Day4 内德菲尔庄园 Chapter 8 看点：内德菲尔庄园中的讨论

Day 4.1 Chapter 8 内德菲尔庄园中的讨论

Chapter 8 看点

阶级矛盾显现——Elizabeth不满Bingley姐妹的虚伪，Bingley姐妹非议Elizabeth；众人对accomplished woman（多才多艺的女性）进行讨论。

01

阶级矛盾显现

To the civil inquiries which thenpoured in, and amongst which she had the pleasure of distinguishing the much superior solicitude of Mr.Bingley’s, she could not make a very favourable answer. Janewas by no means better. The sisters, on hearing this, repeatedthree or four times how much they were grieved, how shocking it was to have abad cold, and how excessively theydisliked being ill themselves; and thenthought no more of the matter: and their indifference towardsJane, when not immediately before them, restored Elizabeth to the enjoyment ofall her dislike.

单词注释

civil /'sɪv(ə)/ adj. 有礼貌的 

superior /suːˈpɪərɪə/ adj. 更好的，更优越的，优质的

solicitude /sə'lɪsɪtjuːd/ n. 担心，焦虑

favourable /'feɪv(ə)rəb(ə)l/ adj. 乐观的，好的

内容分析

本段对Bingley先生的表述为themuch superior solicitude（特别担忧），展现了他对Jane的真心关切；而Bingley姐妹先是通过repeated three or four timeshow much they were grieved（多次地说她们非常难过）等来关心Jane的病情，and then（之后）便thought no more of the matter（对此事绝口不提），展现了她们对Jane的冷漠。这里Bingley先生的善良和Bingley姐妹的虚伪形成鲜明对比。

Bingley was quite uncomfortable; his sisters declared thatthey were miserable. They solaced their wretchedness,however, by duets after supper, while hecould find no better relief to his feelings than by giving his housekeeperdirections that every attention might be paid to the sick lady and her sister

单词注释

solace /'sɒlɪs/ v. 安慰，抚慰

wretchedness /'rɛtʃɪdnɪs/ n. 悲惨，不幸

duet /djuː'et/ n. 二重唱，二重奏

内容分析

在本章的最后一段中，由于Jane的病情加重，Bingley姐妹declared that they were miserable（声称她们非常难过），declare一词再次突出了她们的虚伪。

Their brother, indeed, was the only one ofthe party whom she could regard with any complacency. His anxiety for Jane was evident, and his attentionsto herself most pleasing, and they prevented her feeling herself so muchan intruder as she believed she was considered by theothers. She had very little notice from any buthim. Miss Bingley was engrossed by Mr. Darcy, her sister scarcely lessso; and as for Mr. Hurst, by whom Elizabeth sat, he was an indolent man,who lived only to eat, drink, and play at cards, who, when he found her prefera plain dish to a ragout, had nothing to say to her. 

单词注释

complacency /kəm'pleɪs(ə)nsɪ/ n. 满意，得意

intruder /ɪn'truːdə/ n. 外人

engross /ɪn'ɡrəʊs/ v. 全神贯注于

scarcely /'skeəslɪ/ adv. 几乎不，几乎没有（区分scare——惊吓）

indolent /'ɪnd(ə)l(ə)nt/ adj. 懒洋洋的，无精打采的

ragout /ræ'guː/ n. 拉古 (蔬菜炖肉)

内容分析

本段是Bingley姐妹对Elizabeth非议的一个铺垫。Bingley先生对Elizabeth热情、真诚，而Bingley姐妹则engrossed by Mr. Darcy（完全被Darcy先生吸引），让Elizabeth觉得She had very little notice from any but him（除了Bingley先生之外，其他人都不怎么关注她），可以看出她受到的冷遇。这种冷遇在Elizabeth不在场的时候就演变成了Bingley姐妹对她的讽刺和挖苦。

知识链接

拉古（ragout）是一道重口味的法国菜，具体做法是把胡萝卜之类的根菜和肉一起下锅，倒入清水，添加各种佐料，再用小火慢炖。这道菜因为用料多、耗时久，被视为高档菜，在当时英国贵族阶层中特别流行，但普通人则认为其掩盖了食材自身的味道，是一种虚假的菜肴，更为偏好本国清淡简单的烹饪方式。伊丽莎白故意不吃拉古，就是表明了这种鄙夷的态度，所以赫斯特先生“没有话跟她说”，下文宾利姐妹将会指责她“举止非常糟糕，既傲慢又无礼”。

Her manners were pronounced to be very bad indeed, a mixture of pride and impertinence; she had no conversation, no style, no beauty. Mrs. Hurstthought the same, and added: “She has nothing,in short, to recommend her, but being an excellentwalker. I shall never forget her appearance this morning. She reallylooked almost wild.”

