Even though she lived more than 200 years ago, the famous English novelist Jane Austen has been in the news a lot recently. The only known portrait of Jane Austen is to be sold by auction in New York this week, and is expected to fetch between £200,000 (RMB 3m) and £400,000 (RMB 4m).
The oil painting, which experts believe was commissioned by the novelist’s great-uncle in 1790, has been handed down from generation to generation and currently belongs to one of Jane Austen’s descendants.
There has been some doubt over the authenticity of the portrait because some experts say the type of dress she is wearing in the painting is from the wrong historical period.
However, other academics and the auction house Christie’s, who are selling the painting, say the picture is a “true depiction” of the writer.
This is not the first time Jane Austen’s image has caused controversy. Earlier this year her publishers were criticised for giving her a makeover on the cover of a book about her life.
The publishers made changes to a sketch of Jane drawn by her sister. In the original picture Jane is wearing a cap, but in the new image the publishers have removed the cap, and added make-up and hair extensions.
Whatever she looked like, Jane Austen remains a British national treasure.
Her books, such as Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice, remain widely-read and have been successfully adapted for television and cinema.
In fact, her work is still so popular that in a recent survey to mark World
Book Day, the British public voted Pride and Prejudice the nation’s favourite read – ahead of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings!
译文:
一位女士的肖像
尽管她生活在200多年前，著名的小说家简·奥斯汀最近的曝光率却是不少。
这个礼拜，简·奥斯汀的唯一一张人所周知的肖像画在纽约进行了拍卖，而且很有希望可以竞标到20万英镑（300万人民币）和40万英镑（400万人民币）之间。
专家认为这幅油画在1790年被委托给了这位小说家的叔叔,代代相传,如今属于简·奥斯汀的一位后代。
对于这幅肖像画的真实性存在着一些质疑。因为一些专家认为画中她所穿着的长裙与这幅画的历史时代不符合。
然而，其他的学术家和拍卖这幅画的克里斯蒂拍卖行则认为这幅画是这位作家的“真实描绘”。
简·奥斯汀的形象引起争议，这已经不是第一次了。今年早些时候，她的出版商由于将她重新包装后作为一本描写其生活的书的封面而遭到了批评。
出版商们改动了简·奥斯汀的姐姐为她画的素描。在原画中，简戴着一顶帽子，但在新画中，出版商们移掉了帽子，替她化了妆，还增加了假长发。
不管她看起来如何，简·奥斯汀仍然是英国的国宝。
她的著作，如《爱玛》，《理智与情感》，《傲慢与偏见》等，仍旧拥有广大的读者，被成功的搬上电视和电影屏幕。
实际上，她的作品仍受欢迎，在最近的一项纪念“世界读书日”的调查中，英国大众投票选出《傲慢与偏见》是全国最受欢迎的书籍 – 排名在《哈利·波特》和《指环王》之前！