精读《傲慢与偏见》⑧：全家围攻贝内特先生，还是没问出来

这是《Pride and Prejudice / 傲慢与偏见》英文原著精读系列第 8 篇，也从这里进入第三章。

上一段里，贝内特一家已经确认：贝内特先生确实拜访过宾利先生。于是第三章一开始，全家最想知道的问题就变成了：宾利先生到底怎么样？可贝内特先生偏偏不肯给出任何满意描述。

这一段最有意思的地方，是奥斯汀把“打听消息”写成了一场小型攻防战：贝内特太太和五个女儿直问、巧问、绕着问，贝内特先生却全都躲开。最后，她们只能接受卢卡斯夫人的二手消息。

English Text: Investigating Mr. Bingley and His Return Visit

Not all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject, was sufficient to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley. They attacked him in various ways, with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour, Lady Lucas. Her report was highly favourable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and, to crown the whole, he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more delightful! To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley's heart were entertained.

“If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield,” said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, “and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.”

In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet's visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard much; but he saw only the father. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of ascertaining, from an upper window, that he wore a blue coat and rode a black horse.

中文翻译：打探宾利先生与他的回访

然而，尽管贝内特太太在五个女儿的协助下，把关于这件事能问的都问了，仍然没能从丈夫那里引出任何关于宾利先生的满意描述。她们用各种方式向他进攻：有露骨的问题，有巧妙的假设，也有拐弯抹角的猜测；但他躲过了她们所有的招数。最后，她们只得接受邻居卢卡斯夫人的二手消息。她的说法非常有利。威廉爵士对他十分满意。他很年轻，长得非常英俊，性情极其讨人喜欢；而最妙的是，他打算带一大群人参加下一次舞会。再没有比这更令人高兴的事了！喜欢跳舞，当然就是迈向恋爱的可靠一步；于是大家对赢得宾利先生的心怀有非常热切的希望。

“只要能让我看到一个女儿在内瑟菲尔德幸福安家，”贝内特太太对丈夫说，“其他几个也都嫁得一样好，那我就别无所求了。”

过了几天，宾利先生回访了贝内特先生，在他的书房里坐了大约十分钟。他原本希望能有机会见见几位年轻小姐，因为早已听说她们十分美貌；结果他只见到了父亲。小姐们倒是稍微幸运些，因为她们借着楼上窗户的便利，查明了他穿一件蓝色外套，骑一匹黑马。

阅读提示：为什么“二手消息”也能让她们兴奋？

这一段表面写“打听宾利先生”，实际写的是婚姻市场里的信息焦虑。贝内特先生已经见过宾利，当然成了全家最重要的信息来源；但他越是不说，贝内特太太和女儿们就越想知道。

奥斯汀用 attacked him 这个词很妙。她不是说大家“问了他几个问题”，而是把问话写成一场进攻：直截了当的问题、机灵的假设、远远绕过去的猜测，全都用上了。可贝内特先生偏偏全躲开了。

最后大家只好接受 Lady Lucas 的 second-hand intelligence。这份二手消息其实很有限：年轻、英俊、讨人喜欢、要去舞会。但在贝内特太太眼里，已经足够点燃希望。尤其是“喜欢跳舞”这一点，立刻被解释成“会坠入爱河”的信号。

重点词汇

barefaced /ˈbeəfeɪst/ adj. — 露骨的；厚颜的
barefaced questions 指问得很直接，甚至有点不加掩饰。这里写出了贝内特太太和女儿们急着套话的样子。

ingenious /ɪnˈdʒiːniəs/ adj. — 机灵的；有巧思的
ingenious suppositions 是“巧妙的假设”。她们不只直问，也会用假设来试探贝内特先生。

surmise /səˈmaɪz/ n. — 推测；猜测
distant surmises 可以理解为“拐弯抹角的猜测”。问题不直接，却仍然想把信息绕出来。

elude /ɪˈluːd/ v. — 躲过；避开；使无法得到
he eluded the skill of them all 不是说他“逃跑”，而是说他机敏地避开了她们所有套话技巧。

ascertain /ˌæsəˈteɪn/ v. — 查明；弄清
小姐们从楼上窗户 ascertaining 的只是外貌细节：蓝外套、黑马。信息很少，但对她们来说已经很值得观察。

长难句解析

1. Not all that Mrs. Bennet... could ask...

原句：

Not all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject, was sufficient to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley.

这句话的主干是：Not all ... was sufficient to draw ...。中间的 however 和 with the assistance of her five daughters 都是插入信息，读的时候可以先暂时拿开。

结构可以拆成：

否定主语 (Not all that...could ask) + 插入语 + 谓语 (was) + 表语 (sufficient) + 不定式 (to draw...)

这里的 draw from her husband 是“从丈夫那里引出、套出”。整句话就是说：她们问了再多，也没能从贝内特先生那里问出满意答案。

2. To be fond of dancing...

原句：

To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley's heart were entertained.

前半句用 To be fond of dancing 作主语，意思是“喜欢跳舞这件事”。后半句 hopes ... were entertained 是被动表达，直译像“希望被怀着”，自然理解为“大家怀有希望”。

结构可以拆成：

不定式主语 (To be fond of dancing) + 系动词 (was) + 表语 ; 并列句主语 (hopes) + 被动谓语 (were entertained)

这句话带着奥斯汀式反讽：宾利只是喜欢跳舞，大家却马上把它理解成“快要恋爱了”。

阅读测验

Q1. Why were the ladies “obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence” of Lady Lucas?

A. Because Mr. Bennet refused to speak to Lady Lucas.
B. Because Mr. Bennet successfully avoided answering their questions.
C. Because Lady Lucas knew Mr. Bingley better than anyone else.
D. Because they did not trust their own judgment.

Q2. What “advantage” did the young ladies have during Mr. Bingley's visit?

A. They were introduced to him in the library.
B. They spoke to him about dancing.
C. They saw his appearance from an upper window.
D. They rode horses with him.

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我会继续把《傲慢与偏见》拆成一小段一小段来读：原文、翻译、词汇、长难句和自测都会发在公众号里。适合想读英文原著，但又不想被长句和生词劝退的读者。

📖 Text from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

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