英文名著精选阅读:《傲慢与偏见》第五十三章(下)
英文名著精选阅读:《傲慢与偏见》第五十三章(下)
"I begin to be sorry that he comes at all," said Jane to her sister. "It would be nothing; I could see him with perfect indifference, but I can hardly bear to hear it thus perpetuallytalked of. My mother means well; but she does not know, no one can know, how much I suffer from what she says. Happy shall I be, when his stay at Netherfield is over!"
吉英对她妹妹说:“我现在反而觉得他还是不要来的好,其实也无所谓;我见到他也可以装得若无其事;只是听到人家老是谈起这件事,我实在有些受不了。妈妈是一片好心,可是她不知道(谁也不知道)她那些话使我多么难受。但愿他不要在尼日斐花园再住下去,我就满意了!”
"I wish I could say any thing to comfort you," replied Elizabeth; "but it is wholly out of my power. You must feel it; and the usual satisfaction of preachingpatience to a sufferer is denied me, because you have always so much."
伊丽莎白说:“我真想说几句话安慰安慰你,可惜一句也说不出。你一定明白我的意思。我不愿意象一般人那样,看到人家难受,偏偏劝人家有耐性───因为你一向就有极大的耐性。”
Mr. Bingley arrived. Mrs. Bennet, through the assistanceof servants, contrivedto have the earliest tidings of it, that the period of anxiety and fretfulnesson her side might be as long as it could. She counted the days that must intervene before their invitation could be sent; hopeless of seeing him before. But on the third morning after his arrival in Hertfordshire, she saw him, from her dressing-room window, enter the paddockand ride towards the house.
彬格莱先生终于来了。班纳特太太多亏了佣人们加以协助,获得消息最早,因此烦神也烦得最久。既然及早去拜望他的计划已告失望,她便屈指计算着日子,看看还得再隔多少天才能送请贴。幸亏他来到哈福德郡的第三天,班纳特太太便从化妆室的窗口看见他骑着马走进围场,朝她家里走来。
Her daughters were eagerly called to partakeof her joy. Jane resolutely kept her place at the table; but Elizabeth, to satisfy her mother, went to the window -- she looked, -- she saw Mr. Darcy with him, and sat down again by her sister.
她喜出望外,急急忙忙唤女儿们来分享她这种愉快。吉英毅然决然地坐在桌位上不动。伊丽莎白为了叫她母亲满意,便走到窗口望了一望,只见达西先生跟他一同来了,于是她便走回去坐在姐姐身旁。
"There is a gentleman with him, mamma," said Kitty; "who can it be?"
吉蒂说:“妈妈,另外还有位先生跟他一起来了呢,那是谁呀?”
"Some acquaintanceor other, my dear, I suppose; I am sure I do not know."
“我想总不外乎是他朋友什么的,宝贝,我的确不知道。”
"La!" replied Kitty, "it looks just like that man that used to be with him before. Mr. what's-his-name. That tall, proud man."
“瞧!”吉蒂又说。“活象以前跟他在一起的那个人。记不起他的名字了,就是那个非常傲慢的高个儿呀。”
"Good gracious! Mr. Darcy! -- and so it does, I vow. Well, any friend of Mr. Bingley's will always be welcome here, to be sure; but else I must say that I hate the very sight of him."
“天哪,原来是达西先生!准定是的。老实说,只要是彬格莱先生的朋友,这儿总是欢迎的;要不然,我一见到这个人就讨厌。”
Jane looked at Elizabeth with surprise and concern. She knew but little of their meeting in Derbyshire, and therefore felt for the awkwardnesswhich must attend her sister, in seeing him almost for the first time after receiving his explanatoryletter. Both sisters were uncomfortable enough. Each felt for the other, and of course for themselves; and their mother talked on, of her dislike of Mr. Darcy, and her resolution to be civil to him only as Mr. Bingley's friend, without being heard by either of them. But Elizabeth had sources of uneasiness which could not be suspected by Jane, to whom she had never yet had courage to shew Mrs. Gardiner's letter, or to relate her own change of sentiment towards him. To Jane, he could be only a man whose proposals she had refused, and whose merit she had undervaluedbut to her own more extensiveinformation, he was the person to whom the whole family were indebted for the first of benefits, and whom she regarded herself with an interest, if not quite so tender, at least as reasonable and just as what Jane felt for Bingley. Her astonishment at his coming -- at his coming to Netherfield, to Longbourn, and voluntarilyseeking her again, was almost equal to what she had known on first witnessing his altered behaviour in Derbyshire.
