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《遠離塵囂》是哈代第一部得到一緻贊揚的長篇小說。在這部小說裏,田園詩的氣氛已經消失,遠離塵囂的窮鄉僻壤也和人煙稠密的喧鬧城市一樣,在演齣人生的悲劇。女主人公芭絲謝芭是一個農場主,美麗聰慧,但愛慕虛榮。她先後為三個男子所追求,但選擇瞭一個金玉其外、敗絮其中的青年軍官特羅伊。最後雖然小說在芭絲謝芭與加布裏埃爾的圓滿愛情中結束,但全書中悲劇氣氛多於喜劇氣氛,已透露齣作者創作中的悲劇性主題。
內容簡介
Graced with the splendid illustrations executed by Helen Paterson for the first edition of the novel, this special Collector's Edition of Far from the Madding Crowd also features handwritten letters and drawings by Hardy, as well as rare and intimate portraits of the author and his first wife, Emma. Here, too, readers are granted a fascinating and touching glimpse of how two great imaginative writers interact with one another: This edition reproduces the handwritten pages from Virginia Woolf's diary in which she recounts her now-famous visit with the very aged Thomas Hardy at his home, Max Gate, in 1926.
《遠離塵囂》是英格蘭偉大的小說傢哈代的代錶作。書中的主人公加布裏埃爾經營著一個小農場,他對前來幫工的巴思喜巴小姐一見傾心,嚮她求婚卻遭拒絕。一場突如其來的變故緻使他傾傢蕩産,流落他鄉。當他來到威瑟伯農場,他驚喜地發現農場主就是他朝思暮想的巴思喜巴小姐,不過這次他卻成瞭巴思喜巴小姐的僕人。
巴思喜巴的女傭範妮和中士特羅伊相戀,並定下婚約。範妮走錯瞭教堂,特羅伊拒絕舉行第二次婚禮。鄰居博爾德伍德瘋狂地愛著巴思喜巴小姐,而巴思喜巴小姐卻醉心於特羅伊,並在不明真相的情況下和他閃電般地結瞭婚。加布裏埃爾和巴思喜巴小姐的關係若即若離。博爾德伍德在衝動中殺死瞭特羅伊,自己也被送進瞭法院。在巴思喜巴小姐的三個追求者中,隻剩下加布裏埃爾一個。曆經生活磨難的巴思喜巴小姐終於嫁給瞭對她忠心耿耿的加布裏埃爾。"
美麗、高傲的芭思希芭來到威瑟伯裏繼承她叔叔的農場。忠誠能乾的奧剋對她一見鍾情,但遭到瞭拒絕。傢境殷實的農場主波德伍德因為一次誤會不斷地嚮芭思希芭求愛。而芭思希芭卻與英俊的中上特洛伊結瞭婚。然而,浪漫的愛情到結婚後便告終結。幾番風波之後,波德伍德開槍打死瞭特洛伊,自己則嚮警方自首。失去瞭丈夫的芭思希芭同時又麵臨著失去農場的可能。這時奧剋來到她的身邊,給故事一個皆大歡喜的結局。 作者簡介
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist, in the tradition of George Eliot, he was also influenced both in his novels and poetry by Romanticism, especially by William Wordsworth. Charles Dickens is another important influence on Thomas Hardy. Like Dickens, he was also highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society.
While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life, and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially therefore he gained fame as the author of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). However, since the 1950s Hardy has been recognized as a major poet, and had a significant influence on The Movement poets of the 1950s and 1960s, including Phillip Larkin.
The bulk of his fictional works, initially published as serials in magazines, were set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex and explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. Hardy's Wessex is based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom and eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in south west England.
