Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility

Chapter 11 Discussion of Weaknesses of Character

After supper Elizabeth went upstairs to her sister, to see that she was well dressed and safe from cold, and accompanied her into the drawing-room.Her girlfriends all seemed very happy to see her and welcomed her.During the hour when the men were not present, they looked so agreeable as Elizabeth had never seen them before.They were very talkative, and they described dinner parties with great detail, told stories with wit, and laughed at a friend very well.

But as soon as the men came in, Jane was not very noticeable.As soon as Darcy entered, Miss Bingley's eyes turned to him immediately, and she wanted to speak to him.Darcy greeted Miss Bennet first, and congratulated her politely on her recovery; Mr. Bingley's greetings.Mr. Bingley was affectionate and cheerful.

The first half hour was completely spent adding coal, and they were afraid that the cold in the room would overwhelm the patient.Jane obeyed Bingley's advice, and moved her seat to the other side of the fire, so that she would be farther from the door and avoid the cold.Then he sat beside her, talking to her, and hardly paying attention to the others.Elizabeth, who was at work in the opposite corner, took great pleasure in seeing the whole scene.

After tea Mr. Hurst reminded Miss Bingley to set the card table, but it was in vain.She had long seen that Mr. Darcy did not want to play cards, and she refused Mr. Hurst's open offer to do so.She told him that no one wanted to play poker, and since the whole room was silent on the matter, it seemed she was right.Mr. Hurst, having nothing to do, lay down on the sofa and dozed off.Darcy took up a book, and Miss Bingley took up another.Mrs. Hurst was absorbed in her bracelets and rings, and occasionally interrupted the conversation between her brother and Miss Bennet.

Miss Bingley also pays attention to Darcy's reading while she is reading. She is doing two things at the same time, and she is a little absent-minded.She always subconsciously asked him something, or to see which page he was reading.However, she was always unable to make him talk; he answered a question she asked, and continued reading his book after answering.Miss Bingley chose that book only because it was the second volume Darcy had read, and she thought it would be very interesting to read, but she did not expect that reading would exhaust her .She yawned and said, "How enjoyable it is to spend an evening like this! I can't watch any entertainment as much as reading. No matter what I do, I get bored as soon as I start it, but reading doesn't do that." One day I will have my own home, if I don’t have a good study, what a pity it will be.”

No one paid her any attention.Then, yawning again, she put aside her book, and looked round the room for something to amuse herself, when she heard her brother and Miss Bennet talk of a ball, and burst into a rage. Turning to him, he said, "So, Charles, are you really planning to have a ball at Netherfield Manor? I advise you to consult the opinions of the friends present before making a decision. Some people think that It would be my fault if there were no such people as dancing is a torture rather than a pleasure."

"If you mean Darcy," cried her brother, "then he can go to bed before the dancing begins, as he pleases. The ball has been decided, and it must be held, wait for Nichols." Once everything is ready, I will send an invitation."

Miss Bingley said: "I should be more glad if there were some variety in the ball. The old routine used at the ball is really annoying. If you can change the order of the day, talk instead of dancing." , that would be much more interesting."

"It might be much more interesting, Caroline, but it's like a ball."

Miss Bingley made no answer.After a while, she stood up and paced up and down the room, deliberately showing off her graceful figure and vigorous steps in front of Darcy, but it was a pity that Darcy was only there engrossed in reading, which made her performance lag behind. empty.

In desperation, she decided to make another effort, and turning to Elizabeth, she said: "Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I advise you to follow my example and walk about the room at will. Tell you, After sitting for so long, walking around can refresh you."

Elizabeth was a little surprised, but she followed her immediately.Thus, the real object of Miss Bingley's courtship was accomplished—and Mr. Darcy looked up.It turned out that Darcy, like Elizabeth, saw that she was deliberately playing tricks to attract others' attention, so she unconsciously put down the book.

