肯尼迪情书网上拍卖 与瑞典女郎情史曝光

A Swedish aristocrat who put her love letters from John F. Kennedy up for auction last week said she wanted to show the public just how romantic the former U.S. president could be.

"He was unbelievably warm, sensitive, romantic and witty, a good listener and charming -- and deep," Gunilla von Post told Swedish radio on Friday.

The two met in the summer of 1953 on the French Riviera when she was 21-years-old, just a month before the then-senator would marry Jacqueline Bouvier and years before he became the 35th president of the United States.

Von Post said she had never heard of Kennedy prior to the meeting and was surprised to hear from him months later when he told her he could not stop thinking of his "Swedish girl."

Von Post wrote of their love affair, which included a visit from him to Sweden, in a book called "Love, Jack" in 1997. She only recently decided to go public with the letters.

Hand-written, they are signed "Best, Jack," "Your Jack" and "All love, Jack" and document a long-distance affair that stretched over years.

"I thought I might get a boat and sail around the Mediterranean for two weeks -- with you as crew. What do you think?" Kennedy wrote.

He referred to her as his Swedish "flicka" (or "girl") or his "Gorilla" -- a pet name for Gunilla.

The website of auctioneer Legendary Auctions said Kennedy implored von Post to move to the United States, where he would help her find work as a model.

Bidding started at $25,000 and is currently at $42,500, Legendary Auctions said. Bidding will continue for 12 more days.

美国前总统约翰．F．肯尼迪当年写给其瑞典情人的情书于上周被拍卖。这位拍卖情书的瑞典贵族表示，她想让世人知道这位美国前总统有多浪漫。

格尼拉．冯．波斯特于上周五接受瑞典电台采访时说：“他十分热情、敏感、浪漫和睿智，并且善于倾听，魅力非凡，很有深度。”

肯尼迪于1953年夏在法国南部的度假地结识了当时年仅21岁的波斯特。那时距时任参议员的肯尼迪与杰奎琳．布维尔结婚仅有一个月的时间。在此几年后，肯尼迪当选为美国第35任总统。

冯．波斯特称，在与肯尼迪相遇之前，她从未听说过这个人。并称在两人相遇几个月后，她收到肯尼迪的来信，肯尼迪在信中说自己无法停止对他的“瑞典姑娘”的思念，这让波斯特很吃惊。

冯．波斯特在1997年出版的《爱你，杰克》一书中回忆了与肯尼迪的情史，其中还提及了肯尼迪前往瑞典看望她一事。而直到最近，波斯特才决定公开当年肯尼迪写给她的这些情书。

这些信件均为肯尼迪亲笔所写，信件以“最好的祝福，杰克”、“爱你的杰克”、“给你全部的爱，杰克”等语句结尾，见证了维持数年的一段异地恋情。

肯尼迪在信中写道：“我想我应该找个小船，与你一同在地中海泛舟，共度两周美好时光。你觉得如何？”

他在信中称波斯特为他的瑞典“弗莉卡”（意即“女孩”），或者他的“小猩猩”（格尼拉的爱称）。

据拍卖这些情书的“传奇拍卖”的网站介绍，肯尼迪曾恳求波斯特搬往美国，并表示会帮她找一份模特的工作。

据介绍，这些情书的起拍价为2.5万美元，目前拍价已升至4.25万美元。这一拍卖还将持续12天。

Vocabulary:

Riviera：海滨度假胜地，尤指法国的地中海海滨，也称为“里维埃拉”。

pet name：a name or a term of address used to express affection for a person, thing, etc（昵称，爱称）