06-03-傲慢与偏见 [29]
advised me to marry．“Find an active，useful sort of person，”she told me，“a woman who can make a small income go a long way．Bring her to Hunsford as your wife，and I’ll visit her．”So I decided to choose a wife from among my Bennet cousins，to lessen the loss to the family when the sad event of your father's death takes place．I flatter myself that you will appreciate my motives．And now，nothing remains but to convince you of the violence of my affection．I am quite indifferent to the fact that you bring little money with you into our marringe，and promise you that I shall make no ungenerous reference to this after we are married．’
It was absolutely necessary to interrupt him now．
‘Sir，you forget I have given no answer．Accept my thanks for the compliment you are paying me，but it is impossible for me to accept your proposal．’
‘Of course I understand，’said Mr Collins，‘that young ladies often do not accept a proposal of marriage the first time． I am therefore not at all discouraged，and sincerely hope we shall be married soon．’
‘Sir，’cried Elizabeth，‘your hope is rather extraordinary after what I've said！I am perfectly serious．You could not make me happy，and I'm convinced I'm the last woman in the world who would make you happy．And I'm sure that if Lady Catherine knew me，she would find me poorly qualified for the situation．’
‘If I knew Lady Catherine thought so—’began Mr Collins，looking very worried．‘But I cannot imagine she would disapprove of you．And when I have the honour of seeing her again，I shall certainly tell her how modest，economical and practical you are．’
‘Indeed，Mr Collins，all praise of me will be unnecessary． Pay me the compliment of believing what I say．I hope you will be very happy and very rich，but I cannot accept your proposal．’She got up and was going to leave the room，but Mr Collins was speaking to her again．
‘I am far from accusing you of cruelty in refusing me，as I know it is the custom with elegant ladies in society to refuse a gentleman the first time．I hope to receive a more favourable answer next time I speak to you of marriage．’
‘Really，Mr Collins，’cried Elizabeth with some warmth，‘you do puzzle me！I do not know how to express my refusal so that it convinces you！’
‘You must allow me to flatter myself，dear cousin，that you do not intend to refuse me for long．My situation in life，my connections with the de Bourgh family，and my relationship to your own，all make my proposal a very suitable one．And you should remember that in spite of your many admirable qualities，it is not certain that you will receive any other offer of marriage，as you have very little money of your own．’
‘Sir，thank you again for the honour you have done me，but to accept your proposal is absolutely impossible．Can I speak plainer than that？Don't think of me as an elegant female，but as a thinking creature speaking the truth from her heart！’
‘You are charming！he cried，‘and I'm sure that when both your excellent parents agree，you will accept my proposal！’
Elizabeth did not reply，but left the room silently，deter- mined to ask her father，if necessary，to make her refusal clear to the self-deceiving Mr Collins．
Mrs Bennet had been waiting eagerly for the end of the in- terview，and when she saw Elizabeth leave the room，she hur- ried in to offer her congratulations to Mr Collins．He received them with pleasure，adding that he was sure his cousin's re- fusal was a natural result of her modesty and delicacy of char- acter．
‘Refusal？’repeated Mrs Bennet，shocked．‘Lizzy refused you？Do not worry，Mr Collins．I shall speak to her at once． She's a very obstinate，foolish girl，but I’ll make her accept you．
‘Pardon me，madam，’cried Mr Collins，‘but if she's really obstinate and foolish，I do not
It was absolutely necessary to interrupt him now．
‘Sir，you forget I have given no answer．Accept my thanks for the compliment you are paying me，but it is impossible for me to accept your proposal．’
‘Of course I understand，’said Mr Collins，‘that young ladies often do not accept a proposal of marriage the first time． I am therefore not at all discouraged，and sincerely hope we shall be married soon．’
‘Sir，’cried Elizabeth，‘your hope is rather extraordinary after what I've said！I am perfectly serious．You could not make me happy，and I'm convinced I'm the last woman in the world who would make you happy．And I'm sure that if Lady Catherine knew me，she would find me poorly qualified for the situation．’
‘If I knew Lady Catherine thought so—’began Mr Collins，looking very worried．‘But I cannot imagine she would disapprove of you．And when I have the honour of seeing her again，I shall certainly tell her how modest，economical and practical you are．’
‘Indeed，Mr Collins，all praise of me will be unnecessary． Pay me the compliment of believing what I say．I hope you will be very happy and very rich，but I cannot accept your proposal．’She got up and was going to leave the room，but Mr Collins was speaking to her again．
‘I am far from accusing you of cruelty in refusing me，as I know it is the custom with elegant ladies in society to refuse a gentleman the first time．I hope to receive a more favourable answer next time I speak to you of marriage．’
‘Really，Mr Collins，’cried Elizabeth with some warmth，‘you do puzzle me！I do not know how to express my refusal so that it convinces you！’
‘You must allow me to flatter myself，dear cousin，that you do not intend to refuse me for long．My situation in life，my connections with the de Bourgh family，and my relationship to your own，all make my proposal a very suitable one．And you should remember that in spite of your many admirable qualities，it is not certain that you will receive any other offer of marriage，as you have very little money of your own．’
‘Sir，thank you again for the honour you have done me，but to accept your proposal is absolutely impossible．Can I speak plainer than that？Don't think of me as an elegant female，but as a thinking creature speaking the truth from her heart！’
‘You are charming！he cried，‘and I'm sure that when both your excellent parents agree，you will accept my proposal！’
Elizabeth did not reply，but left the room silently，deter- mined to ask her father，if necessary，to make her refusal clear to the self-deceiving Mr Collins．
Mrs Bennet had been waiting eagerly for the end of the in- terview，and when she saw Elizabeth leave the room，she hur- ried in to offer her congratulations to Mr Collins．He received them with pleasure，adding that he was sure his cousin's re- fusal was a natural result of her modesty and delicacy of char- acter．
‘Refusal？’repeated Mrs Bennet，shocked．‘Lizzy refused you？Do not worry，Mr Collins．I shall speak to her at once． She's a very obstinate，foolish girl，but I’ll make her accept you．
‘Pardon me，madam，’cried Mr Collins，‘but if she's really obstinate and foolish，I do not