6级-《傲慢与偏见》-第6课

前情提要

简已经好多了，她的母亲带着两个妹妹来看望她。达西对伊丽莎白的爱慕越来越强烈了，然而伊丽莎白却并没有那么喜欢他……

故事原文

Pride and Prejudice 6

傲慢与偏见 6

3  Mr Collins visits Longbourn

3　柯林斯先生造访浪搏恩

'I hope, my dear,' said Mr Bennet to his wife at breakfast the next morning, 'that you have told the cook to send up a good dinner today, as I am expecting a visitor.'

“亲爱的，我希望你已经通知过厨师今天送上一份像样的晚饭，我有客人来。”第二天早饭后班纳特先生对妻子说。

'Who is it, my dear? I know of nobody who is coming, unless Charlotte Lucas happens to call in, and I hope my dinners are good enough for her,'

“亲爱的，是谁？除了夏洛特·卢卡斯偶尔来一趟，我不知道谁还会来。要是她，家常便饭就够了。”

'The person I'm talking about is a gentleman and a stranger.'

“我说的那个人是个有教养的男人，一个陌生人。”

Mrs Bennet's eyes shone with excitement. 'It's Mr Bingley, I'm sure! Why, Jane, you never mentioned it! Well, I'll be extremely glad to see him. Lydia, my love, ring the bell. I must speak to the cook at once.'

班纳特太太激动得两眼放光。“是彬格莱先生，我敢肯定！简，你怎么从来没有提过！啊，能见到他我高兴极了。丽迪亚，我的乖，快拉铃。我得马上跟厨师讲。”

'It is not Mr Bingley,' said her husband. 'It's a person whom I have never seen before.'

“不是彬格莱先生，”她丈夫说，“这个人我以前没有见过。”

This caused general astonishment(1), and he had the pleasure of being eagerly questioned(2) by his wife and five daughters all at the same time. Having amused himself for some time with their curiosity, he finally explained. 'I have recently received a letter from my cousin, Mr Collins, who, as you know, will inherit all my property when I die, and may throw you out of this house as soon as he wants.'

一言既出，满座皆惊。太太和五个女儿异口同声，急切地向他发问，这使他十分得意。他先拿她们的好奇心逗了一会儿乐，最后作了解释。“最近，我收到了远房侄子柯林斯先生的一封来信。你们知道，我死后他要继承我的一切财产，到时候可能随时把你们赶出这幢房子。”

'Oh, my dear!' cried his wife. 'Please don't mention that hateful man. It's the hardest thing in the world to accept the fact that your property is not left to your own children, and I'm sure, if I were you, I'd have tried to do something about it.'

“哦，亲爱的！”他妻子叫道，“请不要提那个可恶的家伙。自己的财产不留给自己的孩子，这恐怕是世界上最难叫人接受的事情了。我要是你的话，肯定不会就此罢休。”

Jane and Elizabeth tried to explain the legal situation to her again. They had often attempted to do this before. But it was a matter which Mrs Bennet refused to understand, and she continued to complain bitterly about Mr Collins.

简和伊丽莎白又向她解释了一遍法律上的具体情况。她们以前经常向她解释，可是这种事班纳特太太拒不理解，她继续叫苦不迭地对柯林斯先生发牢骚。

'It certainly is most unjust,' agreed Mr Bennet, 'and nothing can clear Mr Collins from the guilt of inheriting this house. But if you listen while I read his letter to you, you may perhaps be a little softened by his manner of expressing himself.' He read aloud the following letter:

“这件事当然很不公平，”班纳特先生表示赞同，“柯林斯先生继承这幢房子受之有愧，无论怎样他都难以免于这种愧疚。可是，如果你愿意听听他的来信，他说话的口气也许会使你的态度缓和一点。”他大声朗读了以下这封信：

Dear Sir,

亲爱的先生：

The disagreement between you and my late respected father always worried me, and since his death I have frequently wished to improve the relationship between our families. After a long period of study and training I have recently become a priest, and have been fortunate enough to gain the patronage(3) of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh. This generous lady has given me the post of rector at Hunsford, which was luckily vacant. Hunsford is the village near her own large country house in Kent. Here I carry out the duties of my profession whenever necessary, and I take great care to behave at all times with grateful respect towards her ladyship. As a priest, moreover, I feel it my duty to encourage all families in my area of influence to live peacefully. Because of this, I flatter myself that I am acting correctly in offering you my friendship. I am of course concerned that when I eventually inherit all your property, your daughters will doubtless be very poor, and I do apologize for this. I promise you I am ready to make amends(4) in every possible way—but more about this later. If you do not object, I propose to visit you and your family on Monday November 18th, at four o'clock, and shall probably stay until the following Saturday week. This will cause me no inconvenience at all, as Lady Catherine is far from objecting to my occasional absence from my duties.

