《傲慢与偏见》第 15 期

Lady Lucas was a very good kind of woman, not too clever to be a valuable neighbour to Mrs. Bennet. They had several children. The eldest of them, a sensible, intelligent young woman, about twenty-seven, was Elizabeth’s intimate friend.

卢卡斯夫人是个非常和善的女人，只是没有聪明到不能成为贝内特太太的好邻居。她们有好几个孩子。其中最大的女儿是个通情达理、聪明伶俐的年轻女子，年约二十七岁，是伊丽莎白的密友。

That the Miss Lucases and the Miss Bennets should meet to talk over a ball was absolutely necessary; and the morning after the assembly brought the former to Longbourn to hear and to communicate.

卢卡斯小姐们和贝内特小姐们见面谈论舞会，绝对是必不可少的；因此，舞会后的第二天早晨，前者便来到朗伯恩，既要听取消息，也要传递消息。

“_You_ began the evening well, Charlotte,” said Mrs. Bennet, with civil self-command, to Miss Lucas. “_You_ were Mr. Bingley’s first choice.”

“夏洛特，你一开始跳得很好，”贝内特太太带着礼貌而克制的自得，对卢卡斯小姐说道。“你可是宾利先生第一个选中的人。”

“Yes; but he seemed to like his second better.”

“是的；不过，他似乎更喜欢他的第二选择。”

“Oh, you mean Jane, I suppose, because he danced with her twice. To be sure that _did_ seem as if he admired her--indeed, I rather believe he _did_--I heard something about it--but I hardly know what--something about Mr. Robinson.”

“哦，我想你指的是简吧，因为他和她跳了两次。的确，那看起来确实像是他很欣赏她——事实上，我相当相信他确实欣赏她——我听到过一些相关的话——不过不大清楚究竟是什么——好像是关于罗宾逊先生的。”

“Perhaps you mean what I overheard between him and Mr. Robinson: did not I mention it to you? Mr. Robinson’s asking him how he liked our Meryton assemblies, and whether he did not think there were a great many pretty women in the room, and _which_ he thought the prettiest? and his answering immediately to the last question, ‘Oh, the eldest Miss Bennet, beyond a doubt: there cannot be two opinions on that point.’”

“也许你指的是我无意中听到的他和罗宾逊先生之间的谈话：我难道没有提过吗？罗宾逊先生问他觉得我们的梅里顿舞会怎么样，又问他是否觉得大厅里有许多漂亮的女子，以及他认为哪一位最漂亮；而他对最后一个问题立即回答说：‘哦，贝内特家的大女儿，毫无疑问；这一点不可能有两种看法。’”

“Upon my word! Well, that was very decided, indeed--that does seem as if--but, however, it may all come to nothing, you know.”

“我的天！好吧，那确实说得很明确——这看起来倒真像是——不过，无论如何，也可能什么结果都没有，你知道的。”

“_My_ overhearings were more to the purpose than _yours_, Eliza,” said Charlotte. “Mr. Darcy is not so well worth listening to as his friend, is he? Poor Eliza! to be only just _tolerable_.”

“我听到的话比你听到的更有意义，伊莱莎，”夏洛特说道。“达西先生可不像他的朋友那么值得听取意见，是不是？可怜的伊莱莎！在他眼里竟然只是‘还过得去’。”