It is a truth well known to all the world that an unmarried man in possession of a large fortune must be in need of a wife. And when such a man moves into a neighbourhood, even if nothing is known about his feelings or opinions, this truth is so clear to the surrounding families,that they think of him immediately as the future husband of one or other of their daughters.
家产万贯而又尚未婚配的男人一定需要一个贤内助,这是一条世界上尽人皆知的真理。当这样一位男人搬到了附近时,这条真理在邻居们心中就显得更加清楚,他们哪怕对他的感情或意见一无所知,也会马上把他当作他们哪个女儿未来的丈夫。
When Mr Bennet was young, Mr Bennet had made the mistake of falling in love with a pretty but foolish young woman.During the long years of their marriage, he had had time to regret his mistake.He soon realized that his wife had little intelligence or common sense, and was only interested in talking, shopping and finding husbands for her daughters.His experience had made him rather bitter, and he could not stop himself mocking his wife, who never understood her husband's sense of humour.
班纳特先生年轻时犯了个错误,爱上了一个漂亮却愚蠢的年轻女人。结婚这么多年,他有的是时间来追悔自己的错误。不久,他就认识到妻子没有一点头脑或是常识,只知道唠叨、逛商店、给女儿找婆家。这种经历使得他有点儿尖刻,禁不住要嘲弄他妻子几句,而这种幽默感他妻子却从来都听不出来。
So when, a week later, Mrs Bennet discovered that her hus- band had in fact visited Mr Bingley at Netherfield, she was surprised and very pleased.But she and her daughters tried in vain to persuade Mr Bennet to describe the wealthy stranger,and in the end they had to rely on another neighbour's description.
所以,一周之后,班纳特太太得知丈夫实际上已到尼日斐拜访过彬格莱先生,感到十分惊奇和喜出望外。可是,她和女儿们怎么求都白搭,班纳特先生就是不肯向她们吐露这位阔少爷的情况,最后,她们不得不从另一位邻居那里探听消息。
‘He sounds wonderful,Mama!’cried Lydia,the youngest and noisiest of the sisters.‘Charlotte Lucas's father has been to see him, and says he's quite young, very handsome, and ex- tremely charming!And even better,he loves dancing!Every- body knows that means he's very likely to fall in love!’
“听说他棒极了,妈妈!”姊妹几个中年龄最小、最爱喧闹的丽迪亚大声说,“夏洛特•卢卡斯的父亲去看过他,说他很年轻,很英俊,极有魅力!还有更棒的呢,他喜欢跳舞!大家都知道,喜欢跳舞就意味着他很可能堕入爱河!”
As politeness required, Mr Bingley came to visit Mr Bennet a few days later. He was not, however, fortunate enough to see the Bennet girls, who were hiding behind the curtains in an up- stairs room in order to catch sight of the handsome stranger.Mrs Bennet planned to invite him to dinner, but in fact they met him at another social event first.The Bennets lived in the small Hertfordshire village of Longbourn,and public dances were regularly held in the nearest town, Meryton.The girls were greatly looking forward to this particular dance, because they had heard that Mr Bingley would be attending, with a group of friends from London.
出于礼貌,彬格莱先生几天以后来回访班纳特先生。可是,遗憾的是,他未能见到班纳特家的几位姑娘,因为当时几个姑娘为了一睹这位英俊的陌生人的风采,正躲在楼上一间屋子的窗帘后面偷看呢。班纳特夫人计划邀请他吃饭,可是,事实上他们在另一次社交活动中提前见了面。班纳特一家住在哈福德郡的小村子浪搏恩,公共舞会定期在最近的镇子麦里屯举办。姑娘们在企盼着这次特别的舞会,因为她们听说彬格莱先生要参加,还要带些伦敦的朋友来。
On the night of the dance, all eyes were on Mr Bingley as he entered the room. He had brought his two sisters, with the husband of the elder, Mr Hurst, and another young man,Mr- Darcy.Mr Bingley was indeed good-looking and gentleman- like, and his sisters were fine, fashionable women.However, ev- erybody was soon talking about Mr Darcy, a tall, handsome man, who,it was said, had an income of ten thousand pounds a year.The ladies in the room gazed at him in admiration for about half the evening, until they became aware of his constant frown and his unwillingness to talk or dance. Then there was general agreement that he was proud and disagreeable, and considered himself superior to country people.Mr Bingley, on the other hand,made himself popular with the ladles by danc- ing every dance and talking to everybody.