单词注释

impertinence /ɪm'pɜːt(ə)nəns/ n. 鲁莽，不恰当

内容分析

这里，Bingley姐妹开始非议Elizabeth。Miss Bingley觉得Elizabeth的举止非常不得体，认为她pride and impertinence（傲慢、无礼），had noconversation, no style, no beauty（不善言谈，无品位，不漂亮）。Mrs.Hurst也随之挖苦她是an excellent walker（一个走路很厉害的人）。

"I am afraid, Mr. Darcy," observed MissBingley, in a half whisper, "that thisadventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes."

"Not at all,"he replied; "they were brightened by the exercise."—Ashort pause followed this speech, and Mrs. Hurst began again.

"I have an excessive regard for Jane Bennet, sheis really a very sweet girl, and I wish with all my heart she were wellsettled. But with such a father and mother, and such low connections, I am afraid there is no chance ofit."

"If they had uncles enough to fill allCheapside," cried Bingley, "it would not make them one jot lessagreeable."

"But it mustvery materially lessen their chance of marrying men of anyconsideration in the world," replied Darcy.

To this speech Bingley made no answer; but his sistersgave it their hearty assent, and indulged their mirth forsome time at the expense of their dear friend's vulgar relations.

单词注释

jot /dʒɒt/ n. 一点，少量

materially /mə'tɪərɪəlɪ/ adv. 极大地（熟词僻义）

lessen /'les(ə)n/v.减少，减轻（区分lesson—课，近义词reduce­）

assent /ə'sent/ n. 同意，赞成

indulge /ɪn'dʌldʒ/ v. 沉溺，放任

mirth /mɜːθ/ n. 嘲笑

vulgar /'vʌlgə/ adj. 粗俗的（区分vogue——时髦，流行）

内容分析

Bingley姐妹除了取笑Elizabeth，还连带取笑了她的家庭和亲戚，挖苦他们的社会地位低，阶级矛盾再次凸显。

从前文，我们了解到Mr. Darcy已经开始喜欢Elizabeth，因此他并没有和Bingley姐妹一起取笑Elizabeth。在Miss Bingley说“她这次大胆的举动恐怕影响了你对那双漂亮眼睛的喜爱吧？”，Mr. Darcy反驳到“Not at all（一点都没有）；they were brightened by the exercise（她的眼睛因为运动变得更明亮了）”，体现了他对Elizabeth的喜爱。但同时他又放不下自己的高傲，因此在后面说到“But it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men ofany consideration in the world（但是她们嫁到好人家的可能性会大大减少）”，这句话既是他高傲的体现，又可能暗示了他会因此有更多的机会追求Elizabeth。

02

对accomplished woman（多才多艺的女性）进行讨论

 “… They all painttables, cover screens, and net purses. I scarcely know anyonewho cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of forthe first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished.”

“… A woman must have athorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modernlanguages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she mustpossess a certain something in her air and manner ofwalking, the tone of her voice,her address and expressions, or the word will be buthalf-deserved.”

“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to allthis she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of hermind by extensive reading.”

单词注释

net /net/ v. 用网覆盖（注意词性，这里引申为“用针线缝”）

accomplished /əˈkʌmplɪʃt/ adj. 才华高的，技艺高超的

air /eə/ n. 神态，样子

substantial /səb'stænʃ(ə)l/adj. 价值巨大的，重大的

extensive /ɪk'stensɪv/ adj. 广泛的，大量的

内容分析

对accomplished woman的讨论是逐层深入的，并且要求也是不断提高的。

一开始accomplished woman的标准是paint tables, cover screens, and net purses（在桌子上绘画、在屏风上刺绣、用针缝钱包）；之后标准提高为a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and themodern languages（精通音乐、歌唱、绘画、跳舞和现代的各种语言），possess acertain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, heraddress and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved（气质、走路的姿态、说话的语调还有谈吐都要有一定的水准，否则只能算得上半个才女）；除此之外，Mr. Darcy还说要in the improvement of her mindby extensive reading（通过广泛的阅读提升自己的精神境界）。从这段对话中，我们可以窥测当时英国社会对女性的看法与评价标准，成为才女的难度还是挺大的。