【国外英文文学】The Absentee.doc

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1、【国外英文文学】The AbsenteeNOTES ON THE ABSENTEEIn August 1811, we are told, she wrote a little play about landlordsand tenants for the children of her sister, Mrs. Beddoes. Mr. Edgeworthtried to get the play produced on the London boards. Writing to heraunt, Mrs. Ruxton, Maria says, Sheridan has answered

2、as I foresaw hemust, that in the present state of this country the Lord Chamberlainwould not license THE ABSENTEE; besides there would be a difficulty infinding actors for so many Irish characters. The little drama was thenturned into a story, by Mr. Edgeworths advice. Patronage was laid asidefor th

3、e moment, and THE ABSENTEE appeared in its place in the secondpart of TALES OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. We all know Lord Macaulays verdictupon this favourite story of his, the last scene of which he speciallyadmired and compared to the ODYSSEY. Lord Macaulay was not the onlynotable admirer of THE ABSENTEE.

4、 The present writer remembers hearingProfessor Ruskin on one occasion break out in praise and admiration ofthe book. You can learn more by reading it of Irish politics, he said,than from a thousand columns out of blue-books. Mrs. Edgeworth tellsus that much of it was written while Maria was sufferin

5、g a misery oftoothache.Miss Edgeworths own letters all about this time are much more concernedwith sociabilities than with literature. We read of a pleasant dance atMrs. Burkes; of philosophers at sport in Connemara; of cribbage, andcompany, and country houses, and Lord Longfords merry anecdotes dur

6、ingher visit to him. Miss Edgeworth, who scarcely mentions her own works,seems much interested at this time in a book called MARY AND HER CAT,which she is reading with some of the children.Little scraps of news (I cannot resist quoting one or two of them) comein oddly mixed with these personal recor

7、ds of work and family talk.There is news of the Empress (Marie Louise), who is liked not at allby the Parisians; she is too haughty, and sits back in her carriage whenshe goes through the streets. Of Josephine, who is living very happily,amusing herself with her gardens and her shrubberies. This ci-

8、devantEmpress and Kennedy and Co., the seedsmen, are in partnership, says MissEdgeworth. And then among the lists of all the grand people Maria meetsin London in 1813 (Madame de Stael is mentioned as expected), she givesan interesting account of an actual visitor, Peggy Langan, who wasgrand-daughter

9、 to Thady in CASTLE RACKRENT. Peggy went to England withMrs. Beddoes, and was for thirty years in the service of Mrs. Haldimandwe are told, and was own sister to Simple Susan.The story of THE ABSENTEE is a very simple one, and concerns Irishlandlords living in England, who ignore their natural dutie

10、s and stationin life, and whose chief ambition is to take their place in theEnglish fashionable world. The grand English ladies are talking of LadyClonbrony.If you knew all she endures to look, speak, move, breathe like anEnglishwoman, you would pity her, said Lady Langdale.Yes, and you CAWNT concei

11、ve the PEENS she TEEKES to talk of theTEEBLES and CHEERS, and to thank Q, and, with so much TEESTE, to speakpure English, said Mrs. Dareville.Pure cockney, you mean, said Lady Langdale.Lord Colambre, the son of the lady in question, here walks across theroom, not wishing to listen to any more strict

12、ures upon his mother.He is the very most charming of walking gentlemen, and when stung byconscience he goes off to Ireland, disguised in a big cloak, to visithis fathers tenantry and to judge for himself of the state of affairs,all our sympathies go with him. On his way he stops at Tusculum,scarcely

13、 less well known than its classical namesake. He is entertainedby Mrs. Raffarty, that esthetical lady who is determined to have alittle taste of everything at Tusculum. She leads the way into alittle conservatory, and a little pinery, and a little grapery, and alittle aviary, and a little pheasantry

14、, and a little dairy for show, anda little cottage for ditto, with a grotto full of shells, and a littlehermitage full of earwigs, and a little ruin full of looking-glass, toenlarge and multiply the effect of the Gothic. But you could onlyput your head in, because it was just fresh painted, and thou

15、gh therehad been a fire ordered in the ruin all night, it had only smoked.As they proceeded and walked through the grounds, from which Mrs.Raffarty, though she had done her best, could not take that which naturehad given, she pointed out to my lord a happy moving termination,consisting of a Chinese

16、bridge, with a fisherman leaning over the rails.On a sudden, the fisherman was seen to tumble over the bridge into thewater. The gentlemen ran to extricate the poor fellow, while they heardMrs. Raffarty bawling to his lordship to beg he would never mind, andnot trouble himself.When they arrived at t

