傲慢与偏见
Jane Austen
【作品导读】
《傲慢与偏见》是英国著名女性小说家简•奥斯汀的代表作之一，作品主要关注乡绅家庭女性的婚姻和生活，以女性特有的细致入微的观察力和活泼风趣的文字真实描绘了她周围世界的小天地。小说描写了小乡绅班纳特五个待字闺中的千金，主角是二女儿伊丽莎白。她在舞会上认识了达西，但是耳闻他为人傲慢，一直对他心生排斥。经历一番周折，伊丽莎白解除了对达西的偏见，达西也放下傲慢，有情人终成眷属。
I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.
Elizabeth’s spirits soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her. “How could you begin?” said she. “I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?”
“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
“My beauty you had early withstood①, and as for my manners—my behaviour to you was at least always bordering on the uncivil, and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not. Now be sincere; did you admire me for my impertinence?”
“For the liveliness of your mind, I did.”
“You may as well call it impertinence② at once. It was very little less. The fact is, that you were sick of civility, of deference, of officious attention. You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking, and looking, and thinking for your approbation③ alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them. Had you not been really amiable, you would have hated me for it; but in spite of the pains you took to disguise yourself, your feelings were always noble and just; and in your heart, you thoroughly despised the persons who so assiduously courted you. There—I have saved you the trouble of accounting for it; and really, all things considered, I begin to think it perfectly reasonable. To be sure, you knew no actual good of me—but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love.”
“Was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to Jane while she was ill at Netherfield?”
“Dearest Jane! Who could have done less for her? But make a virtue of it by all means. My good qualities are under your protection, and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible; and, in return, it belongs to me to find occasions for teazing and quarrelling with you as often as may be; and I shall begin directly by asking you what made you so unwilling to come to the point at last. What made you so shy of me, when you first called, and afterwards dined here? Why, especially, when you called, did you look as if you did not care about me?”
“Because you were grave and silent, and gave me no encouragement.”
“But I was embarrassed.”
“And so was I.”
“You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”
“A man who had felt less, might.”
“How unlucky that you should have a reasonable answer to give, and that I should be so reasonable as to admit it! But I wonder how long you would have gone on, if you had been left to yourself. I wonder when you would have spoken, if I had not asked you! My resolution of thanking you for your kindness to Lydia had certainly great effect. Too much, I am afraid; for what becomes of the moral, if our comfort springs from a breach of promise? For I ought not to have mentioned the subject. This will never do.”
“You need not distress yourself. The moral will be perfectly fair. Lady Catherine’s unjustifiable endeavours to separate us were the means of removing all my doubts. I am not indebted for my present happiness to your eager desire of expressing your gratitude. I was not in a humour to wait for any opening of yours. My aunt’s intelligence had given me hope, and I was determined at once to know every thing.”
“Lady Catherine has been of infinite use, which ought to make her happy, for she loves to be of use. But tell me, what did you come down to Netherfield for? Was it merely to ride to Longbourn and be embarrassed? Or had you intended any more serious consequence?”
“My real purpose was to see you, and to judge, if I could, whether I might ever hope to make you love me. My avowed one, or what I avowed to myself, was to see whether your sister were still partial④ to Bingley, and if she were, to make the confession to him which I have since made.”
“Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine what is to befall her?”
“I am more likely to want more time than courage, Elizabeth. But it ought to done, and if you will give me a sheet of paper, it shall be done directly.”
“And if I had not a letter to write myself, I might sit by you and admire the evenness of your writing, as another young lady once did. But I have an aunt, too, who must not be longer neglected.”
