By+Rebecca+Smith

1809年，簡·奧斯汀搬至查頓小鎮(zhèn)，在這里她修訂并完成了自己一生中最重要的作品。都說“藝術(shù)源于生活”，下面就來走近奧斯汀在查頓小鎮(zhèn)的生活日常，也許我們會慢慢了解，究竟是什么造就了她別致的寫作魔力，讓她的作品兩百年暢銷不衰。

At Chawton1）， Jane Austen revised her first three novels and wrote Mansfield Park， Emma and Persuasion. She rose early， getting up to practice the piano without disturbing her mother， her sister and her best friend， Martha Lloyd， who lived with them. We can suppose that Jane also wanted time to herself before the days round of visits from friends， relatives and neighbours began.

Her piano would have had the soft tones of the 1810 Clementi one now housed in the Jane Austens House Museum. Jane， like her creations Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility and Jane Fairfax in Emma， was a very good pianist. Apart from piano practice， Janes other early morning duty was to make tea and coffee. Tea， coffee and chocolate are all mentioned in her novels. Miss Bates in Emma never drinks coffee， while greedy Arthur Parker in Sanditon2） loves hot chocolate and is proud of his toast-making skills.

Meals of the Day

Breakfast was eaten a few hours after a family had got up， so after quite a portion of the days work had been done. It wasnt the full English—heartier3） breakfasts were a Victorian4） innovation—but people sat down together， and at Chawton Cottage they could be spied through the window if you happened to be on a passing coach.

Lunch was also a simple affair. Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language defined it （around 20 years before Janes birth） as “as much food as ones hand can hold.” Dinner was the main meal of the day and served any time in the afternoon or early evening. In Pride and Prejudice the Bennets have their dinner at half past four， while the Bingleys at Netherfield eat it at half past six. In The Watsons， Tom Musgrave boasts of not eating dinner until 8 pm. The times given in Janes novels reflect the way particular families were influenced by society fashions.

Georgian5） dinners would consist of two courses or more， each of sweet and savoury6） dishes served at the same time. Supper was a light affair， often served to visitors such as those who come to play cards with Mr Woodhouse in Emma. Most people didnt want it to be quite as light as he did： “Miss Bates， let Emma help you to a little bit of tart7）—a very little bit. Ours are all apple tarts. You need not be afraid of unwholesome8） preserves9） here. I do not advise the custard. Mrs. Goddard， what say you to half a glass of wine？ A small half glass—put into a tumbler of water？” （Emma， Chapter 3）

Sewing and Socialising

Sewing occupied much of the Austen womens time. A quilt Jane made with Cassandra and their mother consists of more than 3，000 diamonds10） of 64 different dressmaking and furnishing fabrics. It is today on display at Jane Austens House Museum.

Janes most comfortable outfit of the day was worn first thing11）—a loose cambric12） morning gown that would only have been seen by family and close friends. Ladies changed to go out walking， shopping and visiting， and again for dinner.

An endless stream of visitors took a toll on13） Janes ability to work. Before the coming of the railways， travelling took such a long time that guests would often stay for several weeks. This is from a letter to Cassandra dated 8 September 1816 after some guests had just departed： “... I was not sorry when Friday came. It had been a busy week， and I wanted a few days quiet and exemption14） from the thought and contrivancy15） which any sort of company gives … Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints16） of mutton and doses of rhubarb17）.”

Jane liked to work by a window in the dining room. Her view was of the road through the village and she enjoyed a little distraction. On 23 June 1814 she wrote to Cassandra about some neighbours nearly missing the coach （Colliers） that left from the centre of the village： “Mrs. Driver， &c.， are off by Collier， but so near being too late that she had not time to call and leave the keys herself. I have them， however. I suppose one is the key of the linen-press18）， but I do not know what to guess the other. The coach was stopped at the blacksmiths， and they came running down with Triggs and Browning， and trunks， and birdcages. Quite amusing.”

From this it is only a short step to the scene Jane paints of Highbury where Emma looks out from Fords， the shop at the centre of the village： “… Emma went to the door for amusement. Much could not be hoped from the traffic of even the busiest part of Highbury; Mr. Perry walking hastily by， Mr. William Cox letting himself in at the office door， Mr. Coles carriage horses returning from exercise， or a stray19） letter-boy on an obstinate20） mule， were the liveliest objects she could presume to expect …

“She looked down the Randalls road. The scene enlarged; two persons appeared; Mrs. Weston and her son-in-law [Frank Churchill]; they were walking into Highbury; to Hartfield21） of course. They were stopping， however， in the first place at Mrs. Batess; whose house was a little nearer Randalls than Fords; and had all but knocked， when Emma caught their eye …” （Emma， Chapter 27）

This scene was pioneering for its realism and use of point of view. We see the world through Emmas eyes and are led to believe that Frank Churchill， whom Emma spies coming down the road， is on the way to see her， not Jane Fairfax.

