Thanks in part to a donation from the estate of one of England’s most esteemed poets — and some dancing cats — the Brontë Parsonage Museum’s doors will remain open, for now.

勃朗特牧師博物館暫時可以繼續開放，這部分得益於英國一位備受尊敬詩人遺產管理會的捐贈，以及一些跳舞的貓。

The estate of T.S. Eliot has gifted the struggling museum, which reopened in late August after being closed since March, 20,000 pounds (or approximately $26,000) this month. The donation was first reported by the BBC.

這家陷入困境的博物館於今年3月關閉，直至8月底才重新開放。艾略特的遺產管理會本月向該館捐贈了2萬英鎊（約2.6萬美元），英國廣播公司最先報導了這項捐贈消息。

The parsonage, located in Haworth, said it was facing a loss of expected income of more than 500,000 pounds because of the coronavirus pandemic.

這座位於哈沃斯的博物館表示，由于新冠病毒大流行，預計收入將減少50多萬英鎊。

There is a connection between Eliot and the Brontës: The “Bradford millionaire” who appears in the Eliot poem “The Waste Land” is thought to be Sir James Roberts, a Yorkshire philanthropist who was also a customer at the bank where Eliot worked. Roberts donated Haworth Parsonage — once the home of the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne — to the Brontë Society, which operates the museum, in 1928. Roberts knew the family as a child.

艾略特與勃朗特家族有些關連：艾略特詩歌《荒原》中出現的人物「布拉德福百萬富翁」，被認為是約克郡慈善家詹姆士．羅伯茲爵士，他同時也是艾略特任職銀行的客戶。1928年，羅伯茲將曾是勃朗特三姐妹夏綠蒂、艾蜜莉與安妮故居的哈沃斯牧師寓所，捐給經營著這座博物館的勃朗特協會。羅伯茲從小就認識這一家人。

But the Eliot estate’s gift didn’t come with any fanfare: Rebecca Yorke, the head of communications and marketing at the Brontë Society, said she discovered the donation when it showed up on the museum’s crowdfunding campaign page with a message of support. “Realizing that it was from the T.S. Eliot estate was a very special moment,” she said.

艾略特遺產會做此捐贈毫未聲張：勃朗特協會公關行銷主管芮貝卡．約克說，她是在博物館的群眾集資活動頁面發現了這筆捐贈，還附有打氣的話語。 她說：「知道它來自艾略特的遺產管理會，那一刻非比尋常。」

Yorke said the Eliot estate told the organization that the donation was possible thanks to the success of the Tony-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats,” which is based on Eliot’s playful 1939 poetry collection “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.”

約克表示，艾略特遺產會告訴該協會，有能力提供這筆捐款，還多虧曾獲東尼獎的安德魯．洛伊．韋伯音樂劇《貓》大獲成功。這部音樂劇改編自艾略特1939年幽默詩集《老負鼠的貓經》。

The parsonage houses the largest collection of Brontë manuscripts and personal possessions in the world and attracts more than 70,000 visitors each year. “Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Brontë, and “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë, were both written there.

這座博物館收藏世上最多勃朗特手稿跟私人物品，每年吸引逾7萬訪客。夏綠蒂的《簡愛》與艾蜜莉的《咆嘯山莊》都是在這兒寫的。

The museum has been hard hit by the pandemic because more than 70% of the Brontë Society’s income comes from admissions, events and retail, according to its website. The typically busy spring and summer months normally sustain it through the slower winter season.

博物館的網站上說，博物館受疫情重創，因為勃朗特協會7成以上收入來自門票、活動與紀念品零售。一般情況下，人氣較旺的春季和夏季通常能幫它撐過較淡的冬季。

The museum has furloughed a majority of its staff and applied for grants and emergency funds, but it still faces an end-of-year deficit of 100,000 pounds.

博物館已讓大部分員工休無薪假，並申請補助款與應急金，但仍面臨年底將出現的10萬英鎊赤字。

Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/4891641

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