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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.
不久，伊丽莎白又变得活泼调皮起来，她想让达西把他最初是怎么爱上她的讲给她听。“你这爱是何时开始的？”她问，
“I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?”
“一旦你心生爱念，我知道你就会好好地珍惜它了。不过，到底是什么使你最初动了这种心思的呢？”
“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.”
“我也说不准具体是在什么时间、什么地点，你的那一颦那一笑，你的那一言那一语，开始叫我爱上了你。这是好久以前的事了。当我意识到的时候，我已在爱河中跋涉了一半的里程了。”
“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?”
“我的容貌在开始时就打动不了你的心，至于说到我的举止态度嘛，我对你至少是不礼貌的，我跟你说话时，总是想刺伤你。现在你就老实说吧，你那时候是不是喜欢上了我对你的无礼呢？”
“For the liveliness of your mind, I did.”
“说到它表现了你脑子的灵活和聪颖，是这样的。”
“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.
“你还不如直接把它称作唐突无礼。这样说一点儿也不过分。事实上是，你对多礼、毕恭毕敬、过分的殷勤已经厌恶了。你已经腻味了那样的女人，她们的谈吐、笑颜和思想都是为了讨得你的欢心。我之所以能撩动了你的心，令你感兴趣，是因为我和她们完全不同。
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.”
如果你的心地不是真正美好的话，你早就会为此而恨上我了。尽管你面上努力做出一副冷峻高傲的样子，你的感情始终是高尚和公正的，你非常鄙视那些阿谀奉承你的人们。这儿，我已经代劳为你做了解释。真的，经过通盘的考虑后，我开始觉得你的爱十分的合情合理了。可以肯定，你当时并不了解我的优点，不过，有谁是想到了这一点才去爱的呢。”
“Was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to Jane while she was ill at Netherfield?”
“吉英生病留在尼塞费尔德的时候，你对她体贴入微的照顾，不就表现出你的优点吗？”
“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;
“可爱的吉英！有谁不愿意为她多做一点儿呢？我们姑且把这看作是我的一种好的德行吧。我的优点反正都在你的卵翼之下了，而且被你尽可能地夸大了。可是我却在不断地寻找机会与你争执和纠缠。
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?”
闲话少说，还是让我来问你吧，为什么后来你不愿再提起你对我的爱了呢？你这次回来后第一次到我家，随后是第二次在我家吃晚饭，这两次来家，你为什么那么羞于见到我呢？尤其是在你来了以后，你为什么要显出一副完全不把我放在心上的样子呢？”
“Because you were grave and silent, and gave me no encouragement.”
“因为你那板着的面孔和一声不语，使我不敢上前攀谈。”
“But I was embarrassed.”
“我那是难为情呀。”
“And so was I.”
“我也是呀。”
“You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”
“当我们坐下来吃饭的时候，你本来有机会跟我多说上几句的。”
“A man who had felt less, might.”
“如果我的感情不是那么充溢的话，我会的。”
“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!
“你竟然给出了一个合情合理的解释，而我呢，也竟然会这么通情达理地接受它。不过，我真不知道要是我也不理你，你自己会拖到什么时候。要不是我问你，我真不知道你什么时候才会开口。
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.”
我决心要感谢你，感谢你为丽迪雅所做的一切，这一点一定起了很大的作用。我担心这一影响是太大了，我们的幸福若是来自对诺言的反悔，在道义上怎么说得过去呢？我当时就不应该提这件事。我这么做，无论怎么说也是不对的。”
“You need not distress yourself. The moral will be perfectly fair. Lady Catherine’s unjustifiable endeavours to separate us were the means of removing all my doubts. I am not indebted for my present happiness to your eager desire of expressing your gratitude. I was not in a humour to wait for any opening of yours. My aunt’s intelligence had given me hope, and I was determined at once to know every thing.”
“你不必自责。道义上完全说得过去。是凯瑟琳夫人那种不正当地企图拆散我们的努力，最终驱散了我的疑团。我并不认为我眼下的幸福，是来自你那一急切想要对我表达感激之情的愿望，我并没有想着一切要等你开口。我姨妈的信息已经给了我希望，因此我立刻决定把事情弄个明白。”
“Lady Catherine has been of infinite use, which ought to make her happy, for she loves to be of use. But tell me, what did you come down to Netherfield for? Was it merely to ride to Longbourn and be embarrassed? or had you intended any more serious consequence?”
