《傲慢与偏见》第 19 期

“Your plan is a good one,” replied Elizabeth, “where nothing is in question but the desire of being well married; and if I were determined to get a rich husband, or any husband, I dare say I should adopt it. But these are not Jane’s feelings; she is not acting by design. As yet she cannot even be certain of the degree of her own regard, nor of its reasonableness. She has known him only a fortnight. She danced four dances with him at Meryton; she saw him one morning at his own house, and has since dined in company with him four times. This is not quite enough to make her understand his character.”

“你的打算不错，”伊丽莎白答道，“若所求不过是嫁个好丈夫；如果我下定决心要找一个有钱的丈夫，或者随便什么丈夫，我敢说我也会采纳你的办法。不过，这并不是简的想法；她并非有意为之。直到现在，她甚至还不能确定自己究竟有多么喜欢他，也不能确定这种感情是否合理。她只认识他两个星期。在梅里顿，她同他跳过四支舞；她有一天早晨在他家见过他，此后又同他一起吃过四次饭。这还不足以让她了解他的性情。”

“Not as you represent it. Had she merely _dined_ with him, she might only have discovered whether he had a good appetite; but you must remember that four evenings have been also spent together--and four evenings may do a great deal.”

“没有你说的那么少。假如她只是同他一起吃过饭，她也许只能发现他的胃口好不好；但你必须记住，他们还一同度过了四个晚上——四个晚上足以了解很多事情了。”

“Yes: these four evenings have enabled them to ascertain that they both like Vingt-un better than Commerce, but with respect to any other leading characteristic, I do not imagine that much has been unfolded.”

“是的，这四个晚上使他们得以确定，他们都喜欢玩二十一点，而不喜欢玩商业牌戏；可是至于其他任何主要性格特征，我想并没有显露出多少。”

“Well,” said Charlotte, “I wish Jane success with all my heart; and if she were married to him to-morrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were to be studying his character for a twelvemonth. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.”

“好吧，”夏洛特说，“我衷心希望简能成功；如果她明天就嫁给他，我会认为她获得幸福的机会，和她花上一年时间研究他的性格一样大。婚姻中的幸福完全是碰运气的事。即使双方事先对彼此的性情了解得再透彻，或者彼此再相像，也丝毫不会增进他们的幸福。他们婚后总会渐渐变得足够不同，从而各自有份烦恼；所以，对于那个你将与之共度一生的人，还是尽可能少了解一些他的缺点为好。”