Jane' s Writing Kit

Jane wrote in small homemade booklets （quires） which could easily be tidied away or hidden under blotting paper22） if somebody disturbed her. She liked to give people the impression that she was writing letters.

Paper was expensive during the Napoleonic Wars23）， as the same raw materials were required for bandages. It was sold by the sheet and then cut to the required size. Watermarks24） of year of manufacture and the makers name help to date manuscripts; some of Janes paper was used a few years after it was made or bought. She produced her manuscripts economically， adding patches with pins where necessary. The watermarks of these patches show how time elapsed between composition and editing.

For hundreds of years， ink was made using oak apples. Jane Austen used this oak apple ink. It could be bought in powder form or made from scratch at home. It appears greyish when it is first used but dries much darker. It fades with time to the brown we associate with old letters， a return to the colour of oak apples in autumn.

Jane fitted writing around other activities， sometimes absenting herself from card games or suddenly getting up and hurrying to her desk， laughing out loud at what she had thought of. But we have very little primary material to help us understand her working methods. Family recollections and Janes letters shed some light onto her habits—that she rose early but worked at other times of day too， and also that she spent periods in London working on her proofs25）. Her writing box （the Georgian equivalent of a laptop） was bought by her father in Basingstoke in December 1794， so was probably a present for her 19th birthday. It seems to have gone with her everywhere.

Jane described herself and her friend Martha Lloyd as “desperate walkers，” and only the very worst weather could keep them indoors. Walks were likely a key part of Janes plotting and planning process. The little notebooks that she made could be carried in her pocket with a pencil.

These were Janes Chawton days. When she was in London her time was spent very differently： at the theatre， exhibitions and parties and working with her publishers. She wrote to Cassandra on 24 May 1813： “I had great amusement among the pictures; and the driving about， the carriage being open， was very pleasant. I liked my solitary elegance very much， and was ready to laugh all the time at my being where I was.”

在查頓小鎮(zhèn)，簡·奧斯汀修訂了她最早寫的三部小說，并創(chuàng)作了《曼斯菲爾德莊園》《愛瑪》和《勸導(dǎo)》。她日常早起練習(xí)鋼琴，但不會吵醒媽媽、姐姐以及和她們同住的好友瑪莎·勞埃德。我們可以推測出，簡想在朋友、親戚和鄰居當(dāng)天輪番來訪前擁有一些自己的時間。

她的鋼琴應(yīng)該會有現(xiàn)今收藏于奧斯汀故居博物館的那架1810年產(chǎn)克萊門蒂牌鋼琴的輕柔音質(zhì)。像她在《理智與情感》中所塑造的瑪麗安·達(dá)什伍德和在《愛瑪》中所塑造的簡·菲爾費(fèi)克斯一樣，簡是一位非常出色的鋼琴家。除了練習(xí)鋼琴以外，簡早起的另一項任務(wù)是煮茶和咖啡。茶、咖啡和巧克力在她的小說中都有所提及?！稅郜敗分械呢惔男〗銖膩聿缓瓤Х龋渡５项D》中貪婪的亞瑟·帕克卻鐘愛熱巧克力且對自己烤面包的手藝引以為豪。

一日三餐

早餐開飯時間在一家人起床的幾小時之后，這樣當(dāng)天相當(dāng)一部分工作都已經(jīng)做完了。此時吃的不是全套英式早餐——更為豐盛的早餐要到維多利亞時代才出現(xiàn)——但是人們會坐在一起共享。你如果碰巧乘馬車路過他們在查頓的房舍，可以通過窗戶看到他們在屋里的情景。

午餐也很簡單。塞繆爾·約翰遜的《約翰遜字典》（大約在簡出生前20年完成）將其定義為“差不多一只手能拿得住的食物”。晚餐是一天的正餐，開飯時間可以是下午或傍晚的任何時候。在《傲慢與偏見》中，貝納特一家下午四點(diǎn)半用晚餐，而內(nèi)瑟菲爾德莊園的賓利一家則在傍晚六點(diǎn)半吃晚餐。在《沃森一家》中，湯姆·馬斯格雷夫吹噓說自己要到晚上八點(diǎn)才吃晚飯。簡的小說中提到的不同的晚餐時間反映了特定的家庭受到社會潮流影響的不同情況。

