Pride and Prejudice - Chapter 4
プライドと偏見 - 第4章
Jane and Elizabeth were particularly close. They were both intelligent and well-read, but their personalities were quite different.
ジェーンとエリザベスは特に仲が良い。2人とも知的だが、性格は異なる。
Jane was gentle and kind, always seeing the best in everyone. She rarely spoke ill of others, and she was quick to forgive. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was more critical. She saw flaws and faults where Jane saw only good, and she was not afraid to speak her mind.
ジェーンは穏やかで優しく、常に人の良い面を見る。彼女は誰の悪口も言わない。エリザベスはより批判的で洞察力がある。彼女はジェーンが長所しか見ないところに欠点を見る。
"You are too quick to judge, Lizzy," Jane would say gently when Elizabeth criticized someone.
彼女たちは舞踏会について話し合う。ジェーンはビングリー氏にとても惹かれていることを認める。エリザベスは彼女に盲目にならないよう警告するが、姉のために喜んでいる。
"And you are too kind, Jane," Elizabeth would reply with a laugh. "Sometimes you cannot see the bad in people even when it is right in front of you."
Despite their differences, the sisters loved each other dearly and shared everything. When Elizabeth expressed her concerns about Darcy, Jane tried to defend him.
"Perhaps he was just shy," Jane suggested. "Some people are uncomfortable in social situations. It does not mean they are proud."
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, it was more than shyness. He looked down on everyone, as if he thought he was better than all of us. That is not shyness, Jane. That is pride."
But Jane would not be convinced. She preferred to think the best of people, even when evidence suggested otherwise.
Their younger sisters were very different. Lydia and Kitty were silly and frivolous, interested only in officers and balls and pretty dresses. Mary, the middle sister, was serious and studious, always reading books and trying to improve herself.
Mrs. Bennet worried about all her daughters, but she was most concerned about finding husbands for them. With five daughters and no son, the estate would go to a distant cousin when Mr. Bennet died, and the girls would be left with very little.
"We must get them all married well," she would say to her husband. "Or what will become of them?"
Mr. Bennet would usually respond with a sarcastic comment that made his wife angry, but he secretly shared her concern. He knew that the future of his daughters depended on finding good husbands.