《傲慢與偏见》（Pride and Prejudice）是英国女小说家简·奥斯汀的长篇小说。

小说描写了乡绅班纳特五个待字闺中的千金的生活，主角是二女儿伊丽莎白。她在一次舞会上认识了一位年轻的绅士达西，但是耳闻他为人傲慢，就一直对他心生排斥。经历了一番周折，伊丽莎白终于消除了对达西的偏见，达西也不再傲慢，有情人终成眷属。

这部作品以日常生活为素材，一反当时社会上流行的感伤小说矫揉造作的写作手法，生动地反映了18世纪末到19世纪初处于保守和闭塞状态下的英国乡镇生活和人情世态。它多次被改编成电影和电视剧。

本文节选自《傲慢与偏见》第四十九章。

Jane then took it from her pocket-book，and gave it to Elizabeth. These were the contents：

“MY DEAR HARRIET，You will laugh when you know where I am gone，and I cannot help laughing myself at your surprise tomorrow morning，as soon as I am missed. I am going to Gretna Green，and if you cannot guess with who，I shall think you a simpleton，for there is but one man in the world I love，and he is an angel. I should never be happy without him，so think it no harm to be off. You need not send them word at Longbourn of my going，if you do not like it，for it will make the surprise the greater when I write to them and sign my name Lydia Wickham. What a good joke it will be！ I can hardly write for laughing. Pray make my excuses to Pratt，for not keeping my engagement and dancing with him to night. Tell him I hope he will excuse me when he knows all，and tell him I will dance with him at the next ball we meet，with great pleasure. I shall send for my clothes when I get to Longbourn;but I wish you would tell Sally to mend a great slit in my worked muslin gown before they are packed up. Good bye. Give my love to Colonel Forster. I hope you will drink to our good journey.Your affectionate friend，LYDIA BENNET.”

“Oh！ thoughtless，thoughtless Lydia！”cried Elizabeth when she had finished it.“What a letter is this，to be written at such a moment. But at least it shews that she was serious in the object of her journey. Whatever he might afterwards persuade her to，it was not on her side a scheme of infamy. My poor father！How he must have felt it！”

“I never saw any one so shocked. He could not speak a word for full ten minutes. My mother was taken ill immediately，and the whole house in such confusion！”

“Oh！ Jane！”cried Elizabeth，“was there a servant belonging to it，who did not know the whole story before the end of the day？”

“I do not know. I hope there was. But to be guarded at such a time，is very difficult. My mother was in hysterics，and though I endeavoured to give her every assistance in my power，I am afraid I did not do so much as I might have done！ But the horror of what might possibly happen，almost took from me my faculties.”

“Your attendance upon her has been too much for you. You do not look well. Oh！ that I had been with you，you have had every care and anxiety upon yourself alone.”

“Mary and Kitty have been very kind，and would have shared in every fatigue，I am sure，but I did not think it right for either of them. Kitty is slight and delicate，and Mary studies so much，that her hours of repose should not be broken in on. My aunt Phillips came to Longbournon Tuesday，after my father went away; and was so good as to stay till Thursday with me. She was of great use and comfort to us all，and Lady Lucas has been very kind;she walked here on Wednesday morning to condole with us，and offered her services，or any of her daughters，if they could be of use to us.”

“She had better have stayed at home，”cried Elizabeth;“perhaps she meant well，but under such a misfortune as this，one cannot see too little of one’s neighbours. Assistance is impossible;condolence，insufferable. Let them triumph over us at a distance，and be satisfied.”

She then proceeded to enquire into the measures which her father had intended to pursue，while in town， for the recovery of his daughter.

“He meant，I believe，”replied Jane，“to go to Epsom，the place where they last changed horses，see the postilions，and try if any thing could be made out from them. His principal object must be to discover the number of the hackney coach which took them from Clapham. It had come with a fare from London;and as he thought the circumstance of a gentleman and lady's removing from one carriage into another might be remarked，he meant to make enquiries at Clapham. If he could any how discover at what house the coachman had before set down his fare，he determined to make enquiries there，and hoped it might not be impossible to find out the stand and number of the coach. I do not know of any other designs that he had formed：but he was in such a hurry to be gone，and his spirits so greatly discomposed，that I had difficulty in finding out even so much as this.”

The whole party were in hopes of a letter from Mr. Bennet the next morning，but the post came in without bringing a single line from him. His family knew him to be，on all common occasions，a most negligent and dilatory correspondent，but at such a time they had hoped for exertion. They were forced to conclude that he had no pleasing intelligence to send，but even of that they would have been glad to be certain. Mr. Gardiner had waited only for the letters before he set off.

When he was gone，they were certain at least of receiving constant information of what was going on，and their uncle promised，at parting，to prevail on Mr. Bennet to return to Longbourn as soon as he could，to the great consolation of his sister，who considered it as the only security for her husband’s not being killed in a duel.

Mrs. Gardiner and the children were to remain in Hertfordshire a few days longer，as the former thought her presence might be serviceable to her nieces. She shared in their attendance on Mrs. Bennet，and was a great comfort to them in their hours of freedom. Their other aunt also visited them frequently，and always，as she said，with the design of cheering and heartening them up，though as she never came without reporting some fresh instance of Wickham’s extravagance or irregularity，she seldom went away without leaving them more dispirited than she found them.

