《傲慢与偏见》 第18章(1)

TILL Elizabeth entered the drawing-room at Netherfield and looked in vain for Mr. Wickham among the cluster of red coats there assembled, a doubt of his being present had never occurred to her. The certainty of meeting him had not been checked by any of those recollections that might not unreasonably¹ have alarmed her. She had dressed with more than usual care, and prepared in the highest spirits for the conquest of all that remained unsubdued of his heart, trusting that it was not more than might be won in the course of the evening. But in an instant arose the dreadful suspicion of his being purposely omitted for Mr. Darcy's pleasure in the Bingleys' invitation to the officers; and though this was not exactly the case, the absolute fact of his absence was pronounced by his friend Mr. Denny, to whom Lydia eagerly applied², and who told them that Wickham had been obliged to go to town on business the day before, and was not yet returned; adding, with a significant smile, "I do not imagine his business would have called him away just now, if he had not wished to avoid a certain gentleman here."

伊丽莎白走进尼日斐花园的会客室，在一群穿着“红制服”的人们里面寻找韦翰先生，找来找去都找不着，这时候她才怀疑他也许不会来了。她本以为他一定会来，虽然想起了过去的种种事情而颇为担心，可是她的信心并没有因此受到影响，她比平常更小心地打扮了一番，高高兴兴地准备要把他那颗没有被征服的心全部征服，她相信在今天的晚会上，一定会让她把他那颗心完全赢到手。但是过了一会儿，她起了一种可怕的怀疑：莫不是彬格莱先生请军官们的时候，为了讨达西先生的好，故意没有请韦翰吗？虽然事实并非如此，不过他缺席的原委马上就由他的朋友丹尼先生宣布了。这是因为丽迪雅迫不及待地问丹尼，丹尼就告诉她们说，韦翰前一天上城里有事去了，还没有回来，又带着意味深长的微笑补充了几句：“我想，他要不是为了要回避这儿的某一位先生，决不会就这么凑巧，偏偏这时候因事缺席。”

This part of his intelligence, though unheard by Lydia, was caught by Elizabeth, and as it assured her that Darcy was not less answerable for Wickham's absence than if her first surmise³ had been just, every feeling of displeasure against the former was so sharpened by immediate⁴ disappointment, that she could hardly reply with tolerable civility to the polite inquiries⁵ which he directly afterwards approached to make. -- Attention, forbearance, patience with Darcy, was injury to Wickham. She was resolved against any sort of conversation with him, and turned away with a degree of ill humour, which she could not wholly surmount⁶ even in speaking to Mr. Bingley, whose blind partiality provoked her.

他这个消息丽迪雅虽然没有听见，却给伊丽莎白听见了。伊丽莎白因此断定：关于韦翰缺席的原因，虽然她开头没有猜对，却依旧是达西先生一手造成的。她觉得非常扫兴，对达西也就越发起了反感，因此接下来当达西走上前来向她问好的时候，她简直不能好声好气地回答他。要知道，对达西殷勤，宽容，忍耐，就等于伤害韦翰。她决定不跟他说一句话，怏怏不乐地掉过头来就走，甚至跟彬格莱先生说起话来也不大快乐，因为他对达西的盲目偏爱引起了她的气愤。

But Elizabeth was not formed for ill-humour; and though every prospect⁷ of her own was destroyed for the evening, it could not dwell long on her spirits; and having told all her griefs to Charlotte Lucas, whom she had not seen for a week, she was soon able to make a voluntary transition to the oddities of her cousin, and to point him out to her particular notice. The two first dances, however, brought a return of distress⁸; they were dances of mortification⁹. Mr. Collins, awkward and solemn, apologising instead of attending, and often moving wrong without being aware of it, gave her all the shame and misery¹⁰ which a disagreeable partner for a couple of dances can give. The moment of her release from him was exstacy.

伊丽莎白天生不大会发脾气，虽然她今天晚上大为扫兴，可是她情绪上并没有不愉快多少时候。她先把满腔的愁苦都告诉了那位一星期没有见面的夏绿蒂·卢卡斯小姐，过了一会儿又自告奋勇地把她表兄奇奇怪怪的情形讲给她听，一面又特别把他指出来给他看。头两场舞重新使他觉得烦恼，那是两场活受罪的跳舞。柯林斯先生又呆笨又刻板，只知道道歉，却不知道小心一些，往往脚步弄错了自己还不知道。他真是个十足叫人讨厌的舞伴，使她丢尽了脸，受尽了罪。因此，从他手里解脱出来，真叫她喜欢欲狂。

She danced next with an officer, and had the refreshment¹¹ of talking of Wickham, and of hearing that he was universally liked. When those dances were over she returned to Charlotte Lucas, and was in conversation with her, when she found herself suddenly addressed by Mr. Darcy, who took her so much by surprise in his application for her hand, that, without knowing what she did, she accepted him. He walked away again immediately, and she was left to fret¹² over her own want of presence of mind; Charlotte tried to console her.

她接着跟一位军官跳舞，跟他谈起韦翰的事。听他说，韦翰是个到处讨人喜爱的人，于是她精神上舒服了许多。跳过这几场舞以后，她就回到夏绿蒂·卢卡斯身边，跟她谈话，这时候突然听到达西先生叫她，出其不意地请她跳舞，她吃了一惊，竟然不由自主地答应了他。达西跳过以后便立刻走开了，于是她口口声声怪自己为什么这样没主意。夏绿蒂尽力安慰她。

"I dare say you will find him very agreeable."

“你将来一定会发觉他很讨人喜欢的。”

"Heaven forbid! -- That would be the greatest misfortune of all! -- To find a man agreeable whom one is determined¹³ to hate! -- Do not wish me such an evil."

“天不容！那才叫做倒了大的霉呢！下定决心去恨一个人，竟会一下子又喜欢起他来！别这样咒我吧。”

1 unreasonably   

adv. 不合理地

参考例句：

• He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄，无事生非，平庸刻薄的人。
• Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 surmount   

vt.克服；置于…顶上

参考例句：

• We have many problems to surmount before we can start the project.我们得克服许多困难才能著手做这项工作。
• We are fully confident that we can surmount these difficulties.我们完全相信我们能够克服这些困难。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

9 mortification   

n.耻辱，屈辱

参考例句：

• To my mortification, my manuscript was rejected. 使我感到失面子的是：我的稿件被退了回来。
• The chairman tried to disguise his mortification. 主席试图掩饰自己的窘迫。

10 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

11 refreshment   

n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点

参考例句：

• He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他须时不时地停下来喘口气。
• A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗个热水澡真是舒畅。

12 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。