Prie an Prejudice

《傲慢與偏見》（ Pride and Prejudice）是英國(guó)女小說家簡(jiǎn)·奧斯汀的長(zhǎng)篇小說。

小說描寫了鄉(xiāng)紳班納特五個(gè)待字閨中的千金的生活，主角是二女兒伊麗莎白。她在一次舞會(huì)上認(rèn)識(shí)了一位年輕的紳士達(dá)西，但是耳聞他為人傲慢，就一直對(duì)他心生排斥。經(jīng)歷了一番周折，伊麗莎白終于消除了對(duì)達(dá)西的偏見，達(dá)西也不再傲慢，有情人終成眷屬。

這部作品以日常生活為素材，一反當(dāng)時(shí)社會(huì)上流行的感傷小說矯揉造作的寫作手法，生動(dòng)地反映了18世紀(jì)末到19世紀(jì)初處于保守和閉塞狀態(tài)下的英國(guó)鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)生活和人情世態(tài)。它多次被改編成電影和電視劇。

本文節(jié)選自《傲慢與偏見》第四十一章。

Prie an Prejudice

Jane Austen

ELIZABETH， as they drove along， watched for thefirst appearance of Pemberley Woods with some perturba-tion; and when at length they turned in at the lodge， her spir-its were in a high flutter.

The park was very large， and contained great variety ofground. They entered it in one of its lowest points， anddrove for some time through a beautiful wood， stretchingover a wide extent.

Elizabeth ' s mind was too full for conversation， but shesaw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view.They gradually ascended for half a mile， and then foundthemselves at the top of a considerable eminence， where thewood ceased， and the eye was instantly caught by Pember-ley House， situated on the opposite side of a valley， intowhich the road. with some abruptness， wound. It was alarge， handsome， stone building， standing well on risingground， and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and infront， a stream of some natural importance was swelled intogreater， but without any artificial appearance. Its bankswere neither formal， nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was de-lighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had

他們坐著車子一直向前去。彭伯里的樹林一出現(xiàn)在眼前，伊麗莎白就有些心慌;等到走進(jìn)了莊園，她更加心神不定。

花園很大，只見里邊高阜低洼，氣象萬千。他們揀一個(gè)最低的地方走進(jìn)了花園，在一座深邃遼闊的美麗的樹林里坐著車子走了好久。

伊麗莎白滿懷感觸，無心說話，可是看到了每一處、每一角的美景，她都贊賞不已。他們沿著上坡路慢慢兒走了半英里的光景，最后來到了一個(gè)相當(dāng)高的山坡上，這也就是樹林盡頭的地方，彭伯里大廈馬上映入眼簾。房子在山谷那邊，有一條相當(dāng)陡斜的路曲曲折折地通到谷中。這是一幢很大很漂亮的石頭建筑物，屹立在高垅上，屋子后面枕著一連片樹林茂密的高高的山岡;屋前一泓頗有天然情趣的溪流正在漲潮，沒有一絲一毫人工的痕跡。兩岸的點(diǎn)綴既不呆板，又不做作。伊麗莎白高興極了。她從來不曾看到過一個(gè)比這里更富于自然情趣的地方，也沒有見過任何地方的自然之美能象這兒一樣的不受到庸俗的沾損。大家都贊賞不已，伊麗莎白頓時(shí)不done more， or where natural beauty had been so little coun-teracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warmin their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to bemistress of Pemberley might be something ！

They descended the hill， crossed the bridge， and droveto the door; and， while examining the nearer aspect of thehouse， all her apprehensions of meeting its owner retumed.She dreaded lest the chambermaid had been mistaken. Onapplying to see the place， they were admitted into the hall;and Elizabeth， as they waited for the housekeeper， had lei-sure to wonder at her being where she was.

