Chapter III

Not all that Mrs.Bennet,however,with the assistance of her five daughters,could ask on the subject was sufficient to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr.Bingley.They attacked him in various ways;with barefaced questions,ingenious suppositions,and distant surmises;but he eluded the skill of them all;and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas.Her report was highly favourable.Sir William had been delighted with him.He was quite young,wonderfully handsome,extremely agreeable,and,to crown the whole,he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party.Nothing could be more delightful!To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love;and very lively hopes of Mr.Bingley's heart were entertained.

“If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield,”said Mrs.Bennet to her husband,“and all the others equally well married,I shall have nothing to wish for.”

In a few days Mr.Bingley returned Mr.Bennet's visit,and sat about ten minutes with him in his library.He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies,of whose beauty he had heard much;but he saw only the father.The ladies were somewhat more fortunate,for they had the advantage of ascertaining,from an upper window,that he wore a blue coat and rode a black horse.

An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched;and already had Mrs.Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her housekeeping,when an answer arrived which deferred it all.Mr.Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day,and consequently unable to accept the honour of their invitation,&c.Mrs.Bennet was quite disconcerted.She could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival in Hertfordshire;and she began to fear that he might be always flying about from one place to another,and never settled at Netherfield as he ought to be.Lady Lucas quieted her fears a little by starting the idea of his being gone to London only to get a large party for the ball;and a report soon followed that Mr.Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly.The girls grieved over such a large number of ladies;but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing that,instead of twelve,he had brought only six with him from London,his five sisters and a cousin.And when the party entered the assembly room,it consisted of only five altogether;Mr.Bingley,his two sisters,the husband of the oldest,and another young man.

Mr.Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike;he had a pleasant countenance,and easy,unaffected manners.His sisters were fine women,with an air of decided fashion.His brother-in-law,Mr.Hurst,merely looked the gentleman;but his friend Mr.Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine,tall person,handsome features,noble mien;and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance,of his having ten thousand a year.The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man,the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr.Bingley,and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening,till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity;for he was discovered to be proud,to be above his company,and above being pleased;and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding,disagreeable countenance,and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

Mr.Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room;he was lively and unreserved,danced every dance,was angry that the ball closed so early,and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield.Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves.What a contrast between him and his friend!Mr.Darcy danced only once with Mrs.Hurst and once with Miss Bingley,declined being introduced to any other lady,and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room,speaking occasionally to one of his own party.His character was decided.He was the proudest,most disagreeable man in the world,and everybody hoped that he would never come there again.Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs.Bennet,whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having slighted one of her daughters.

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged,by the scarcity of gentlemen,to sit down for two dances;and during part of that time,Mr.Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr.Bingley,who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.

“Come,Darcy,”said he,“I must have you dance.I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner.You had much better dance.”

“I certainly shall not.You know how I detest it,unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner.At such an assembly as this,it would be insupportable.Your sisters are engaged,and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.”

“I would not be so fastidious as you are,”cried Bingley,“for a kingdom!Upon my honour I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life,as I have this evening;and there are several of them,you see,uncommonly pretty.”

“You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,”said Mr.Darcy,looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

“Oh!she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld!But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you,who is very pretty,and I dare say very agreeable.Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.”

“Which do you mean?”and turning round,he looked for a moment at Elizabeth,till catching her eye,he withdrew his own and coldly said,“She is tolerable;but not handsome enough to tempt me;and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles,for you are wasting your time with me.”

Mr.Bingley followed his advice.Mr.Darcy walked off;and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him.She told the story however with great spirit among her friends;for she had a lively,playful disposition,which delighted in anything ridiculous.

The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family.Mrs.Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party.Mr.Bingley had danced with her twice,and she had been distinguished by his sisters.Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be,though in a quieter way.Elizabeth felt Jane's pleasure.Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood;and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without partners,which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball.They returned therefore,in good spirits to Longbourn,the village where they lived,and of which they were the principal inhabitants.They found Mr.Bennet still up.With a book,he was regardless of time;and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such splendid expectations.He had rather hoped that all his wife's views on the stranger would be disappointed;but he soon found that he had a very different story to hear.

“Oh!my dear Mr.Bennet,”said Mrs.Bennet as she entered the room,“we have had a most delightful evening,a most excellent ball.I wish you had been there.Jane was so admired,nothing could be like it.Everybody said how well she looked;and Mr.Bingley thought her quite beautiful,and danced with her twice.Only think of that my dear;he actually danced with her twice;and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time.First of all,he asked Miss Lucas.I was so vexed to see him stand up with her;but,however,he did not admire her at all:indeed,nobody can,you know;and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going down the dance.So,he enquired who she was,and got introduced,and asked her for the two next.Then,the two third he danced with Miss King,and the two fourth with Maria Lucas,and the two fifth with Jane again,and the two sixth with Lizzy,and the Boulanger—”

“If he had had any compassion for me,”cried her husband impatiently,“he would not have danced half so much!For God's sake,say no more of his partners.Oh!that he had sprained his ankle in the first dance!”