阁下与先父之不和一直令我深感不安。自从先父去世之后我一直希望重修两家之好。经过长期学习与培训，我已于最近成为牧师，并万分荣幸地获得刘易斯·德·包尔公爵的遗孀凯瑟琳·德·包尔夫人的恩宠。这位慷慨的夫人将汉斯福的教区长职位赐与了我，当时，这个职位正好空缺。汉斯福是个村庄，位于这位夫人在肯特郡巨大的乡间别墅附近。在此，一有必要，我便履行自己的职责，而且无时无刻不极力表现出对夫人的感激和尊敬。另外，作为一名牧师，我感到有责任尽我力之所及，促进本教区家家户户亲善和睦。有鉴于此，我自信向您伸出友谊之手是正确之举。我最终继承您的财产之后，诸位令嫒一定会一无所有，对此我自然深感不安，并为此真切道歉。我向您保证我愿意尽一切可能给予补偿——这一点容后再叙。如果您不反对，我拟于11月18日星期一4点钟前来拜谒您和全家，并有可能在贵府打扰至星期六离开。这不会引起我什么不便，因为凯瑟琳夫人对于我偶尔离开职守绝无反对之意。

I remain, dear sir, with respectful good wishes to your lady and your daughters, your friend, William Collins.

亲爱的先生，我向尊夫人及诸位令嫒致以尊敬的、良好的祝愿。您的朋友威廉·柯林斯。

'So we can expect this peace-making gentleman at four o'clock today,' said Mr Bennet, as he folded up the letter. 'He appears to be a most polite and serious young man. How considerate of Lady Catherine to allow him to visit us! '

“所以，今天下午4点这位和事佬先生就要来了，”班纳特先生说着，一面把信折叠起来，“他像是一位知书达礼、严肃认真的年轻人。凯瑟琳夫人允许他拜访我们，真是体贴入微呀！”

'Well, if he is ready to make amends to the girls in some way, I shall certainly not discourage him,' said Mrs Bennet.

“那么，如果他愿意用某种方式给女儿们以补偿的话，我当然不会给他泼冷水。”班纳特太太说。

'Although it's difficult,' said Jane,' to guess how he intends to do that, it's good of him to want to help us.'

“虽然很难猜测，”简说，“他打算如何补偿我们，不过，他想帮助我们，倒是件好事。”

'I think he's peculiar(5),' said Elizabeth. 'He sounds too pleased with himself, and he speaks so politely of Lady Catherine! And why does he apologize for inheriting Father's property in future? We know it's not his fault. Can he be a sensible man, sir?' she added, turning to Mr Bennet.

“我觉得他有点儿古怪。”伊丽莎白说。“他听起来过于自鸣得意，谈起凯瑟琳夫人又过于客气！他将来继承父亲的财产为什么要道歉？我们知道那不是他的错。先生，他会是个理智的人吗？”她转向班纳特先生，补充道。

'No, my dear, I think not. I have great hopes of finding him quite the opposite. There is a mixture of servility and self-importance in his letter, which promises to be entertaining. I am impatient to see him.'

“我想不是，亲爱的。他极有可能恰恰相反。他在信中显得既卑躬屈膝，又妄自尊大，这一定很有趣，我真想马上见到他。”

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. astonishment 惊讶，惊异

例句：

He was filled with astonishment at seeing that dead body.

看到那具尸体，他惊恐不已。

2. question 提问，质问

例句：

He was arrested and questioned about the fire.

他被逮捕并询问了关于那场火的事。

3. patronage 资助，赞助，惠顾

例句：

The theatre is under the patronage of the Arts Council.

那家剧院得到了艺术委员会的赞助。

4. make amends 赔偿，赔罪，补偿

例句：

You'd better go and make amends to him. I'm sure he'll forgive you.

你最好去向他负荆请罪，我相信他会原谅你的。

5. peculiar 古怪的，怪异的

例句：

There is something peculiar in his smile.

他笑得有些怪异。