Lady Catherine de Bourgh entered the room with an air more than usually ungracious, made no other reply to Elizabeth's salutation than a slight inclination of the head, and sat down without saying a word. Elizabeth had mentioned her name to her mother on her ladyship's entrance, though no request of introduction had been made.
咖苔琳·德·包尔夫人走进屋来的那副神气非常没有礼貌。伊丽莎白招呼她，她只稍微侧了一下头，便一屁股坐下来，一句话也不说。她走进来的时候，虽然没有要求人家介绍，伊丽莎白还是把她的名字告诉了她母亲。
Mrs Bennet, all amazement, they're flattered by having a guest of such high importance, received her with the utmost politeness. After sitting for a moment in silence, she said very stiffly to Elizabeth, "I hope you are well, Miss Bennet. That lady, I suppose, is your mother."
班纳特太太大为惊异，不过，这样一位了不起的贵客前来登门拜访，可又使她得意非凡，因此她便极其有礼貌地加以招待。咖苔琳夫人不声不响地坐了一会儿工夫，便冷冰冰地对伊丽莎白说：“我想，你一定过得很好吧，班纳特小姐。那位太太大概是你母亲？”
Elizabeth replied very concisely that she was.
伊丽莎白简简单单地回答了一声正是。
"And that I suppose is one of your sisters."
“那一位大概就是你妹妹吧？”
"Yes, madam," said Mrs. Bennet, delighted to speak to a Lady Catherine. "She is my youngest girl but one. My youngest of all is lately married, and my eldest is somewhere about the grounds, walking with a young man who, I believe, will soon become a part of the family."
班纳特太太连忙应声回答：“正是，夫人，”她能够跟这样一位贵夫人攀谈，真是得意。“这是我第四个女儿。我最小的一个女儿最近出嫁了，大女儿正和她的好朋友在附近散步，那个小伙子不久也要变成我们自己人了。”
"You have a very small park here," returned Lady Catherine after a short silence.
咖苔琳夫人没有理睬她，过了片刻才说：“你们这儿还有个小花园呢。”
"It is nothing in comparison of Rosings, my lady, I dare say; but I assure you it is much larger than Sir William Lucas's."
“哪能比得上罗新斯，夫人，可是我敢说，比威廉·卢卡斯爵士的花园却要大得多。”
"This must be a most inconvenient sitting room for the evening, in summer; the windows are full west."
“到了夏天，这间屋子做起居室一定很不适宜，窗子都朝西。”
Mrs. Bennet assured her that they never sat there after dinner, and then added, "May I take the liberty of asking your ladyship whether you left Mr. and Mrs. Collins well."
班纳特太太告诉她说，她们每天吃过中饭以后，从来不坐在那儿，接着又说：“我是否可以冒昧请问你夫人一声，柯林斯夫妇都好吗？”
"Yes, very well. I saw them the night before last."
“他们都很好，前天晚上我还看见他们的。”
Elizabeth now expected that she would produce a letter for her from Charlotte, as it seemed the only probable motive for her calling. But no letter appeared, and she was completely puzzled.
这时伊丽莎白满以为她会拿出一封夏洛特的信来；她认为咖苔琳夫人这次到这里来，决不可能为了别的原因。可是并不见夫人拿信出来，这真叫她完全不明白是怎么回事了。
Mrs. Bennet, with great civility, begged her ladyship to take some refreshment; but Lady Catherine very resolutely, and not very politely, declined eating any thing; and then, rising up, said to Elizabeth, "Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should be glad to take a turn in it, if you will favour me with your company."
班纳特太太恭恭敬敬地请贵夫人随意用些点心，可是咖苔琳夫人什么也不肯吃，谢绝非常坚决，非常没有礼貌，接着又站起来跟伊丽莎白说：“班纳特小姐，你们这块草地的那一头，好象颇有几分荒野的景色，倒很好看。我很想到那儿去逛逛，可否请你陪我一走？”
"Go, my dear," cried her mother, "and shew her ladyship about the different walks. I think she will be pleased with the hermitage."
