It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

? 《傲慢與偏見》開篇這一段就囊括了整本書里的17世紀英國婚戀背景。For a normal reader who live in a society quite different from theirs, it is quite shocking to know that the girls and their parents are so eager for?proper marriages that they are almost like "hunting" for every prospective and?desirable husband/son-in-law.?

? 緊接著Mr. Bennet和Mrs. Bennet圍繞這一段的討論也很有意思，Jane Austen筆下的Mr. Bennet是這樣的性格：

Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.

? 而Mr.Bennet那位婚后二十三年，一起育有五女卻仍然搞不懂丈夫的性格的Mrs. Bennet的頭腦則要簡單得多：

Her mind was less difficult to develope, she was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

? Mr.Bennet的思維敏捷，對自己的妻子極盡挖苦和諷刺，冷靜自持又變化無常（至少對他老婆來說是這樣），而Mrs. Bennet理解能力不太行（因此大部分時候免疫Mr.Bennet的諷刺挖苦），知識儲備也不太行（后文女兒們花很多時間給她解釋基本常識她還是一副“我是潑婦，我不懂，我擺爛”的態(tài)度），脾氣也不定。她經常抱怨丈夫折磨自己脆弱的腦神經；她的畢生事業(yè)，也是本文的圍繞中心，就是這位知識和目光一樣短淺，精神境界不大行，道德品質只能說do the bare minimum的太太想方設法嫁女兒（幫倒忙）的故事。

? 而這兩人的性格在Jane Austen的筆下，寥寥幾段妙趣橫生的對話就表現(xiàn)得淋漓盡致。

? 妻子得知了Netherfield Park被Bingley租走的消息，急切地想激起丈夫的好奇心，告訴丈夫這個對她來說十分重要的消息：

"Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife, impatiently.?

而Mr. Bennet十足的reserve, indifference：

You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.

? 而對于Mrs.Bennet來說，她顯然早已習慣這樣的對話，這樣不痛不癢的回答，對她而言

This was invitation enough.

? 以及后面討論Mr.Bingley的單身狀況的一段（這里的Mr.Bennet簡直就是多少讀者的嘴替）

? “Oh, single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”

? "How so? How can it affect them?"

? "My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome? You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."

? "Is that his design in settling here?"

? "Design? nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."

? 這顯然也是讀者對于前述“將剛搬來這里的鉆石王老五視作理所當然的金龜婿”的態(tài)度的反駁，“怎么，結婚是他們搬來這里的目的嗎？”

? 而接下來則是Mrs. Bennet求Mr. Bennet去拜訪Bingley但是后者不為所動。Mr.Bennet繼續(xù)嘲諷挖苦而Mrs. Bennet強行免疫的對話則凸顯了兩人“mean understanding”克“sarcastic humour”的特點，讀起來很搞笑：

? " I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by yourselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr.Bingley might like you the best of the party."?

? "My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."

? "In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of."

? 居然能把這么明晃晃的嘲諷當成是在flatter，Mrs.Bennet的心也是真大。在對方完全免疫自己的攻擊后，Mr.Bennet還能接上一句“你的漂亮已經超過了你說的這種一般情況，”真就是不折不扣的“quick parts”了。

? 而后面Mr.Bennet執(zhí)意說我反正不去，不然我就給Mr.Bingley寫封信你帶過去，告訴他我真誠地同意他隨便從我的女兒里面挑一個，但是最好是挑我可愛的小麗；在這種完全是sarcastic humour的情況下Mrs. Bennet居然還真就思維跟著跑偏，一本正經地質問他為什么要給小麗說好話，大女兒簡更好看，老四莉迪亞更隨性，你居然更偏愛小麗；遭到明確拒絕后，Mrs.Bennet指責丈夫對自己脆弱的神經毫無同情，而Mr.Bennet卻說怎么會呢你誤會我了親愛的，我很尊敬你的神經，他們是我的老朋友了，你已經如此煞有介事地跟我提了至少二十年…到這里我已經完全理解Jane Austen兩段對兩人性格特點的概述了。

? 最后這里拒絕去拜訪Mr. Bingley之后Mr. Bennet對妻子的“安慰”也很典：

? ? “But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighborhood.”

? 我希望你能渡過這個難關，克服好情緒（指前文本太太說"You do not know what I suffer??"），繼續(xù)看到許多四千磅一年的年輕適齡男子來到我們這里。

? “It will be no use, if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.”

? 你不去拜訪，就算來二十個又有什么用。

? “Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all.”

? 你都這么說了，親愛的，等二十個都來了，我一定挨個登門拜訪。

短短一小章就刻畫出了這么立體的人物形象，Austen是真的很牛O.O

• have no objection in doing sth.不反對做某事

  eg. You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.

• tiresome：annoying and making you lose patience

  eg. How can you be so tiresome?

• I see no occasion for that. 我看沒有這個必要

• merely on that account 僅僅因此緣故

  eg. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account; for in general, you know, they visit no new comers.

• scrupulous: extremely careful to do what is right or moral

  eg. You are over scrupulous, surely.

• consent: permission or agreement

  eg. I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.

• give sb. the preference 更偏愛某人

  eg. I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.

• You?take delight in?vexing me.
  

  take delight in doing sth.

  vex: to cause difficulty to someone, or to cause someone to feel angry, annoyed, or upset.

• have compassion on

  eg. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.

• Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.

  quick parts:?strong intellectual ability or other natural talents.

  sarcastic: using remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what you say, in order to hurt someone's feelings or to humorously criticize something

  reserve: the habit of not showing your feelings or thoughts

  caprice: (the quality of often having) a sudden and usually silly wish to have or do something, or sudden and silly change of mind or behaviou.

• mean: poor, dirty, and of bad quality

  eg. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.

• When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous.

  discontented: feeling unhappy because you want better treatment or an improved situation.

  fancy + sb./sth. + adj.

• solace:?help and comfort when you are feeling sad or worried

  eg. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

補充信息

• He came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place.

  chaise: Four-wheeled closed carriage.

  這里提到的是Mr.Bingley乘坐著Chaise來Netherfield看房子。在李繼宏的譯本中將chaise譯為“翠軾”，由四匹馬拉動，車廂是封閉式的，有四個輪子，屬于大型豪華馬車。當年的馬車和現(xiàn)在的汽車一樣款式繁多，高中低檔都有。選裝豪華配飾的四驅翠軾售價在200英鎊以上，大概相當于現(xiàn)在的奔馳S系轎車。

• He is to take possesion before Michaelmas.

  Michaelmas: Feast of St. Michael, celebrated on September 29.

  Bingley將在米迦勒節(jié)之前拿到地產。米迦勒節(jié)是紀念基督教大天使米迦勒的節(jié)日，為每年9月29日，英國四個年度四分節(jié)（Quarter Days）中的第三個。其他三個分別是圣母節(jié)（3.25）、仲夏節(jié)（6.24）和圣誕節(jié)（12.25）。依照英國舊俗。四分節(jié)是簽訂租約或雇傭合同的起止日。

• Sir William and Lady Lucas

  即威廉盧卡斯夫婦。英國爵位分為公（Duke）、侯（Marquis）、伯（Earl）、子（Viscount）、男（Baron）五等，另設有從男爵（Baronet）和騎士（Knight）兩種榮譽封號。從男爵可世襲，但和騎士一樣不入英國上議院，因此不算真正的貴族。普通人對從男爵或者騎士的專用稱謂是其名字加上爵士（Sir），稱呼其妻子則是姓氏加上夫人。