All Meryton seemed striving to blacken the man，who，but three months before，had been almost an angel of light. He was declared to be in debt to every tradesman in the place，and his intrigues，all honoured with the title of seduction，had been extended into every tradesman’s family. Every body declared that he was the wickedest young man in the world;and every body began to find out that they had always distrusted the appearance of his goodness. Elizabeth，though she did not credit above half of what was said，believed enough to make her former assurance of her sister’s ruin still more certain;and even Jane，who believed still less of it，became almost hopeless，more especially as the time was now come when，if they had gone to Scotland，which she had never before entirely despaired of，they must in all probability have gained some news of them.

Mr. Gardiner left Longbourn on Sunday;on Tuesday，his wife received a letter from him;it told them that on his arrival，he had immediately found out his brother，and persuaded him to come to Gracechurch street;that Mr. Bennet had been to Epsom and Clapham before his arrival，but without gaining any satisfactory information;and that he was now determined to enquire at all the principal hotels in town，as Mr. Bennet thought it possible they might have gone to one of them， on their first coming to London， before they procured lodgings. Mr. Gardiner himself did not expect any success from this measure，but as his brother was eager in it，he meant to assist him in pursuing it. He added that Mr. Bennet seemed wholly disinclined at present，to leave London，and promised to write again very soon. There was also a postscript to this effect：

“I have written to Colonel Forster to desire him to find out，if possible，from some of the young man’s intimates in the regiment，whether Wickham has any relations or connections who would be likely to know in what part of the town he has now concealed himself. If there were any one that one could apply to with a probability of gaining such a clue as that，it might be of essential consequence. At present we have nothing to guide us. Colonel Forster will，I dare say，do every thing in his power to satisfy us on this head. But，on second thoughts，perhaps Lizzy could tell us what relations he has now living better than any other person.”

Elizabeth was at no loss to understand from whence this deference for her authority proceeded;but it was not in her power to give any information of so satisfactory a nature as the compliment deserved.

She had never heard of his having had any relations，except a father and mother，both of whom had been dead many years. It was possible，however，that some of his companions in the —shire，might be able to give more information; and， though she was not very sanguine in expecting it， the application was a something to look forward to.

Every day at Longbourn was now a day of anxiety; but the most anxious part of each was when the post was expected. The arrival of letters was the first grand object of every morning’s impatience. Through letters，whatever of good or bad was to be told would be communicated，and every succeeding day was expected to bring some news of importance.

But before they heard again from Mr. Gardiner，a letter arrived for their father from a different quarter -- from Mr. Collins;which，as Jane had received directions to open all that came for him in his absence，she accordingly read;and Elizabeth，who knew what curiosities his letters always were，looked over her，and read it likewise. It was as follows：

“MY DEAR SIR，I feel myself called upon by our relationship，and my situation in life，to condole with you on the grievous affliction you are now suffering under，of which we were yesterday informed by a letter from Hertfordshire. Be assured，my dear Sir，that Mrs. Collins and myself sincerely sympathise with you，and all your respectable family，in your present distress， which must be of the bitterest kind，because proceeding from a cause which no time can remove. No arguments shall be wanting on my part that can alleviate so severe a misfortune;or that may comfort you，under a circumstance that must be of all others most afflicting to a parent's mind. The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this. And it is the more to be lamented，because there is reason to suppose，as my dear Charlotte informs me，that this licentiousness of behaviour in your daughter has proceeded from a faulty de-gree of indulgence，though at the same time，for the consolation of yourself and Mrs. Bennet，I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad， or she could not be guilty of such an enormity at so early an age. Howsoever that may be，you are grievously to be pitied，in which opinion I am not only joined by Mrs. Collins，but likewise by Lady Catherine and her daughter，to whom I have related the affair. They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one daughter will be injurious to the fortunes of all the others;for who，as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly says，will connect themselves with such a family. And this consideration leads me moreover to reflect with augmented satisfaction on a certain event of last November，for had it been otherwise，I must have been involved in all your sorrow and disgrace. Let me advise you then，my dear Sir，to console yourself as much as possible，to throw off your unworthy child from your affection for ever，and leave her to reap the fruits of her own heinous offence.---I am，dear Sir，&c.&c.”

于是吉英从口袋里掏出那封信，递给伊丽莎白。全文如下：

亲爱的海丽，明天一大早你发现我失了踪，一定会大为吃惊;等你弄明白了我上什么地方去，你一定又会发笑。我想到这里，自己也禁不住笑出来了。我要到格利那草场去。如果你猜不着我是跟谁一起去，那我真要把你看成一个大傻瓜，因为这世界上只有一个男人是我心爱的，他真是一个天使。没有了他，我决不会幸福，因此，你别以为这这次去会惹出什么祸来。如果你不愿意把我出走的消息告诉浪搏恩我家里人，那你不告诉也罢。我要让他们接到我信的时候，看到我的签名是“丽迪雅·韦翰”，让他们更觉得事出意外。这个玩笑真开得太有意思了！我几乎笑得无法写下去了！请你替我向普拉特道个歉，我今天晚上不能赴约，不能和他跳舞了。……