The two ladies immediately asked him to come and walk with them, but he declined.He said that they both had two motives for pacing up and down the room, and that he would interfere with either of them if he walked with them.What does he mean by that?Miss Bingley was very anxious to know what he meant by this, and asked Elizabeth if she understood.

Elizabeth replied: "I don't understand at all. He must be deliberately making things difficult for us, but you'd better ignore him and let him down."

It's a pity that Miss Bingley couldn't bear to disappoint Mr. Darcy in any situation, so she repeatedly asked him to explain his so-called two motives.

Darcy, when she had stopped, said at once: "I am very willing to explain, but the matter is this: you two are intimate friends, so you have chosen this way of passing the time, and talking about personal matters; otherwise, it is you I think I look especially good when I go for a walk. If it is the first motive, I will be in your way if I am between you; Appreciate you all."

"Oh, dreadful!" exclaimed Miss Bingley, "I never heard such sharp words.—How shall we punish him, if he can say it?"

"It's so easy to punish him, if you want to," said Elizabeth, "to punish and torment and torment each other. Trick him, or laugh at him. Since you So familiar, you should know how to deal with him."

"Heaven and earth conscience, I don't understand. To tell you the truth, although we know each other well, we still don't know how to deal with him. It's not easy to deal with such a cold and clever person! No, no, I think We are no match for him. As for ridiculing him, don't be offended, for we cannot ridicule people at will, and it may make people laugh instead. Let Mr. Darcy be complacent."

"It turns out that Mr. Darcy can't be laughed at!" Elizabeth shouted, "this kind of superior condition is really rare. I hope there will be no more. If there are more friends like this, it will be a great loss for me. I like it very much." joke."

"My honor, Miss Bingley," said he, "if a man makes jests the most important thing in his life, the wisest and best—nay, the brightest and best behavior—will become Ridiculous."

"Of course," replied Elizabeth, "there are such people, but I hope I am not one of them. I hope I do not in any way ridicule clever behavior or good behavior. Stupid and boring, absurd and Contradiction, it does amuse me, and I admit to myself, I always laugh at what I can laugh at. But I think these weaknesses are exactly what you don't have."

"Maybe everyone has these weaknesses, or it's too bad that people will laugh at being extremely clever. I have spent my life studying how to avoid these weaknesses."

"Vanity and arrogance, for example, fall into this category of weaknesses."

"Yes, vanity is a weakness. But arrogance--if you're really clever--you'll be arrogance more properly."

Elizabeth turned her head so that no one should see her laughing.

"I think you may wish to question Mr. Darcy," said Miss Bingley. "What is the conclusion, please?"

"I fully admit that Mr. Darcy has no faults. He admits it himself, and does not hide it."

"No," said Darcy, "I haven't said such a show. I have a lot of troubles, but they have nothing to do with the head. As for my character, I don't dare to boast. I don't think I have a character. Will compromise, which of course means that I will not compromise to cater to others in life. I should quickly forget other people's stupidity and mistakes, but I can't forget them; Some of the emotions I have are actually not that I want to get rid of them, they will disappear immediately. My temper can be said to be disgusting enough. Once I don’t like someone, I will never have a good opinion.”

"This is indeed a great shortcoming!" Elizabeth said loudly. "It is indeed a shadow of character that you cannot relieve people's resentment, but you have been very critical of your own shortcoming. I really can't laugh at it anymore. You, you can rest assured."

"I believe that no matter what the temper of a man is, there is always some defect, a congenital defect which cannot be overcome by the best education."

"You have a tendency to dislike everyone, and that's your flaw."

"And your defect," Darcy replied with a smile, "is to deliberately misunderstand others."

Miss Bingley, tired of seeing that the conversation was not her part, said aloud: "Let us have some music, Louisa; you are not afraid that I should wake Mr. Hurst?"

Her sister made no objection, and the piano was opened.Darcy thought about it and thought it was not bad.He was beginning to feel that he had grown too close to Elizabeth.

(End of this chapter)