Pride and Prejudice
傲慢与偏见
小乡绅班纳特有五个待字闺中的千金，班纳特太
太整天操心着为女儿物色称心如意的丈夫。 新来的邻
居彬格莱在一次舞会上，对班纳特家的大女儿简一见
钟情，班纳特太太为此欣喜若狂。彬格莱的好友达西
对伊丽莎白产生了好感，在另一次舞会上主动请她同
舞，却遭到伊丽莎白的拒绝，达西狼狈不堪。经过了
一系列的变化后，伊丽莎白对达西的偏见转化成了真
诚之爱。 一对曾因傲慢和偏见而延搁婚事的有情人终
成了眷属。
[ 英] 简·奥斯汀（Jane Austen）
This was enough to prove that her approbation need not be
doubted： and Elizabeth，rejoicing that such an effusion was heard
only by herself，soon went away. But before she had been three
minutes in her own room，her mother followed her.
“My dearest child，”she cried，“I can think of nothing else！
Ten thousand a year，and very likely more！ Tis as good as a Lord！
And a special licence. You must and shall be married by a special
licence. But my dearest love，tell me what dish Mr. Darcy is
particularly fond of，that I may have it tomorrow.”
This was a sad omen of what her mother’s behaviour to the
gentleman himself might be ；and Elizabeth found that，though
in the certain possession of his warmest affection，and secure
of her relations’consent，there was still something to be wished
for. But the morrow passed off much better than she expected ；
for Mrs. Bennet luckily stood in such awe of her intended sonin-
law that she ventured not to speak to him，unless it was in her
power to offer him any attention，or mark her deference for his
opinion.
Elizabeth had the satisfaction of seeing her father taking
pains to get acquainted with him ；and Mr. Bennet soon assured
her that he was rising every hour in his esteem.
“I a dmi r e a l l my t h r e e s o n s - i n - l a w h i g h l y，”s a i d
he.“Wickham，perhaps，is my favourite ；but I think I shall like
your husband quite as well as Jane’s.”
Elizabeth’s spirits soon rising to playfulness again，she
wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with
her.“How could you begin？”said she.“I can comprehend your
going on charmingly，when you had once made a beginning ；but
what could set you off in the first place？”
“I cannot fix on the hour，or the spot，or the look，or the
words，which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the
middle before I knew that I had begun .”
“My beauty you had early withstood，and as for my
manners — my behaviour to you was at least always bordering
on the uncivil，and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to
give you pain than not. Now be sincere ；did you admire me for
my impertinence？”
“For the liveliness of your mind，I did.”
“You may as well call it impertinence at once. It was very little
less. The fact is，that you were sick of civility，of deference，of
officious attention. You were disgusted with the women who were
always speaking and looking，and thinking for your approbation
alone. I roused，and interested you，because I was so unlike them.
Had you not been really amiable，you would have hated me for
it ；but in spite of the pains you took to disguise yourself，your
feelings were always noble and just ；and in your heart，you
thoroughly despised the persons who so assiduously courted you.
There — I have saved you the trouble of accounting for it ；and really，
all things considered，I begin to think it perfectly reasonable. To
be sure，you knew no actual good of me — but nobody thinks of
that when they fall in love.”
“Was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to Jane，
while she was ill at Netherfield？”
“Dearest Jane！ Who could have done less for her？ But
make a virtue of it by all means. My good qualities are under your
protection，and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible ；
and，in return，it belongs to me to find occasions for teasing and
quarrelling with you as often as may be ；and I shall begin directly
by asking you what made you so unwilling to come to the point
at last.What made you so shy of me，when you first called，and
afterwards dined here？ Why，especially，when you called，did
you look as if you did not care about me？”
“Because you were grave and silent，and gave me no
encouragement.”
“But I was embarrassed.”
“And so was I.”
“You might have talked to me more when you came to
dinner.”
“A man who had felt less，might.”
“How unlucky that you should have a reasonable answer
to give，and that I should be so reasonable as to admit it！ But I
wonder how long you would have gone on，if you had been left
to yourself. I wonder when you would have spoken，if I had not
asked you！ My resolution of thanking you for your kindness to
Lydia had certainly great effect. Too much，I am afraid ；for what
becomes of the moral，if our comfort springs from a breach of
promise？ for I ought not to have mentioned the subject. This will
never do.”