1、Pride and PrejudiceChapter 1IT 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 surro
2、unding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.My dear Mr. Bennet, said his lady to him one day, have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.But it is, returned she; for Mrs. Long has just been here,
3、and she told me all about it.Mr. Bennet made no answer.Do not you want to know who has taken it? cried his wife impatiently.You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.This was invitation enough.Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of la
4、rge fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next
5、week.What is his name?Bingley.Is he married or single?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
6、 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.I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send
7、 them by themselves, 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 had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown
8、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.But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood.It is more than I engage for, I assure you.But consider your daughters. Only think wh
9、at an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr
10、. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying which ever he chuses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I
11、 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.They have none of them much to recommend them, replied he; they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.Mr. B
12、ennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.Ah! yo
13、u do not know what I suffer.But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit them all.
14、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. Her mind was less difficult to develope. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, a
15、nd 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.Chapter 2MR. Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley. He had always intended to visit him, though to the l
16、ast always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid, she had no knowledge of it. It was then disclosed in the following manner. Observing his second daughter employed in trimming a hat, he suddenly addressed her with,I hope Mr. Bingley will like it, Lizz
17、y.We are not in a way to know what Mr. Bingley likes, said her mother resentfully, since we are not to visit.But you forget, mama, said Elizabeth, that we shall meet him at the assemblies, and that Mrs. Long has promised to introduce him.I do not believe Mrs. Long will do any such thing. She has two
18、 nieces of her own. She is a selfish, hypocritical woman, and I have no opinion of her.No more have I, said Mr. Bennet; and I am glad to find that you do not depend on her serving you.Mrs. Bennet deigned not to make any reply; but unable to contain herself, began scolding one of her daughters.Dont k
19、eep coughing so, Kitty, for heavens sake! Have a little compassion on my nerves. You tear them to pieces.Kitty has no discretion in her coughs, said her father; she times them ill.I do not cough for my own amusement, replied Kitty fretfully.When is your next ball to be, Lizzy?To-morrow fortnight.Aye
20、, so it is, cried her mother, and Mrs. Long does not come back till the day before; so it will be impossible for her to introduce him, for she will not know him herself.Then, my dear, you may have the advantage of your friend, and introduce Mr. Bingley to her.Impossible, Mr. Bennet, impossible, when
21、 I am not acquainted with him myself; how can you be so teazing?I honour your circumspection. A fortnights acquaintance is certainly very little. One cannot know what a man really is by the end of a fortnight. But if we do not venture, somebody else will; and after all, Mrs. Long and her nieces must
22、 stand their chance; and therefore, as she will think it an act of kindness, if you decline the office, I will take it on myself.The girls stared at their father. Mrs. Bennet said only, Nonsense, nonsense!What can be the meaning of that emphatic exclamation? cried he. Do you consider the forms of in
23、troduction, and the stress that is laid on them, as nonsense? I cannot quite agree with you there. What say you, Mary? for you are a young lady of deep reflection I know, and read great books, and make extracts.Mary wished to say something very sensible, but knew not how.While Mary is adjusting her
24、ideas, he continued, let us return to Mr. Bingley.I am sick of Mr. Bingley, cried his wife.I am sorry to hear that; but why did not you tell me so before? If I had known as much this morning, I certainly would not have called on him. It is very unlucky; but as I have actually paid the visit, we cann
25、ot escape the acquaintance now.The astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished; that of Mrs. Bennet perhaps surpassing the rest; though when the first tumult of joy was over, she began to declare that it was what she had expected all the while.How good it was in you, my dear Mr. Bennet! But I
26、 knew I should persuade you at last. I was sure you loved our girls too well to neglect such an acquaintance. Well, how pleased I am! and it is such a good joke, too, that you should have gone this morning, and never said a word about it till now.Now, Kitty, you may cough as much as you chuse, said
27、Mr. Bennet; and, as he spoke, he left the room, fatigued with the raptures of his wife.What an excellent father you have, girls, said she, when the door was shut. I do not know how you will ever make him amends for his kindness; or me either, for that matter. At our time of life, it is not so pleasa
28、nt I can tell you, to be making new acquaintance every day; but for your sakes, we would do any thing. Lydia, my love, though you are the youngest, I dare say Mr. Bingley will dance with you at the next ball.Oh! said Lydia stoutly, I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, Im the tallest.The re
29、st of the evening was spent in conjecturing how soon he would return Mr. Bennets visit, and determining when they should ask him to dinner.Chapter 3NOT all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject was sufficient to draw from her husband any satis
30、factory description of Mr. Bingley. They attacked him in various ways; with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas. Her report was highl
31、y favourable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and, to crown the whole, he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more delightful! To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; a
32、nd very lively hopes of Mr. Bingleys heart were entertained.If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield, said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennets visit, and sat ab
33、out ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard much; but he saw only the father. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of ascertaining, from an upper window, that he wore a
34、 blue coat and rode a black horse.An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all. Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and consequentl
35、y unable to accept the honour of their invitation, and she began to fear that he might be always flying about from one place to another, and never settled at Netherfield as he ought to be. Lady Lucas quieted her fears a little by starting the idea of his being gone to London only to get a large part
36、y for the ball; and a report soon followed that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly. The girls grieved over such a large number of ladies; but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing that, instead of twelve, he had brought only six with him f
37、rom London, his five sisters and a cousin. And when the party entered the assembly room, it consisted of only five altogether; Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the oldest, and another young man.Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaff
38、ected manners. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten t
39、housand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered
40、 to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principa
41、l people in the room; he was lively and unreserved, danced every dance, was angry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him and his friend! Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst a
42、nd once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped that he would n
43、ever come there again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having slighted one of her daughters.Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and du
44、ring part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.Come, Darcy, said he, I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this s
45、tupid manner. You had much better dance.I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment
46、 to me to stand up with.I would not be so fastidious as you are, cried Bingley, for a kingdom! Upon my honour I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life, as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty.You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,
47、 said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.Which do you mean? and turning round, he
48、 looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposit
