第3章

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.”

尽管贝内特太太有五个女儿协助，向她的丈夫问起宾利先生的情况，但他的回答都不足以让她满意。母女们以各种方式对付他——露骨的提问、巧妙的假设，以及离题遥远的猜测，而他都一一巧妙地避开了。最后，她们不得不接受邻居卢卡斯太太的间接消息。她的报告都非常有利。威廉爵士对他十分满意。他相当年轻，一表人才，特别谦和，最重要的是，他想要请一大群客人参加下次的舞会。这是再开心不过的事儿了！喜欢跳舞是坠入情网的某一个步骤；大家都热烈希望去博得宾利先生的那颗心。

“只要能看到一个女儿在内瑟菲尔德庄园幸福安家，”贝内特太太对她的丈夫说，“看到其他几个也都同样门当户对，我就不盼什么了。”

没过几天，宾利先生就回访了贝内特先生，跟他在书房里坐了大约有十分钟。他早就多次听说过贝内特家小姐们的如花美貌，满怀希望能一睹芳容，但他只见到了她们的父亲。几位小姐有几分幸运，因为她们处在有利的位置，从楼上的窗口看清了他身穿一件蓝外套，骑着一匹黑骏马。

之后不久，贝内特一家就发出了邀他赴宴的请帖；贝内特太太已经计划好了几道菜，这些菜都会给她当家主事增光添彩，得到的回帖则是一切延期。第二天，宾利先生不得不进城去，因此不能接受他们的邀请云云。贝内特太太惶惑不安。她无法想象这个人刚到赫特福德郡不久怎么可能就要进城有事。于是，她开始担心，他现在可能是经常东奔西跑，根本居无定所，应该定居在内瑟菲尔德庄园才是。卢卡斯太太对她说，他到伦敦只是去邀请那一大群客人来参加舞会，这才稍微打消了她的一些顾虑。不久又传来报告说，宾利先生要带十二位女士和六位男士参加聚会。姑娘们对要来这么多女士大为伤心；但是，在舞会前一天，听说他从伦敦带来的女士只有六位，而不是十二位，五位是他的姐妹，一位是表姐妹，她们这才放心。而当参加舞会的人进场时，总共才五位；宾利先生、他的两个姐妹、他的姐夫和一名小伙子。

宾利先生模样英俊，举止高雅，和颜悦色，从容自然。他的姐妹美丽出色，落落大方。他的姐夫赫斯特先生只是看上去像绅士，但他的朋友达西先生很快就吸引了全屋人的注意，因为他身材高大，眉清目秀，举止高贵，而且进场后不到五分钟，大家都纷纷传说他每年有一万英镑收入。先生们都说他是美男子，女士们说他比宾利先生英俊得多，晚会上大约有一半时间人们都以大大赞赏的目光看着他，后来他的举止令人反感，这使他的声望急转直下，因为人们发现他妄自尊大，难以合群，谁都讨好不了他；他既然摆起一副令人生畏、难以相处的面貌，那无论他在德比郡有多大财产，也挽救不了他，也不配跟他的朋友相比。

宾利先生很快就已经熟悉了全场所有的主要人物；他充满活力，毫无保留，每场舞都要跳。他生气的是，舞会散场得这么早。他又谈起自己要在内瑟菲尔德庄园开一次舞会。他这些和蔼可亲的品质肯定不言而喻。他和他的朋友之间是多么鲜明的对比！达西先生只跟赫斯特太太和宾利小姐各跳过一次舞，拒绝被介绍给任何其他女士，整个晚上剩下的时间都在屋里走来走去，偶尔跟同来的人说说话。他的性格显而易见。他是世界上最高傲、更可厌的人，人人都希望他再也不要来了。其中对他最反感的是贝内特太太，她讨厌他的整个行为，而且这种讨厌越来越重，变成了一种特殊的怨恨，因为他怠慢了她的一个女儿。

舞会上男士们少，有两次跳舞时，伊丽莎白·贝内特只好坐下来。其中一段时间，达西先生一直站在距离她足够近的地方。他和宾利先生之间的谈话，她无意中都听到了。宾利先生离开了舞场几分钟，硬逼他的朋友一起跳。

“来吧，达西，”他说，“我一定让你跳。我不喜欢你一个人这样傻傻地站来站去。你最好还是去跳吧。”

