Pride and Prejudice · chapter 14 of 25
The Letter
那封信
The morning after, Mr. Darcy hands Elizabeth a letter and walks away. It tells her things she never wanted to know, about Wickham, about Jane, and about herself.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二天早上，伊丽莎白一个人在小路上散步。
Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, Yīlìshābái yí gè rén zài xiǎo lù shang sànbù.
The next morning, Elizabeth was out walking alone in the lane.
- Mr. Darcy 伊丽莎白小姐，我在这儿等了您很久。就算您生我的气，也请您读一读这封信。
Yīlìshābái xiǎojie, wǒ zài zhèr děng le nín hěn jiǔ. Jiùsuàn nín shēng wǒ de qì, yě qǐng nín dú yi dú zhè fēng xìn.
Miss Elizabeth, I have been waiting here for some time. Angry as you are, will you do me the honor of reading this letter?
- Narrator 他把信给了她，就走了。
Tā bǎ xìn gěi le tā, jiù zǒu le.
He gave her the letter and walked away.
Chapter 14 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapters 1–3 of Pride and Prejudice are free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Mr. Darcy 请您放心，昨天晚上那些话，我不会再跟您说了。我只想把两件事解释清楚。
Qǐng nín fàngxīn, zuótiān wǎnshang nàxiē huà, wǒ bú huì zài gēn nín shuō le. Wǒ zhǐ xiǎng bǎ liǎng jiàn shì jiěshì qīngchu.
Do not be alarmed. I will not repeat what I said last night. I only wish to explain two things.
- Mr. Darcy 第一，您的姐姐。宾利很爱她。可是她很善良，对谁都笑，我没看出来她特别爱他。
Dì yī, nín de jiějie. Bīnlì hěn ài tā. Kěshì tā hěn shànliáng, duì shéi dōu xiào, wǒ méi kàn chūlai tā tèbié ài tā.
First, your sister. Bingley loved her. But she was kind and smiling to everyone, and I saw no sign that she loved him in particular.
- Mr. Darcy 如果我错了，您生气也是应该的。
Rúguǒ wǒ cuò le, nín shēngqì yě shì yīnggāi de.
If I was wrong, your anger is only fair.
- Mr. Darcy 还有，您的母亲，您的妹妹们，有时候还有您的父亲……常常让人觉得丢脸。
Hái yǒu, nín de mǔqin, nín de mèimeimen, yǒushíhou hái yǒu nín de fùqin… chángcháng ràng rén juéde diūliǎn.
And then your mother, your younger sisters, and at times even your father… were so often an embarrassment.
- Mr. Darcy 只有您和您的姐姐不一样。
Zhǐyǒu nín hé nín de jiějie bù yíyàng.
Only you and your elder sister were different.
- Mr. Darcy 所以我让宾利别回去，也没有告诉他，您姐姐在伦敦。这件事，我做得不对。
Suǒyǐ wǒ ràng Bīnlì bié huíqu, yě méiyǒu gàosu tā, nín jiějie zài Lúndūn. Zhè jiàn shì, wǒ zuò de bú duì.
So I persuaded Bingley not to go back, and I never told him your sister was in London. In that, I did wrong.
- Elizabeth Bennet 傲慢！到现在，他还是这么傲慢！
Àomàn! Dào xiànzài, tā háishi zhème àomàn!
Arrogant! Even now, he's as arrogant as ever!
- Mr. Darcy 第二，威克姆。他是我父亲管家的儿子，我父亲很喜欢他。
Dì èr, Wēikèmǔ. Tā shì wǒ fùqin guǎnjiā de érzi, wǒ fùqin hěn xǐhuan tā.
Second, Wickham. He is the son of my father's steward, and my father was very fond of him.
- Mr. Darcy 我父亲留给他一千镑，还想让他以后在一个很好的教堂当牧师。
Wǒ fùqin liú gěi tā yìqiān bàng, hái xiǎng ràng tā yǐhòu zài yí gè hěn hǎo de jiàotáng dāng mùshi.
My father left him a thousand pounds, and hoped he would one day have a good living as a clergyman.
- Mr. Darcy 可是他不想当牧师。他要了三千镑，不要那个教堂了。
Kěshì tā bù xiǎng dāng mùshi. Tā yào le sānqiān bàng, bú yào nàge jiàotáng le.
But he didn't want to be a clergyman. He asked for three thousand pounds instead of the living.
- Mr. Darcy 钱很快就花光了，他又来要那个教堂。我没有给他。
Qián hěn kuài jiù huā guāng le, tā yòu lái yào nàge jiàotáng. Wǒ méiyǒu gěi tā.
The money was soon gone, and he came back asking for the living. I refused him.
- Elizabeth Bennet 不，这不可能！达西先生在骗我！我不看了！
Bù, zhè bù kěnéng! Dáxī xiānsheng zài piàn wǒ! Wǒ bú kàn le!
No, it can't be! Mr. Darcy is lying to me! I won't read another word!
