give him an answer when she has a chance
谁有《朗读者》这部电影的英文简介？急！！
简介
THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from "The Odyssey," "Huck Finn" and "The Lady with the Little Dog." Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life - this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. THE READER is a story about truth and reconciliation, about how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another. Written by The Weinstein Company
Middle aged German barrister Michael Berg recollects to himself his lifelong acquaintance with Hanna Schmitz, a relationship with whom he never disclosed to anyone close to him. Michael first met Hanna in 1958, when he was fifteen, she thirty-one. The two had a turbulent summer long love affair, dictated by Hanna that their encounters would begin with him reading to her followed by lovemaking. Michael next encountered Hanna in 1966, when Michael, now a law student, attended the Nazi war crimes trial of five female former S.S. concentration camp guards, one of whom is Hanna. Through listening to the testimony, Michael comes to the realization that he is in possession of information which could save Hanna from a life in prison, information which she herself is unwilling to disclose. In deciding what to do, Michael is torn between his differing views of justice.
较详细的
Michael Berg (David Kross), a fifteen year old young man living in Berlin in 1958, gets off the tram, ducks into a doorway and vomits. An woman in her mid thirties (Kate Winslet) sees him and, after cleaning up after him, helps him get home. The doctor diagnoses him with scarlet fever and orders three months bedrest. All Michael can do is examine his stamps and bide his time.
When he is better, he returns to the apartment building to deliver a bouquet of flowers in thanks to the woman. She is matter of fact with him but asks him to escort her to work on the tramline. But when she catches him spying on her as she dresses, he runs away in shame. When he returns to apologize a few days later, she seduces him. He persuades her to tell him her name -- Hanna. Michael returns to her every day after school, rejecting the clear interest of girls his own age. She asks him to read to her, and he brings her great works of world literature. He sells his stamps so they can go on a bicycle tour in the countryside. When Hanna is promoted by the tram company, she becomes unsettled and snaps at Michael when he tries to read her Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog." They make love one last time and she then moves away without telling him where she is going. Michael is heartbroken.
Eight years later (1966), Michael attends Heidelberg Law School. He is part of a seminar on the Holocaust, taught by Rohl (Bruno Ganz). The class attends the joint trial of six former guards at Auschwitz. Michael is shocked to learn that Hanna is one of the defendants. He is appalled to learn that Hanna was responsible for selecting Jewish women to be sent to death camps and was part of the forced march of hundreds of Jews from one camp to another; when the building in which the Jewish women were being housed overnight was set afire, Hanna and the other guards let them burn to death because to free them would have risked too much chaos. Hanna does not deny what she did and even rationalizes it. During testimony, it is revealed that Hanna had had camp prisoners read to her at night. The other guards claim that Hanna was the instigator of all the crimes and, rather than submit to a handwriting sample to disprove their claims, agrees with them. In the audience, Michael realizes that Hanna wanted others to read to her because she is illiterate. Urged on by Rohl but disturbed by a classmate who believes former Nazis should be killed, Michael tries to visit Hanna in prison to encourage her to tell the truth but, ashamed of his past with her, decides not to. Hanna is sentenced to life in prison.
As an adult, Michael (Ralph Fiennes) marries and has a daughter but remains emotionally withdrawn. His marriage ends and he becomes distant from his daughter. Discovering the books he had read to Hanna decades earlier, he re-establishes contact with her by reading the books into a tape recorder and sending them to her in prison. Using them as a guide, Hanna teaches herself to read and write. She sends him letters in return but he never responds. When it is time for her parole in 1990, Michael is the only person the prison social worker can contact. He reluctantly agrees to sponsor Hanna. He finds an apartment and job for her but, when he visits her a week before she is to be released, he is aloof to her. She tells him that before the trial, she never thought about what she did as an SS guard but thinks about nothing else now. After he leaves, she commits suicide. In her will, she asks Michael to give her life's savings to the family of one of the prisoners at Auschwitz. Michael visits the woman's daughter (Lena Olin) in New York and confesses his affair with Hanna for the first time. She refuses to five or accept the money but instead takes the tea tin Hanna had kept the money in, as it reminds her of a tin she had before she was sent to Auschwitz as a child. They agree to give the money to a Jewish literacy anization.