The housekeeper came; a respectable-looking， elderlywoman， much less fine， and more civil， than she had any no-tion of finding her. They followed her into the dining-par-lour. It was a large， well-proportioned room， handsomely fit-ted up. Elizabeth， after slightly surveying it， went to a win-dow to enjoy its prospect. The hill， crowned with wood，from which they had descended， receiving increased abrupt-ness from the distance， was a beautiful object. Every dispo-sition of the ground was good; and she looked on the wholescene——the river， the trees scattered on its banks， and thewinding of the valley， as far as she could trace it —— with de-light. As they passed into other rooms， these objects weretaking different positions; but from every window therewere beauties to be seen. The rooms were lofty and hand-some， and their fumiture suitable to the fortune of their pro-prietor; but Elizabeth saw， with admiration of his taste， thatit was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; with less of splen-dor， and more real elegance， than the fumiture of Rosings.

"And of this place，" thought she， "I might have beenmistress！ With these rooms I might now have been familiar-Iy acquainted！ Instead of viewing them as a stranger， Imight have rejoiced in them as my own， and welcomed tothem as visitors my uncle and aunt. But no，" recollectingherself， "that could never be： my uncle and aunt wouldhave been lost to me： I should not have been allowed to in-vite them." This was a lucky recollection it saved her fromsomething like regret.禁覺得：在彭伯里當(dāng)個(gè)主婦也還不錯(cuò)吧。

他們下了山坡，過了橋，一直駛到大廈門前，欣賞那附近的景物，伊麗莎白這時(shí)候不免又起了一陣疑懼，生怕碰見主人。她擔(dān)心旅館里的侍女弄錯(cuò)了。他們請(qǐng)求進(jìn)去參觀，立刻被讓進(jìn)客廳;大家都在等著管家奶奶，這時(shí)候伊麗莎白方才想起身在何處。

管家來了，是一個(gè)態(tài)度端莊的老婦人，遠(yuǎn)不如她們想象中那么有豐姿，可是禮貌周到倒出乎她的想象。他們跟著她走進(jìn)了餐室。那是一間寬敞舒適的大屋子，布置得很精致。伊麗莎白稍許看了一下.便走到窗口欣賞風(fēng)景。他們望著剛才下來的那座小山，只見叢林密布，從遠(yuǎn)處望去愈發(fā)顯得陡峭，真是個(gè)美麗的地方。處處都收拾得很美觀。她縱目四望，只見一彎河道，林木夾岸，山谷蜿蜒曲折，真看得她心曠神怡。他們?cè)僮叩絼e的房間里去看，每換一個(gè)房間，景致總會(huì)兩樣，可是不管你走到哪個(gè)窗口，都自有秀色可餐。一個(gè)個(gè)房間都高大美觀，家具陳設(shè)也和主人的身份頗為相稱，既不俗氣，又不過分侈華，比起羅新斯來，可以說是豪華不足，風(fēng)雅有余，伊麗莎白看了，很佩服主人的情趣。

她心里想：“我差一點(diǎn)就做了這兒的主婦呢！這些房間也許早就讓我走熟了！我非但不必以一個(gè)陌生人的身份來參觀，而且還可以當(dāng)作自己的住宅來享受，把舅父舅母當(dāng)做貴客歡迎?？墒遣恍?，”她忽然想了起來，“這是萬萬辦不到的事：那時(shí)候我就見不到舅父舅母了，他決不會(huì)允許我邀他們來?！彼姨澫肫鹆诉@一點(diǎn)，才沒有后悔當(dāng)初的事。

She longed to enquire of the housekeeper whether hermaster were really absent， but had not courage for it. Atlength， however， the question was asked by her uncle; andshe tumed away with alarm， while Mrs. Reynolds repliedthat he was， adding， "but we expect him tomorrow， with alarge party of friends." How rejoiced was Elizabeth thattheir own joumey had not by any circumstance been de-layed a day！

Her aunt now called her to look at a picture. She ap-proached， and saw the likeness of Mr. Wickham suspended，amongst several other miniatures， over the mantlepiece. Heraunt asked her， smilingly， how she liked it. The housekeepercame forward， and told them it was the picture of a younggentleman， the son of her late master' s steward， who hadbeen brought up by him at his own expence. "He is nowgone into the army，" she added， "but I am afraid he hastumed out very wild. "

Mrs. Gardiner looked at her niece with a smile， butElizabeth could not retum it.