只听得她母亲连忙大声对她说：“你去吧，乖孩子，陪着夫人到各条小径上去逛逛。我想，她一定会喜欢我们这个幽静的小地方。”
Elizabeth obeyed, and running into her own room for her parasol, attended her noble guest down stairs. As they passed through the hall, Lady Catherine opened the doors into the dining-parlour and drawing-room, and pronouncing them, after a short survey, to be decent looking rooms, walked on.
伊丽莎白听从了母亲的话，先到自己房间里去拿了一把阳伞，然后下楼来侍候这位贵客。两人走过穿堂，咖苔琳夫人打开了那扇通到饭厅和客厅的门，稍稍打量了一下，说是这屋子还算过得去，然后继续向前走。
Her carriage remained at the door, and Elizabeth saw that her waiting-woman was in it. They proceeded in silence along the gravel walk that led to the copse; Elizabeth was determined to make no effort for conversation with a woman who was now more than usually insolent and disagreeable.
她的马车停在门口，伊丽莎白看见了车子里面坐着她的待女。两人默默无声地沿着一条通到小树林的鹅卵石铺道往前走。伊丽莎白只觉得这个老妇人比往常更傲慢，更其令人讨厌，因此拿定主张，决不先开口跟她说话。
"How could I ever think her like her nephew?" said she, as she looked in her face.
她仔细瞧了一下老妇人的脸，不禁想道：“她哪一点地方象她姨侄？”
As soon as they entered the copse, Lady Catherine began in the following manner: --
一走进小树林，咖苔琳夫人便用这样的方式跟她谈话：
"You can be at no loss, Miss Bennet, to understand the reason of my journey hither. Your own heart, your own conscience, must tell you why I come."
“班纳特小姐，我这次上这儿来，你一定知道我是为了什么原因。你心里一定有数，你的良心一定会告诉你，我这次为什么要来。”
Elizabeth looked with unaffected astonishment.
伊丽莎白大为惊讶。
"Indeed, you are mistaken, Madam. I have not been at all able to account for the honour of seeing you here."
“夫人，你实在想错了，我完全不明白你这次怎么这样看得起我们，会到这种地方来。”
"Miss Bennet," replied her ladyship, in an angry tone, "you ought to know, that I am not to be trifled with. But however insincere you may choose to be, you shall not find me so. My character has ever been celebrated for its sincerity and frankness, and in a cause of such moment as this, I shall certainly not depart from it.
夫人一听此话，很是生气：“班纳特小姐，你要知道，我是决不肯让人家来跟我开玩笑的。尽管你怎样不老实，我可不是那样。我是个有名的老实坦白的人，何况遇到现在这桩事，我当然更要老实坦白。
A report of a most alarming nature reached me two days ago. I was told that not only your sister was on the point of being most advantageously married, but that you, that Miss Elizabeth Bennet, would, in all likelihood, be soon afterwards united to my nephew, my own nephew, Mr. Darcy.
两天以前，我听到一个极其惊人的消息。我听说不光是你姐姐将要攀上一门高亲，连你，伊丽莎白·班纳特小姐，也快要攀上我的姨侄，我的亲姨侄达西先生。
Though I know it must be a scandalous falsehood, though I would not injure him so much as to suppose the truth of it possible, I instantly resolved on setting off for this place, that I might make my sentiments known to you."
虽然我明知这是无稽的流言，虽然我不会那样看不起他，相信他真会有这种事情，我还是当机立断，决定上这儿来一次，把我的意思说给你听。”
"If you believed it impossible to be true," said Elizabeth, colouring with astonishment and disdain, "I wonder you took the trouble of coming so far. What could your ladyship propose by it?"
伊丽莎白又是诧异，又是厌恶，满脸涨得通红。“我真奇怪，你既然认为不会有这种事情，何必还要自找麻烦，跑到这么远的地方来？请问你老人家究竟有何见教？”
"At once to insist upon having such a report universally contradicted."
“我一定要你立刻向大家去辟谣。”
"Your coming to Longbourn, to see me and my family," said Elizabeth coolly, "will be rather a confirmation of it; if, indeed, such a report is in existence."
