精读《傲慢与偏见》11：达西一句 tolerable，让伊丽莎白记住了他

这是《Pride and Prejudice / 傲慢与偏见》英文原著精读系列第 11 篇，继续读第三章。

上一段里，达西已经因为傲慢失去众人好感。这一段，他的傲慢第一次具体落到伊丽莎白身上：他拒绝宾利让他跳舞的建议，还在伊丽莎白听得见的地方说她 tolerable，但还没漂亮到能打动他。

这段重要，不只是因为达西说了一句难听的话，而是因为奥斯汀让“被怠慢”成为达西和伊丽莎白关系的起点。伊丽莎白没有崩溃，而是把这件事讲成一个笑话；她的自尊、机智和幽默，也在这里第一次亮出来。

English Text: Mr. Darcy Refuses to Dance

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.

“Come, Darcy,” said he, “I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.”

“I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.”

“I would not be so fastidious as you are,” cried Bingley, “for a kingdom! Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty.”

“You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,” said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

“Oh, she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.”

“Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till, catching her eye, he withdrew his own, and coldly said, “She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”

Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.

中文翻译：达西先生拒绝跳舞

由于男宾稀少，伊丽莎白·贝内特被迫坐了两支舞的冷板凳；在这期间，达西先生一直站在离她足够近的地方，让她听见了他和宾利先生之间的对话。宾利先生刚从舞池里出来几分钟，想劝他的朋友也加入跳舞。

“来吧，达西，”他说，“我一定要你跳舞。我讨厌看你这样傻乎乎地一个人站着。你最好还是跳舞。”

“我绝对不跳。你知道我多讨厌跳舞，除非我和舞伴特别熟悉。在这样的聚会上，跳舞简直让人无法忍受。你的姐妹们都已经有舞伴了，而这屋里剩下的女人，随便哪一个跟我跳，对我来说都像是一种惩罚。”

“哪怕给我一个王国，我也不会像你这么挑剔！”宾利大声说道，“以我的名誉担保，我这辈子从没像今晚这样见过这么多讨人喜欢的姑娘；而且你看，其中好几位都格外漂亮。”

“你正在和这屋里唯一漂亮的姑娘跳舞呢，”达西先生望着贝内特家的大小姐说。

“哦，她是我见过的最美的人儿！不过她有个妹妹就坐在你后面，长得很漂亮，我敢说也很讨人喜欢。让我去请我的舞伴给你引见一下吧。”

“你指哪一个？”他转过身，看了伊丽莎白片刻，直到和她的目光相遇，才收回视线，冷冷地说道：“她还算过得去；但还没漂亮到能打动我的心。而且我现在没心情去抬举那些被别的男人冷落的小姐。你最好还是回到你的舞伴身边，去享受她的笑容吧，别在我这儿浪费时间了。”

宾利先生听从了他的建议。达西先生走开了；伊丽莎白留在原地，对他没有什么好感。不过，她还是兴致勃勃地把这件事讲给朋友们听；因为她性格活泼顽皮，凡是可笑的事情都会让她感到开心。

阅读提示：达西真正冒犯了什么？

这段的场景安排很有意思：伊丽莎白并不是达西谈话的对象，却被放在一个“听得见”的位置上。overhear 让她变成旁听者，也让达西的话失去了社交上的缓冲。

达西说 She is tolerable，如果单看字面，似乎只是“她还可以”。但后面一句 not handsome enough to tempt me 立刻改变了语气：他不是在客观评价，而是在用自己的标准判断伊丽莎白是否值得他行动。

伊丽莎白的反应也值得注意。她没有当场发作，而是 told the story with great spirit among her friends。奥斯汀不是把她写成受害者，而是写成一个能把尴尬转成笑料的人。这也是伊丽莎白魅力的一部分。

重点词汇

scarcity /ˈskeərsəti/ n. — 稀少；缺乏
by the scarcity of gentlemen 说明舞会上男宾不够，所以伊丽莎白不得不坐两支舞。

detest /dɪˈtest/ v. — 厌恶；极不喜欢
达西说 I detest it，语气比普通的 dislike 更强。

insupportable /ˌɪnsəˈpɔːrtəbl/ adj. — 无法忍受的
达西觉得在这样的聚会上跳舞 would be insupportable，这体现的是他的挑剔和距离感。

fastidious /fæˈstɪdiəs/ adj. — 挑剔的；难以取悦的
宾利用 so fastidious 评价达西，既是劝他别太挑，也点出了达西的问题。

tolerable /ˈtɑːlərəbl/ adj. — 还可以的；勉强过得去的
She is tolerable 的伤人之处，在于它听起来像一种居高临下的“勉强认可”。

slighted /ˈslaɪtɪd/ v. (past participle) — 被轻视；被怠慢
young ladies who are slighted by other men 指那些已经被别的男士冷落的小姐。

长难句解析

1. Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged...

原句：

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.

这句话分成两层。前半句说明伊丽莎白被迫坐了两支舞，原因是男宾稀少；后半句说明在这段时间里，达西站得离她够近，让她听见了他和宾利的谈话。

结构可以拆成：

Elizabeth had been obliged to sit down + 原因插入语 + and + Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough + for her to overhear...

这里的 for her to overhear 很关键：不是达西故意说给她听，而是场景距离让她听见。奥斯汀用这个安排制造了尴尬，也制造了后面的误会和偏见。

2. There is not another woman...

原句：

There is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.

这句话看起来绕，是因为用了双重否定。字面是：屋里没有另一个女人，跟她跳舞对我来说不会是一种惩罚。换成顺一点的说法就是：屋里剩下的任何女人，跟她跳舞对我来说都是惩罚。

stand up with 在这里是“与某人跳舞”。whom 引导定语从句，修饰 another woman。

结构可以拆成：

There is not another woman + whom 引导的定语从句 + it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with

这句话不是简单拒绝跳舞，而是把在场女性整体贬低了一遍。后面他评价伊丽莎白，也是在这个傲慢语境里发生的。

阅读测验

Q1. Why does Mr. Darcy refuse to dance at first?

A. Because he is too tired to stand.

B. Because he detests dancing unless he knows his partner particularly well.

C. Because Mr. Bingley asks him too late.

D. Because Elizabeth has already left the room.

Q2. How does Elizabeth respond after overhearing Darcy's comment?

A. She cries in silence.

B. She asks Bingley to defend her.

C. She tells the story to her friends with great spirit.

D. She immediately leaves the assembly.

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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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