"And that，" said Mrs. Reynolds， pointing to another ofthe miniatures， "is my master—— and very like him. It wasdrawn at the same time as the other——about eight yearsago."

"I have heard much of your master' s fine person，"said Mrs. Gardiner， looking at the picture; "it is a handsomeface. But， Lizzy， you can tell us whether it is like or not. "

Mrs. Reynolds' s respect for Elizabeth seemed to in-crease on this intimation of her knowing her master.

"Does that young lady know Mr. Darcy？ "

Elizabeth coloured， and said "A little. "

"And do not you think him a very handsome gentle-man， Ma ' am？ "

"Yes， very handsome. "

她真想問問這位管家，主人是否真不在家，可是她沒有勇氣，只得作罷。不過她舅父終于代她問出了這一句話，使她大為慌張，連忙別轉(zhuǎn)頭去，只聽見雷諾夫人回答道，他的確不在家。接著又說，“可是明天會(huì)回家，還要帶來許多朋友?！币聋惿茁犃苏娓吲d，幸虧他們沒有遲一天到這兒來。

她的舅母叫她去看一張畫像。她走近前去，看見那是韋翰的肖像，和另外幾張小型畫像夾在一起，掛在壁爐架的上方。舅母笑嘻嘻地問她覺得好不好。管家夫人走過來說，畫像上這位年輕人是老主人賬房的兒子，由老主人一手把他栽培起來。她又說道：“他現(xiàn)在到軍隊(duì)里去了，我怕他已經(jīng)變得很浪蕩了?！?/p>

嘉丁納太太笑吟吟地對(duì)她外甥女兒望了一眼，可是伊麗莎白實(shí)在笑不出來。

雷諾夫人指著另一張畫像說，“這就是我的小主人，畫得像極了。跟那一張是同時(shí)畫的，大約有八年了?！?/p>

嘉丁納太太望著那張畫像說：“我常常聽人家說，你的主人一表人材，他這張臉蛋的確漂亮?？墒?，麗萃，你倒說說看，畫得像不像?！?/p>

雷諾夫人聽到伊麗莎白跟她主人相熟，便好像愈發(fā)敬重她。

“這位小姐原來跟達(dá)西先生相熟？”

伊麗莎白臉紅了，只得說：“不太熟?！?/p>

“你覺得他是位很漂亮的少爺嗎，小姐？”

“是的，很漂亮。”

"I am sure I know none so handsome; but in the gal-lery up stairs you will see a finer， larger picture of him thanthis. This room was my late master' s favourite room， andthese miniatures are just as they used to be then. He wasvery fond of them. "

This accounted to Elizabeth for Mr. Wickham ' s beingamong them.

Mrs. Reynolds then directed their attention to one ofMiss Darcy， drawn when she was only eight years old.

"And is Miss Darcy as handsome as her brother？" saidMr. Gardiner.

"Oh！ yes——the handsomest young lady that ever wasseen; and so accomplished！ - She plays and sings all daylong. In the next room is a new instrument just come downfor her——a present from my master; she comes here tomor-row with him."

Mr. Gardiner， whose manners were easy and pleasant，encouraged her communicativeness by his questions and re-marks; Mrs. Reynolds， either from pride or attachment， hadevidently great pleasure in talking of her master and his sis-ter.

"Is your master much at Pemberley in the course ofthe year？"

"Not so much as I could wish， Sir; but I dare say hemay spend half his time here; and Miss Darcy is alwaysdown for the summer months."

"Except，" thought Elizabeth， "when she goes to Rams-gate. "

"If your master would marry， you might see more ofhim. "

"Yes， Sir; but I do not know when that will be. I do notknow who is good enough for him."