舞会的那天晚上,彬格莱先生走进舞厅时,所有的眼睛都盯住了他。他把姐姐和妹妹都带来了,还有姐夫赫斯特先生和另外一个年轻人达西先生。彬格莱先生确实仪表堂堂,风度翩翩。他的姐姐也是优雅入时的女人。可是,没过多久,人人都开始谈论达西先生。他身材魁梧,英俊潇洒,据说年收入一万英镑。舞厅里的女士们用爱慕的眼光盯了他半个晚上,直到后来她们感到他不住地皱眉,不愿说话也不愿跳舞。最后,大家一致认为这个人高傲自大,性情乖戾,觉得自己比乡下人高一等。而彬格莱先生每支曲子都跳,跟谁都交谈,博得了各位女士的喜欢。
While observing Mr Bingley's interest in Jane,however,Elizabeth had not noticed Mr Darcy's interest in herself.Al- though at first he had not even considered her pretty, he now began to realize what a beautiful expression her dark eyes gave to her intelligent face, and what an attractive figure she had.‘Of course, she is only an unfashionable village girl,’he told himself, but her conversation is often quite amusing.’When- ever they met, he did not speak to her, but stood near her, lis- tening to her and watching her closely, conscious of a wish to know her better.
可是,伊丽莎白在观察彬格莱先生对简的兴趣时,没有注意到达西先生对她本人的兴趣。虽然达西先生刚开始甚至想都没有想过伊丽莎白很漂亮,可是他现在开始认识到她那双乌黑的眼睛给她那聪慧的面庞增添了多么美的表情。“当然,她不过是一位土里土气的乡村姑娘,”他心里想,“可是她的谈话经常很有意思。”无论何时,他们俩见面时,达西都不和伊丽莎白说话,而是站在她近旁,听她说话,仔细地观察她,心里意识到自己想更多地了解她。
That evening Elizabeth appeared again in the sitting-room.She could not avoid noticing how frequently Mr Darcy's eyes were fixed on her, but as she felt sure that so great a man could not possibly admire her,she assumed that when he looked at her, he was criticizing her in some way.This thought did not cause her any pain, as she liked him too little to care for his ap- proval.
那天晚上,伊丽莎白再次来到起居室。她不可避免地注意到达西先生的目光频繁地落在自己身上。不过,她觉得,这样一位大人物是不可能爱慕她的,所以,她就假定他注视她时,是在挑她的毛病。这种想法并没有使她感到痛苦,因为她不爱他,所以并不在乎他心里怎么想。
In the conversations she had with him, she spoke in her usual slightly mocking manner, rather expecting to offend him,but was surprised by the quiet politeness of his replies.Darcy had never before been so charmed by any woman.He really be- lieved that if she did not have such vulgar relations, he might be in danger of falling in love with her. Miss Bingley saw or suspected enough to be jealous, and her great anxiety for the recovery of her dear friend Jane was increased by her wish to get rid of Elizabeth.
她与他交谈时,总是带点儿讥讽的口吻,有点期望能惹他生气,但他的回答却出人意料地心平气和和彬彬有礼。达西以前还从来没有被哪个女人这样迷住过。他真心认为,要不是她出身这么卑微,他还真有爱上她的危险。彬格莱小姐的所见所疑足以使她醋性大发,由于希望摆脱掉伊丽莎白,她盼望好友简早日康复的焦虑心情更是与日俱增。
Fortunately perhaps, for almost everyone at Netherfield,Elizabeth and her sister, who was now quite recovered, were returning home the next day. Only Mr Bingley showed real sorrow at this, and was concerned that Jane might not be fit enough to travel. Mr Darcy was quite relieved, and determined that no sign of admiration for Elizabeth should escape him now. Miss Bingley's politeness to Elizabeth, as well as her af- fection for Jane, increased rapidly as the moment of departure approached,and she was able to say goodbye to them with many warm expressions of friendliness and a promise to visit them very soon.
伊丽莎白和她姐姐(现在已经基本康复)第二天就要回家了,这对于尼日斐几乎所有人来讲,也许都是求之不得的。只有彬格莱先生对她们的离别感到真正的难过,并且担心简还没有完全康复,不宜出门。达西先生松了口气,并决定此时此刻不能流露出对伊丽莎白有半点爱慕之情。随着离别时刻的到来,彬格莱小姐对伊丽莎白的客气程度以及对简的感情迅速增加,到与她们道别时,竟能说出许多令人心里暖烘烘的友好之辞来,她还许诺不久将对她们进行一次拜访。
Mr Bennet was glad to welcome his eldest daughters home again,as he had felt their absence from the family circle,but Mrs Bennet, who had hoped they would stay much longer, was quite disappointed to see them come back in such a short time.
班纳特先生见到两个年长些的女儿回家来,自然十分高兴,因为她们不在时,他总觉得家里少了点儿什么。可是班纳特太太本希望她们多住些日子,看到她们这么早回来,心里相当失望。