伊丽莎白冷冷地说：“要是外界真有这种传说，那么你赶到浪搏恩来看我和我家里人，反而会弄假成真。”
"If! Do you then pretend to be ignorant of it? Has it not been industriously circulated by yourselves? Do you not know that such a report is spread abroad?"
“要是真有这种传说！你难道存心要假痴假呆不成？这不全是你自己拚命传出去的吗？难道你不知道这个消息已经闹得满城风雨了吗？”
"I never heard that it was."
“我从来没有听见过。”
"And can you likewise declare, that there is no foundation for it?"
“你能不能说一声这是毫无根据？”
"I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with your ladyship. You may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer."
“我并不冒充我也象你老人家一样坦白。你尽管问好了，我可不想回答。”
"This is not to be borne. Miss Bennet, I insist on being satisfied. Has he, has my nephew, made you an offer of marriage?"
“岂有此理！班纳特小姐，我非要你说个明白不可。我姨侄向你求过婚没有？”
"Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible."
“你老人家自己刚刚还说过，决不会有这种事情。”
"It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of his reason. But your arts and allurementsmay, in a moment of infatuation, have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family. You may have drawn him in."
“不应该有这种事情；只要他还有头脑，那就一定不会有这种事情。可是你千方百计地诱惑他，他也许会一时痴迷忘了他应该对得起自己，对得起家里人。你可能已经把他迷住了。”
"If I have, I shall be the last person to confess it."
“即使我真的把他迷住了，我也决不会说给你听。”
"Miss Bennet, do you know who I am? I have not been accustomed to such language as this. I am almost the nearest relation he has in the world, and am entitled to know all his dearest concerns."
“班纳特小姐，你知道我是谁吗？你这种话真讲得不成体统。我差不多是他最亲近的长辈，我有权利过问他一切的切身大事。”
"But you are not entitled to know mine; nor will such behaviour as this, ever induce me to be explicit."
“你可没有权利过问我的事，而且你这种态度也休想把我逼供出来。”
"Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have the presumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never. Mr. Darcy is engaged to my daughter. Now what have you to say?"
“好好儿听我把话说明白。你好大胆子，妄想攀这门亲，那是绝对不会成功，一辈子也不会成功的。达西先生早跟我的女儿订过婚了。好吧，你还有什么话要说？”
"Only this; that if he is so, you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me."
“只有一句话要说──如果他当真如此，那你就没有理由认为他会向我求婚。”
Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind. From their infancy, they have been intended for each other. It was the favourite wish of his mother, as well as of her's.
咖苔琳夫人迟疑了一会儿，然后回答道：“他们的订婚，跟一般情形两样。他们从小就配好了对，双方的母亲两相情愿。
While in their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family!
他们在摇篮里的时候，我们就打算把他们配成一对；眼见他们小两口子就要结婚，老姐妹俩的愿望就要达到，却忽然来了个出身卑贱、门户低微的小妮子从中作梗，何况这个小妮子跟他家里非亲非眷！
Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends? To his tacit engagement with Miss De Bourgh? Are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy? Have you not heard me say that from his earliest hours he was destined for his cousin?"
难道你丝毫也不顾全他亲人的愿望？丝毫也不顾全他跟德·包尔小姐默认的婚姻？难道你一点儿没有分寸，一点儿也不知廉耻吗？难道你没有听见我说过，他一生下来，就注定了要跟他表妹成亲的吗？”
"Yes, and I had heard it before. But what is that to me? If there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew, I shall certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and aunt wished him to marry Miss De Bourgh. You both did as much as you could in planning the marriage. Its completion depended on others.
“我以前确实听到过。可是我管它做什么？如果你没有别的理由反对我跟你姨侄结婚，我也决不会因此却步。你们姐妹俩费尽了心思筹划这段婚姻，成功不成功可要看别人。
If Mr. Darcy is neither by honour nor inclination confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice? And if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?"
如果达西先生既没有责任跟他表妹结婚，也不愿意跟她结婚，那他为什么不能另外挑一个？要是他挑中了我，我又为什么能答应他？”
"Because honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it. Yes, Miss Bennet, interest; for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends, if you wilfully act against the inclinations of all.
