英语文化研究：放在21世纪 《傲慢与偏见》达西还是不是高富帅

摘要：数据来自于美国1989年发表的一份学术论文，但此后英镑的价值后历经巨变。事实是，达西1803年一万英镑的年收入在当今相当于79万6000英镑。

A conversion chart, supposedly showing the modern-day worth of Jane Austen characters' fortunes, has surfaced on Twitter. At first glance, it seems to show that Mr Darcy's supposedly vast 1803 fortune in Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, worth $331,000 per year in modern US dollars, might not in fact stretch to quite the luxury of his 19th-century lifestyle if Darcy was alive today.

有份转化表最近出现在推特上，该表意显示在当今社会，简·奥斯丁笔下人物坐拥的财富价值几何。乍一看，奥斯丁小说《傲慢与偏见》中达西先生1803年的巨额财富，在当今价值33万1000美元每年。如果达西活在当今，这些资产或许并不能和他19世纪的奢华生活相匹敌。

But the figures are out-of-date: they actually come from an American academic paper published in 1989, and the value of the pound has changed dramatically since then. It turns out that, Mr Darcy's annual income of £10,000 in around 1803 would be worth £796,000 per year today.

但这些数据已经过时，数据来自于美国1989年发表的一份学术论文，但此后英镑的价值后历经巨变。事实是，达西1803年一万英镑的年收入在当今相当于79万6000英镑。

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《傲慢与偏见》达西还是不是高富帅

That still probably wouldn't be enough to run a modern incarnation of Pemberley, his beautiful fictional stately home in Derbyshire, if its costs were anything like the costs of running real-life Derbyshire stately home Chatsworth House today (£4m per year).

但点钱似乎仍不足以经营现代版德比郡彭伯利庄园，要是小说虚构的豪华古宅经营成本真能和现实生活中的德比郡查茨沃斯庄园(每年400万英镑)相提并论的话。

In terms of spending power, Darcy would have been able to buy more with what he had. So his income, and in particular his financial power and influence, might be more faithfullytranslated using a measure that takes into account changes in GDP per capita, as well as the far greater gap between rich and poor that existed in the early 19th century. That figure works out at around £12m per year - enough to run three whole Chatsworths.

就消费力而言，达西能比实际负担起更多。所以，如考虑人均国内生产总值的变化和19世纪初期巨大的贫富差距，对达西的收入，尤其对其经济实力和影响力的换算更为贴近事实。数据算出来约1200万英镑每年，足以经营三个查茨沃斯庄园。

It's hard to say exactly how much Mr Darcy would have been worth in total, but the Duke of Devonshire, who currently lives in Chatsworth House, is estimated to be worth around £500m.

很难说达西现今身价多少，但现今居住在茨沃斯庄园的德文郡公爵身价是5亿英镑。

With so many different factors affecting value comparisons across the centuries, it's difficult to arrive at a reliable modern equivalent for Mr Darcy's fortune. But Mrs Bennett's enthusiasm on learning that Darcy is to be married to her daughter, Elizabeth, probably wouldn't be much changed if she found out her daughter was to share in a £12m per year 21st-century income.

几世纪来，有如此之多的因素影响价值比较，所以很难对达西的财富给出一个靠谱的现代衡量数据。贝内特夫人要是知道了女儿能享有21世纪1200万英镑的年入，在获悉达西将娶她女儿伊丽莎白的时候，其热忱劲儿估计不会有太多改变吧。