17、he bridge, they saw the man hanging from partof the bridge, and apparently struggling in the water; but when theyattempted to pull him up, they found it was only a stuffed figure whichhad been pulled into the stream by a real fish, which had seized hold ofthe bait.The dinner-party is too long to quo

18、te, but it is written in MissEdgeworths most racy and delightful vein of fun.One more little fact should not be omitted in any mention of THEABSENTEE. One of the heroines is Miss Broadhurst, the heiress. TheEdgeworth family were much interested, soon after the book appeared, tohear that a real livin

19、g Miss Broadhurst, an heiress, had appeared uponthe scenes, and was, moreover, engaged to be married to Sneyd Edgeworth,one of the eldest sons of the family. In the story, says Mrs. Edgeworth,Miss Broadhurst selects from her lovers one who unites worth and wit,and then she goes on to quote an old ep

20、igram of Mr. Edgeworths onhimself, which concluded with,Theres an Edge to his wit and theresworth in his heart.Mr. Edgeworth, who was as usual busy building church spires for himselfand other people, abandoned his engineering for a time to criticise hisdaughters story, and he advised that the conclu

21、sion of THE ABSENTEEshould be a letter from Larry the postilion. He wrote one, she wroteanother, says Mrs. Edgeworth. He much preferred hers, which is theadmirable finale of THE ABSENTEE. And just about this time Lord Ross isapplied to, to frank the Edgeworth manuscripts.I cannot by any form of word

22、s express how delighted I am that you arenone of you angry with me, writes modest Maria to her cousin, MissRuxton, and that my uncle and aunt are pleased with what they have readof THE ABSENTEE. I long to hear whether their favour continues to theend, and extends to the catastrophe, that dangerous r

23、ock upon which poorauthors are wrecked.THE ABSENTEECHAPTER IAre you to be at Lady Clonbronys gala next week? said Lady Langdaleto Mrs. Dareville, whilst they were waiting for their carriages in thecrush-room of the opera house.Oh yes! everybodys to be there, I hear, replied Mrs. Dareville. Yourladys

24、hip, of course?Why, I dont know-if I possibly can. Lady Clonbrony makes it such apoint with me, that I believe I must look in upon her for a few minutes.They are going to a prodigious expense on this occasion. Soho tellsme the reception rooms are all to be new furnished, and in the mostmagnificent s

25、tyle.At what a famous rate those Clonbronies are dashing on, said ColonelHeathcock. Up to anything.Who are they?-these Clonbronies, that one hears of so much of latesaid her Grace of Torcaster. Irish absentees I know. But how do theysupport all this enormous expense?The son WILL have a prodigiously

26、fine estate when some Mr. Quin dies,said Mrs. Dareville.Yes, everybody who comes from Ireland WILL have a fine estate whensomebody dies, said her grace. But what have they at present?Twenty thousand a year, they say, replied Mrs. Dareville.Ten thousand, I believe, cried Lady Langdale. Make it a rule

27、, youknow, to believe only half the world says.Ten thousand, have they?-possibly, said her grace. I know nothingabout them-have no acquaintance among the Irish. Torcaster knowssomething of Lady Clonbrony; she has fastened herself, by some means,upon him: but I charge him not to COMMIT me. Positively

28、, I could not foranybody-and much less for that sort of person-extend the circle of myacquaintance.Now that is so cruel of your grace, said Mrs. Dareville, laughing,when poor Lady Clonbrony works so hard, and pays so high, to get intocertain circles.If you knew all she endures, to look, speak, move,

29、 breathe like anEnglishwoman, you would pity her, said Lady Langdale.Yes, and you CAWNT conceive the PEENS she TEEKES to talk of the TEEBLESand CHEERS, and to thank Q, and, with so much TEESTE, to speak pureEnglish, said Mrs. Dareville.Pure cockney, you mean, said Lady Langdale.But why does Lady Clo

30、nbrony want to pass for English? said theduchess.Oh! because she is not quite Irish. BRED AND BORN-only bred, notborn, said Mrs. Dareville. And she could not be five minutes in yourgraces company before she would tell you, that she was HENGLISH, bornin HOXFORDSHIRE.She must be a vastly amusing perso

31、nage. I should like to meet her,if one could see and hear her incog., said the duchess. And LordClonbrony, what is he?Nothing, nobody, said Mrs. Dareville; one never even hears of him.A tribe of daughters, too, I suppose?No, no, said Lady Langdale, daughters would be past all endurance.Theres a cous