我也说不准是在哪个时间、哪个地点看见你，听到你的哪句话，使我爱上了你。那是太久以前的事了，等我发现爱上你的时候，我早已开始了我的爱恋。
伊丽莎白兴致又好起来，她打趣达西先生，要他讲讲是怎么爱上自己的。“你是怎么开始的？”她问，“我知道一旦你决定要踏出第一步，你便会继续下去；但是，你是怎么产生这个念头的？”
“我也不确定是在哪个时间、哪个地点看见了你，听到了你的哪句话，使我爱上了你。那是太久以前的事了，等我发现爱上你的时候，我早已开始了我的爱恋。”
“我的美貌，你早已不为之动心了，至于我的举止——我对你总是不够礼貌，我没有哪次同你的交谈不会让你难过。所以老实说，你是因为我的鲁莽无礼才仰慕我的吗？”
“是因为你思维活跃才爱上你的。”
“与此同时，你还不如说我是鲁莽无礼，反正也差不多。事实上，你是厌倦了那些繁文缛节、阿谀奉承和过分殷勤。你也厌烦那些只为了博得你的赏识而喋喋不休、左顾右盼和处心积虑的女人。我能吸引你并使你倾心于我，是因为我不像她们那样。如果你不是真的很友善的话，你早已厌恶我这点了；但尽管你千方百计掩饰自己，你的感情还是高贵得体的；在你的心里，那些对你大献殷勤的人，你实在是痛恨至极。我说了这些，你就不用再费神解释了；考虑了所有这些以后，我确实觉得你爱上我是合情合理的。坦白说，你并不了解我真正的优点，但是在恋爱的时候，谁都不会去考虑这些。”
“当简生病住在内瑟菲尔德时，你对她关爱有加难道不是你的优点吗？”
“那可是最亲爱的简啊！谁能不那样尽心照顾她？就算这是我的一个优点吧。我的优点都是你说了算的，而且你会极力夸大它们；而我呢，也会尽量找机会取笑你，与你争论；现在我要直接问你，你为什么不愿意直截了当地说出你喜欢我？你第一次拜访我们家，以及后来到这里吃饭时，为什么见到我时都十分腼腆害羞？特别是你第一次来的时候，为什么你看起来好像对我满不在乎？”
“因为你那时冷若冰霜、沉默不语，我没有勇气开口说话。”
“但我当时感觉很尴尬。”
“我也一样啊。”
“那你第二次来吃饭时，应该多和我聊聊。”
“如果不是这么爱你，我就会。”
“你给出这么合乎情理的一个答案，我就得合乎情理地接受它，多么糟糕啊！但我想，如果我不理你任由你这么下去，你要拖到什么时候才有所表示！要是我不问你，你要到什么时候才开口！我下定决心去感谢你好意为莉迪亚所做的一切时，这事才有了很大进展。这进展太大了。要是我们因为打破了诺言才满心欢欣，那么又将道义置于何处？我本不该提这事的。以后再也不这么做了。”
“你不要再自怨自艾了。这在道义上完全说得通。凯瑟琳不近人情地尽力想要拆散我们，反倒打消了我所有的顾虑。我不会因为想要现在的快乐而对你想答谢的迫切心情感激涕零。我没有心情等着你开口。我舅妈告诉我的情况给了我希望，于是我马上决定要弄清所有的事。”
“凯瑟琳夫人真是帮了大忙，她应该也很开心，因为她乐于助人。但你能告诉我你为什么来内瑟菲尔德吗？难道骑马来浪博恩只是表示一下害羞？还是你早已策划了什么大事？”
“我真正的目的就是来看看你，要是可能的话，打探一下我有没有希望让你爱上我。我公开的目的，也是我对自己承认的，就是来看看你姐姐是否还对宾利念念不忘，如果的确如此，我就把实情告诉他，后来我也确实这么做了。”
“你有勇气告诉凯瑟琳夫人眼前将要发生的事吗？”
“伊丽莎白，我更想要的是多一些时间，而不是多一点勇气。但这事确实迫在眉睫，要是你能给我一张纸，我就马上行动。”
“若不是因为我也要写信，我就会像其他的年轻小姐一样，坐在你身旁，细细品赏你那工整的字迹。但我也有一位舅妈，我不能再拖着不写了。”
【注释】
①withstood [wɪθ'stʊd] v. 抵挡；禁得起（withstand的过去式和过去分词）；反抗
②impertinence [im'pə:tinəns] n. 鲁莽，无理；不恰当
③approbation [ˌæprəu'beiʃən] n. 认可；赞许；批准
④partial ['pɑ:ʃəl] a. 局部的；<口>偏爱的；不公平的
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