《傲慢与偏见》第 9 期

“I would not be so fastidious as you are,” cried Bingley, “for a kingdom! Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty.”

“我可不像你这样挑剔，”宾利喊道，“哪怕给我一个王国也不换！凭良心说，我这辈子从没见过今晚这么多可爱的姑娘；你瞧，其中还有好几个漂亮得非同寻常。”

“_You_ are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,” said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

“你正和屋里唯一漂亮的姑娘跳舞呢。”达西先生说着，望向班纳特家大女儿。

“Oh, she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.”

“哦，她是我见过的最美丽的人！不过你身后正坐着她的一个妹妹，她也很漂亮，我敢说性情一定很讨人喜欢。让我请我的舞伴把你介绍给她吧。”

“She is tolerable”

“她还算过得去。”

[_Copyright 1894 by George Allen._]]

[1894年乔治·艾伦版权所有。]

“Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till, catching her eye, he withdrew his own, and coldly said, “She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt _me_; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”

“你说的是哪一位？”他转过身来，朝伊丽莎白看了一会儿；直到与她目光相遇，他才移开自己的视线，冷冷地说：“她还算过得去，但还没有漂亮到足以吸引我；而且我眼下也没有心情去抬举那些被其他男人冷落的年轻小姐。你还是回到你的舞伴那里去，享受她的笑容吧，因为你跟我在这里浪费时间。”

Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.

宾利先生听从了他的建议。达西先生走开了；伊丽莎白对他也再没有什么亲切的感觉。不过，她还是兴致勃勃地把这件事讲给朋友们听；因为她天性活泼爱俏，最喜欢一切可笑的事情。

The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane’s pleasure. Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without partners, which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball. They returned, therefore, in good spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which they were the principal inhabitants. They found Mr. Bennet still up. With a book, he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such splendid expectations. He had rather hoped that all his wife’s views on the stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found that he had a very different story to hear.

整个晚上对全家人来说都过得十分愉快。班纳特太太看到她的大女儿深受内瑟菲尔德那一行人的喜爱。宾利先生同她跳了两次舞，她还得到了他的姐妹们的特别关注。简虽然以一种更为含蓄的方式，却和母亲一样对此感到十分欣慰。伊丽莎白也为简的快乐而高兴。玛丽听到宾利小姐称赞她是邻里间最有才华的姑娘；凯瑟琳和莉迪亚也十分幸运，在舞会上始终不曾没有舞伴，而这正是她们目前在舞会上所学会在意的唯一事情。因此，她们兴高采烈地回到了朗博恩——她们居住的村庄，也是当地最主要的居民。她们发现班纳特先生还没有睡。只要手里有一本书，他便全然不顾时间；而在这天晚上，对于这样一个引起了种种美好期待的晚会究竟如何，他也颇为好奇。他原本颇希望妻子对那位陌生人的一切设想都会落空；但他很快发现，自己将要听到的却是另一番情形。