"Is it possible?" cried Elizabeth, when she had finished. "Can it be possible that he will marry her?"
伊丽莎白读完了信问道：“这事可能吗？他竟会同她结婚？”
"Wickham is not so undeserving, then, as we thought him, " said her sister. "My dear father, I congratulate you. "
她姐姐说：“那么，韦翰倒并不象我们所想象的那样不成器啦。亲爱的爸爸，恭喜你。”
"And have you answered the letter?" cried Elizabeth.
“你写了回信没有？”伊丽莎白问。
"No; but it must be done soon. "
“没有写回信，可是立刻就得写。”
Most earnestly did she then entreaty him to lose no more time before he wrote.
于是她极其诚恳地请求他马上就回家去写，不要耽搁。
"Oh! my dear father, " she cried, "come back and write immediately. Consider how important every moment is in such a case. "
她嚷道：“亲爱的爸爸马上就回去写吧。你要知道，这种事情是一分钟一秒钟也不能耽搁的。”
"Let me write for you, " said Jane, "if you dislike the trouble yourself. "
吉英说：“要是你怕麻烦，让我代你写好了。”
"I dislike it very much, " he replied; "but it must be done. "
父亲回答道：“我的确不大愿意写，可是不写又不行。”
And so saying, he turned back with them, and walked towards the house.
他一边说，一边转过身来跟她们一同回到屋里去。
"And may I ask--" said Elizabeth; "but the terms, I suppose, must be complied with. "
伊丽莎白说：“我可以问你一句话吗？我想，他提出的条件你一定都肯答应吧？”
"Complied with! I am only ashamed of his asking so little. "
“一口答应！他要得这么少，我倒觉得不好意思呢。”
"And they MUST marry! Yet he is SUCH a man!"
“他们俩非结婚不可了！然而他却是那样的一个人。”
"Yes, yes, they must marry. There is nothing else to be done. But there are two things that I want very much to know; one is, how much money your uncle has laid down to bring it about; and the other, how am I ever to pay him. "
“是啊！怎么不是，他们非结婚不可。没有别的办法。可是有两件事我很想弄个明白──第一件，你舅舅究竟拿出了多少钱，才使这件事有了个着落；第二件，我以后有什么办法还他这笔钱？”
"Money! My uncle!" cried Jane, "what do you mean, sir?"
吉英嚷道：“钱！舅舅！你这是什么意思，爸爸？”
"I mean, that no man in his senses would marry Lydia on so slight a temptation as one hundred a year during my life, and fifty after I am gone. "
“我的意思是说，一个头脑最清楚的人是不会跟丽迪雅结婚的，因为她没有哪一点地方可以叫人家看中。我生前每年给她一百镑，死后一共也只有五千磅。”
"That is very true, " said Elizabeth; "though it had not occurred to me before. His debts to be discharged, and something still to remain! Oh! it must be my uncle's doings! Generous, good man, I am afraid he has distressed himself. A small sum could not do all this. "
伊丽莎白说：“那倒是实话，不过我以前却从来没有想到过。他的债务偿清了以后，还会多下钱来！噢，那一定是舅舅代他张罗的！好一个慷慨善良的人！我就怕苦了他自己。这样一来，他得花费不少钱呢。”
"No, " said her father; "Wickham's a fool if he takes her with a farthing less than ten thousand pounds. I should be sorry to think so ill of him, in the very beginning of our relationship. "
父亲说：“韦翰要是拿不到一万镑就答应娶丽迪雅，那他才是个大傻瓜呢。我同他刚刚攀上亲戚，照理不应该多说他的坏话。”
"Ten thousand pounds! Heaven forbid! How is half such a sum to be repaid?"
“一万镑！天不容！即使半数，又怎么还得起？”
Mr. Bennet made no answer, and each of them, deep in thought, continued silent till they reached the house. Their father then went on to the library to write, and the girls walked into the breakfast-room.
班纳特先生没有回答。大家都转着念头，默不作声。回到家里，父亲到书房里去写信，女儿们都走进饭厅里去。
"And they are really to be married!" cried Elizabeth, as soon as they were by themselves. "How strange this is! And for THIS we are to be thankful. That they should marry, small as is their chance of happiness, and wretched as is his character, we are forced to rejoice. Oh, Lydia!"
姐妹俩一离开父亲，妹妹便嚷道：“他们真要结婚了！这真稀奇！不过我们也大可谢天谢地。他们究竟结婚了。虽然他们不一定会过得怎么幸福，他的品格又那么坏，然而我们究竟不得不高兴。哦，丽迪雅呀！”
"I comfort myself with thinking, " replied Jane, "that he certainly would not marry Lydia if he had not a real regard for her. Though our kind uncle has done something towards clearing him, I cannot believe that ten thousand pounds, or anything like it, has been advanced. He has children of his own, and may have more. How could he spare half ten thousand pounds?"
吉英说：“我想了一下，也觉得安慰，要不是他真正爱丽迪雅，他是决不肯跟他结婚的。好心的舅舅即使替他清偿了一些债务，我可不相信会垫付了一万镑那么大的数目。舅舅有那么多孩子，也许以后还要养男育女。就是叫他拿也五千镑，他又怎么能够拿出来？”
"If he were ever able to learn what Wickham's debts have been, " said Elizabeth, "and how much is settled on his side on our sister, we shall exactly know what Mr. Gardiner has done for them, because Wickham has not sixpence of his own. The kindness of my uncle and aunt can never be requited. Their taking her home, and affording her their personal protection and countenance, is such a sacrifice to her advantage as years of gratitude cannot enough acknowledge. By this time she is actually with them! If such goodness does not make her miserable now, she will never deserve to be happy! What a meeting for her, when she first sees my aunt!"
“我们只要知道韦翰究竟欠下了多少债务，”伊丽莎白说，“用他的名义给我们妹妹的钱有多少，那我们就会知道嘉丁纳先生帮了他们多大的忙，因为韦翰自己一个子也没有。舅舅和舅母的恩典今生今世也报不了。他们把丽迪雅接回家去，亲自保护她，给她争面子，这牺牲了他们自己多少利益，真是一辈子也感恩不尽。丽迪雅现在一定到了他们那儿了！要是这样一片好心还不能使她觉得惭愧，那她可真不配享受幸福。她一见到舅母，该多么难为情啊！”
"We must endeavour to forget all that has passed on either side, " said Jane: "I hope and trust they will yet be happy. His consenting to marry her is a proof, I will believe, that he is come to a right way of thinking. Their mutual affection will steady them; and I flatter myself they will settle so quietly, and live in so rational a manner, as may in time make their past imprudence forgotten. "
吉英说：“我们应该把他们两个人过去的事尽力忘掉，我希望他们还是会幸福，也相信这样。他既然答应跟她结婚，这就可以证明他已经往正路上去想。他们能够互敬互爱，自然也都会稳重起来。我相信他们俩从此会安安稳稳、规规矩矩地过日子，到时候人们也就会把他们过去的荒唐行为忘了。”
"Their conduct has been such, " replied Elizabeth, "as neither you, nor I, nor anybody can ever forget. It is useless to talk of it. "
“他们既然已经有过荒唐行为，”伊丽莎白回答道，“那么无论你我，无论任何人，都忘不了。也不必去谈这种事。”