托馬斯·哈代(Thomas Hardy),英國詩人、小說傢。他是橫跨兩個世紀的作傢,早期和中期的創作以小說為主,繼承和發揚瞭維多利亞時代的文學傳統;晚年以其齣色的詩歌開拓瞭英國20世紀的文學。
哈代一生共發錶瞭近20部長篇小說,其中最著名的當推《德伯傢的苔絲》、《無名的裘德》(Jude the Obscure)、《還鄉》和《卡斯特橋市長》。詩8集,共918首,此外,還有許多以“威塞剋斯故事”為總名的中短篇小說,以及長篇史詩劇《列王》。 精彩書摘
Chapter I Description of Farmer Oak—An Incident
When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks, and diverging wrinkles appeared round them, extending upon his countenance like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun.
His Christian name was Gabriel,and on working days he was a young man of sound judgment, easy motions, proper dress, and general good character. On Sundays he was a man of misty views, rather given to postponing, and hampered by his best clothes and umbrella: upon the whole, one who felt himself to occupy morally that vast middle space of Laodicean neutrality which lay between the Communion people of the parish and the drunken section,—that is, he went to church, but yawned privately by the time the congregation reached the Nicene creed, and thought of what there would be for dinner when he meant to be listening to the sermon. Or, to state his character as it stood in the scale of public opinion, when his friends and critics were in tantrums, he was considered rather a bad man; when they were pleased, he was rather a good man; when they were neither, he was a man whose moral colour was a kind of pepper-and-salt mixture.
Since he lived six times as many working-days as Sundays, Oak's appearance in his old clothes was most peculiarly his own—the mental picture formed by his neighbours in imagining him being always dressed in that way. He wore a low-crowned felt hat, spread out at the base by tight jamming upon the head for security in high winds, and a coat like Dr. Johnson's,4 his lower extremities being encased in ordinary leather leggings and boots emphatically large, affording to each foot a roomy apartment so constructed that any wearer might stand in a river all day long and know nothing of damp—their maker being a conscientious man who endeavoured to compensate for any weakness in his cut by unstinted dimension and solidity.
Mr. Oak carried about him, by way of watch, what may be called a small silver clock; in other words, it was a watch as to shape and intention, and a small clock as to size. This instrument being several years older than Oak's grandfather, had the peculiarity of going either too fast or not at all. The smaller of its hands, too, occasionally slipped round on the pivot, and thus, though the minutes were told with precision, nobody could be quite certain of the hour they belonged to. The stopping peculiarity of his watch Oak remedied by thumps and shakes, and he escaped any evil consequences from the other two defects by constant comparisons with and observations of the sun and stars, and by pressing his face close to the glass of his neighbours' windows, till he could discern the hour marked by the green-faced timekeepers within. It may be mentioned that Oak's fob being difficult of access, by reason of its somewhat high situation in the waistband of his trousers (which also lay at a remote height under his waistcoat), the watch was as a necessity pulled out by throwing the body to one side, compressing the mouth and face to a mere mass of ruddy flesh on account of the exertion, and drawing up the watch by its chain, like a bucket from a well.
But some thoughtful persons, who had seen him walking across one of his fields on a certain December morning—sunny and exceedingly mild—might have regarded Gabriel Oak in other aspects than these. In his face one might notice that many of the hues and curves of youth had tarried on to manhood: there even remained in his remoter crannies some relics of the boy. His height and breadth would have been sufficient to make his presence imposing, had they been exhibited with due consideration. But there is a way some men have, rural and urban alike, for which the mind is more responsible than flesh and sinew: it is a way of curtailing their dimensions by their manner of showing them. And from a quiet modesty that would have become a vestal, which seemed continually to impress upon him that he had no great claim on the world's room, Oak walked unassumingly, and with a faintly perceptible bend, yet distinct from a bowing of the shoulders. This may be said to be a defect in an individual if he depends for his valuation more upon his appearance than upon his capacity to wear well, which Oak did not.
He had just reached the time of life at which "young" is ceasing to be the prefix of "man" in speaking of one. He was at the brightest period of masculine growth, for his intellect and his emotions were clearly separated: he had passed the time during which the influence of youth indiscriminately mingles them in the character of impulse, and he had not yet arrived at the stage wherein they become united again, in the character of prejudice, by the influence of a wife and family. In short, he was twenty-eight, and a bachelor.
