It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

  《傲慢与偏见》开篇这一段就囊括了整本书里的17世纪英国婚恋背景。For a normal reader who live in a society quite different from theirs, it is quite shocking to know that the girls and their parents are so eager for proper marriages that they are almost like "hunting" for every prospective and desirable husband/son-in-law. 

  紧接着Mr. Bennet和Mrs. Bennet围绕这一段的讨论也很有意思，Jane Austen笔下的Mr. Bennet是这样的性格：

Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.

  而Mr.Bennet那位婚后二十三年，一起育有五女却仍然搞不懂丈夫的性格的Mrs. Bennet的头脑则要简单得多：

Her mind was less difficult to develope, she was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

  Mr.Bennet的思维敏捷，对自己的妻子极尽挖苦和讽刺，冷静自持又变化无常（至少对他老婆来说是这样），而Mrs. Bennet理解能力不太行（因此大部分时候免疫Mr.Bennet的讽刺挖苦），知识储备也不太行（后文女儿们花很多时间给她解释基本常识她还是一副“我是泼妇，我不懂，我摆烂”的态度），脾气也不定。她经常抱怨丈夫折磨自己脆弱的脑神经；她的毕生事业，也是本文的围绕中心，就是这位知识和目光一样短浅，精神境界不大行，道德品质只能说do the bare minimum的太太想方设法嫁女儿（帮倒忙）的故事。

  而这两人的性格在Jane Austen的笔下，寥寥几段妙趣横生的对话就表现得淋漓尽致。

  妻子得知了Netherfield Park被Bingley租走的消息，急切地想激起丈夫的好奇心，告诉丈夫这个对她来说十分重要的消息：

"Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife, impatiently. 

而Mr. Bennet十足的reserve, indifference：

You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.

  而对于Mrs.Bennet来说，她显然早已习惯这样的对话，这样不痛不痒的回答，对她而言

This was invitation enough.

  以及后面讨论Mr.Bingley的单身状况的一段（这里的Mr.Bennet简直就是多少读者的嘴替）

  “Oh, single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”

  "How so? How can it affect them?"

  "My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome? You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."

  "Is that his design in settling here?"

  "Design? nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."

  这显然也是读者对于前述“将刚搬来这里的钻石王老五视作理所当然的金龟婿”的态度的反驳，“怎么，结婚是他们搬来这里的目的吗？”

  而接下来则是Mrs. Bennet求Mr. Bennet去拜访Bingley但是后者不为所动。Mr.Bennet继续嘲讽挖苦而Mrs. Bennet强行免疫的对话则凸显了两人“mean understanding”克“sarcastic humour”的特点，读起来很搞笑：

  " I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by yourselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr.Bingley might like you the best of the party." 

  "My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."

  "In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of."

  居然能把这么明晃晃的嘲讽当成是在flatter，Mrs.Bennet的心也是真大。在对方完全免疫自己的攻击后，Mr.Bennet还能接上一句“你的漂亮已经超过了你说的这种一般情况，”真就是不折不扣的“quick parts”了。

  而后面Mr.Bennet执意说我反正不去，不然我就给Mr.Bingley写封信你带过去，告诉他我真诚地同意他随便从我的女儿里面挑一个，但是最好是挑我可爱的小丽；在这种完全是sarcastic humour的情况下Mrs. Bennet居然还真就思维跟着跑偏，一本正经地质问他为什么要给小丽说好话，大女儿简更好看，老四莉迪亚更随性，你居然更偏爱小丽；遭到明确拒绝后，Mrs.Bennet指责丈夫对自己脆弱的神经毫无同情，而Mr.Bennet却说怎么会呢你误会我了亲爱的，我很尊敬你的神经，他们是我的老朋友了，你已经如此煞有介事地跟我提了至少二十年…到这里我已经完全理解Jane Austen两段对两人性格特点的概述了。

  最后这里拒绝去拜访Mr. Bingley之后Mr. Bennet对妻子的“安慰”也很典：

    “But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighborhood.”

  我希望你能渡过这个难关，克服好情绪（指前文本太太说"You do not know what I suffer😕"），继续看到许多四千磅一年的年轻适龄男子来到我们这里。

  “It will be no use, if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.”

  你不去拜访，就算来二十个又有什么用。

  “Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all.”

  你都这么说了，亲爱的，等二十个都来了，我一定挨个登门拜访。

短短一小章就刻画出了这么立体的人物形象，Austen是真的很牛O.O

• have no objection in doing sth.不反对做某事

  eg. You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.

• tiresome：annoying and making you lose patience

  eg. How can you be so tiresome?

• I see no occasion for that. 我看没有这个必要

• merely on that account 仅仅因此缘故

  eg. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account; for in general, you know, they visit no new comers.

• scrupulous: extremely careful to do what is right or moral

  eg. You are over scrupulous, surely.

• consent: permission or agreement

  eg. I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.

• give sb. the preference 更偏爱某人

  eg. I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.

• You take delight in vexing me.
  

  take delight in doing sth.

  vex: to cause difficulty to someone, or to cause someone to feel angry, annoyed, or upset.

• have compassion on

  eg. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.

• Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.

  quick parts: strong intellectual ability or other natural talents.

  sarcastic: using remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what you say, in order to hurt someone's feelings or to humorously criticize something

  reserve: the habit of not showing your feelings or thoughts

  caprice: (the quality of often having) a sudden and usually silly wish to have or do something, or sudden and silly change of mind or behaviou.

• mean: poor, dirty, and of bad quality

  eg. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.

• When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous.

  discontented: feeling unhappy because you want better treatment or an improved situation.

  fancy + sb./sth. + adj.

• solace: help and comfort when you are feeling sad or worried

  eg. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

补充信息

• He came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place.

  chaise: Four-wheeled closed carriage.

  这里提到的是Mr.Bingley乘坐着Chaise来Netherfield看房子。在李继宏的译本中将chaise译为“翠轼”，由四匹马拉动，车厢是封闭式的，有四个轮子，属于大型豪华马车。当年的马车和现在的汽车一样款式繁多，高中低档都有。选装豪华配饰的四驱翠轼售价在200英镑以上，大概相当于现在的奔驰S系轿车。

• He is to take possesion before Michaelmas.

  Michaelmas: Feast of St. Michael, celebrated on September 29.

  Bingley将在米迦勒节之前拿到地产。米迦勒节是纪念基督教大天使米迦勒的节日，为每年9月29日，英国四个年度四分节（Quarter Days）中的第三个。其他三个分别是圣母节（3.25）、仲夏节（6.24）和圣诞节（12.25）。依照英国旧俗。四分节是签订租约或雇佣合同的起止日。

• Sir William and Lady Lucas

  即威廉卢卡斯夫妇。英国爵位分为公（Duke）、侯（Marquis）、伯（Earl）、子（Viscount）、男（Baron）五等，另设有从男爵（Baronet）和骑士（Knight）两种荣誉封号。从男爵可世袭，但和骑士一样不入英国上议院，因此不算真正的贵族。普通人对从男爵或者骑士的专用称谓是其名字加上爵士（Sir），称呼其妻子则是姓氏加上夫人。