精读《傲慢与偏见》13：贝内特太太怎样复述舞会？

上一段里，贝内特一家从舞会回来，每个人都带着自己的满足感。到了这一段，贝内特太太终于开始向丈夫复述舞会。

这段有意思的地方不只是“宾利和简跳了两次舞”，而是贝内特太太怎样讲这件事。她不是在做客观汇报，而是在按自己的婚姻期待重新剪辑整场舞会：宾利和简被反复放大，其他舞伴只是经过，达西则被她迅速定性成一个傲慢讨厌的人。

English Text: Mrs. Bennet's Report of the Ball

“Oh, my dear Mr. Bennet,” as she entered the room, “we have had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it. Everybody said how well she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with her twice. Only think of that, my dear: he actually danced with her twice; and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so vexed to see him stand up with her; but, however, he did not admire her at all; indeed, nobody can, you know; and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going down the dance. So he inquired who she was, and got introduced, and asked her for the two next. Then, the two third he danced with Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifth with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the Boulanger----”

“If he had had any compassion for me,” cried her husband impatiently, “he would not have danced half so much! For God’s sake, say no more of his partners. O that he had sprained his ancle in the first dance!”

“Oh, my dear,” continued Mrs. Bennet, “I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! and his sisters are charming women. I never in my life saw anything more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs. Hurst’s gown----”

Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against any description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit, and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.

“But I can assure you,” she added, “that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited, that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man.”

中文翻译：贝内特太太复述舞会

“噢，亲爱的贝内特先生，”她一进屋就说，“我们度过了一个最愉快的夜晚，一场最精彩的舞会。真希望你也在场。简太受人赞赏了，简直没有什么比得上。人人都说她看起来多漂亮；宾利先生也觉得她相当美，还和她跳了两次舞。想想看，亲爱的：他真的和她跳了两次；她是整个房间里唯一一个被他第二次邀请的人。

一开始，他邀请的是卢卡斯小姐。看到他和她跳舞，我真是恼火；不过呢，他一点也不欣赏她；说真的，也没人会欣赏她，你知道的。而简沿着舞列走下去时，他好像一下子被她迷住了。于是他打听她是谁，经人介绍后，接下来两支舞就邀请了她。然后，第三组两支舞他和金小姐跳，第四组两支和玛丽亚·卢卡斯跳，第五组两支又和简跳，第六组两支和丽萃跳，还有布朗格舞——”

“如果他对我有一丁点同情心，”她的丈夫不耐烦地叫道，“他就不会跳那么多了！看在上帝的份上，别再说他的舞伴了。哎呀，要是他在第一支舞就扭伤脚踝该多好！”

“噢，亲爱的，”贝内特太太继续说，“我对他太满意了。他真是英俊得不得了！他的姐妹们也是迷人的女人。我这辈子从没见过比她们的裙子更优雅的东西。我敢说赫斯特太太长袍上的花边——”

这时她又被打断了。贝内特先生抗议她继续描写任何华服细节。因此，她只好另找话题，带着很深的怨气，也带着一些夸张，讲起达西先生那令人震惊的无礼。

“不过我可以向你保证，”她补充道，“丽萃不合他的心意，也没损失什么；因为他是一个极其讨厌、可怕的人，根本不值得取悦。如此高傲，如此自负，简直让人忍受不了！他在这儿走走，在那儿走走，自以为多么了不起！竟然说不够漂亮，不值得跳舞！真希望你当时也在场，亲爱的，好给他来一顿你的那种奚落。我真是厌恶这个男人。”

阅读提示：复述里也有偏见

贝内特太太讲舞会时，一开口就是 most delightful evening 和 most excellent ball。她的语气已经告诉我们：这场舞会在她心里不是普通社交活动，而是女儿婚姻前景被验证的一晚。

她最反复强调的是宾利和简：he actually danced with her twice。这个 actually 很有意思，像是她在向丈夫证明“你看，事情真的发生了”。她还补充说，简是宾利唯一第二次邀请的人。舞会在她口中变成一串证据，证明宾利对简特别有意。

但这种讲述并不中立。卢卡斯小姐一出现，她马上说自己 so vexed；后面说宾利“不可能欣赏她”，语气就更明显了。金小姐、玛丽亚·卢卡斯、丽萃和布朗格舞，都只是她复述里快速掠过的名单。真正重要的只有简。

奥斯汀最精确的一笔，是旁白对达西那段复述的评价：贝内特太太讲得 with much bitterness of spirit, and some exaggeration。这并不是说达西没有失礼，而是提醒我们：眼前这份叙述，是被情绪加工过的。小说题名里的“偏见”，不只在伊丽莎白身上，也会通过贝内特太太这样的复述方式表现出来。

重点词汇

vexed /vekst/ adj. — 恼火的；烦恼的
贝内特太太看到宾利先邀请卢卡斯小姐，所以说 I was so vexed。这个词把她对女儿婚事的焦虑带了出来。

compassion /kəmˈpæʃn/ n. — 同情；怜悯
贝内特先生说 If he had had any compassion for me，是在幽默地抱怨：如果宾利对我有同情心，就不会跳这么多舞，让我现在听这么长的舞伴名单。

excessively /ɪkˈsesɪvli/ adv. — 极其；非常
He is so excessively handsome 是贝内特太太式的夸张赞美，说明她对宾利非常满意。

finery /ˈfaɪnəri/ n. — 华丽服饰；盛装
贝内特先生抗议 any description of finery，就是不想再听裙子、花边这些细节。

conceited /kənˈsiːtɪd/ adj. — 自负的；自以为是的
贝内特太太用 so high and so conceited 给达西贴上标签，意思是他既高傲又自负。

set-down /ˈset daʊn/ n. — 奚落；使人难堪的话
one of your set-downs 指贝内特先生那种讽刺式回击。贝内特太太希望丈夫能用这种方式让达西难堪。

detest /dɪˈtest/ v. — 厌恶；憎恶
I quite detest the man 是很强烈的情绪判断，比普通的 dislike 更重。

长难句解析

1. Jane was so admired...

原句：

Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it.

这句话更接近人物口语，而不是冷静书面叙述。so admired 表示“如此受人赞赏”，后面 nothing could be like it 把程度继续推高。

放在贝内特太太的嘴里，这句不是客观报告，而是兴奋的夸张。

2. If he had had any compassion for me...

原句：

If he had had any compassion for me, he would not have danced half so much!

这是与过去事实相反的虚拟语气。结构是：

If + 主语 + had + 过去分词, 主语 + would have + 过去分词

这里 had had 看起来重复，其实第一个 had 是虚拟语气里的助动词，第二个 had 是“拥有”。贝内特先生的幽默在于，他把自己听舞伴名单的痛苦，说成宾利缺乏同情心。

3. She was therefore obliged...

原句：

She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit, and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.

主语是 She，两个主要动作是 was obliged to seek 和 related。中间插入的 with much bitterness of spirit, and some exaggeration 说明她讲达西时带着怨气和夸张。

这一句对理解整段非常关键，因为它告诉我们：贝内特太太的复述有情绪滤镜。

阅读测验

Q1. Why is Mrs. Bennet especially delighted with Mr. Bingley?

A. Because he praised Mr. Bennet's reading habits.

B. Because he admired Jane and danced with her twice.

C. Because he refused to dance with Miss Lucas.

D. Because he gave a set-down to Mr. Darcy.

Q2. What does the narrator suggest about Mrs. Bennet's report of Mr. Darcy?

A. It is calm and completely neutral.

B. It is based only on Lizzy's own words.

C. It is told with bitterness and some exaggeration.

D. It proves that Mr. Darcy apologized immediately.

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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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