“无论从面子上讲，从礼节规矩上讲──不，从利害关系来讲，都不允许这么做。不错，班纳特小姐，确是为了你的利害关系着想。要是你有意跟大家都过不去，你就休想他家里人或是他的亲友们看得起你。
You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by every one connected with him. Your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us."
凡是和他有关的人，都会斥责你，轻视你，厌恶你。你们的结合是一种耻辱；甚至我们连你的名字都不肯提起。”
"These are heavy misfortunes," replied Elizabeth. "But the wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine."
“这倒真是大大的不幸，”伊丽莎白说。“可是做了达西先生的太太必然会享受到莫大的幸福，因此，归根结底，完全用不到懊丧。”
"Obstinate, headstrong girl! I am ashamed of you! Is this your gratitude for my attentions to you last spring? Is nothing due to me on that score? Let us sit down.
“好一个不识好歹的小丫头！我都会你害臊！今年春天我待你那么殷勤，你就这样报答我吗？难道你也没有一点儿感恩之心？让我们坐下来详谈。
You are to understand, Miss Bennet, that I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose; nor will I be dissuaded from it. I have not been used to submit to any person's whims. I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment."
你应该明白，班纳特小姐，我既然上这儿来了，就非达到目的不可；谁也阻不住我。任何人玩什么花巧，我都不会屈服。我从来不肯让我自己失望。”
"That will make your ladyship's situation at present more pitiable; but it will have no effect on me."
“那只有更加使你自己难堪，可是对我毫无影响。”
"I will not be interrupted. Tell me once for all, are you engaged to him?"
“我说话不许人家插嘴！爽爽快快告诉我，你究竟跟他订婚了没有？”
Though Elizabeth would not, for the mere purpose of obliging Lady Catherine, have answered this question, she could not but say, after a moment's deliberation,
伊丽莎白本来不打算买咖苔琳夫人的情面来回答这个问题，可是仔细考虑了一会儿以后，她不得不说了一声：
"I am not."
“没有。”
Lady Catherine seemed pleased.
咖苔琳夫人显得很高兴。
"And will you promise me, never to enter into such an engagement?"
“你愿意答应我，永远不跟他订婚吗？”
"I will make no promise of the kind."
“我不能答应这种事。”
"Miss Bennet I am shocked and astonished. I expected to find a more reasonable young woman. But do not deceive yourself into a belief that I will ever recede. I shall not go away till you have given me the assurance I require."
“班纳特小姐，我真是又惊骇又诧异。我没有料到你是这样一个不讲理的小妮子。可是你千万把头脑放清楚一些，别以为我会让步。非等到你答应了我的要求，我就不走。”
"And I certainly never shall give it. I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable. I must beg, therefore, to be importuned no farther on the subject."
“我当然决不会答应你的。这种荒唐到极点的事，你休想吓得我答应。因此我请求你不要再为这件事来勉强我了。”
"Not so hasty, if you please. I have by no means done. To all the objections I have already urged, I have still another to add. I am no stranger to the particulars of your youngest sister's infamous elopement. I know it all; that the young man's marrying her was a patched-up business, at the expence of your father and uncles.
“请你不必这样性急。我的话根本没有讲完。除了我已经说过的你那许多缺陷以外，我还要加上一件。别以为我不知道你那个小妹妹不要脸私奔的事。我完全晓得。那个年轻小伙子跟她结婚，完全是你爸爸和舅舅花了钱买来的。
And is such a girl to be my nephew's sister? Is her husband, is the son of his late father's steward, to be his brother? Heaven and earth! -- of what are you thinking? Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"
这样一个臭丫头，也配做我姨侄的小姨吗？她丈夫是他父亲生前的账房的儿子，也配和他做连襟吗？上有天下有地！你究竟是打是什么主意？彭伯里的门第能够这样给人糟蹋吗？”
"You can now have nothing farther to say," she resentfully answered. "You have insulted me in every possible method. I must beg to return to the house."
伊丽莎白恨恨地回答道：“现在你该讲完了，你也把我侮辱得够了。我可要回家去啦。”
是慧子呐