06-03-傲慢与偏见 [16]
great politeness by the whole family． Mr Bennet indeed said little，but the ladies were ready enough to talk， and Mr Collins did not seem in need of encouragement．He was a tall， heavy- looking young man of twenty-five．His expression was serious，and his manners very formal．Soon after his arrival， he said to Mrs Bennet，‘Madam， I must compliment you on having such a fine family of daughters． I had heard much of their beauty， but I find them even more beautiful than reports have stated．I do not doubt you will see them all well married quite soon．’
Mrs Bennet never quarrelled with compliments，and she answered，‘You're very kind，sir，and indeed I do hope so，be-cause otherwise they’ll have nothing at all to live on．’
‘You refer perhaps to my inheriting the Bennet property？’
‘Ah，yes，sir，I do！You must confess it is a sad business for my poor girls．’
‘I am very aware，madam，of the hardship to your lovely daughters—and could say more about this，but I am cautious of saying too much too soon．But I would like to say that I have come prepared to admire the young ladies．And perhaps when we know each other better—’
The bell rang for dinner，and the family moved into the dining-room with their guest．The girls smiled secretly at each other，as Mr Collins praised the hall，the dining-room and all the furniture．Mrs Bennet would normally have been delighted with such praise，but she could not help thinking that he was perhaps admiring it all as his future property．The dinner，too， he considered excellent，and he asked which of his charming cousins was responsible for it．But Mrs Bennet explained quite sharply to him that they were very well able to afford a good cook，and that her daughters had nothing to do in the kitchen． He begged her pardon immediately for offending her，and con- tinned to apologize for about a quarter of an hour．
Mr Bennet had hardly spoken up to now，but he thought it was time to enter the conversation．‘You seem very fortunate in your patron，Mr Collins，’he said．
He could not have chosen a better opening remark．Mr Collins spoke enthusiastically for several minutes in praise of Lady Catherine．‘Never in my life have I witnessed such con- siderate behaviour in a person of high birth！Although she is such a great lady，she has never treated me with disdain．She talks to me almost as an equal，and gives me advice．For exam- ple，she has recommended me to marry as soon as possible．And do you know，she has asked me to dinner twice at her house！ Some people consider her proud，but she has only ever been kind to me．She even took the trouble to visit my small house， and was thoughtful enough to suggest one or two improve- ments—some shelves upstairs．’
‘That is very correct and polite，I'm sure，’said Mrs Bennet．‘Does she live near you，sir？’
‘Only a small country road separates my poor house from Rosings Park，her ladyship's home．’
‘I think you said she is a widow？Has she any family？’
‘She has only one daughter，who will inherit Rosings and all Lady Catherine's property．A most charming young lady，un- fortunately in weak health．I often pay her some little compli- ment on her appearance or her accomplishments when I visit Rosings．Lady Catherine appreciates these compliments to her daughter，and I see it as my duty to please her ladyship．’
‘I am sure you're right，’said Mr Bennet．‘No doubt you are expert at flattering with delicacy．May I ask how you think of these pleasing compliments？’
‘Some of them come to me at the time，but in my spare moments I do occasionally prepare a few words which may be suitable for different occasions．’
Mr Bennet listened to his cousin with the greatest emjoyment．Mr Collins was as foolish as he had hoped．But by tea-time Mr Bennet had had enough，and after tea，asked his guest to read aloud
Mrs Bennet never quarrelled with compliments，and she answered，‘You're very kind，sir，and indeed I do hope so，be-cause otherwise they’ll have nothing at all to live on．’
‘You refer perhaps to my inheriting the Bennet property？’
‘Ah，yes，sir，I do！You must confess it is a sad business for my poor girls．’
‘I am very aware，madam，of the hardship to your lovely daughters—and could say more about this，but I am cautious of saying too much too soon．But I would like to say that I have come prepared to admire the young ladies．And perhaps when we know each other better—’
The bell rang for dinner，and the family moved into the dining-room with their guest．The girls smiled secretly at each other，as Mr Collins praised the hall，the dining-room and all the furniture．Mrs Bennet would normally have been delighted with such praise，but she could not help thinking that he was perhaps admiring it all as his future property．The dinner，too， he considered excellent，and he asked which of his charming cousins was responsible for it．But Mrs Bennet explained quite sharply to him that they were very well able to afford a good cook，and that her daughters had nothing to do in the kitchen． He begged her pardon immediately for offending her，and con- tinned to apologize for about a quarter of an hour．
Mr Bennet had hardly spoken up to now，but he thought it was time to enter the conversation．‘You seem very fortunate in your patron，Mr Collins，’he said．
He could not have chosen a better opening remark．Mr Collins spoke enthusiastically for several minutes in praise of Lady Catherine．‘Never in my life have I witnessed such con- siderate behaviour in a person of high birth！Although she is such a great lady，she has never treated me with disdain．She talks to me almost as an equal，and gives me advice．For exam- ple，she has recommended me to marry as soon as possible．And do you know，she has asked me to dinner twice at her house！ Some people consider her proud，but she has only ever been kind to me．She even took the trouble to visit my small house， and was thoughtful enough to suggest one or two improve- ments—some shelves upstairs．’
‘That is very correct and polite，I'm sure，’said Mrs Bennet．‘Does she live near you，sir？’
‘Only a small country road separates my poor house from Rosings Park，her ladyship's home．’
‘I think you said she is a widow？Has she any family？’
‘She has only one daughter，who will inherit Rosings and all Lady Catherine's property．A most charming young lady，un- fortunately in weak health．I often pay her some little compli- ment on her appearance or her accomplishments when I visit Rosings．Lady Catherine appreciates these compliments to her daughter，and I see it as my duty to please her ladyship．’
‘I am sure you're right，’said Mr Bennet．‘No doubt you are expert at flattering with delicacy．May I ask how you think of these pleasing compliments？’
‘Some of them come to me at the time，but in my spare moments I do occasionally prepare a few words which may be suitable for different occasions．’
Mr Bennet listened to his cousin with the greatest emjoyment．Mr Collins was as foolish as he had hoped．But by tea-time Mr Bennet had had enough，and after tea，asked his guest to read aloud