喬治王時代的晚餐會包括兩道或兩道以上的菜品，這些香甜可口的菜肴是同時端上飯桌的。夜宵則清淡，通常供應(yīng)給像《愛瑪》中來與伍德豪斯先生打牌這樣的客人。大多數(shù)客人都不愿意夜宵像伍德豪斯先生吃得那樣清淡：“貝茨小姐，讓愛瑪幫你夾一小塊水果餡餅——很小的一塊。我們家的餡餅都是蘋果餡的。您不必?fù)?dān)心，這里沒有對身體不利的果醬。我不勸你吃蛋奶糕。戈爾德太太，來半杯葡萄酒怎么樣？就小半杯——兌上一杯水吧？”（《愛瑪》，第三章）

縫紉和社交

縫紉占用了奧斯汀家族女士們的大部分時間。簡、卡桑德拉及她們的母親一起縫制的被子由3000多塊菱形布塊拼接而成，有64種不同的制衣和裝飾面料，現(xiàn)今陳列在簡·奧斯汀故居博物館。

一大早簡就穿著非常舒適的衣服——這是一件只在家人和好友面前穿的麻紗面料的寬松晨衣。女士們出門散步、購物及訪友前都會更衣，晚餐前再次更衣。

絡(luò)繹不絕的訪客影響了簡的創(chuàng)作。沒有鐵路之前，旅途花費(fèi)的時間非常長，因此客人們經(jīng)常要待上幾個星期。1816年9月8日，幾位客人剛剛離開，簡就在給卡桑德拉的信中這樣寫道：“……星期五到來的時候，我并不難過。這星期一直不得閑，我想安靜幾天，撇開種種陪伴所引發(fā)的想法和計劃……倘若我滿腦子都是大塊大塊的羊肉和大黃的用量之類的事情，我下筆寫作似乎根本不可能的?！?/p>

簡喜歡待在餐廳臨窗創(chuàng)作。在那兒她能看到穿過村莊的那條大路，她喜歡寫作時稍微分散一點(diǎn)注意力。1814年6月23日，她在給卡桑德拉的信中提及幾個鄰居差點(diǎn)錯過從村莊中心出發(fā)的（科利爾的）馬車：“德萊弗太太等人坐著科利爾的馬車出發(fā)，但是因為快來不及了，她沒時間親自來訪并留下鑰匙。不管怎樣，我還是拿到鑰匙了。我想有一把是開布料柜的，但是另一把我就猜不出來是干什么用的了。有人在鐵匠鋪前攔住了馬車，他們同特里格斯和布朗寧一起跑了過去，手里還拎著箱子和鳥籠。十分有趣。”

這與簡描繪的海伯里的場景相差無幾。在海伯里，愛瑪從村莊中心的福德商店向外看去：“……愛瑪走到門口想看看熱鬧。在海伯里，即便是最熱鬧的地段，也不要指望有什么可看的;她所能指望看到的最熱鬧的場面，無外乎是佩里先生匆匆走過去，威廉·考克斯先生走進(jìn)事務(wù)所，科爾先生家拉車的馬遛完了剛回來，信差騎著一頭犟騾子在閑逛……”

“她朝通往蘭多爾斯的路上望去。視線開闊了，只見出現(xiàn)兩個人，是韋斯頓太太和她的繼子[弗蘭克·丘吉爾]。他們來到了海伯里，不用說肯定是去哈特菲爾德。不過，他們先走到貝茨太太家門口;貝茨太太家比福德商店離蘭多爾斯稍近一些。兩人剛要敲門，一眼瞧見了愛瑪……”（《愛瑪》，第27章）

該場景因其寫實手法和視角的使用而具有開拓性意義。我們通過愛瑪?shù)囊暯强词澜纾⒂纱讼嘈?，愛瑪看到沿路走來的弗蘭克·丘吉爾正在來看望她的路上，而不是去看望簡·菲爾費(fèi)克斯。

簡的寫作裝備

簡在自制的小冊子（書頁）上創(chuàng)作，如果有人打擾她，可以迅速收好或者藏到吸墨紙下面。她喜歡讓人覺得她是在寫信。

紙張在拿破侖戰(zhàn)爭期間很貴，因為同樣的原材料需要用來做繃帶。紙按張賣，然后再裁至所需要的尺寸。廠家的名字及出廠年份的水印有助于確認(rèn)手稿的年代;簡的有些紙在出廠或買入數(shù)年后才得以使用。她寫手稿時用紙很節(jié)儉，必要的地方用別針別上紙片。這些紙片的水印足以說明從創(chuàng)作到修改之間隔了多長時間。

