The Princess

D. H. LawrenceForeign Language Teaching and Research Press2011

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Series: FLTRP Bilingual Library

Summary

The Princess is a 1924 novella by the English writer D. H. Lawrence, first serialized in The Calendar of Modern Letters and published in 1925 in a single volume together with St. Mawr. It tells of a woman from a declining distinguished family who, raised by her father as a "princess," lives a cloistered, self-enclosed aristocratic life. After her father's death she travels with a friend to the New Mexico region, where she meets a Mexican guide. The raw, natural vitality in him awakens instincts long suppressed in her, and their relationship quickly intensifies. Yet her upbringing and her self-image as a "princess" soon regain the upper hand: she wants to flee the relationship but cannot deny her feelings, and the story ends in tragedy. Through it Lawrence writes of the conflict between civilization and the primitive, reason and instinct, portrays a woman's struggle between self-identity and emotional freedom, and criticizes modern mechanical civilization's repression of human vitality and sexuality. This edition is an English-Chinese bilingual reader in the FLTRP Bilingual Library, with introductions in both languages; brief in length, it makes an ideal entry point into Lawrence's short fiction.

Editor's review

提到劳伦斯，多数读者先想到《儿子与情人》《查泰莱夫人的情人》这些长篇；事实上，他的中短篇同样锋利而凝练，《公主》就是常被选入各家中短篇选集的一篇。全书围绕一个“被当成公主养大”的女子展开：她的自我封闭并非天生，而是文明教养的结果；当她在异国旅途中接近一种纯粹自然的生命力时，压抑多年的本能才被唤醒。它的精彩在于心理推动的细腻，不在情节的曲折：每一分迟疑和退缩都写得可信，悲剧结局也显得顺理成章。外研社这版为英汉对照，译文准确流畅，并配有导读，既方便读懂原文，也不会打断阅读节奏。八九十页的篇幅，一个下午就能读完，却足以让人重新审视“教养”“自我”和“本能”之间的关系。对学习者，它是理解劳伦斯语言节奏的好材料；对普通读者，它是一扇了解这位现代主义小说家的快捷窗口。

Who it's for

A good fit for

已读过劳伦斯长篇、想补读其中短篇的读者
对心理写实和两性主题感兴趣的文学爱好者
需要用英汉对照读本练习英文阅读的学习者
喜欢短篇、想用一个下午读完一部经典的人

Not a good fit for

期待强情节、快节奏冒险故事的读者
年龄较小、尚不适合成人情感主题的青少年
偏好明朗结局、不喜欢悲剧收束的读者

Reading tips

先通读中文，再对照英文细读一遍，体会劳伦斯短句中的心理节奏
留意“公主”这一称呼反复出现的位置，思考它如何塑造人物的自我认知
读完可接着读同一选集里的《狐狸》《骑马出走的女人》，对照其中的两性主题
关注旅途与异域环境的描写，留意自然意象与人物内心情欲之间的呼应

About the publisher

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press China · Founded in 1979

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) takes the translation and publication of modern poetry, world classics and foreign literature as an important direction. Its catalog includes Qiu Ri: Selected Translated Poems by Feng Zhi, Shakespeare's Othello, César Vallejo's Los heraldos negros (Black Stones on White Stones), Akhmatova's Muse in the Mirror and Antonio Machado's Campos de Castilla, drawing on authors and translators such as Goethe, Heine, Nietzsche, Feng Zhi, Shakespeare, Vallejo, Akhmatova and Dai Cong. It also publishes the English-Chinese reader The Christmas Tree and the Wedding, along with novels and inspirational titles such as Beasts Also Have Feelings and Summer Finale. As public information is limited, this description is based only on the books in the catalog.

FAQ

《公主》是长篇小说还是短篇？

它是中篇小说（novelette），英文原文篇幅不长；外研社双语读库版正文约八十余页，一个下午即可读完，适合作为进入劳伦斯作品的入门篇目。

这本是英汉对照吗？

是的。外研社双语读库版采用英汉对照编排，由刘美霞翻译，并附导读，既便于读懂原文，也适合用来练习英文阅读。

和《公主新娘》是同一本书吗？

不是。威廉姆·高德曼的《公主新娘》（The Princess Bride）是一部带有元叙事色彩的奇幻故事；本书是劳伦斯1924年的中篇原作，仅英文标题相近。

书里有完整的章节目录吗？

作为中篇，作品通常不划分章节；本页未取得可靠的章节目录信息，因此目录留空，读者以正文顺序阅读即可。

需要先了解劳伦斯其他作品再读吗？

不必。这篇故事可以独立阅读；如果想更深入，可读其《儿子与情人》或评论文章，了解他对工业文明和本能问题的长期思考。

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About the author

D. H. Lawrence Author · British · 1885–1930

D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) was a British novelist, poet and essayist, born David Herbert Lawrence in a mining family in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. His work spans novels, short stories, poetry and essays, and his best-known books include Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover. Often set against the repression of natural human instinct by industrial civilization, his writing explores relations between men and women and individual emotional life in a direct, symbolic style; because of its bold subjects and expression, his books were repeatedly banned. He died of tuberculosis in Vence, France, in 1930. The collection holds 17 of his works, covering foreign literature and essays.