“凯瑟琳夫人的作用可真是太大了，她该为此高兴才对。因为她一向喜欢对别人有用嘛。不过，请告诉我，你这次来尼塞费尔德是要干什么呢？难道只是为了骑着马来找难为情吗？还是有更重要的目的呢？”
“My real purpose was to see you, and to judge, if I could, whether I might ever hope to make you love me. My avowed one, or what I avowed to myself, was to see whether your sister were still partial to Bingley, and if she were, to make the confession to him which I have since made.”
“我真正的目的是来看你，如果可能的话，判定一下我是否还有希望让你爱上我。我对别人或是对自己说出来的理由，则是为了来看看你姐姐是否仍然对彬格莱有情，如果是，我就把事情的原委向彬格莱坦白。”
“Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine what is to befall her?”
“你有勇气向凯瑟琳夫人宣布这件她自食其果的事情吗？”
“I am more likely to want more time than courage, Elizabeth. But it ought to be done, and if you will give me a sheet of paper, it shall be done directly.”
“我现在更缺乏的是时间而不是勇气，伊丽莎白。不过，这件事总得来做，如果你给我一张纸，我现在马上就给她写信。”
“And if I had not a letter to write myself, I might sit by you and admire the evenness of your writing, as another young lady once did. But I have an aunt, too, who must not be longer neglected.”
“如若不是我也有封信要写，我也许便会坐在你旁边，像另外那位年轻小姐曾经做过的那样，来赞赏你工整的笔体了。可是我也有个舅妈，再不能不回信给她啦。”
From an unwillingness to confess how much her intimacy with Mr. Darcy had been over-rated, Elizabeth had never yet answered Mrs. Gardiner’s long letter; but now, having that to communicate which she knew would be most welcome, she was almost ashamed to find that her uncle and aunt had already lost three days of happiness, and immediately wrote as follows:
由于不情愿承认她和达西先生之间的关系是被舅妈过高地估计了，伊丽莎白一直没有答复嘉丁纳太太的那封长信。现在有了这个最为可喜的消息要告诉舅妈，她却有些不好意思地发现，她已经让舅父母多等了三天了。她要马上写信，好让他们分享这一幸福：
“I would have thanked you before, my dear aunt, as I ought to have done, for your long, kind, satisfactory, detail of particulars; but to say the truth, I was too cross to write. You supposed more than really existed.
亲爱的舅妈，对你在信中所描述的那些亲切而又令人满意的详情细节，我本当早向你表示感谢才对。只是我当时的心情实在不好，无法写回信。你当时所想象的情况，超过了现实很远。
But now suppose as much as you choose; give a loose rein to your fancy, indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford, and unless you believe me actually married, you cannot greatly err. You must write again very soon, and praise him a great deal more than you did in your last.
可是现在，关于这件事，任凭你怎么想都不怕了，放开你的想象力，让你的想象力插上翅膀任意地去翱翔吧，只要你不认为我已经结婚了，便不会错到哪里去。你一定要马上给我回信，再把达西大大地赞扬一番，甚至要超过你的上一封信。
I thank you, again and again, for not going to the Lakes. How could I be so silly as to wish it! Your idea of the ponies is delightful. We will go round the Park every day. I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh. Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me. You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas. Yours, etc.”
我们没到湖区旅游，真是万幸。我怎么会那么傻，非要到湖区不可呢？你说要弄几匹小马游园，这个主意很好。以后我们每天都可以在彭伯利庄园里尽情地游玩了。我现在是世界上最幸福的人啦。这话以前或许有人说过，可是他们谁也没有我这么充分的理由。我甚至比吉英还要幸福。她只是微微地抿着嘴笑，而我是放声大笑。达西用他还剩有的爱问候你，希望你们都来彭伯利过圣诞节。你的外甥女儿。
Mr. Darcy’s letter to Lady Catherine was in a different style; and still different from either was what Mr. Bennet sent to Mr. Collins, in reply to his last.
达西先生给凯瑟琳的信，则完全是用另外一种风格写的；与这两个人都不同的，是班纳特先生为答复科林斯先生而写的回信：
“Dear Sir,
亲爱的先生：
“I must trouble you once more for congratulations. Elizabeth will soon be the wife of Mr. Darcy. Console Lady Catherine as well as you can. But, if I were you, I would stand by the nephew. He has more to give. “Yours sincerely, etc.”
我必须要劳驾你再恭维我一次。伊丽莎白很快就要做达西先生的妻子了。请尽你的可能去安慰凯瑟琳夫人吧。不过，如果我是你，我就会站在她侄子这一边。因为他能给予你更多。
Miss Bingley’s congratulations to her brother, on his approaching marriage, were all that was affectionate and insincere. She wrote even to Jane on the occasion, to express her delight, and repeat all her former professions of regard. Jane was not deceived, but she was affected; and though feeling no reliance on her, could not help writing her a much kinder answer than she knew was deserved.
