然我明知这是无稽的流言，虽然我不会那样看

不起他，相信他真会有这种事情，我还是当机

立断，决定上这儿来一次，把我的意思说给你

听。”




"If you believed it impossible to be true," said Elizabeth,
colouring with astonishment and disdain, "I wonder you took the
trouble of coming so far. What could your ladyship propose by
it?"


伊丽莎白又是诧异，又是厌恶，满脸涨得通红

。“我真奇怪，你既然认为不会有这种事情，

何必还要自找麻烦，跑到这么远的地方来？请

问你老人家究竟有何见教？”




"At once to insist upon having such a report universally
contradicted."


“我一定要你立刻向大家去辟谣。”




"Your coming to Longbourn, to see me and my family," said
Elizabeth coolly, "will be rather a confirmation of it; if,
indeed, such a report is in existence."


伊丽莎白冷冷地说：“要是外界真有这种传说

，那么你赶到浪搏恩来看我和我家里人，反而

会弄假成真。”




"If! Do you then pretend to be ignorant of it? Has it not
been industriously circulated by yourselves? Do you not know
that such a report is spread abroad?"


“要是真有这种传说！你难道存心要假痴假呆

不成？这不全是你自己拚命传出去的吗？难道

你不知道这个消息已经闹得满城风雨了吗？”




"I never heard that it was."


“我从来没有听见过。”




"And can you likewise declare, that there is no foundation
for it?"


“你能不能说一声这是毫无根据？”




"I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with your
ladyship. You may ask questions which I shall not
choose to answer."


“我并不冒充我也象你老人家一样坦白。你尽

管问好了，我可不想回答。”




"This is not to be borne. Miss Bennet, I insist on being
satisfied. Has he, has my nephew, made you an offer of
marriage?"


“岂有此理！班纳特小姐，我非要你说个明白

不可。我姨侄向你求过婚没有？”




"Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible."


“你老人家自己刚刚还说过，决不会有这种事

情。”




"It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of
his reason. But your arts and allurements may, in a moment
of infatuation, have made him forget what he owes to himself
and to all his family. You may have drawn him in."


“不应该有这种事情；只要他还有头脑，那就

一定不会有这种事情。可是你千方百计地诱惑

他，他也许会一进痴迷忘了他应该对得起自己

，对得起家里人。你可能已经把他迷住了。”




"If I have, I shall be the last person to confess it."


“即使我真的把他迷住了，我也决不会说给你

听。”




"Miss Bennet, do you know who I am? I have not been accustomed
to such language as this. I am almost the nearest relation he
has in the world, and am entitled to know all his dearest
concerns."


“班纳特小姐，你知道我是谁吗？你这种话真

讲得不成体统。我差不多是他最亲近的长辈，

我有权利过问他一切的切身大事。”




"But you are not entitled to know mine; nor will such
behaviour as this, ever induce me to be explicit."


“你可没有权利过问我的事，而且你这种态度

也休想把我逼供出来。”




"Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have
the presumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never.
Mr. Darcy is engaged to mydaughter. Now what have you to
say?"


“好好儿听我把话说明白。你好大胆子，妄想

攀这门亲，那是绝对不会成功──一辈子也不

会成功的。达西先生早跟我的女儿订过婚了。

好吧，你还有什么话要说？”




"Only this; that if he is so, you can have no reason to suppose
he will make an offer to me."


“只有一句话要说──如果他当真如此，那你

就没有理由认为他会向我求婚。”




Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment, and then replied,


咖苔琳夫人迟疑了一会儿，然后回答道：




"The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind. From their
infancy, they have been intended for each other. It was the
favourite wish of his mother, as well as of her's. While in
their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment
when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished in their
marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth,
of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the
family! Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends?
To his tacit engagement with Miss De Bourgh? Are you lost to
every feeling of propriety and delicacy? Have you not heard
me say that from his earliest hours he was destined for his
cousin?"