“Oh!my dear,”continued Mrs.Bennet,“I am quite delighted with him.He is so excessively handsome!and his sisters are charming women.I never in my life saw anything more elegant than their dresses.I dare say the lace upon Mrs.Hurst's gown—”

Here she was interrupted again.Mr.Bennet protested against any description of finery.She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject,and related,with much bitterness of spirit and some exaggeration,the shocking rudeness of Mr.Darcy.

“But I can assure you,”she added,“that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy;for he is a most disagreeable,horrid man,not at all worth pleasing.So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him!He walked here,and he walked there,fancying himself so very great!Not handsome enough to dance with!I wish you had been there,my dear,to have given him one of your set downs.I quite detest the man.”

第三節

盡管貝內特太太有五個女兒協助，向她的丈夫問起賓利先生的情況，但他的回答都不足以讓她滿意。母女們以各種方式對付他——露骨的提問、巧妙的假設，以及離題遙遠的猜測，而他都一一巧妙地避開了。最后，她們不得不接受鄰居盧卡斯太太的間接消息。她的報告都非常有利。威廉爵士對他十分滿意。他相當年輕，一表人才，特別謙和，最重要的是，他想要請一大群客人參加下次的舞會。這是再開心不過的事兒了！喜歡跳舞是墜入情網的不可避免的一個步驟；大家都熱烈希望去博得賓利先生的那顆心。

“只要能看到一個女兒在內瑟菲爾德莊園幸福安家，”貝內特太太對她的丈夫說，“看到其他幾個也都同樣門當戶對，我就不盼什么了。”

沒過幾天，賓利先生就回訪了貝內特先生，跟他在書房里坐了大約有十分鐘。他早就多次聽說過貝內特家小姐們的如花美貌，滿懷希望能一睹芳容，但他只見到了她們的父親。幾位小姐有幾分幸運，因為她們處在有利的位置，從樓上的窗口看清了他身穿一件藍外套，騎著一匹黑駿馬。

之后不久，貝內特一家就發出了邀他赴宴的請帖；貝內特太太已經計劃好了幾道菜，這些菜都會給她當家主事增光添彩，得到的回帖則是一切延期。第二天，賓利先生不得不進城去，因此不能接受他們的邀請云云。貝內特太太惶惑不安。她無法想象這個人剛到赫特福德郡不久怎么可能就要進城有事。于是，她開始擔心，他現在可能是經常東奔西跑，根本居無定所，應該定居在內瑟菲爾德莊園才是。盧卡斯太太對她說，他到倫敦只是去邀請那一大群客人來參加舞會，這才稍微打消了她的一些顧慮。不久又傳來報告說，賓利先生要帶十二位女士和六位男士參加聚會。姑娘們對要來這么多女士大為傷心；但是，在舞會前一天，聽說他從倫敦帶來的女士只有六位，而不是十二位，五位是他的姐妹，一位是表姐妹，她們這才放心。而當參加舞會的人進場時，總共才五位；賓利先生、他的兩個姐妹、他的姐夫和一名小伙子。

賓利先生模樣英俊，舉止高雅，和顏悅色，從容自然。他的姐妹美麗出色，落落大方。他的姐夫赫斯特先生只是看上去像紳士，但他的朋友達西先生很快就吸引了全屋人的注意，因為他身材高大，眉清目秀，舉止高貴，而且進場后不到五分鐘，大家都紛紛傳說他每年有一萬英鎊收入。先生們都說他是美男子，女士們說他比賓利先生英俊得多，晚會上大約有一半時間人們都以贊賞的目光看著他，后來他的舉止令人反感，這使他的聲望急轉直下，因為人們發現他妄自尊大，難以合群，誰都討好不了他；他既然擺起一副令人生畏、難以相處的面貌，那無論他在德比郡有多大財產，也挽救不了他，也不配跟他的朋友相比。

賓利先生很快就已經熟悉了全場所有的主要人物；他充滿活力，毫無保留，每場舞都要跳。他生氣的是，舞會散場得這么早。他又談起自己要在內瑟菲爾德莊園開一次舞會。他這些和藹可親的品質肯定不言而喻。他和他的朋友之間是多么鮮明的對比！達西先生只跟赫斯特太太和賓利小姐各跳過一次舞，拒絕被介紹給任何其他女士，整個晚上剩下的時間都在屋里走來走去，偶爾跟同來的人說說話。他的性格顯而易見。他是世界上最高傲、更可厭的人，人人都希望他再也不要來了。其中對他最反感的是貝內特太太，她討厭他的整個行為，而且這種討厭越來越重，變成了一種特殊的怨恨，因為他怠慢了她的一個女兒。

