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世事变迁，沧海桑田，如今的时代与简·奥斯丁所描绘的那个女子们寻觅完美伴侣的19世纪的英国已经大不一样了。但是作家的一位粉丝相信，奥斯丁教导我们的许多关于爱情的知识在当今仍然适用。这位女粉丝告诉我们，那些本来适用于摄政时期的恋爱原则仍与今天的“陌陌时代”息息相关。
Rule One: Be A Woman, Not A Girl
原则一：做一个女人，而不是小女孩
In Persuasion, Austen shows us the womanly fortitude of Anne Elliot is far
superior to the girlish shenanigans of Louisa Musgrove. Louisa's flirtation with
Captain Wentworth does not work, either to win his heart or to keep her
dignity.
在《劝导》一书中，奥斯丁告诉我们，安·艾略特那种女性的坚毅品质远优于路易莎·姆斯格雷夫那样的小女生伎俩。路易莎对温特沃斯上尉的挑逗不起任何作用，她既没有赢得他的心，也没有保留住自己的尊严。
Anne, by contrast, follows her own much more noble course and, in doing so,
gives a lesson to us all. We should put away those childish tricks and conduct
ourselves as an equal to our man.
相反，安遵循着自己更高尚的多的求爱方法，这样以来，也给我们都上了一课。我们应该放弃那些小孩子式的伎俩，举手投足都要把自己当成与男人平等的人。
Rule Two: Find A Man, Not A Guy
原则二：找一个男子汉，而不是花心男
There is a particular kind of creature who looks like a man on first
encounter but who is, in fact, a very different species. Jane Austen would have
called this creature a 'puppy' or a 'coxcomb'; we would likely refer to him as a
guy.
有一种特殊的人，初次结识时你觉得他似乎是一个男子汉，可事实上，他是一种完全不同的人。简·奥斯丁把这种人称为“小狗狗”或者“花心鬼”;我们可能更愿意将这种人称为花心男。
But however we choose to name him, we should always take care to avoid
him!
无论我们用什么名字来称呼这种人，我们都要随时留心远离他们!
Rule Three: Listen to What They Say
原则三：听听妈妈们的意见
Pride and Prejudice begins with one of the most famous lines in English
literature - 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young man in
possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife.'
《傲慢与偏见》一书的开场白是英语文学中最著名的句子之一：“一个单身男子，坐拥万贯家财，自然欲求妻室，此道理普世公认。”
Indeed he is! It seems that women like Mrs Bennet - and like your mother
and mine - do know a thing or two after all! Time-tested rules are never secret,
rather, they are universally acknowledged.
确是如此!像班奈特夫人——还有你的妈妈和我的妈妈——这样的人毕竟懂得多!这些经过时间考验的真理永远都不会是秘密，相反，是全天下人都知道的。
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发表于 2016-7-10 18:15:22