“我肯定不会去。你知道我是多么憎恨跳舞，除非我跟舞伴特别熟悉。参加这样的舞会，真让人受不了。你的姐妹们都在跳，要是让舞场里的另一个女人跟我跳，那就没有一个不让我活受罪。”

“我绝不会像你这样挑剔！”宾利先生大声说道，“说实话，我这辈子从来没有见过今晚这么多讨人喜欢的姑娘；你看，其中好几个都美丽绝伦。”

“你正在跟屋里唯一漂亮的姑娘跳舞。”达西先生望着贝内特家的大小姐说。

“噢！她是我见过的最漂亮的姑娘！不过，她有一个妹妹也非常漂亮，就坐在你的身后，我敢说人见人爱。请让我的舞伴介绍你认识吧。”

“你说的是哪一个？”说着，他转过身，看了伊丽莎白一会儿，直到跟她的目光相遇，才收回了自己的目光，冷冷地说道：“她还算可以，但并不是漂亮得足以吸引我；目前我没有心情去重视那些受到别的男人怠慢的小姐。你最好回到舞伴的身边欣赏她的笑脸吧，因为你跟我在一起是在浪费时间。”

宾利先生听从他的建议。达西先生走开了；伊丽莎白仍然没有对他有什么好感。然而，她兴致勃勃地把这件事告诉了朋友们，因为她性情活泼，爱开玩笑，对一切可笑之事都津津乐道。

总体来说，这天晚上贝内特全家人过得非常开心。贝内特太太看见那些去内瑟菲尔德庄园的人都非常喜欢她的大女儿。宾利先生跟她跳了两次舞，宾利先生的两个姐妹也对她刮目相看。简像她的妈妈一样满心欢喜，但又比较文静。伊丽莎白为简感到高兴。玛丽听到有人向宾利小姐提起她是这一带最多才多艺的姑娘；凯瑟琳和丽迪雅非常幸运，每次都没有缺过舞伴；这是每次舞会时她们唯一关心的一件事。因此，母女们精神抖擞地回到了她们居住的朗伯恩村，她们是这个村里的旺族。她们发现贝内特先生还没有睡觉。他只要拿起一本书，就忘记了时间；这次，他怀着极大的好奇心，想知道这个让大家朝思暮想的盛大晚会是什么情形。他宁愿希望太太对那个陌生人失望，但他很快就发现他听到的事实大相径庭。

“噢！亲爱的贝内特先生，”贝内特太太一边进屋，一边说，“我们这一夜玩得开心极了，舞会开得棒极了。你要是去就好了。人们对简赞不绝口，这什么也比不上。人人都说她长得是多么出色；宾利先生觉得她美丽绝伦，还跟她跳了两次舞。亲爱的，试想一下吧，他居然跟简跳了两次；舞场里，只有她受到了他第二次邀请。首先，他请的是卢卡斯小姐。看到宾利先生陪伴她，我十分恼火；不过，他一点也看不上她。其实，你知道，谁也不会看上她；当简走下舞池时，他好像对她非常着迷。于是，他就打听她是谁，请人介绍，然后邀她跳下一场舞。那么，第三场舞他是跟金小姐一起跳，第四场是跟玛丽亚·卢卡斯跳，第五场又跟简跳，第六场是跟丽齐跳，还有布朗热——”

“他要是体谅我的话，”她的丈夫不耐烦地嚷道，“他就连一半都不会跳了！行行好，不要再说他那些舞伴了。噢！他第一场舞就把脚踝扭伤才好呢！”

“噢！亲爱的，”贝内特太太接着说道，“我对他相当满意。他真是一表人才！他的两个姐妹也格外迷人。她们的衣服真讲究，我这辈子从来没有见过。我敢说，赫斯特太太衣服上的花边——”

说到这里，她又被打断了。贝内特先生不愿听她对华丽服饰的任何描述。因此，她只好另找话题，非常刻薄、有些夸张地说起了达西先生令人震惊的粗暴无礼。

“不过，我可以告诉你，”她补充说，“丽齐不合他的意，这对丽齐并没有多少损失，因为他是一个极其讨厌、可怕的人，不值得讨好。那样高傲，那样自负，让人难以容忍他！他时而走到这里，时而走到那里，以为自己多么了不起！不漂亮，就不够格跟他跳舞！亲爱的，真希望你当时在场，好好教训他一顿。我讨厌死那个人了。”