評論
打印
"How unfortunate that you should have used such very strong expressions in speaking of Wickham to Mr. Darcy, for now they do appear wholly undeserved."
“你在達西先生面前說到韋翰的時候，語氣那么強硬，這真是多么不幸啊！現在看起來，那些話實在顯得不怎么得體。”
"Certainly. But the misfortune of speaking with bitterness is a most natural consequence of the prejudices I had been encouraging. There is one point on which I want your advice. I want to be told whether I ought, or ought not, to make our acquaintance in general understand Wickham's character."
“的確如此，我確實不應該說得那么刻毒，可是我既然事先存了偏見，自然難免如此。有件事我要請教你。你說我應該不應該把韋翰的品格說出去，讓朋友們都知道？”
Miss Bennet paused a little and then replied, "Surely there can be no occasion for exposing him so dreadfully. What is your own opinion?"
班納特小姐想了一會兒才說道：“當然用不著叫他太難堪。你的意見如何？”
"That it ought not to be attempted. Mr. Darcy has not authorised me to make his communication public. On the contrary, every particular relative to his sister was meant to be kept as much as possible to myself; and if I endeavour to undeceive people as to the rest of his conduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent, that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton to attempt to place him in an amiable light. I am not equal to it. Wickham will soon be gone; and therefore it will not signify to anybody here, what he really is. Sometime hence it will be all found out, and then we may laugh at their stupidity in not knowing it before. At present I will say nothing about it."
“我也覺得不必如此。達西先生并沒有允許我把他所說的話公開外界聲張。他反而吩咐我說，凡是牽涉到他妹妹的事，都要盡量保守秘密；說到韋翰其他方面的品行，我即使要對大家說老實話，又有誰會相信？一般人對達西先生都存著那么深的成見，你要叫別人對他有好感，麥里屯有一半人死也不愿意。我真沒有辦法。好在韋翰馬上就要走了，他的真面目究竟怎樣，與任何人都無關。總會有一天真相大白，那時候我們就可以譏笑人們為什么那么蠢，沒有早些知道。目前我可絕口不提。”