舞會上男士們少，有兩次跳舞時，伊麗莎白·貝內特只好坐下來。其中一段時間，達西先生一直站在距離她足夠近的地方。他和賓利先生之間的談話，她無意中都聽到了。賓利先生離開了舞場幾分鐘，硬逼他的朋友一起跳。

“來吧，達西，”他說，“我一定讓你跳。我不喜歡你一個人這樣傻傻地站來站去。你最好還是去跳吧。”

“我肯定不會去。你知道我是多么憎恨跳舞，除非我跟舞伴特別熟悉。參加這樣的舞會，真讓人受不了。你的姐妹們都在跳，要是讓舞場里的另一個女人跟我跳，那就沒有一個不讓我活受罪。”

“我絕不會像你這樣挑剔！”賓利先生大聲說道，“說實話，我這輩子從來沒有見過今晚這么多討人喜歡的姑娘；你看，其中好幾個都美麗絕倫。”

“你正在跟屋里唯一漂亮的姑娘跳舞。”達西先生望著貝內特家的大小姐說。

“噢！她是我見過的最漂亮的姑娘！不過，她有一個妹妹也非常漂亮，就坐在你的身后，我敢說人見人愛。請讓我的舞伴介紹你認識吧。”

“你說的是哪一個？”說著，他轉過身，看了伊麗莎白一會兒，直到跟她的目光相遇，才收回了自己的目光，冷冷地說道：“她還算可以，但并不是漂亮得足以吸引我；目前我沒有心情去重視那些受到別的男人怠慢的小姐。你最好回到舞伴的身邊欣賞她的笑臉吧，因為你跟我在一起是在浪費時間。”

賓利先生聽從他的建議。達西先生走開了；伊麗莎白仍然沒有對他有什么好感。然而，她興致勃勃地把這件事告訴了朋友們，因為她性情活潑，愛開玩笑，對一切可笑之事都津津樂道。

總體來說，這天晚上貝內特全家人過得非常開心。貝內特太太看見那些去內瑟菲爾德莊園的人都非常喜歡她的大女兒。賓利先生跟她跳了兩次舞，賓利先生的兩個姐妹也對她刮目相看。簡像她的媽媽一樣滿心歡喜，但又比較文靜。伊麗莎白為簡感到高興。瑪麗聽到有人向賓利小姐提起她是這一帶最多才多藝的姑娘；凱瑟琳和麗迪雅非常幸運，每次都沒有缺過舞伴；這是每次舞會時她們唯一關心的一件事。因此，母女們精神抖擻地回到了她們居住的朗伯恩村，她們是這個村里的旺族。她們發現貝內特先生還沒有睡覺。他只要拿起一本書，就忘記了時間；這次，他懷著極大的好奇心，想知道這個讓大家朝思暮想的盛大晚會是什么情形。他寧希望太太對那個陌生人失望，但他很快就發現他聽到的事實大相徑庭。

“噢！親愛的貝內特先生，”貝內特太太一邊進屋，一邊說，“我們這一夜玩得開心極了，舞會開得棒極了。你要是去就好了。人們對簡贊不絕口，這什么也比不上。人人都說她長得是多么出色；賓利先生覺得她美麗絕倫，還跟她跳了兩次舞。親愛的，試想一下吧，他居然跟簡跳了兩次；舞場里，只有她受到了他第二次邀請。首先，他請的是盧卡斯小姐。看到賓利先生陪伴她，我十分惱火；不過，他一點也看不上她。其實，你知道，誰也不會看上她；當簡走下舞池時，他好像對她非常著迷。于是，他就打聽她是誰，請人介紹，然后邀她跳下一場舞。那么，第三場舞他是跟金小姐一起跳，第四場是跟瑪麗亞·盧卡斯跳，第五場又跟簡跳，第六場是跟麗齊跳，還有布朗熱——”

“他要是體諒我的話，”她的丈夫不耐煩地嚷道，“他就連一半都不會跳了！行行好，不要再說他那些舞伴了。噢！他第一場舞就把腳踝扭傷才好呢！”

“噢！親愛的，”貝內特太太接著說道，“我對他相當滿意。他真是一表人才！他的兩個姐妹也格外迷人。她們的衣服真講究，我這輩子從來沒有見過。我敢說，赫斯特太太衣服上的花邊——”

說到這里，她又被打斷了。貝內特先生不愿聽她對華麗服飾的任何描述。因此，她只好另找話題，非常刻薄、有些夸張地說起了達西先生令人震驚的粗暴無禮行為。

“不過，我可以告訴你，”她補充說，“麗齊不合他的意，這對麗齊并沒有多少損失，因為他是一個極其討厭、可怕的人，不值得討好。那樣高傲，那樣自負，讓人難以容忍他！他時而走到這里，時而走到那里，以為自己多么了不起！不漂亮，就不夠格跟他跳舞！親愛的，真希望你當時在場，好好教訓他一頓。我討厭死那個人了。”