吉英极其惊奇、极其关心地望着伊丽莎白。她完全不知道妹妹在德比郡跟达西会面的事,因此觉得妹妹自从收到他那封解释的信以后,这回第一次跟他见面,一定会觉得很窘。姐妹俩都不十分好受。她们彼此体贴,各有隐衷。母亲依旧在唠叨不休,说她颇不喜欢达西先生,只因为看他究竟还是彬格莱先生的朋友,所以才客客气气地接待他一番。这些话姐妹俩都没有听见。其实伊丽莎白心神不安,的确还另有原因,这是吉英所不知道的。伊丽莎白始终没有勇气把嘉丁纳太太那封信拿给吉英看,也没有勇气向吉英叙述她对他感情变化的经过。吉英只知道他向她求婚,被她拒绝过,她还低估过他的长处,殊不知伊丽莎白的隐衷绝不仅如此而已,她认为他对她们全家都有莫大的恩典,她因此对他另眼看待。她对他的情意即使抵不上吉英对彬格莱那样深切,至少也象吉英对待彬格莱一样地合情合理,恰到好处。达西这次回到尼日斐花园,并且自动到浪搏恩来重新找她,确实使她感到惊奇,几乎象她上次在德比郡见他作风大变时一样地感到惊奇。
The colour which had been driven from her face, returned for half a minute with an additional glow, and a smile of delight added lustreto her eyes, as she thought for that space of time that his affection and wishes must still be unshaken. But she would not be secure.
时间已经隔了这么久,而他的情意,他的心愿,竟始终不渝;一想到这里,她那苍白的脸便重新恢复了血色,而且显得更加鲜艳,她不禁喜欢得笑逐颜开,双目放光。可是她毕竟还是放心不下。
"Let me first see how he behaves," said she; "it will then be early enough for expectation."
她想:“让我先看看他的举止行动如何,然后再存指望还不迟。”
She sat intentlyat work, strivingto be composed, and without daring to lift up her eyes, till anxious curiosity carried them to the face of her sister as the servant was approaching the door. Jane looked a little paler than usual, but more sedatethan Elizabeth had expected. On the gentlemen's appearing, her colour increased; yet she received them with tolerableease, and with a propriety of behaviour equally free from any symptomof resentment or any unnecessary complaisance.
她坐在那儿专心做针线,竭力装得镇静,连眼睛也不抬起来一下,等到佣人走近房门,她才性急起来,抬起头来望望姐姐的脸色,见吉英比平常稍微苍白了一些,可是她的端庄持重,颇出伊丽莎白的意料。两位贵客到来的时候,她的脸涨红了;不过她还是从容不迫、落落大方地接待他们,既没有显露一丝半点怨恨的形迹,也并不做得过分殷勤。
Elizabeth said as little to either as civility would allow, and sat down again to her work, with an eagernesswhich it did not often command. She had ventured only one glance at Darcy. He looked serious, as usual; and, she thought, more as he had been used to look in Hertfordshire, than as she had seen him at Pemberley. But, perhaps he could not in her mother's presencebe what he was before her uncle and aunt. It was a painful, but not an improbable, conjecture.
伊丽莎白没有跟他们两人攀谈什么,只不过为了顾全礼貌,照例敷衍了几句,便重新坐下来做针线,而且做得特别起劲。她只是大胆地瞟了达西睛眼,只见他神色象往常一样严肃,不象在彭伯里时的那副神气,而是象他在哈福德郡时的那副神气。这也许是因为他在她母亲面前,不能象在她舅父母面前那样不拘礼节。她这种揣测固然是煞费苦心,但也未必不近情理。
Bingley, she had likewise seen for an instant, and in that short period saw him looking both pleased and embarrassed. He was received by Mrs. Bennet with a degree of civility which made her two daughters ashamed, especially when contrasted with the cold and ceremoniouspoliteness of her curtseyand address to his friend.
她也望了彬格莱一眼,立即就看出他又是高兴,又是忸怩不安。班纳特太太待他那样礼貌周到,而对他那位朋友,却是勉强敷衍,十分冷淡,相比之下,使他两个女儿觉得很是过意不去。
Elizabeth, particularly, who knew that her mother owed to the latter the preservationof her favourite daughter from irremediableinfamy, was hurt and distressed to a most painful degree by a distinction so ill applied.
