“所以，今天下午4点这位和事佬先生就要来了，”班纳特先生说着，一面把信折叠起来。“他像是一位知书达礼、严肃认真的年轻人。凯瑟琳夫人允许他拜访我们，真是体贴入微呀！”
‘Well，if he is ready to make amends to the girls in some way， I shall certainly not discourage him，’said Mrs Bennet．
“那么，如果他愿意用某种方式给女儿们以补偿的话，我当然不会给他泼冷水，”班纳特太太说。
‘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．’
“虽然很难猜测，”简说，“他打算如何补偿我们，不过，他想帮助我们，倒是件好事。”
‘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．
“我觉得他有点儿古怪，”伊丽莎白说。“他听起来过于自鸣得意，谈起凯瑟琳夫人又过于客气！他将来继承父亲的财产为什么要道歉？我们知道那不是他的错。先生，他会是个理智的人吗？”她转向班纳特先生，补充道。
‘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．’
“我想不是，亲爱的。他极有可能恰恰相反。他在信中显得既卑躬屈膝，又妄自尊大，这一定很有趣，我真想马上见到他。”
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．
年纪居中的女儿玛丽大部分时间都在读书，很少参与家人的谈话，这时她插话说，在她看来，这封信意思表达得恰如其分。可是吉蒂和丽迪亚对这封信和它的作者没表现出任何兴趣。她们想象不出来见到表兄会有什么乐趣，因为他极不可能穿着军服来。不过，她们的母亲听完信之后改变了对柯林斯先生的态度，现在准备着心平气和地迎接他，这使得丈夫和女儿们大为惊讶。
Mr Collins arrived punctually， and was received with 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．’
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