The field he was in this morning sloped to a ridge called Norcombe Hill. Through a spur of this hill ran the highway between Emminster and Chalk-Newton. Casually glancing over the hedge, Oak saw coming down the incline before him an ornamental spring waggon, painted yellow and gaily marked, drawn by two horses, a waggoner walking alongside bearing a whip perpendicularly. The waggon was laden with household goods and window plants, and on the apex of the whole sat a woman, young and attractive. Gabriel had not beheld the sight for more than half a minute, when the vehicle was brought to a standstill just beneath his eyes.
"The tailboard of the waggon is gone, Miss," said the waggoner.
"Then I heard it fall," said the girl, in a soft, though not particularly low voice. "I heard a noise I could not account for when we were coming up the hill."
"I'll run back."
"Do," she answered.
The sensible horses stood perfectly still, and the waggoner's steps sank fainter and fainter in the distance.
The girl on the summit of the load sat motionless, surrounded by tables and chairs with their legs upwards, backed by an oak settle, and ornamented in front by pots of geraniums, myrtles, and cactuses, together with a caged canary—all probably from the windows of the house just vacated. There was also a cat in a willow basket, from the partly-opened lid of which she gazed with half-closed eyes, and affectionately surveyed the small birds around.
The handsome girl waited for some time idly in her place, and the only sound heard in the stillness was the hopping of the canary up and down the perches of its prison. Then she looked attentively downwards. It was not at the bird, nor at the cat; it was at an oblong package tied in paper, and lying between them. She turned her head to learn if the waggoner were coming. He was not yet in sight; and her eyes crept back to the package, her thoughts seeming to run upon what was inside it. At length she drew the article into her lap, and untied the paper covering; a small swing looking-glass was disclosed, in which she proceeded to survey herself attentively. She parted her lips and smiled.
It was a fine morning, and the sun lighted up to a scarlet glow the crimson jacket she wore, and painted a soft lustre upon her bright face and dark hair. The myrtles, geraniums, and cactuses packed around her were fresh and green, and at such a leafless season they invested the whole concern of horses, waggon, furniture, and girl with a peculiar vernal charm. What possessed her to indulge in such a performance in the sight of the sparrows, blackbirds, and unperceived farmer who were alone its spectators,—whether the smile began as a factitious one, to test her capacity in that art,—nobody knows; it ended certainly in a real smile. She blushed at herself, and seeing her reflection blush, blushed the more.
The change from the customary spot and necessary occasion of such an act—from the dressing hour in a bedroom to a time of travelling out of doors—lent to the idle deed a novelty it did not intrinsically possess. The picture was a delicate one. Woman's prescriptive infirmity had stalked into the sunlight, which had clothed it in the freshness of an originality. A cynical inference was irresistible by Gabriel Oak as he regarded the scene, generous though he fain would have been. There was no necessity whatever for her looking in the glass. She did not adjust her hat, or pat her hair, or press a dimple into shape, or do one thing to signify that any such intention had been her motive in taking up the glass. She simply observed herself as a fair product of Nature in the feminine kind, her thoughts seeming to glide into far-off though likely dramas in which men would play a part—vistas of probable triumphs—the smiles being of a phase suggesting that hearts were imagined as lost and won. Still, this was but conjecture, and the whole series of actions was so idly put forth as to make it rash to assert that intention had any part in them at all.
The waggoner's steps were heard returning. She put the glass in the paper, and the whole again into its place.
When the waggon had passed on, Gabriel withdrew from his point of espial, and descending into the road, followed the vehicle to the turnpike-gate some way beyond the bottom of the hill, where the object of his contemplation now halted for the payment of toll. About twenty steps still remained between him and the gate, when he heard a dispute. It was a difference concerning twopence between the persons with the waggon and the man at the toll-bar.
"Mis'ess's niece is upon the top of the things, and she says that's enough that I've offered ye, you great miser, and she won't pay any more." These were the waggoner's words.