其实她母亲对待这两位贵客完全是轻重倒置,因为她心爱的一个女儿多亏了达西先生的搭救,才能免于身败名裂,伊丽莎白对这事的经过知道得极其详细,所以特别觉得难受。
Darcy, after enquiring of her how Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner did, a question which she could not answer without confusion, said scarcely any thing. He was not seated by her; perhaps that was the reason of his silence; but it had not been so in Derbyshire. There he had talked to her friends, when he could not to herself. But now several minutes elapsedwithout bringing the sound of his voice; and when occasionally, unable to resist the impulseof curiosity, she raised he eyes to his face, she as often found him looking at Jane as at herself, and frequently on no object but the ground. More thoughtfulnessand less anxiety to please, than when they last met, were plainlyexpressed. She was disappointed, and angry with herself for being so.
达西向伊丽莎白问起了嘉丁纳夫妇,伊丽莎白回答起来不免有些慌张。以后达西便没有再说什么。他所以沉默寡言,也许是因为他没有坐在她身边的缘故,不过上次在德比郡,他却不是这样。记得上次他每逢不便跟她自己说话的时候,就跟她细父母说话,可是这一次,却接连好几分钟不听见他开口。她再也抑制不住好奇心了,便抬起头来望望他的脸,只见他不时地看着吉英和她自己,大部分时间又总是对着地面发呆。可见得这一次比起他们俩上次见面的时候,他心思比较重,却不象上次那样急于搏得人家的好感。她感到失望,同时又怪自己不应该失望。
"Could I expect it to be otherwise!" said she. "Yet why did he come?"
她想:“怎么料得到他竟是这样?那他何必要来?”
She was in no humour for conversation with any one but himself; and to him she had hardly courage to speak.
除了他以外,她没有兴致跟别人谈话,可是她又没有勇气向他开口。
She enquired after his sister, but could do no more.
她向他问候他的妹妹,问过以后,又是无话可说。
"It is a long time, Mr. Bingley, since you went away," said Mrs. Bennet.
只听得班纳特太太说:“彬格莱先生,你走了好久啦。”
He readilyagreed to it.
彬格莱先生连忙说,的确有好久了。
"I began to be afraid you would never come back again. People did say you meant to quit the place entirely at Michaelmas; but, however, I hope it is not true. A great many changes have happened in the neighbourhood, since you went away. Miss Lucas is married and settled. And one of my own daughters. I suppose you have heard of it; indeed, you must have seen it in the papers. It was in the Times and the Courier, I know; though it was not put in as it ought to be. It was only said, "Lately, George Wickham, Esq. to Miss Lydia Bennet," without there being a syllablesaid of her father, or the place where she lived, or any thing. It was my brother Gardiner's drawing up too, and I wonder how he came to make such an awkwardbusiness of it. Did you see it?"
“我开头还担心你一去不回。人们都说,你打算一到米迦勒节,就把房子退租,我但愿不会如此。自从你走了以后,这带发生了好多事情。卢卡斯小姐结婚了,有了归宿了,我自己一个女儿也出了嫁。我想你已经听到过这件事,你一定在报纸上看到了吧。我知道《泰晤士报》和《快报》上都有消息,不过写得不成体统。那上面只说:‘乔治·韦翰先生将于最近与班纳特小姐结婚,’关于她的父亲,她住的地方,以及诸如此类的事,一个也没有提到。这是我弟弟嘉丁纳拟的稿,我不懂他怎么会做得这样糟糕。你看到了吗?”
Bingley replied that he did, and made his congratulations. Elizabeth dared not lift up her eyes. How Mr. Darcy looked, therefore, she could not tell.
彬格莱说他看到了,又向她道贺。伊丽莎白连眼睛也不敢抬起来,因此也不知道达西先生此刻的表情如何。
"It is a delightful thing, to be sure, to have a daughter well married," continued her mother, "but at the same time, Mr. Bingley, it is very hard to have her taken such a way from me. They are gone down to Newcastle, a place quite northward, it seems, and there they are to stay I do not know how long. His regimentis there; for I suppose you have heard of his leaving the ----shire, and of his being gone into the regulars. Thank Heaven! he has some friends, though perhaps not so many as he deserves."
班纳特太太接下去说:“的确,顺利地嫁出了一个女儿,真是桩开心的事,可是,彬格莱先生,她离开了我身边,我又觉得难受。他们到纽卡斯尔去了,在很远的北方,他们去了以后也不知道多晚才能回来。他的部队在那儿。他已经脱离了某某民兵团,加入了正规军,你大概也知道吧。谢天谢地!他总算也有几个朋友,不过他还得再多几个才好呢。”
Elizabeth, who knew this to be levelled at Mr. Darcy, was in such miseryof shame, that she could hardly keep her seat. It drew from her, however, the exertionof speaking, which nothing else had so effectuallydone before; and she asked Bingley whether he meant to make any stay in the country at present. A few weeks, he believed.