“我敢說，我沒見過這樣漂亮的人;樓上畫室里還有一張他的畫像，比這張大，畫得也比這張好。老主人生前最喜愛這間屋子，這些畫像的擺法，也還是照從前的老樣子。他很喜歡這些小型畫像?！?/p>

伊麗莎白這才明白為什么韋翰先生的像也放在一起。

雷諾夫人接著又指給他們看達(dá)西小姐的一張畫像，那還是她八歲的時(shí)候畫的。

“達(dá)西小姐也跟她哥哥一樣漂亮嗎？”嘉丁納先生問道。

“噢，那還用說一一從來沒有過這樣漂亮的小姐，又那么多才多藝！她成天彈琴唱歌。隔壁的房間里就是剛剛替她買來的一架鋼琴，那是我主人給她的禮物，她明天會(huì)跟他一塊兒回來?！?/p>

那位管家夫人看見嘉丁納先生為人那么隨和，便跟他有問有答。雷諾夫人非常樂意談到她主人兄妹倆，這或者是由于為他們感到驕傲，或者是由于和他們交情深厚。

“你主人每年在彭伯里待的日子多嗎？”

“并沒有我所盼望的那么多，先生，他每年大概可以在這兒待上半年;達(dá)西小姐總是在這兒消暑?！?/p>

伊麗莎白心想：“除非到拉姆斯蓋特去就不來了?！?/p>

“要是你主人結(jié)了婚，你見到他的時(shí)候就會(huì)多些?！?/p>

“是的，先生;不過我不知道這件事幾時(shí)才能如愿。我也不知道哪家小姐配得上他。”

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner smiled. Elizabeth could nothelp saying， "It is very much to his credit， I am sure， thatyou should think so."

"I say no more than the truth， and what every bodywill say that knows him，" replied the other. Elizabeththought this was going pretty far; and she listened with in-creasing astonishment as the housekeeper added， "I havenever had a cross word from him in my life， and I haveknown him ever smce he was four years old. "

This was praise， of all others most extraordinary， mostopposite to her ideas. That he was not a good tempered manhad been her firmest opinion. Her keenest attention wasawakened; she longed to hear more， and was grateful to heruncle for saying， "There are very few people of whom somuch can be said. You are lucky in having such a master."

"Yes， Sir， I know I am. If I was to go through theworld， I could not meet with a better. But I have always ob-served that they who are good- natured when children aregood- natured when they grow up; and he was always thesweetest- tempered， most generous- hearted， boy in theworld. "

Elizabeth almost stared at her. "Can this be Mr. Dar-cy！ " thought she.

"His father was an excellent man，" said Mrs. Gardiner.

"Yes， Ma' am， that he was indeed; and his son will bejust like him just as affable to the poor.

Elizabeth listened， wondered， doubted， and was impa-tient for more. Mrs. Reynolds could interest her on no otherpoint. She related the subject of the pictures， the dimensionsof the rooms， and the price of the fumiture， in vain. Mr. Gar-diner， highly amused by the kind of family prej udice to whichhe attributed her excessive commendation of her master，soon led again to the subject; and she dwelt with energy on hismany merits， as they proceeded together up the great staircase.

嘉丁納夫婦都笑了。伊麗莎白不由得說，“你會(huì)這樣想，真使他太有面子了?！?/p>

管家夫人說：“我說的全是真話，認(rèn)識(shí)他的人都是這樣說，”伊麗莎自覺得這話實(shí)在講得有些過分。只聽得那管家夫人又說道：“我一輩子沒聽過他一句重話，從他四歲起，我就跟他在一起了。”伊麗莎白聽得更是驚奇。

這句褒獎(jiǎng)的話說得最出人意料，也叫她最難想象。她早就斷定達(dá)西是個(gè)脾氣不好的人，今日乍聽此話，不禁引起了她深深的關(guān)注。她很想再多聽一些。幸虧她舅舅又開口說道：“當(dāng)?shù)闷疬@樣恭維的人，實(shí)在沒有幾個(gè)。你真是運(yùn)氣好，碰上了這樣一個(gè)好主人?！?/p>

“你真說得是，先生，我自己也知道運(yùn)氣好。我就是走遍天下，再也不會(huì)碰到一個(gè)更好的主人。我常說，小時(shí)候脾氣好，長(zhǎng)大了脾氣也會(huì)好;他從小就是個(gè)脾氣最乖、肚量最大的孩子。”