In 1995, Michael reunites with his daughter, Julia (Hannah Herzsprung), who has just returned from a year in Paris. He admits his failings as a father and drives her to a church that he and Hanna had visited during their bicycle tour nearly forty years earlier. He shows her Hanna's grave and begins to tell her his and Hanna's story.
------
''The Reader'' begins in 1995 Berlin, where a well-dressed Michael Berg is preparing breakfast for a woman who has one-night stand|spent the night at his apartment. The two part awkwardly, and as Michael watches an Berlin S-Bahn pass by outside afterwards the film flashes back to another tram in 1958 Neustadt. An unhappy-looking teenaged Michael gets off but wanders around the streets afterwards, finally pausing in the entryway of a nearby apartment building where he starts to vomiting|vomit. Hanna Schmitz, the tram Conductor, comes in and assists him in returning home. Michael is diagnosed with scarlet fever and must rest at home for the next three months. After he recovers he visits Hanna at her apartment and thanks her. The two begin an affair that lasts through that summer. Their liaisons, at her apartment, are characterized by him reading literary works he is studying in school to her, such as ''The Odyssey'', "The Lady with the Dog" and ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''. After the two go on a bicycling trip and Hanna is promoted to the offices at the tram company, she abruptly moves without letting Michael know where she has gone.
After another brief return to the adult Michael, who drives to a court where he is a lawyer, we see him again at Heidelberg University in 1966. As part of a special seminar taught by Professor Rohl, a camp survivor, he observes a trial of several women who were accused of letting 300 Jewish women die in a burning church when they were SS guards on the Death marches following the 1944 evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp. Michael is stunned to see that Hanna is one of the defendants.
He visits a former camp himself to try to come to terms with this. The trial divides the seminar, with one student angrily saying there is nothing to be learned from it other than that evil acts occurred. He tells Rohl that the older generation of Germans should kill themselves for their failure to act then and now.
The key evidence is the testimony of Ilana Mather, a young Jewish woman who has written a memoir about how she and her mother survived. When Hanna testifies, unlike her fellow defendants, she admits that she was aware Auschwitz was an extermination camp and that the ten women she chose during each month's were subsequently gassed. She denies authorship of a report on the barn fire, despite pressure from the other defendants, but then admits it when asked to provide a handwriting sample.
Michael then realizes Hanna's secret: she is illiterate and has made many of her life choices to conceal that. Even her choice to join the SS was made because of her desire to avoid a job promotion meaning she would have had to reveal her illiteracy. Without being specific, Michael informs Rohl that he has information favorable to one of the defendants but is not sure what to do since the defendant herself wants to avoid disclosing this. Rohl tells him that if he has learned nothing from the past there is no point in having the seminar.
Hanna receives a ife sentence for her role in the church deaths while the other defendants get terms of a few years. Michael meanwhile marries, has a daughter and divorces. Rediscovering his books and notes from the time of his affair with Hanna, he begins reading some of those works into a tape recorder. He sends the cassettes and another tape recorder to her in prison. Eventually she uses these to teach herself to read the books themselves from the prison library, and writes back to him.
Michael does not write back or visit, but keeps sending tapes, and in 1988 the prison's warden writes to him to seek his help in arranging for her after her forthcoming release. He finds a place for her to live and a job, and sees her in person to tell her these things. The night before her sentence ends she hangs herself and leaves a note to Michael and a tea tin with cash in it.
