Pride & Prejudice 《傲慢与偏见》（精讲之五）

Darcy: Miss Elizabeth. I have struggled in vain and can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you. I had to see you. I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectation, the inferiority of your birth, my rank, all these things, and I'm willing to put them aside and ask you to end my agony.

Elizabeth: I don't understand.

Darcy: I love you. Most ardently. Please do me the honor of accepting my hand.

Elizabeth: Sir, I appreciate the struggle you have been through, and I am very sorry to have caused you pain. Believe me, it was unconsciously done.

Darcy: Is this your reply?

Elizabeth: Yes, sir.

Darcy: Are you... are you laughing at me?

Elizabeth: No.

Darcy: Are you rejecting me?

Elizabeth: I'm sure the feelings which, as you've told me have hindered your regard will help you in overcoming it.

Darcy: Might I ask why with so little endeavor at civility I am thus repulsed?

Elizabeth: And I might as well enquire with so evident a design of insulting me you chose to tell me that you liked me against your better judgment?

Darcy: No, believe me...

Elizabeth: If I was uncivil, then that is some excuse! But I have other reasons. You know I have.

Darcy: What reasons?

Elizabeth: Do you think anything might tempt me to accept the man who has ruined perhaps forever the happiness of a most beloved sister? Do you deny it Mr. Darcy, that you separated a young couple who loved each other, exposing your friend to center of the world for caprice and my sister to its derision for disappointed hopes and involving them both in misery of the acutest kind?

Darcy: I do not deny it.

Elizabeth: How could you do it?

Darcy: Because I believed your sister's indifferent to him.

Elizabeth: Indifferent?

Darcy: I watched them most carefully and realized his attachment was deeper than hers.

Elizabeth: That's because she's shy!

Darcy: Bingley, too, is modest and was persuaded she didn't feel strongly for him.

Elizabeth: Because you suggested it.

Darcy: I did it for his own good.

Elizabeth: My sister hardly shows her true feelings to me. I suppose you suspect that his fortune had some bearing?

Darcy: No! I wouldn't do your sister the dishonor, though it was suggested...

Elizabeth: What was?

Darcy: It was made perfectly clear that an advantageous marriage...

Elizabeth: Did my sister give that impression?

Darcy: No! No. No. There was, however, I have to admit, the matter of your family...

Elizabeth: Our want of connection? Mr. Bingley didn't seem to vex himself about that.

Darcy: No, it was more than that.

Elizabeth: How, sir?

Darcy: It was the lack of propriety shown by your mother, your three younger sisters and even, on occasion, your father. Forgive me. You and your sister I must exclude from this.

Elizabeth: And what about Mr. Wickham?

Darcy: Mr. Wickham?

Elizabeth: What excuse can you give for your behavior towards him?

Darcy: You take an eager interest in that gentleman's concerns.

Elizabeth: He told me of his misfortunes.

Darcy: Oh, yes, his misfortunes have been very great indeed.

Elizabeth: You ruin his chances and yet you treat him with sarcasm.

Darcy: So this is your opinion of me? Thank you for explaining so fully. Perhaps these offences might have been overlooked had not your pride been hurt by my honesty...

Elizabeth: My pride?

Darcy: ...in admitting scruples about our relationship. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your circumstances?

Elizabeth: And those are the words of a gentleman. From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.

Darcy: Forgive me, madam, for taking up so much of your time.

妙词佳句，活学活用

1. in vain

这是口语中的习惯用语，表示“徒劳，枉然”。比如“我们的工作全白做了”就可以说成：All our work was in vain. 再来看一个例子：
The police tried in vain to break up the protest crowds.
警察企图驱散抗议的人群，但没有成功。

2. bearing

在这里是个名词，意思是“关系；影响；方面；意义”等。这个词构成了很多习惯用语，我们可以搜集一下：
have a bearing on / upon... 关系到……影响到……
find / get / take bearing 判明方位，认清自己所处的地位
lose one's bearings 迷失方向，惶惑，不知所措
in all its bearings 从各方面

3. prevail upon/on

“劝说好；说服； 诱使”的意思。比如：“我必须得说服我爸给我买辆新自行车”就是：I must prevail upon my father to buy a new bicycle for me.

Prevail一词还有另外两个常用的意思，一是“流行，盛行”，另一个是“获胜，取得成功”。如：This old custom does not prevail now. 这种旧风俗现在已经不流行了。
Truth is great and will prevail. 真理是至高无上的，且必将获胜。

4. take up

“占用时间”的意思。这是一个常用词组，意思极其丰富。在英语中简单词构成的词组往往意思都很丰富。我们看看除了在本片段中的这个意思之外，take up还有什么别的含义：
a. 对……发生兴趣；开始从事
e.g. He did not particularly want to take up competitive sport.
b. 着手处理
e.g. He intends to take up the proposal with the prime minister.
c. 接下去，继续说
e.g. After a short break, she took up her story.