幾百年來，人們用櫟癭做墨水。簡·奧斯汀用的就是這種櫟癭墨水，可能是買的墨粉，也可能是在家從頭做成的。這種墨水剛寫出來時顏色有點(diǎn)發(fā)灰，但是干了之后顏色會變深很多，隨著時間流逝，會慢慢褪成我們想到舊信件時腦海里出現(xiàn)的那種褐色，那是秋天時櫟癭的本色。

簡把創(chuàng)作和其他活動結(jié)合起來，有時她會從玩牌中抽身去寫作，或是突然起身沖到書桌前，因剛剛想到了什么而放聲大笑。但是我們幾乎沒有原始素材能幫助我們了解她的創(chuàng)作方法。家人的回憶和簡的信件使我們了解到一些她的習(xí)慣：她起得很早，但白天其余時間里也工作，另外，她有些時期待在倫敦校稿。她創(chuàng)作用的工具箱（在喬治王時代相當(dāng)于筆記本電腦）是她父親于1794年12月在貝辛斯托克買的，很可能是她19歲的生日禮物。似乎她走到哪兒都帶著這個箱子。

簡把她的朋友瑪莎·勞埃德和自己稱為“渴望走路的人”，只有極其惡劣的天氣才能讓她們待在家里。行走很可能是簡在設(shè)計和編排小說情節(jié)過程中的關(guān)鍵。她做的小記事本可以和鉛筆一起隨身揣在口袋里。

這就是簡在查頓小鎮(zhèn)的日子。她在倫敦的時候，日子則過得截然不同：出入劇院、展覽和聚會，并與她的出版商合作。她在1813年5月24日給卡桑德拉的信中寫道：“置身于這些畫作之中，我無比快樂;敞著馬車四處轉(zhuǎn)悠也非常愉快。我很喜歡自己隱居避世的雅致生活，總會為身在何處自嘲一番。”

1. Chawton：查頓小鎮(zhèn)，簡·奧斯汀于1809年投奔哥哥愛德華后居住的小鎮(zhèn)，現(xiàn)其居住的房屋已成為簡·奧斯汀故居博物館。

New Oriental English .

奧斯汀故居博物館的客廳

2. Sanditon：《桑迪頓》，奧斯汀一部未完成的小說，原名為《兄弟》（The Brothers），1925年出版時改為《桑迪頓》。

3. hearty [?hɑ?（r）ti] adj. 豐盛的，營養(yǎng)豐富的

4. Victorian：維多利亞時代，維多利亞女王的統(tǒng)治時期，時限常被定義為1837年～1901年，其前接喬治王時代，后啟愛德華時代。

5. Georgian：喬治王時代，指英國喬治一世至喬治四世在位時間（1714～1830）。

6. savoury [?se?v?ri] adj. 開胃的;美味的，可口的

7. tart [tɑ?（r）t] n. 水果蛋糕

8. unwholesome [??n?h??ls（?）m] adj. 不衛(wèi)生的，有害身心健康的

9. preserve [pr??z??（r）v] n. （用腌制等方法）加工成的食品（如蜜餞、果醬、罐頭等）

10. diamond [?da??m?nd] n. 菱形

11. first thing：一大早

12. cambric [?k?mbr?k] n. 麻紗，細(xì)薄布

13. take a toll on：造成損失（或危害、傷亡等）

14. exemption [?ɡ?zemp?（?）n] n. 免除，解除;豁免

15. contrivancy [k?n?tra?v（?）nsi] n. 謀劃，計劃

. New Oriental English

16. joint [d???nt] n. 大塊肉

17. rhubarb [?ru??bɑ?（r）b] n. [植]大黃

18. linen-press：布料柜，通常用于存放床單、桌布及其他布料。

19. stray [stre?] adj. 離群的，流浪的

20. obstinate [??bst?n?t] adj. 頑固的，固執(zhí)的

21. Hartfield：哈特菲爾德，即愛瑪家的莊園名字。

22. blotting paper：吸墨紙

23. Napoleonic Wars：拿破侖戰(zhàn)爭，指拿破侖稱帝統(tǒng)治法國期間（1803～1815）爆發(fā)的各場戰(zhàn)爭。

24. watermark [?w??t?（r）?mɑ?（r）k] n. 水印

25. proof [pru?f] n. 校樣，初印稿