Later, Michael travels to New York. He meets Ilana and confesses his past relationship with Hanna to her. He tells her that Hanna was illiterate for most of her life but that her suicide note told him to give both the cash, some money she had in a bank account and the tea tin to Ilana. After telling Michael there is nothing to be learned from the camps and that he should go to the theater if he is seeking catharsis. Michael suggests that he donate the money to a anization that combats adult illiteracy, preferably a Jewish one, and she agrees. Ilana keeps the tea tin since it is similar to one she herself had owned before being sent to the camps, where it was taken from her to be melted down.
The film ends with Michael getting back together with his daughter, Julia, whom he admits he has grown apart from. He takes her to Hanna's grave and begins to tell her the story.
以上都是来自英文网站 不存在语法上的错误
简爱英文读后感
The Independent Spirit——about“ Jane Eyer”
This is a story about a special and unreserved woman who has been exposed to a hostile environment but continuously and fearlessly struggling for her ideal life. The story can be interpreted as a symbol of the independent spirit.
It seems to me that many readers’ English reading experience starts with Jane Eyer. I am of no exception. As we refer to the movie “Jane Eyer”, it is not surprising to find some differences because of its being filmized and retold in a new way, but the spirit of the novel remains----to be an independent person, both physically and mentally.
Jane Eyer was a born resister, whose parents went off when she was very young, and her aunt，the only relative she had，treated her as badly as a ragtag. Since Jane’s education in Lowwood Orphanage began, she didn’t get what she had been expecting——simply being regarded as a common person, just the same as any other girl around. The suffers from being humiliated and devastated teach Jane to be persevering and prize dignity over anything else.As a reward of revolting the ruthless oppression, Jane got a chance to be a tutor in Thornfield Garden. There she made the acquaintance of lovely Adele and that garden’s owner, Rochester, a man with warm heart despite a cold face outside. Jane expected to change the life from then on, but fate had decided otherwise: After Jane and Rochester fell in love with each other and got down to get marry, she unfortunately came to know in fact Rochester had got a legal wife, who seemed to be the shadow following Rochester and led to his moodiness all the time ----Rochester was also a despairing person in need of salvation. Jane did want to give him a hand, however, she made up her mind to leave, because she didn’t want to betray her own principles, because she was Jane Eyer. The film has finally got a symbolist end: Jane inherited a large number of legacies and finally returned. After finding Rochester’s misfortune brought by his original mad wife, Jane chose to stay with him forever.
I don’t know what others feel, but frankly speaking, I would rather regard the section that Jane began her teaching job in Thornfield as the film’s end----especially when I heard Jane’s words “Never in my life have I been awaken so happily.” For one thing, this ideal and brand-new beginning of life was what Jane had been imagining for long as a suffering person; for another, this should be what the audiences with my views hoped her to get. But the professional judgment of producing films reminded me to wait for a totally different result: There must be something wrong coming with the excellence----perhaps not only should another section be added to enrich the story, but also we may see from the next transition of Jane’s life that “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you would get.” (By Forrest Gump’s mother, in the film “Forrest Gump”)
What’s more, this film didn’t end when Jane left Thornfield. For Jane Eyer herself, there should always be somewhere to realize her great ideal of being independent considering her fortitude, but for Rochester, how he can get salvation? The film gives the answer tentatively: Jane eventually got back to Rochester. In fact, when Jane met Rochester for the first time, she scared his horse and made his heel strained, to a certain extent, which meant Rochester would get retrieval because of Jane. We can consider Rochester’s experiences as that of religion meaning. The fire by his frantic wife was the punishment for the cynicism early in his life. After it, Rochester got the mercy of the God and the love of the woman whom he loved. Here we can say: human nature and divinity get united perfectly in order to let such a story accord with the requirements of both two sides. The value of this film may be due to its efforts to explore a new way for the development of humanism under the faith of religion.
Life is ceaselessly changing, but our living principles remain. Firmly persisting for the rights of being independent gives us enough confidence and courage, which is like the beacon over the capriccioso sea of life. In the world of the film, we have found the stories of ourselves, which makes us so concerned about the fate of the dramatis personae.
