Charles Dickens's¹ Rising to Fame

Dickens lived a life of toil². He knew misery³ in his younger years， and he became rich and famous in the end. He was born at Portsea⁴， on February 7，1812. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay-Office⁵. But he was soon ruined⁶ and put in prison for debt. Charles had to go to work when he was very young. He was paid six shillings⁷ a week， and for two years he never had enough to eat. His poverty， however， brought him in contact⁸ with the very poor. This was of great value to him when he became an author.

After two years Dickens's father managed to get some money. He now could leave prison and send Charles to a private⁹ school. After his school days Dickens became a clerk¹⁰ in a lawyer's¹¹ office， and in his spare time studied shorthand¹². When Dickens was nineteen he became a reporter for a newspaper， and his job was to attend the House of Commons¹³ for his paper. Also， he was often sent into the country， and his experiences on the road are found in some of his novels.

He began to write his first sketch¹⁴ when he was twenty five. Later Dickens wrote more sketches， and readers were charmed¹⁵ with their humour¹⁶. Thus was born the famous \"Pickwick Papers¹⁷\" More than 40，000 copies of that novel were sold at once. After his first success， Dickens， now a well-known author published many other novels， among them \"Oliver Twist¹⁸\"，\"The Old Curiosity shop\"¹⁹ and so on．

狄更斯一生辛勞。青少年時期就懂得苦難。到了晚年生活富裕且遠近聞名。1812年2月7日他出生于英國波特西鎮(zhèn)，其父為皇家海軍軍需處職員。但不久家財破產(chǎn)，因拖欠債務而入獄，因而查爾斯不得不在幼小時出去打工，每周掙六個先令，達兩年之久。

這期間他從未享受過一頓飽餐。然而貧窮也給了他以接近赤貧者的機會，這種際遇對他成為作家極為寶貴。

兩年后，其父設法弄到了一些錢，使自己得以獲釋，且把查爾斯送至一所私立學校讀書。結(jié)業(yè)后小狄更斯去一家律師事務所任辦事員，業(yè)余時間學習速記法。19歲時，他任某報社一名記者，職務是代表報社去英下院聽會采訪。他也常被派往鄉(xiāng)村去工作。在他的小說里，你可以發(fā)現(xiàn)他的一樁樁路途見聞。

25歲時，他開始寫作短篇文章。日后他寫的小品日益增多。讀者們對他的幽默文風深深喜愛。著名的《匹克威克外傳》即在此氛圍里誕生。這部小說一問世立即銷售四萬余冊。首次成功之后，狄更斯這位當時享譽文壇的作家，先后發(fā)表過許多其他小說，如《霧都孤兒》、《老古玩店》等。

Notes:

1 Charles Dickens n.查爾斯·狄更斯(1812—1870年，英國著名小說家)

2．toil n. 辛勞，勞苦 3．misery n．悲慘境遇，苦難

4．Portsea n．波特西(英國一地名) 5．Navy Pay-Office 皇家海軍軍需處

6．ruin vt．使敗落，使破產(chǎn)

7．shilling n．先令(英舊幣1磅的1/20，1先令=12便士)

8．contact n. 接觸，聯(lián)系 9．private adj． 私立的，私人的

10．clerk n．職員，辦事員 11．lawyer n．律師

12．shorthand n. 速記法 13．the House of Commons 英國下議院

14．sketch n．短篇文章，小品文 15．charm vt. 使喜愛，使陶醉

16．humour n. 幽默 17．Pickwick Papers《匹克威克外傳》

18．Oliver Twist《霧都孤兒》 19．The Old Curiosity Shop《老古玩店》