06-03-傲慢与偏见 [15]
hateful man． It's the hardest thing in the world to accept the fact that your property is not left to your own children， and I'm sure， if I were you， I'd have tried to do something about it．’
Jane and Elizabeth tried to explain the legal situation to her again．They had often attempted to do this before．But it was a matter which Mrs Bennet refused to understand， and she con- tinued to complain bitterly about Mr Collins．
‘It certainly is most unjust，’agreed Mr Bennet，‘and noth- ing can clear Mr Collins from the guilt of inheriting this house．But if you listen while I read his letter to you，you may perhaps be a little softened by his manner of expressing himself．’
He read aloud the following letter：
Dear Sir，
The disagreement between you and my late respected fa- ther always worried me， and since his death I have frequently wished to improve the relationship between our families．Af- ter a long period of study and training I have recently become a priest，and have been fortunate enough to gain the patron- age of Lady Catherine de Bourgh， widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh．This generous lady has given me the post of rector at Hunsford， which was luckily vacant．Hunsford is the village near her own large country house in Kent．Here I carry out the duties of my profession whenever necessary， and I take great care to behave at all times with grateful respect towards her ladyship．As a priest，moreover， I feel it my duty to encourage all families in my area of influence to live peacefully．Because of this，I flatter myself that I am acting correctly in offering you my friendship．I am of course concerned that when I even- tually inherit all your property， your daughters will doubtless be very poor，and I do apologize for this．I promise you I am ready to make amends in every possible way—but more about this later．If you do not object， I propose to visit you and your family on Monday November 18th，at four o’clock， and shall probably stay until the following Saturday week．This will cause me no inconvenience at all，as Lady Catherine is far from objecting to my occasional absence from my duties．
I remain，dear sir，with respectful good wishes to your lady and your daughters， your friend， William Collins．
‘So we can expect this peace-making gentleman at four o’clock today，’said Mr Bennet，as he folded up the letter．‘He appears to be a most polite and serious young man．How considerate of Lady Catherine to allow him to visit us！’
‘Well，if he is ready to make amends to the girls in some way， I shall certainly not discourage him，’said Mrs Bennet．
‘Although it's difficult，’said Jane，‘to guess how he in- tends to do that，it's good of him to want to help us．’
‘I think he's peculiar，’said Elizabeth．‘He sounds too pleased with himself，and he speaks so politely of Lady Cather- ine！And why does he apologize for inheriting Father's prop- erty in future？ We know it's not his fault．Can he be a sensible man，sir？’she added，turning to Mr Bennet．
‘No， my dear， I think not．I have great hopes of finding him quite the opposite．There is a mixture of servility and self- importance in his letter， which promises to be entertaining．I am impatient to see him．’
Mary，the middle daughter， who spent most of her time reading and who seldom joined in family conversations， now re- marked that in her opinion his letter was well expressed．But Kitty and Lydia did not show any interest in the letter or its writer．As it was highly unlikely that their cousin would arrive in a regimental uniform， they could not imagine having any pleasure in meeting him． Their mother， however， had changed her attitude towards Mr Collins after his letter， and was now preparing to meet him with such calmness that it astonished her husband and daughters．
Mr Collins arrived punctually， and was received with
Jane and Elizabeth tried to explain the legal situation to her again．They had often attempted to do this before．But it was a matter which Mrs Bennet refused to understand， and she con- tinued to complain bitterly about Mr Collins．
‘It certainly is most unjust，’agreed Mr Bennet，‘and noth- ing can clear Mr Collins from the guilt of inheriting this house．But if you listen while I read his letter to you，you may perhaps be a little softened by his manner of expressing himself．’
He read aloud the following letter：
Dear Sir，
The disagreement between you and my late respected fa- ther always worried me， and since his death I have frequently wished to improve the relationship between our families．Af- ter a long period of study and training I have recently become a priest，and have been fortunate enough to gain the patron- age of Lady Catherine de Bourgh， widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh．This generous lady has given me the post of rector at Hunsford， which was luckily vacant．Hunsford is the village near her own large country house in Kent．Here I carry out the duties of my profession whenever necessary， and I take great care to behave at all times with grateful respect towards her ladyship．As a priest，moreover， I feel it my duty to encourage all families in my area of influence to live peacefully．Because of this，I flatter myself that I am acting correctly in offering you my friendship．I am of course concerned that when I even- tually inherit all your property， your daughters will doubtless be very poor，and I do apologize for this．I promise you I am ready to make amends in every possible way—but more about this later．If you do not object， I propose to visit you and your family on Monday November 18th，at four o’clock， and shall probably stay until the following Saturday week．This will cause me no inconvenience at all，as Lady Catherine is far from objecting to my occasional absence from my duties．
I remain，dear sir，with respectful good wishes to your lady and your daughters， your friend， William Collins．
‘So we can expect this peace-making gentleman at four o’clock today，’said Mr Bennet，as he folded up the letter．‘He appears to be a most polite and serious young man．How considerate of Lady Catherine to allow him to visit us！’
‘Well，if he is ready to make amends to the girls in some way， I shall certainly not discourage him，’said Mrs Bennet．
‘Although it's difficult，’said Jane，‘to guess how he in- tends to do that，it's good of him to want to help us．’
‘I think he's peculiar，’said Elizabeth．‘He sounds too pleased with himself，and he speaks so politely of Lady Cather- ine！And why does he apologize for inheriting Father's prop- erty in future？ We know it's not his fault．Can he be a sensible man，sir？’she added，turning to Mr Bennet．
‘No， my dear， I think not．I have great hopes of finding him quite the opposite．There is a mixture of servility and self- importance in his letter， which promises to be entertaining．I am impatient to see him．’
Mary，the middle daughter， who spent most of her time reading and who seldom joined in family conversations， now re- marked that in her opinion his letter was well expressed．But Kitty and Lydia did not show any interest in the letter or its writer．As it was highly unlikely that their cousin would arrive in a regimental uniform， they could not imagine having any pleasure in meeting him． Their mother， however， had changed her attitude towards Mr Collins after his letter， and was now preparing to meet him with such calmness that it astonished her husband and daughters．
Mr Collins arrived punctually， and was received with