In this era of rapid social and technological change leading to increasing life complexity and psychological displacement, both physical and mental effects on us call for a balance. We are likely to find ourselves bogged down in the Sargasso Sea of information overload and living unconsciousness. It’s our spirit that makes the life meaningful.
Heart is the engine of body, brain is the resource of thought, and great films are the mirrors of life. Indubitably, “Jane Eyer” is one of them.
求帮我找首英文歌的歌词，带定语从句的，谢谢
When I find myself in times of trouble 当我发现自己深陷困境
Mother Mary comes to me
永远的天团——披头士(20张) 圣母玛利亚来到我身边 Speaking words of wisdom，let it be 述说着智慧的话语 顺其自然 And in my hour of darkness 在我最黑暗的时刻 She is standing right in front of me 她就站在我面前 Speaking words of wisdom, let it be 述说着智慧的话语 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Whisper words of wisdom，let it be 低语着智慧的话语 顺其自然 And when the broken hearted people 所有伤心的人们 Living in the world agree 生活在这个世界上 There will be an answer, let it be 都将会有一个答案 顺其自然 For though they may be parted 即使他们被迫分离 There is still a chance that they will see 他们仍有机会看到答案 There will be an answer, let it be 都将会有一个答案 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 There will be an answer, let it be 都将会有一个答案 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Whisper words of wisdom，let it be 低语着智慧的话语 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Whisper words of wisdom，let it be 低语着智慧的话语 顺其自然 And when the night is cloudy 阴云密布的夜空 There is still a light that shines on me 依旧有光照耀着我 Shine until tomorrow，let it be 直到明天 顺其自然 I wake up to the sound of music 我被音乐之声唤醒 Mother Mary comes to me 圣母玛利亚来到我身边 Speaking words of wisdom, let it be 述说着智慧的话语 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 There will be an answer, let it be 都将会有一个答案 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 There will be an answer, let it be 都将会有一个答案 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Let it be, let it be 顺其自然 顺其自然 Whisper words of wisdom let it be 低语着智慧的话语 顺其自然
傲慢与偏见（全英文版）
提交的答案不得超过10000字，所以先发一点给你，你还是把邮箱给我吧！
Jane Austen
Chapter 1
IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
``My dear Mr. Bennet,'' said his lady to him one day, ``have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?''
Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.
``But it is,'' returned she; ``for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.''
Mr. Bennet made no answer.
``Do not you want to know who has taken it?'' cried his wife impatiently.
``You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.''
This was invitation enough.
``Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.''
``What is his name?''
``Bingley.''
``Is he married or single?''
``Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!''
``How so? how can it affect them?''
``My dear Mr. Bennet,'' replied his wife, ``how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.''
``Is that his design in settling here?''
``Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.''
``I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better; for, as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party.''
``My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.''
``In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.''
``But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood.''
``It is more than I engage for, I assure you.''
``But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.''
``You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying which ever he chuses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.''
``I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.''
``They have none of them much to recommend them,'' replied he; ``they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.''
``Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.''
``You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.''
``Ah! you do not know what I suffer.''
``But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.''
``It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.''
``Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit them all.''
Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develope. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.
Chapter 2
MR. Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley. He had always intended to visit him, though to the last always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid, she had no knowledge of it. It was then disclosed in the following manner. Observing his second daughter employed in trimming a hat, he suddenly addressed her with,
``I hope Mr. Bingley will like it, Lizzy.''
``We are not in a way to know what Mr. Bingley likes,'' said her mother resentfully, ``since we are not to visit.''
``But you fet, mama,'' said Elizabeth, ``that we shall meet him at the assemblies, and that Mrs. Long has promised to introduce him.''
``I do not believe Mrs. Long will do any such thing. She has two nieces of her own. She is a selfish, hypocritical woman, and I have no opinion of her.''