“他们的订婚，跟一般情形两样。他们从小就

配好了对，双方的母亲两相情愿。他们在摇篮

里的时候，我们就打算把他们配成一对；眼见

他们小两口子就要结婚，老姐妹俩的愿望就要

达到，却忽然来了个出身卑贱、门户低微的小

妮子从中作梗，何况这个小妮子跟他家里非亲

非眷！难道你丝毫也不顾全他亲人的愿望？丝

毫也不顾全他跟德·包尔小姐默认的婚姻？难

道你一点儿没有分寸，一点儿也不知廉耻吗？

难道你没有听见我说过，他一生下来，就注定

了要跟他表妹成亲的吗？”




"Yes, and I had heard it before. But what is that to me? If
there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew, I shall
certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and
aunt wished him to marry Miss De Bourgh. You both did as much
as you could in planning the marriage. Its completion depended
on others. If Mr. Darcy is neither by honour nor inclination
confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice?
And if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?"


“我以前确实听到过。可是我管它做什么？如

果你没有别的理由反对我跟你姨倒结婚，我也

决不会因此却步。你们姐妹俩费尽了心思筹划

这段婚姻，成功不成功可要看别人。如果达西

先生既没有责任跟他表妹结婚，也不愿意跟她

结婚，那他为什么不能另外挑一个？要是他挑

中了我，我又为什么能答应他？”




"Because honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it.
Yes, Miss Bennet, interest; for do not expect to be noticed
by his family or friends, if you wilfully act against the
inclinations of all. You will be censured, slighted, and
despised, by every one connected with him. Your alliance will
be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any
of us."


“无论从面子上讲，从礼节规矩上讲──不，

从利害关系来讲，都不允许这么做。不错，班

纳特小姐，确是为了你的利害关系着想。要是

你有意跟大家都过不去，你就休想他家里人或

是他的亲友们看得志你。凡是和他有关的人，

都会斥责你，轻视你，厌恶你。你们的结合是

一种耻辱；甚至我们连你的名字都不肯提起。

”




"These are heavy misfortunes," replied Elizabeth. "But the
wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of
happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she
could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine."


“这倒真是大大的不幸，”伊丽莎白说。“可

是做了达西先生的太太必然会享受到莫大的幸

福，因此，归根结底，完全用不到懊丧。”




"Obstinate, headstrong girl! I am ashamed of you! Is this
your gratitude for my attentions to you last spring? Is
nothing due to me on that score? Let us sit down. You are to
understand, Miss Bennet, that I came here with the determined
resolution of carrying my purpose; nor will I be dissuaded
from it. I have not been used to submit to any person's whims.
I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment."


“好一个不识好歹的小丫头！我都会你害臊！

今年春天我待你那么殷勤，你就这样报答我吗

？难道你也没有一点儿感恩之心？让我们坐下

来详谈。你应该明白，班纳特小姐，我既然上

这儿来了，就非达到目的不可；谁也阻不住我

。任何人玩什么花巧，我都不会屈服。我从来

不肯让我自己失望。”




"That will make your ladyship's situation at present more
pitiable; but it will have no effect on me."


“那只有更加使你自己难堪，可是对我毫无影

响。”




"I will not be interrupted. Hear me in silence. My daughter
and my nephew are formed for each other. They are descended,
on the maternal side, from the same noble line; and, on the
father's, from respectable, honourable, and ancient -- though
untitled -- families. Their fortune on both sides is splendid.
They are destined for each other by the voice of every member
of their respective houses; and what is to divide them? The
upstart pretensions of a young woman without family,
connections, or fortune. Is this to be endured! But it
must not, shall not be. If you were sensible of your own
good, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you
have been brought up."


“我说话不许人家插嘴！好好儿听我说。我的

女儿和我的姨侄是天造天设的一对。他们的母

系都是高贵的出身，父系虽然没有爵位，可也

都是极有地位的名门世家。两家都是豪富。两

家亲戚都一致认为，他们俩介前生注定的姻缘

；有谁能把他们拆散？你这样一个小妮子，无

论家世、亲戚、财产，都谈不上，难道光凭着

你的痴心妄想，就可以把他们拆散吗？这象什

么话！这真是太岂有此理！假如你脑子明白点

，为你自己的利益想一想，你就不会忘你自己

的出身啦。”




"In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as
quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's
daughter; so far we are equal."


“我决不会为了要跟你姨侄结婚，就忘了我自

己的出身。你姨侄是个绅士，我是绅士的女儿

，我们正是旗鼓相当。”




"True. You are a gentleman's daughter. But who was your
mother? Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me
ignorant of their condition."


“真说得对。你的确是个绅士的女儿。可是你

妈是个什么样的人？你的姨父母和舅父母又是

什么样的人？别以为我不知道他们底细。”