伊麗莎白禁不住瞪起眼來看她。她心里想：“達(dá)西當(dāng)真是這樣一個(gè)人嗎？”

“他父親是個(gè)了不起的人，”嘉丁納太太說。

“太太，你說得是，他的確是個(gè)了不起的人;他獨(dú)生子完全像他一樣——也像他那樣體貼窮苦人。”

伊麗莎白一直聽下去，先是奇怪，繼而懷疑，最后又極想再多聽一些，可是雷諾夫人再也想不出別的話來引起她的興趣。她談到畫像，談到房間大小，談到家具的價(jià)格，可是她都不愛聽。嘉丁納先生覺得，這個(gè)管家夫人之所以要過分夸獎(jiǎng)她自己的主人，無非是出于家人的偏見，這倒也使他聽得很有趣，于是馬上又談到這個(gè)話題上來了。她一面起勁地談到他的許多優(yōu)點(diǎn)，一面領(lǐng)著他們走上大樓

"He is the best landlord， and the best master，" saidshe， "that ever lived. Not like the wild young men nowa-days， who think of nothing but themselves. There is not oneof his tenants or servants but what will give him a goodname. Some people call him proud; but I am sure I neversaw any thing of it. To my fancy， it is only because he doesnot rattle away like other young men."

"In what an amiable light does this place him！"thought Elizabeth.

"This fine account of him，" whispered her aunt， asthey walked， "is not quite consistent with his behaviour toour poor friend. "

"Perhaps we might be deceived. "

"That is not very likely; our authority was too good. "

On reaching the spacious lobby above， they wereshewn into a very pretty sitting-room， lately fitted up withgreater elegance and lightness than the apartments below;and were informed that it was but just done to give pleasureto Miss Darcy， who had taken a liking to the room whenlast at Pemberley.

"He is certainly a good brother，" said Elizabeth， as shewalked towards one of the windows.

Mrs. Reynolds anticipated Miss Darcy' s delight whenshe should enter the room. "And this is always the waywith him，" she added. "Whatever can give his sister anypleasure is sure to be done in a moment. There is nothing hewould not do for her. "

The picture gallery， and two or three of the principalbedrooms， were all that remained to be shewn. In the for-mer were many good paintings; but Elizabeth knew nothingof the art; and from such as had been already visible below，she had willingly tumed to look at some drawings of MissDarcy ' s， in crayons， whose subjects were usually more in-梯。

“他是個(gè)開明的莊主，又是個(gè)最好的主人;”她說，“他不象目前一般撒野的青年，一心只為自己打算。沒有一個(gè)佃戶或傭人不稱贊他。有些人說他傲慢;可是我從來沒看到過他有哪一點(diǎn)傲慢的地方。據(jù)我猜想，他只是不像一般青年人那樣愛說話罷了?！?/p>

“他被你說得多么可愛！”伊麗莎白想道。

她舅母一邊走，一邊輕輕地說：“只聽到說他的好話，可是他對(duì)待我們那位可憐的朋友卻是那種樣子，好像與事實(shí)不大符合。”

“我們可能是受到蒙蔽了。”

“這不大可能;我們的依據(jù)太可靠了?！?/p>

他們走到樓上那個(gè)寬敞的穿堂，就給領(lǐng)進(jìn)一間漂亮的起居間，這起居間新近才布置起來，比樓下的許多房間還要精致和清新，據(jù)說那是剛剛收拾起來專供達(dá)西小姐享用的，因?yàn)槿ツ晁谂聿锟粗辛诉@間屋子。

“他千真萬確是一個(gè)好哥哥，”伊麗莎白一面說，一面走到一個(gè)窗戶跟前。

雷諾夫人估計(jì)達(dá)西小姐一走進(jìn)這間屋子，將會(huì)無比的高興。她說：“他一向就是這樣，凡是能使他妹妹高興的事情，他馬上辦到。他從來沒有一樁事不依她。”

剩下來只有畫室和兩三間主要的寢室要指給他們看了。畫室里陳列著許多優(yōu)美的油畫，可惜伊麗莎白對(duì)藝術(shù)方面完全是外行，但覺這些畫好像在樓下都已經(jīng)看到過，于是她寧可掉過頭去看看達(dá)西小姐所畫的幾張粉筆畫，因?yàn)檫@些畫的題材一般都比較耐人尋味，而且比較容易看得懂。teresting， and also more intelligible.

