莎士比亞等英國名人遺囑網上公佈大綱

With the Bennett sisters among her most famous creations, it comes as no surprise that Jane Austen left most of her worldly assets to her own sibling, according to her will published online today.

根據日前在網上公佈的英國女作家簡·奧斯汀的遺囑，她將自己的大部分遺產都留給了自己的兄弟姐妹，對此我們並不吃驚——這位作家曾經創作了文學史上著名的班納特姐妹形象，可見她對手足之情的重視。

The novelist's last request was for her 'dearest' sister Cassandra to receive all of her possessions, worth around ￡800 (more than ￡27,000 today), spare the cost of her funeral, ￡50 - the equivalent of ￡1,700 in today's money - to her brother Henry and another ￡50 to his cook.

這位小說家最後的願望是，希望她“最親愛的” 姐姐卡桑德拉接受她的全部財產，約爲800英鎊（相當於今天的2.7萬英鎊），除了她的葬禮花銷，奧斯汀還給弟弟亨利和弟弟的廚師各留下50英鎊（相當於當今的1700英鎊）。

Austen's will was among a collection of thousands, including those of William Shakespeare and Sir Francis Drake, which were published online for the first time today.

除了奧斯汀的遺囑，日前網上還首次公佈了其他很多英國名人的遺囑，如威廉·莎士比亞和冒險家弗朗西斯·德瑞克爵士。

According to his will, William Shakespeare left ￡150 (￡14,400 today) to his daughter Judith in 1616, and famously decreed that his 'second best bed' should go to his wife Anne.

英國最著名的劇作家莎士比亞在他1616年訂立的遺囑中，給女兒留下了150英鎊（相當於今天的1.44萬英鎊）。莎士比亞的遺囑中很著名的一條，是把“第二好的牀”留給了自己的妻子安妮。

Sir Francis Drake, who died of dysentery at the age of 55 in January 1596, left ￡40 (￡4,000 today) to the 'poor people' of Plymouth.

伊麗莎白一世時代的航海家和冒險家德瑞克給普萊茅斯的“窮人” 們留下40英鎊（相當於今天的4000英鎊）。他在1596年1月因痢疾去世，享年55歲。

Miriam Silverman of said: 'These probate records provide fascinating insight into the final fortunes of some of our nation's most famous names. They are an incredibly valuable family history resource, covering a period in history from which few official documents remain.'

Ancestry網站的米里亞姆·希爾曼說：“這些遺囑文件生動地展現了英國曆史上一些最著名的人物生前最後的財產狀況。這些文件是極爲珍貴的家族史資源。它所涵蓋的歷史時期在其它官方文件中很罕有體現。”