32、in, though, a Grace Nugent, said Mrs. Dareville, thatLady Clonbrony has with her.Best part of her, too, said Colonel Heathcock; d-d fine girl!-neversaw her look better than at the opera to-night!Fine COMPLEXION! as Lady Clonbrony says, when she means a high colour,said Lady Langdale.Grace Nugent is

33、not a ladys beauty, said Mrs. Dareville. Has she anyfortune, colonel?Pon honour, dont know, said the colonel.Theres a son, somewhere, is not there? said Lady Langdale.Dont know, pon honour, replied the colonel.Yes-at Cambridge-not of age yet, said Mrs. Dareville. Bless me!here is Lady Clonbrony come

34、 back. I thought she was gone half an hourago!Mamma, whispered one of Lady Langdales daughters, leaning between hermother and Mrs. Dareville, who is that gentleman that passed us justnow?Which way?Towards the door. There now, mamma, you can see him. He is speaking toLady Clonbrony-to Miss Nugent. No

35、w Lady Clonbrony is introducing him toMiss Broadhurst.I see him now, said Lady Langdale, examining him through her glass; avery gentlemanlike-looking young man, indeed.Not an Irishman, I am sure, by his manner, said her grace.Heathcock! said Lady Langdale, who is Miss Broadhurst talking to?Eh! now r

36、eally-pon honour-dont know, replied Heathcock.And yet he certainly looks like somebody one certainly should know,pursued Lady Langdale, though I dont recollect seeing him anywherebefore.Really now! was all the satisfaction she could gain from theinsensible, immovable colonel. However, her ladyship,

37、after sending awhisper along the line, gained the desired information, that theyoung gentleman was Lord Colambre, son, only son, of Lord and LadyClonbrony-that he was just come from Cambridge-that he was not yet ofage-that he would be of age within a year-that he would then, afterthe death of somebo

38、dy, come into possession of a fine estate, by themothers side and therefore, Catrine, my dear, said she, turninground to the daughter, who had first pointed him out, you understand,we should never talk about other peoples affairs.No, mamma, never. I hope to goodness, mamma, Lord Colambre did not hea

39、rwhat you and Mrs. Dareville were saying!How could he, child? He was quite at the other end of the world.I beg your pardon, maam, he was at my elbow, close behind us; but Inever thought about him till I heard somebody say, My lord-Good heavens! I hope he didnt hear.But, for my part, I said nothing,

40、cried Lady Langdale.And for my part, I said nothing but what everybody knows! cried Mrs.Dareville.And for my part, I am guilty only of hearing, said the duchess. Do,pray, Colonel Heathcock, have the goodness to see what my people areabout, and what chance we have of getting away to-night.The Duchess

41、 of Torcasters carriage stops the way!-a joyful soundto Colonel Heathcock and to her grace, and not less agreeable, at thisinstant, to Lady Langdale, who, the moment she was disembarrassed of theduchess, pressed through the crowd to Lady Clonbrony, and, addressingher with smiles and complacency, was

42、 charmed to have a little moment tospeak to her-could NOT sooner get through the crowd-would certainlydo herself the honour to be at her ladyships gala on Wednesday. WhileLady Langdale spoke, she never seemed to see or think of anybody butLady Clonbrony, though, all the time, she was intent upon eve

43、ry motionof Lord Colambre, and, whilst she was obliged to listen with a face ofsympathy to a long complaint of Lady Clonbronys, about Mr. Sohos wantof taste in ottomans, she was vexed to perceive that his lordship showedno desire to be introduced to her, or to her daughters; but, on thecontrary, was

44、 standing talking to Miss Nugent. His mother, at the endof her speech, looked round for Colambre called him twice before heheard-introduced him to Lady Langdale, and to Lady Catrine, and LadyAnne-, and to Mrs. Dareville; to all of whom he bowed with an air ofproud coldness, which gave them reason to

45、 regret that their remarks uponhis mother and his family had not been made SOTTO VOCE.Lady Langdales carriage stops the way! Lord Colambre made no offer ofhis services, notwithstanding a look from his mother. Incapable of themeanness of voluntarily listening to a conversation not intended for himto

46、hear, he had, however, been compelled, by the pressure of the crowd,to remain a few minutes stationary, where he could not avoid hearing theremarks of the fashionable friends. Disdaining dissimulation, he made noattempt to conceal his displeasure. Perhaps his vexation was increasedby his consciousne

47、ss that there was some mixture of truth in theirsarcasms. He was sensible that his mother, in some points-her manners,for instance-was obvious to ridicule and satire. In Lady Clonbronysaddress there was a mixture of constraint, affectation, and indecision,unusual in a person of her birth, rank, and knowledge of the world. An