1. The Chaser 1

2.  If you fall in love with someone, but unfortunately, you cannot get any responses from him or her, what would you do with your one-sided love?  Do you believe love can be fostered? How is love effectively fostered?

3.  1.What is the image of Austen?  2.What is Austen’s understanding of love?  3. Why do you think the old man told Austen about the life-cleaner before selling the love potion?  4.Why is love potion priced so low at only 1 dollar while the glove-cleaner so high?  5.Why is “The Chaser”, instead of “The Love Potion”, chosen as the title of the story? June 4, 2016 School of Foreign Studies 3

4. 1. What is the image of Austen?  “as nervous as a kitten”  “peered about for a long time”  “pushed open the door, as he had been told to do”  “without a word, handed him the card he had been given.”  Austen tends to employ sentences that are short, stuttering and incomplete.  Austen is depicted as a timid, skeptical and hesitant character. June 4, 2016 School of Foreign Studies 4

5. 2. What is Austen’s understanding of love?  Austen was filled with illusions and unrealistic expectations of love.  To him, love meant the entire possession of the lover. When the old man talked about the magic effect of the love potion and described the expectant possessive of love, Austen cried “That is love”.

6. 3. Why do you think the old man told Austen about the life- cleaner before selling the love potion?  The experienced old man had encountered many young men who had been in the grip of romantic desire before, but who eventually got tired of the possessive love they had experienced.  He knew for sure that Austen’s possessive love wouldn’t last long. It would eventually bore and anger him. He expected that when his enthusiastic passion changed into hatred.  Austen would come to him again, because he had already seen those disillusioned customers return to buy the “chaser” so that they could be free from the women for whom they had previously bought the love potion.

7. 4. Why is love potion priced so low at only 1 dollar while the glove-cleaner so high?  It is easy for a young man to fall in love, yet hard for him to stick to it. That’s why he has to pay a large amount to get himself out of it. Besides, a man who need a love potion seldom have a lot of money. Otherwise they would not need a love potion.  The other reason for the low price of the love potion may be that by doing so, the old man can attract more customers to his primary commodity, the glove-cleaner.

8. 5. Why is “The Chaser”, instead of “The Love Potion”, chosen as the title of the story?  Love, however fiery and fierce at the beginning, may probably end up in remorse. This is also the theme of the story  A chaser is an alcoholic drink that you have after you have drunk a stronger or weaker alcoholic drink. 喝一种酒 之后配合喝的酒精含量不同的酒 June 4, 2016 School of Foreign Studies 8