"Very well; then mis'ess's niece can't pass," said the turnpike-keeper, closing the gate.
Oak looked from one to the other of the disputants, and f...
《大地之歌:鄉村生活與人性抉擇》 一部關於土地、命運與愛欲的史詩 作者:[此處可插入一位虛構的、符閤該風格的作傢的名字,例如:伊萊亞斯·霍爾姆斯 (Elias Holmes)] 齣版信息:[此處可插入虛構的齣版社信息,例如:晨星文學齣版社] --- 內容提要: 《大地之歌》並非簡單的田園牧歌,它是一部深入剖析瞭十九世紀末英格蘭鄉村社會結構、人類原始欲望與道德睏境的宏大敘事。故事圍繞著兩個世代緊密交織的傢族——堅韌的農場主貝內特傢族與新興的工業巨子索普傢族——展開,地點設置在虛構的、被濃霧與古老橡樹環繞的“黑水榖”(Blackwater Dale)。 小說以1888年一個潮濕的鞦日清晨開場,年輕的伊芙琳·貝內特,一個骨子裏流淌著對土地深刻依戀的女性,正麵臨著傢族百年農場的財政危機。她的父親,老邁而固執的喬納森·貝內特,拒絕接受任何現代化的農業技術,固守著祖輩的耕作方式,這種傳統與現實的衝突,預示著一個時代的終結。 第一部分:泥土的召喚與金錢的誘惑 故事的核心衝突源於土地的歸屬權與生活方式的選擇。伊芙琳的青梅竹馬,正直而沉默的牧羊人托馬斯·格雷厄姆,代錶著對土地最純粹的忠誠。他繼承瞭父親的羊群和對這片貧瘠土地的敬畏,他的愛深沉、內斂,卻被伊芙琳視為一種束縛。 與此同時,索普傢族的代錶,富有魅力的工業傢亨利·索普,帶著他帶來的蒸汽機、鐵路規劃圖和對“進步”的狂熱信念,踏入瞭黑水榖。亨利並非傳統意義上的惡人,他精明、有遠見,他將伊芙琳視為能將他的商業帝國與古老土地相結閤的完美“媒介”。他提供的不僅僅是金錢,更是一種能帶領貝內特傢族擺脫貧睏泥潭的“未來”。 伊芙琳在兩種截然不同的世界觀中掙紮:是對托馬斯那份基於共同勞作與記憶的、如同古老石牆般堅固的情感,還是接受亨利所代錶的、光鮮亮麗卻可能侵蝕她靈魂的現代化進程? 第二部分:階級的藩籬與情感的悖論 隨著故事的深入,小說開始細緻描繪當時鄉村社會的階級壁壘。索普傢族試圖通過聯姻來鞏固他們在當地的地位,而他們的到來也攪動瞭原本沉寂的鄉紳階層。小說引入瞭瑪莎·普雷斯科特夫人,一位沉溺於維護舊日體麵的鄉紳遺孀,她對索普傢族的鄙夷和對貝內特傢族的暗中扶持,構成瞭復雜的社會網絡。 伊芙琳對亨利的吸引力,源於他身上那種打破常規、敢於挑戰既有秩序的激情。她開始學習閱讀他帶來的報紙,討論新的市場策略,她發現自己既享受這種智力上的交鋒,又為這種轉變而感到不安。她逐漸疏遠瞭托馬斯,認為他的生活太過單調、目光太過狹隘。 然而,亨利的“進步”並非沒有代價。他的采礦項目汙染瞭溪流,破壞瞭傳統的放牧路徑,引發瞭當地農民的強烈不滿。伊芙琳開始目睹她所鍾愛的鄉村環境正在被她所吸引的“未來”所吞噬。她的內心開始分裂:是支持愛人的事業,還是捍衛她血液中流淌的土地? 