彬格莱小姐在哥哥结婚前夕送来了祝福，虽说不胜亲切但毫无诚意。她甚至还给吉英写了一封信，表示恭喜，又把她以前的那些对她有好感的话重复了一遍。吉英再不会受蒙骗了，不过她还是受到了感动；尽管跟彬格莱小姐已经没有了以前的情谊，吉英还是给她回了一封信，语气词句之亲切是彬格莱小姐所不配享有的。
The joy which Miss Darcy expressed on receiving similar information, was as sincere as her brother’s in sending it. Four sides of paper were insufficient to contain all her delight, and all her earnest desire of being loved by her sister.
达西小姐得知这一消息后来信所表达的喜悦，正像她哥哥给她的信中所表达的一样真挚。满满的四页纸也盛不下她的欣喜和她期盼嫂子会喜爱自己的殷切心情。
Before any answer could arrive from Mr. Collins, or any congratulations to Elizabeth from his wife, the Longbourn family heard that the Collinses were come themselves to Lucas Lodge. The reason of this sudden removal was soon evident. Lady Catherine had been rendered so exceedingly angry by the contents of her nephew’s letter, that Charlotte, really rejoicing in the match, was anxious to get away till the storm was blown over.
还没等到从科林斯先生那儿传来任何音讯，或是从他妻子那儿传来对伊丽莎白的任何祝贺，浪博恩一家就听说科林斯夫妇自己要回鲁卡斯府上来了。这突然要回来的原因很快就清楚了。凯瑟琳夫人为她姨侄的信气得大动肝火，而为这门亲事真正感到欣喜的卡洛蒂则想赶快回娘家去，避开这场风暴。
At such a moment, the arrival of her friend was a sincere pleasure to Elizabeth, though in the course of their meetings she must sometimes think the pleasure dearly bought, when she saw Mr. Darcy exposed to all the parading and obsequious civility of her husband. He bore it, however, with admirable calmness.
在这样的时刻，有朋友能来到身边，对伊丽莎白来说真是一件值得高兴的事，尽管她们每次见面时，伊丽莎白看到达西先生受到科林斯阿谀奉承的折磨，不免想到这一愉快也是要付出代价的。不过，达西先生倒是能非常平静地忍受。
He could even listen to Sir William Lucas, when he complimented him on carrying away the brightest jewel of the country, and expressed his hopes of their all meeting frequently at St. James’s, with very decent composure. If he did shrug his shoulders, it was not till Sir William was out of sight.
他甚至能够和颜悦色地听着威廉·鲁卡斯爵士的夸赞，说他摘走了他们这里最明亮的一颗珠宝，并希望他们以后常常在宫中碰面。如果看到达西先生在无奈地耸着肩膀，那也是在威廉爵士走开了以后。
Mrs. Phillips’s vulgarity was another, and perhaps a greater, tax on his forbearance; and though Mrs. Phillips, as well as her sister, stood in too much awe of him to speak with the familiarity which Bingley’s good humour encouraged, yet, whenever she did speak, she must be vulgar.
菲利普太太的粗俗是对达西先生忍耐力的另一大考验，虽然菲利普太太跟她姐姐一样，也很敬畏达西，不敢跟他像跟彬格莱那样随便地交谈。可是只要她开口，便让人觉得俗不可耐。
Nor was her respect for him, though it made her more quiet, at all likely to make her more elegant. Elizabeth did all she could to shield him from the frequent notice of either, and was ever anxious to keep him to herself, and to those of her family with whom he might converse without mortification;
她对他的敬畏也是如此，尽管照理说由于敬重，她开口少，举止该会变得文雅一点儿才是。伊丽莎白尽一切可能，使达西避开母亲和姨妈的纠缠，让他和自己还有她的其他家人待在一起。
and though the uncomfortable feelings arising from all this took from the season of courtship much of its pleasure, it added to the hope of the future; and she looked forward with delight to the time when they should be removed from society so little pleasing to either, to all the comfort and elegance of their family party at Pemberley.
虽说由此引起的这些不适的情绪大大减少了他们热恋中的欢乐，却也增加了他们对未来的憧憬和期盼。伊丽莎白兴奋地盼望着那一天的到来，那时他们便会摆脱了这儿的无聊应酬，在彭伯利他们自己的家里优雅舒适地享受生活。
