【寒假最强书单】《简•爱》：野百合也有春天
经常有人问：怎样才能成为一枚有追求、有文化、有知识、有B格的四有骚年？世纪君答：诸君，去读书吧！是的，假日属于书，那些跃动着的文字，让你如沐春风。这个假日，世纪君就奉上一份“寒假最强书单”。为何“最强”？因为世纪君：综合了英国教育部考试委员会、作家JK Rowling、Philip Pullman以及英国《卫报》、美国《纽约时报》等多家国际媒体开出的青少年书单；参考了香港教育图书公司、《澳门日报》、台湾国立图书馆所列的青少年必读书目；邀请了曾在北外任教、与世纪君共事多年的英国文学博士Paul Brennan先生，一起精选出这十本书。每日一读，如抱暖阳。
今天，我们一同翻开的是《简•爱》（Jane Eyre），19世纪英国作家夏洛蒂•勃朗特的代表作。有人说这是一部维多利亚早期女屌丝的逆袭史，因为简•爱不是白富美，而是一个相貌平平的普通女孩，却最终和庄园主罗彻斯特喜结连理；有人却说这是一个学霸寻找真爱的励志故事，因为书中的简•爱会法语、会画画，独立、自信，在得知爱人罗彻斯特还有一个尚未离婚的疯妻子时，她毅然决然地离开了他，直到其前妻离开人世才回到罗彻斯特身边。还有人说，这个故事告诉我们即使是一株野百合，也会找到自己的春天。
电影《简•爱》（2011）剧照
This whirlwind of a novel has at its center a child, later a young woman, of intelligence and passionate feeling. In the pages of Jane Eyre (1847) we join the heroine Jane as she goes on a journey through a life made up of the most challenging experiences.
Jane has to endure cruelty and hardship. She has to face challenges to her moral code. But she also has to be true to her spirit, which tells her not to live anything other than the happy, fulfilled life she feels that she and all others have the right to live.
简自幼父母双亡，在舅妈家过着寄人篱下的生活。舅妈的嫌弃，表兄的打骂并没有使她屈服。到了罗沃德寄宿学校后，生活变得更加残酷。但是，简没有在冰冷的现实中沉沦、绝望，相反，一种坚强不屈的精神，一种不可战胜的内在人格力量已在她身上初步显现。她不断奋发进取，像一棵顶风冒雨的小树，不屈不挠地成长着。离开学校，简来到桑菲尔德府做家庭教师，开始了一段更加跌宕起伏的生命历程。她力求平等、不卑不亢，在精神上和男主人罗切斯特互相吸引，坠入情网。然而，意料之外的情况让简毅然离开了桑菲尔德……
The first part of the novel shows orphan Jane’s early life with her uncle’s family. She is ill-treated and very lonely. However, the school that she is sent to, Lowood Institution, is worse. It is run by a cruel man named Mr Brocklehurst, who treats all the girls badly, and Jane particularly so. But Jane triumphs over Brocklehurst, and when she finally leaves Lowood, she is an educated and accomplished young woman.
She becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she is responsible for educating young Adele Varens. It is there that Jane meets the master of Thornfield, Adele’s father, Mr Rochester. Rochester is a fierce and eccentric type. He is not handsome, but somehow very attractive. He and Jane get on very well together because of, rather than despite, the fact that they are always arguing. Mr Rochester proposes to Jane, but the marriage does not go ahead. It turns out that he is still married. She is forced to leave Thornfield when she refuses his request that she run away with him to France.
在这漂泊无依的孤寂生活中, 简•爱拒绝了救命恩人圣•约翰的追求，听从内心的召唤，回到了桑菲尔德。发现庄园已经被罗切斯特的疯妻烧为废墟。罗切斯特为救妻子被烧的双目失明，十分落魄。尽管一切都发生了太多的改变，可是他们仍深爱着彼此。就像所有美好的故事一样，《简•爱》也拥有一个幸福的结局。而她的故事也给所有女性带来启迪：爱情不取决于社会地位、财富和外貌，只有男女双方彼此真正相爱，才能得到真正的幸福。
Jane soon finds herself living a desperate life. Homeless and ready to face death, she is taken in by St John Rivers. It turns out he and Jane are distantly related. When Jane inherits money from one of their relatives while Rivers receives none, she generously shares the money. But she turns down his proposal of marriage.
In the final act of the book, author Charlotte Bronte takes Jane back to Thornfield. In this act, she resolves the problems that have prevented the union of Jane and Mr Rochester. The main problem is the first Mrs Rochester, who is mad and kept in the attic. After a fire that leads to her death, and the blinding and maiming of Mr Rochester, he and Jane can marry.
The fact that Rochester, now disabled, needs Jane, is crucial. He is no longer her “master”. Jane is a feminist heroine. The most passionate part of the book may be Jane’s insistence that she has her own rights. In the final pages, Jane famously addresses us: “Reader, I married him.” It was Jane’s decision, and the happy marriage that she and Rochester have together is only possible because they are equals.
简对爱情的理解成为了文学作品中著名的片段。一起来欣赏吧：
Do you think I am an automaton? – a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! – I have as much soul as you – and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal – as we are!
“你认为我只是一台机器？一架没有感情的机器？你认为我能忍受让人把我的一口面包从嘴里抢走?让人把我的一滴活命水从杯子里泼掉吗？你以为我贫穷、低微、相貌平平、身材矮小就没有灵魂、没有心吗？你想错了，我跟你一样有灵魂，一样有一颗完整的心，如果上帝再赐于我一点美貌和财富，我也会让你感到难以离开我，就像我现在难以离开你一样。我现在不是凭着习俗、常规、甚至也不是凭着肉体跟你对话，而是我的心灵跟你的心灵在对话。就像我们都已经离开人世，两人平等的站在上帝跟前，因为我们本来就是平等的。”
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