DAY 8

 3 Mr. Collins visits Longbourn （3-1）

‘I hope，my dear，’said Mr. Bennet to his wife at breakfast the next morning，‘that you have told the cook to send up a good dinner today，as I am expecting a visitor．’

‘Who is it， my dear？ I know of nobody who is coming， unless Charlotte Lucas happens to call in， and I hope my dinners are good enough for her．’

‘The person I'm talking about is a gentleman and a stranger．’

Mrs. Bennet's eyes shone with excitement．‘It's Mr. Bingley，I'm sure！ Why，Jane，you never mentioned it！Well，I’ll be extremely glad to see him． Lydia， my love，ring the bell．I must speak to the cook at once．’

‘It is not Mr. Bingley，’said her husband．‘It's a person whom I have never seen before．’

This caused general astonishment， and he had the pleasure of being eagerly questioned by his wife and five daughters all at the same time． Having amused himself for some time with their curiosity，he finally explained．‘I have recently received a letter from my cousin，Mr. Collins，who，as you know，will inherit （继承） all my property when I die， and may throw you out of this house as soon as he wants．’

‘Oh， my dear！’cried his wife．‘Please don't mention that hateful man． It's the hardest thing in the world to accept the fact that your property is not left to your own children， and I'm sure， if I were you， I'd have tried to do something about it．’

Jane and Elizabeth tried to explain the legal situation to her again．They had often attempted to do this before．But it was a matter which Mrs. Bennet refused to understand， and she continued to complain bitterly about Mr. Collins．

‘It certainly is most unjust，’agreed Mr. Bennet，‘and nothing can clear Mr. Collins from the guilt of inheriting this house．But if you listen while I read his letter to you，you may perhaps be a little softened by his manner of expressing himself．’

He read aloud the following letter：

Dear Sir，

The disagreement between you and my late （已故的）respected father always worried me， and since his death I have frequently wished to improve the relationship between our families．After a long period of study and training I have recently become a priest（牧师），and have been fortunate enough to gain the patronage（资助） of Lady Catherine de Bourgh， widow（遗孀） of Sir Lewis de Bourgh．This generous lady has given me the post of rector（教区牧师） at Hunsford， which was luckily vacant．Hunsford is the village near her own large country house in Kent．Here I carry out the duties of my profession whenever necessary， and I take great care to behave at all times with grateful respect towards her ladyship．As a priest，moreover， I feel it my duty to encourage all families in my area of influence to live peacefully．Because of this，I flatter myself that I am acting correctly in offering you my friendship．I am of course concerned that when I eventually inherit all your property， your daughters will doubtless be very poor，and I do apologize for this．I promise you I am ready to make amends（弥补） in every possible way—but more about this later．If you do not object， I propose to visit you and your family on Monday November 18th，at four o’clock， and shall probably stay until the following Saturday week．This will cause me no inconvenience at all，as Lady Catherine is far from objecting to my occasional absence from my duties．

I remain，dear sir，with respectful good wishes to your lady and your daughters， your friend， William Collins．

 ‘So we can expect this peace-making gentleman at four o’clock today，’said Mr. Bennet，as he folded up（合拢,折叠） the letter．‘He appears to be a most polite and serious young man．How considerate of Lady Catherine to allow him to visit us！’

‘Well，if he is ready to make amends to the girls in some way， I shall certainly not discourage him，’said Mrs. Bennet．

‘Although it's difficult，’said Jane，‘to guess how he intends to do that，it's good of him to want to help us．’

‘I think he's peculiar(奇怪的)，’said Elizabeth．‘He sounds too pleased with himself，and he speaks so politely of Lady Catherine！And why does he apologize for inheriting Father's property in future？ We know it's not his fault．Can he be a sensible man，sir？’she added，turning to Mr. Bennet．

‘No， my dear， I think not．I have great hopes of finding him quite the opposite．There is a mixture of servility(谦卑) and self-importance（自傲） in his letter， which promises to be entertaining．I am impatient to see him．’

Mr. Bennet和他的家人 

                                          (the Bennets)

NOTES：

inherit （继承） all my property

clear sb. from the guilt of …消除…的罪恶/过错

the late （已故的）respected father

flatter myself that

make amends（弥补） in every possible way

peace-making gentleman

folded up（合拢,折叠） the letter．

too pleased with himself

There is a mixture of servility(谦卑) and self-importance（自傲） in his letter， which promises to be entertaining．