In the gallery there were many family portraits， butthey could have little to fix the attention of a stranger. Eliza-beth walked on in quest of the only face whose featureswould be known to her. At last it arrested her—— and she be-held a striking resemblance of Mr. Darcy， with such a smileover the face as she remembered to have sometimes seen，when he looked at her. She stood several minutes before thepicture in eamest contemplation， and returned to it again be-fore they quitted the gallery. Mrs. Reynolds informed themthat it had been taken in his father ' s life time.

There was certainly at this moment， in Elizabeth' smind， a more gentle sensation towards the original than shehad ever felt in the height of their acquaintance. The com-mendation bestowed on him by Mrs. Reynolds was of no tri-fling nature. What praise is more valuable than the praise ofan intelligent servant？ As a brother， a landlord， a master，she considered how many people' s happiness were in hisguardianship！ -- How much of pleasure or pain it was in hispower to bestow！ -- How much of good or evil must bedone by him！ Every idea that had been brought forward bythe housekeeper was favourable to his character， and as shestood before the canvas， on which he was represented， andfixed his eyes upon herself. she thought of his regard with adeeper sentiment of gratitude than it had ever raised before;she remembered its wannth， and softened its impropriety ofexpression.

When all of the house that was open to general inspec-tion had been seen， they retumed down stairs， and， takingleave of the housekeeper， were consigned over to the gar-dener， who met them at the hall door.

As they walked across the lawn towards the river， Eliz-abeth tumed back to look again; her uncle and aunt stoppedalso， and while the former was conjecturing as to the dateof the building， the owner of it himself suddenly came for-ward from the road， which led behind it to the stables.

畫室里都是家族的畫像，陌生人看了不會(huì)有興趣。伊麗莎白走來走去，專門去找那個(gè)面熟的人的畫像;她終于看到了有張畫像非常像達(dá)西先生，只見他臉上的笑容正象他看向她的時(shí)候那種笑容。她在這幅畫像跟前站了幾分鐘，欣賞得出了神，臨出畫室之前，又走回去看了一下。雷諾夫人告訴他們說，這張畫像還是他父親在世的時(shí)候畫的。

伊麗莎白不禁對(duì)畫里那個(gè)人立刻起了一陣親切之感，即使從前她跟他見面最多的時(shí)候，她對(duì)他也從來沒有過這種感覺。我們不應(yīng)當(dāng)小看了雷諾夫人對(duì)她主人的這種稱贊。什么樣的稱贊會(huì)比一個(gè)聰明的下人的稱贊更來得寶貴呢？她認(rèn)為他無論是作為一個(gè)兄長(zhǎng)，一個(gè)莊主，一個(gè)家主，都一手操縱著多少人的幸福;他能夠給人家多少快樂，又能夠給人家多少痛苦;他可以行多少善，又可以作多少惡。那個(gè)管家夫人所提出的每一件事情，都足以說明他品格的優(yōu)良，她站在他的畫像面前只覺得他一雙眼睛在盯著她看，她不由得想起了他對(duì)她的鐘情，于是一陣從來沒有過的感激之情油然而生，她一記起他鐘情的殷切，便不再去計(jì)較他求愛的唐突了。

凡是可以公開參觀的地方，他們都走遍了，然后走下樓來，告別了管家夫人，管家夫人便吩咐一個(gè)園丁在大廳門口恭候他們。

他們穿過草地，走向河邊，伊麗莎白這時(shí)候又掉過頭來看了一眼，舅父舅母也都停住了腳步，哪知道她舅舅正想估量一下這房子的建筑年代時(shí)，忽然看到屋主人從一條通往馬廄的大路上走了過來。