- Narrator 她把信放下了。可是过了半分钟，她又打开了。
Tā bǎ xìn fàngxià le. Kěshì guò le bàn fēnzhōng, tā yòu dǎkāi le.
She put the letter away. Half a minute later, she opened it again.
- Mr. Darcy 下面的事，是我们家的秘密。
Xiàmiàn de shì, shì wǒmen jiā de mìmì.
What follows is our family's secret.
- Mr. Darcy 去年夏天，我妹妹在海边。威克姆也去了。
Qùnián xiàtiān, wǒ mèimei zài hǎibiān. Wēikèmǔ yě qù le.
Last summer my sister was at the seaside. Wickham went there too.
- Mr. Darcy 他让我妹妹以为，她爱上了他。他们说好了要私奔。她那时候才十五岁。
Tā ràng wǒ mèimei yǐwéi, tā ài shàng le tā. Tāmen shuō hǎo le yào sībēn. Tā nà shíhou cái shíwǔ suì.
He made my sister believe she was in love with him, and they planned to run away together. She was only fifteen.
- Mr. Darcy 他要的是她的三万镑。他也想报复我。
Tā yào de shì tā de sānwàn bàng. Tā yě xiǎng bàofù wǒ.
What he wanted was her thirty thousand pounds. And revenge on me.
- Mr. Darcy 幸好她把一切都告诉了我。威克姆马上走了。
Xìnghǎo tā bǎ yíqiè dōu gàosu le wǒ. Wēikèmǔ mǎshàng zǒu le.
Luckily she told me everything, and Wickham left at once.
- Mr. Darcy 这些事，您可以问我的表哥菲茨上校。他都知道。
Zhèxiē shì, nín kěyǐ wèn wǒ de biǎogē Fēicí shàngxiào. Tā dōu zhīdào.
You may ask my cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, about all of this. He knows everything.
- Elizabeth Bennet 威克姆先生刚认识我，就说了这么多……
Wēikèmǔ xiānsheng gāng rènshi wǒ, jiù shuō le zhème duō…
Mr. Wickham had only just met me, and he told me all that…
- Elizabeth Bennet 他说他不会说达西先生的坏话。可是达西先生一走，他就告诉了所有人。
Tā shuō tā bú huì shuō Dáxī xiānsheng de huàihuà. Kěshì Dáxī xiānsheng yì zǒu, tā jiù gàosu le suǒyǒu rén.
He said he would never speak ill of Mr. Darcy. But the moment Mr. Darcy left, he told everyone.
- Elizabeth Bennet 还有那位有一万镑的小姐……他要的只是钱！
Hái yǒu nà wèi yǒu yíwàn bàng de xiǎojie… tā yào de zhǐshì qián!
And that young lady with ten thousand pounds… all he wanted was money!
- Elizabeth Bennet 一个脸白了，一个脸红了……原来是这样。
Yí gè liǎn bái le, yí gè liǎn hóng le… yuánlái shì zhèyàng.
One went white, the other red… so that was why.
- Elizabeth Bennet 我总说，我看人很准。我的第一印象，全错了！我真后悔那么相信他！
Wǒ zǒng shuō, wǒ kàn rén hěn zhǔn. Wǒ de dì yī yìnxiàng, quán cuò le! Wǒ zhēn hòuhuǐ nàme xiāngxìn tā!
I always said I was a good judge of people. My first impressions were all wrong! How I regret believing him!
- Elizabeth Bennet 让我看错人的不是爱，是虚荣。直到今天，我才认识了自己。
Ràng wǒ kàn cuò rén de bú shì ài, shì xūróng. Zhídào jīntiān, wǒ cái rènshi le zìjǐ.
It wasn't love that blinded me. It was vanity. Until today, I never really knew myself.
- Elizabeth Bennet 简的感情，别人看不出来……夏洛特早就这样说过。也许，他没有全错。
Jiǎn de gǎnqíng, biérén kàn bu chūlai… Xiàluòtè zǎojiù zhèyàng shuō guo. Yěxǔ, tā méiyǒu quán cuò.
No one can tell what Jane feels… Charlotte said so long ago. Perhaps he wasn't entirely wrong.
- Elizabeth Bennet 傲慢的人不只是他……有偏见的人，是我。回家以后，我要怎么告诉简？
Àomàn de rén bù zhǐ shì tā… yǒu piānjiàn de rén, shì wǒ. Huí jiā yǐhòu, wǒ yào zěnme gàosu Jiǎn?
He wasn't the only proud one… I was the prejudiced one. When I get home, what will I tell Jane?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why did Mr. Darcy think Jane did not love Mr. Bingley?
“她很善良，对谁都笑，我没看出来她特别爱他。”
- What did Mr. Wickham take instead of becoming a clergyman?
“他要了三千镑，不要那个教堂了。”
- What did Mr. Wickham try to do last summer?
“他们说好了要私奔。她那时候才十五岁。”
- Who can tell Elizabeth that the letter is true?
“您可以问我的表哥菲茨上校。他都知道。”
- What does Elizabeth realize about herself?
“有偏见的人，是我”