄 更斯两岁时，举家搬到伦敦，他在那里上了两年学，后 又搬到查塔姆，又在那里上了一段时间学。狄更斯身体 比较虚弱，一次次的搬家，居住条件越来越差，使他饱 受折磨。

As a result of his father’s habit of living far beyond his means, the family was forced to sell all its possessions, down to the spoon, when Charles was 12 years old. In the same year he saw his father thrown into debtors’ prison. Young Charles had to leave school and did a five-month stretch of child labor³ in a shoe-polish factory. When a legacy⁴ temporarily rescued the family fortunes Charles got another two years of school, and later a job in a solicitor’s office. Ambitious and unyielding, he learned shorthand, became at 19 Parliamentary reporter for a series of London newspapers -just as David Copperfield did.

狄更斯的父亲习惯了花钱大手大脚，这让家里深受其害，狄更斯12岁那年，家里被迫变卖了所有家当，连勺子都没剩下。也在这一年，他父亲被关进了债务人监狱。 狄更斯被迫辍学，在一家鞋油厂做了 5个月的童工。再后 来，家里继承了一笔财产，才得以摆脱危机。狄更斯又读 了两年学，在一家律师行找到一份工作。当时的狄更斯志 向远大，坚忍不拔，他学了速记，19岁便做了一名国会记 者，接连为数家伦敦报社供稿，这正是他小说中的人物大卫.科波菲尔从事的职业。

Dickens began to write sketches⁵ of London life, signed them with the pen-name Boz. The sketches were so popular that the proprietors⁶ of the Morning Chronicle regarded him with an increasing kindly⁷ eye. With the publication of The Posthumous⁸ Papers of the Pickwick Club (1837), Dickens’ reputation was made. The book was translated into French and German. All of a sudden success and fame came to him with a smash. It swelled⁹ with each succeeding novel and never deserted¹⁰ him as he launched into weekly newspaper editing,amateur theatricals¹¹ and public readings.

狄更斯开始写一些伦敦生活的随笔，以“鲍斯”的 笔名发表。这些随笔当时很受欢迎，晨报的老板们对他青睐有加。他的小说《匹克威克外传》于1837年完成, 一经发表便使他名声鹊起。该书被译为法语和德语， 瞬间功名接踵而至。此后他每发表一本小说，都得到 极力推崇，后来他又涉足周报编辑、戏剧创作及公共 阅读栏目，人们对他的喜爱有增无减。

Author Dickens took a fame like a duck to water, working harder than ever. One popular success followed another from his ready pen -Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop. No plodding¹² cultivator of a thankless Muse¹³, Dickens enjoyed not only the fruits of his work but the work itself.

成名之后，狄更斯愈发不可收拾，他比以前更加卖 力地工作。涌现出一本本更受欢迎的作品：《雾都孤儿》, 《尼古拉斯·尼克尔贝》，《老古玩店》等。狄更斯不仅 喜欢自己的作品，更喜欢写作本身。

Looking back on his own childhood, Dickens saw “a very small and not over-particularly-taken-care-of boy.” That very boy grew into a astonishing amount of hard work, transformed himself into the most famous writer of his age. In April 1856, Dickens wrote to his friend of how clear it was to him that “one is driven by irresistible¹⁴ might until the journey is worked out!”

追忆童年时，狄更斯觉得自己是个“别人不怎么留 意的小男孩”。而就是这个小男孩，长大后凭借自己的 辛勤耕耘，成为当时最有名的作家。1856年4月，狄更 斯在给朋友的信中说道，他自己非常明白，“一个人会 被不可抗拒的力量所推动，直至实现目标！ ”

Despites of his hardships and bitter memories, Charles Dickens managed to become a kind of king-of-the-hill of Victorian letters. Even today he is still remembered as a greats novelist and his works enjoy a large number of readers both in China and around the world. His life-long experience has proved to us that armed with determination and resilience anyone can walk out of dark days to a bright future.

尽管狄更斯命途多磨难、多艰辛，他凭着个人的努 力，最终成为维多利亚时代的文学泰斗。直到今天人们 还记得他这位伟大的小说家。他的作品不仅在中国，在 全世界都拥有大批的读者。他一生的历程证明了，有坚 定的决心，有乐观的心态，任何人都能走出阴影，走向 美好的未来。

1 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

2 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 proprietors   

n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These little proprietors of businesses are lords indeed on their own ground. 这些小业主们，在他们自己的行当中，就是真正的至高无上的统治者。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Many proprietors try to furnish their hotels with antiques. 许多经营者都想用古董装饰他们的酒店。 来自辞典例句

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 posthumous   

adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的

参考例句：

• He received a posthumous award for bravery.他表现勇敢，死后受到了嘉奖。
• The legendary actor received a posthumous achievement award.这位传奇男星在过世后获得终身成就奖的肯定。

9 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

10 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

11 theatricals   

n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的

参考例句：

• His success in amateur theatricals led him on to think he could tread the boards for a living. 他业余演戏很成功，他因此觉得自己可以以演戏为生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I'm to be in the Thanksgiving theatricals. 我要参加感恩节的演出。 来自辞典例句

12 plodding   

a.proceeding in a slow or dull way

参考例句：

• They're still plodding along with their investigation. 他们仍然在不厌其烦地进行调查。
• He is plodding on with negotiations. 他正缓慢艰难地进行着谈判。

13 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

14 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。