I had not been long in Hertfordshire, before I saw, in common with others, that Bingley preferred your eldest sister to any other young woman in the country. But it was not till the evening of the dance at Netherfield that I had any apprehension of his feeling a serious attachment. I had often seen him in love before. At that ball, while I had the honour of dancing with you, I was first made acquainted, by Sir William Lucas's accidental information, that Bingley's attentions to your sister had given rise to a general expectation of their marriage. He spoke of it as a certain event, of which the time alone could be undecided.
我到哈福德郡不久，就和别人一样，看出了彬格莱先生在当地所有的少女中偏偏看中了令姐。但是一直等到在尼日斐花园开跳舞会的那个晚上，我才顾虑到他当真对 令姐有了爱恋之意。说到他的恋爱方面，我以前也看得很多。在那次跳舞会上，当我很荣幸地跟你跳舞时，我才听到威廉·卢卡斯偶然说起彬格莱先生对令姐的殷勤 已经弄得满城风雨，大家都以为他们就要谈到嫁娶问题。听他说起来，好象事情已经千稳万妥，只是迟早问题罢了。
From that moment I observed my friend's behaviour attentively; and I could then perceive that his partiality for Miss Bennet was beyond what I had ever witnessed in him. Your sister I also watched. Her look and manners were open, cheerful, and engaging as ever, but without any symptom of peculiar regard, and I remained convinced from the evening's scrutiny, that though she received his attentions with pleasure, she did not invite them by any participation of sentiment.
从那时起，我就密切注意着我朋友的行为，于是 我看出了他对班纳特小姐的钟情，果然和他往常的恋爱情形大不相同。我也注意着令姐。她的神色和风度依旧象平常那样落落大方，和蔼可亲，并没有钟情于任何人 的迹象。根据我那一晚上仔细观察的情形看来，我确实认为她虽然乐意接受他的殷勤，可是她并没有用深情密意来报答他。
If you have not been mistaken here, I must have been in an error. Your superior knowledge of your sister must make the latter probable. If it be so, if I have been misled by such error, to inflict pain on her, your resentment has not been unreasonable. But I shall not scruple to assert that the serenity of your sister's countenance and air was such as might have given the most acute observer a conviction that, however amiable her temper, her heart was not likely to be easily touched. That I was desirous of believing her indifferent is certain, but I will venture to say that my investigations and decisions are not usually influenced by my hopes or fears. I did not believe her to be indifferent because I wished it;
要是这件事你没有弄错，那么错处一定在 我；你对于令姐既有透辟的了解，那么当然可能是我错了。倘若事实果真如此，倘若果真是我弄错了，造成令姐的痛苦，那当然难怪你气愤。可是我可以毫不犹豫地 说，令姐当初的风度极其洒脱，即使观察力最敏锐的人，也难免以为她尽管性情柔和，可是她的心不容易打动。我当初确实希望她无动于中，可是我敢说，我虽然主观上有我的希望，有我的顾虑，可是我的观察和我的推断并不会受到主观上的影响。我认为，令姐决不会因为我希望她无动于中，她就当真无动于中；