伊丽莎白知道她这话是有意说给达西先生听的,真是难为情要命,几乎坐也坐不住了。不过这番话倒是比什么都有效用,使她能够勉为其难地跟客人攀谈起来。她开始向彬格莱是否打算暂时在乡下小住,他说,要住几个星期。
"When you have killed all your own birds, Mr. Bingley," said her mother, "I beg you will come here, and shoot as many as you please on Mr. Bennet's manor. I am sure he will be vastlyhappy to oblige you, and will save all the best of the coviesfor you."
她母亲说:“彬格莱先生,等你把你自己庄园里的鸟儿打完以后,请到班纳特先生的庄园里来,你爱打多少就打多少。我相信他一定非常乐意让你来,而且会把最好的鹧鸪都留给你。”
Elizabeth's misery increased, at such unnecessary, such officiousattention! Were the same fair prospect to arise at present as had flattered them a year ago, every thing, she was persuaded, would be hastening to the same vexatiousconclusion. At that instant, she felt that years of happiness could not make Jane or herself amends for moments of such painful confusion.
伊丽莎白听她母亲这样废话连篇,讨好卖乖,越发觉得难受。想起了一年以前,她们曾经满怀希望,沾沾自喜,如今虽然眼见得又是好事在即,然而只消一转眼的工夫,便会万事落空,徒感懊丧。她只觉得无论是吉英也好,她自己也好,即使今后能够终身幸福,也补偿不了这几分钟的苦痛难堪。
"The first wish of my heart," said she to herself, "is never more to be in company with either of them. Their society can afford no pleasure that will atonefor such wretchednessas this! Let me never see either one or the other again!"
她心里想:“我只希望今后永远不要跟他们来往。跟他们做朋友虽然能够获得愉快,可是实在抵偿不了这种难堪的局面。但愿再也不要见到他们!”
Yet the misery, for which years of happiness were to offer no compensation, received soon afterwards material relief, from observing how much the beauty of her sister re-kindled the admirationof her former lover. When first he came in, he had spoken to her but little; but every five minutes seemed to be giving her more of his attention. He found her as handsome as she had been last year; as good natured, and as unaffected, though not quite so chatty. Jane was anxious that no difference should be perceived in her at all, and was really persuaded that she talked as much as ever. But her mind was so busily engaged, that she did not always know when she was silent.
不过话说回来,虽然终身幸福也抵偿不了眼前的痛苦,可是不到几分钟工夫,她看到姐姐的美貌又打动了她先前那位情人的心,于是她的痛苦便大大减轻了。彬格莱刚进来的时候,简直不大跟吉英说话,可是不久便越来越殷勤。他发觉吉英还是象去年一样漂亮,性格温顺,态度自然,只是不象去年那么爱说话。吉英一心只希望人家看不出她跟从前有什么两样,她自以为她依旧象从前一样健谈。其实她是心事太重,因此有时候沉默起来,连她自己也没有觉察到。
When the gentlemen rose to go away, Mrs. Bennet was mindfulof her intended civility, and they were invited and engaged to dine at Longbourn in a few days time.
班纳特太太早就打算向贵客稍献殷勤,当他们告辞的时候,她记起了这件事,便立刻邀请他们过几天到浪搏恩来吃饭。
"You are quite a visit in my debt, Mr. Bingley," she added, "for when you went to town last winter, you promised to take a family dinner with us, as soon as you returned. I have not forgot, you see; and I assure you, I was very much disappointed that you did not come back and keep your engagement."
于是她便说道:“彬格莱先生,你还欠我一次回拜呢,你去年冬天上城里去的时候,答应一回来就上我们这儿来吃顿便饭。你要知道,我一直把这事摆在心上,你却一直没有回来赴约,真使我大失所望。”
Bingley looked a little silly at this reflection, and said something of his concern at having been prevented by business. They then went away.
提起这件事来,彬格莱不禁呆了半天,后来才说,因为有事情耽搁了,极为抱歉。然后两人便告辞而去。
Mrs. Bennet had been strongly inclinedto ask them to stay and dine there that day; but, though she always kept a very good table, she did not think any thing less than two courses could be good enough for a man on whom she had such anxious designs, or satisfy the appetiteand pride of one who had ten thousand a year.
班纳特太太本来一心一意打算当天就请他们吃饭,然而她又想到,家里平常的饭菜虽然也很不错,可是人家是个有身份的人,每年的收入在一万镑之多,她既然对人家寄存着那么深切的希望,那么,不添两道正菜,怎么好意思呢?
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