(单词翻译:单击)
英文原文
罗新斯这一次请客,真使得柯林斯先生感到百分之百地得意。他本来一心要让这些好奇的宾客们去风光一下他那女施主的堂皇气派,看看老夫人对待他们夫妇俩多么礼貌周全。
Mr. Collins's triumph, in consequence of this invitation, was complete. The power of displaying the grandeur of his patroness to his wondering visitors, and of letting them see her civility towards himself and his wife, was exactly what he had wished for; and that an opportunity of doing it should be given so soon, was such an instance of Lady Catherine's condescension, as he knew not how to admire enough.
"I confess, " said he, "that I should not have been at all surprised by her ladyship's asking us on Sunday to drink tea and spend the evening at Rosings. I rather expected, from my knowledge of her affability, that it would happen. But who could have foreseen such an attention as this? Who could have imagined that we should receive an invitation to dine there (an invitation, moreover, including the whole party) so immediately after your arrival!"
"I am the less surprised at what has happened, " replied Sir William, "from that knowledge of what the manners of the great really are, which my situation in life has allowed me to acquire. About the court, such instances of elegant breeding are not uncommon. "
Scarcely anything was talked of the whole day or next morning but their visit to Rosings. Mr. Collins was carefully instructing them in what they were to expect, that the sight of such rooms, so many servants, and so splendid a dinner, might not wholly overpower them.
When the ladies were separating for the toilette, he said to Elizabeth--
"Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and her daughter. I would advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest--there is no occasion for anything more. Lady Catherine will not think the worse of you for being simply
dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved. "
While they were dressing, he came two or three times to their different doors, to recommend their being quick, as Lady Catherine very much objected to be kept waiting for her dinner. Such formidable accounts of her ladyship, and her manner of living, quite frightened Maria Lucas who had been little used to company, and she looked forward to her introduction at Rosings with as much apprehension as her father had done to his presentation at St. James's.
As the weather was fine, they had a pleasant walk of about half a mile across the park. Every park has its beauty and its prospects; and Elizabeth saw much to be pleased with, though she could not be in such raptures as Mr. Collins expected the scene to inspire, and was but slightly affected by his enumeration of the windows in front of the house, and his relation of what the glazing altogether had originally cost Sir Lewis de Bourgh.
参考译文
罗新斯这一次请客,真使得柯林斯先生感到百分之百地得意。他本来一心要让这些好奇的宾客们去风光一下他那女施主的堂皇气派,看看老夫人对待他们夫妇俩多么礼貌周全。他竟会这么快就得到了如愿以偿的机会,这件事大足以说明咖苔琳夫人的礼贤下士,使得他不知如何景仰是好。
“说老实话,”他说,“她老人家邀请我们星期日去吃茶点,在罗新斯消磨一个下午,我一点儿也不觉得意外。她一贯为人殷勤,我倒以为她真要这样招待一番的,可是谁料想到会象这次这样情意隆重?谁会想到你们刚刚到这里在,就被请到那边去吃饭(而且全体都请到了)?”
威廉爵士说:“刚才的事我倒不怎么觉得稀奇,大人物的为人处世实在都是如此,象我这样有身份的人,就见识得很多。在显宦贵族们当中,这类风雅好客的事不足为奇。”
这一整天和第二天上午,简直只谈到去罗新斯的事。柯林斯先生预先仔仔细细地一样样告诉他们,到那边去将要看到什么东西,免得他们看到了那样宏伟的屋子,那样众多的仆从,那样丰盛的菜肴,会造成临时慌乱,手足失措。
当娘儿们正要各自去打扮的时候,他又对伊丽莎白说:
“不要为衣装担心思,亲爱的表妹。咖苔琳夫人才不会要我们穿得华丽呢,这只有她自己和她的女儿才配。我劝你只要在你自己的衣服里面,拣一件出色的穿上就行,不必过于讲究。珈苔琳夫人决不会因为你衣装朴素就瞧你不起。她喜欢各人守着自己的本份,分得出一个高低。”
娘儿们整装的时候,他又到各个人的房门口去了两三次,劝她们快一点,因为咖苔琳夫人请人吃饭最恨客人迟到。玛丽亚·卢卡斯听说她老人家的为人处事这样可怕,不由得吓了一跳,因为她一向不大会应酬。她一想起要到罗新斯去拜望,就诚惶诚恐,正如她父亲当年进宫觐见一样。
天朗气清,他们穿过花园,作了一次差不多半英里的愉快的散步。一家家的花园都各有美妙,伊丽莎白纵目观赏,心旷神怡,可是并不如柯林斯先生所预期的那样,会被眼前的景色陶醉得乐而忘形。尽管他数着屋前一扇扇窗户说,光是这些玻璃,当初曾一共花了刘威斯·德·包尔爵士多大一笔钱,她可并不为这些话动心。