第三部分:背叛、審判與自我救贖 小說的高潮部分,集中在一次關於水權和土地劃分的激烈衝突上。亨利為瞭加速鐵路的建設,采取瞭法律上的灰色手段,意圖強行收購關鍵的公共水源地。托馬斯·格雷厄姆,聯閤瞭一批深受其害的農民,決定以最傳統的方式——絕食與抗議——來對抗這種“文明”的掠奪。 伊芙琳被捲入瞭這場對立的中心。她發現亨利為瞭商業利益,曾對她有所隱瞞,甚至利用瞭她對傢族責任的孝心。這份發現,如同一記重擊,讓她猛然清醒:她所迷戀的光環之下,是冷酷的計算和對人性的漠視。 在最黑暗的時刻,當托馬斯因抗議活動被誣陷,麵臨牢獄之災時,伊芙琳必須做齣最終的抉擇。她沒有選擇藉助亨利的財富和權力去擺平一切,而是毅然決然地選擇瞭她曾經視為“束縛”的道路。她動用瞭自己所學的一切商業知識,聯閤瞭瑪莎夫人所代錶的保守力量,揭露瞭亨利計劃中的欺詐行為。 結局的留白:收獲與重塑 最終,亨利·索普的商業帝國在內部的道德腐蝕和外部的法律製裁下搖搖欲墜,他帶著他的雄心壯誌離開瞭黑水榖,留下的隻有被挖掘的創傷和未完成的契約。 托馬斯雖然暫時擺脫瞭睏境,但他對伊芙琳的信任也受到瞭深刻的考驗。小說並沒有給予一個簡單的大團圓結局。伊芙琳沒有立刻迴到托馬斯身邊,而是選擇留在瞭搖搖欲墜的貝內特農場。 她學會瞭如何將她從亨利那裏獲得的現代管理知識,謹慎地融入到對土地的敬畏之中。她開始試驗新的、環保的耕作方法,努力修復被破壞的生態環境。 最後的場景描繪瞭伊芙琳獨自一人,站在清晨的霧氣中,手裏拿著一張新的契約——她用自己的方式,贖迴瞭傢族的土地,也重新定義瞭自己的生活。她與托馬斯的關係,將是緩慢而艱辛的重建過程,建立在共同的勞作、深刻的理解,而非盲目的依戀之上。 《大地之歌》探討瞭現代性對傳統生活的衝擊,揭示瞭在追求“進步”的過程中,人性如何被欲望扭麯,以及真正的勇氣並非是選擇更容易的道路,而是選擇與自我、與腳下土地和解的艱難旅程。這是一部關於成長、損失、以及在荒蕪中尋找新生的贊歌。 --- 核心主題探討: 土地與資本的永恒對決: 對比瞭基於自然循環的傳統農業(貝內特與格雷厄姆)與基於快速榨取的工業資本主義(索普)的衝突。 女性在變革時代的身份重塑: 伊芙琳的角色代錶瞭受過教育的女性,如何在父權和商業社會中,為自己爭取決策權和價值認同。 愛與義務的界限: 深入剖析瞭托馬斯那份基於忠誠與責任的愛,與亨利那種基於激情與徵服欲的“愛”之間的本質區彆。 環境倫理的萌芽: 在工業革命的背景下,首次提齣瞭對環境破壞後果的早期反思。 本書特色: 細膩的自然描寫: 作者以極其優美的筆觸描繪瞭英格蘭鄉村的四季更迭、氣候變化及其對人類情感的影響。 復雜的人物群像: 每一個配角都擁有深刻的背景故事,他們共同編織齣一幅十九世紀末鄉村社會的生動圖景。 敘事張力十足: 結閤瞭傢庭倫理劇的細膩和關於土地所有權的法律/經濟鬥爭的緊張感。 緻讀者: 閱讀《大地之歌》,如同親身踏入那片被風吹拂、被汗水浸潤的土地。它將帶領您去思考,在每一個重大的抉擇麵前,我們究竟是追隨潮流,還是選擇堅守那些定義瞭我們是誰的、最深沉的根基。