``No more have I,'' said Mr. Bennet; ``and I am glad to find that you do not depend on her serving you.''
Mrs. Bennet deigned not to make any reply; but unable to contain herself, began scolding one of her daughters.
``Don't keep coughing so, Kitty, for heaven's sake! Have a little compassion on my nerves. You tear them to pieces.''
``Kitty has no discretion in her coughs,'' said her father; ``she times them ill.''
``I do not cough for my own amusement,'' replied Kitty fretfully.
``When is your next ball to be, Lizzy?''
``To-morrow fortnight.''
``Aye, so it is,'' cried her mother, ``and Mrs. Long does not come back till the day before; so it will be impossible for her to introduce him, for she will not know him herself.''
``Then, my dear, you may have the advantage of your friend, and introduce Mr. Bingley to her.''
``Impossible, Mr. Bennet, impossible, when I am not acquainted with him myself; how can you be so teazing?''
``I honour your circumspection. A fortnight's acquaintance is certainly very little. One cannot know what a man really is by the end of a fortnight. But if we do not venture, somebody else will; and after all, Mrs. Long and her nieces must stand their chance; and therefore, as she will think it an act of kindness, if you decline the office, I will take it on myself.''
The girls stared at their father. Mrs. Bennet said only, ``Nonsense, nonsense!''
``What can be the meaning of that emphatic exclamation?'' cried he. ``Do you consider the forms of introduction, and the stress that is laid on them, as nonsense? I cannot quite agree with you there. What say you, Mary? for you are a young lady of deep reflection I know, and read great books, and make extracts.''
Mary wished to say something very sensible, but knew not how.
``While Mary is adjusting her ideas,'' he continued, ``let us return to Mr. Bingley.''
``I am sick of Mr. Bingley,'' cried his wife.
``I am sorry to hear that; but why did not you tell me so before? If I had known as much this morning, I certainly would not have called on him. It is very unlucky; but as I have actually paid the visit, we cannot escape the acquaintance now.''
The astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished; that of Mrs. Bennet perhaps surpassing the rest; though when the first tumult of joy was over, she began to declare that it was what she had expected all the while.
``How good it was in you, my dear Mr. Bennet! But I knew I should persuade you at last. I was sure you loved our girls too well to neglect such an acquaintance. Well, how pleased I am! and it is such a good joke, too, that you should have gone this morning, and never said a word about it till now.''
``Now, Kitty, you may cough as much as you chuse,'' said Mr. Bennet; and, as he spoke, he left the room, fatigued with the raptures of his wife.
``What an excellent father you have, girls,'' said she, when the door was shut. ``I do not know how you will ever make him amends for his kindness; or me either, for that matter. At our time of life, it is not so pleasant I can tell you, to be making new acquaintance every day; but for your sakes, we would do any thing. Lydia, my love, though you are the youngest, I dare say Mr. Bingley will dance with you at the next ball.''
``Oh!'' said Lydia stoutly, ``I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I'm the tallest.''
The rest of the evening was spent in conjecturing how soon he would return Mr. Bennet's visit, and determining when they should ask him to dinner.
Chapter 3
NOT all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject was sufficient to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley. They attacked him in various ways; with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas. Her report was highly favourable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and, to crown the whole, he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more delightful! To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley's heart were entertained.
``If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield,'' said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, ``and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.''
In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet's visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard much; but he saw only the father. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of ascertaining, from an upper window, that he wore a blue coat and rode a black horse.
An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all. Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and consequently unable to accept the honour of their invitation, &c. Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted. She could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he might be always flying about from one place to another, and never settled at Netherfield as he ought to be. Lady Lucas quieted her fears a little by starting the idea of his being gone to London only to get a large party for the ball; and a report soon followed that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly. The girls grieved over such a large number of ladies; but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing that, instead of twelve, he had brought only six with him from London, his five sisters and a cousin. And when the party entered the assembly room, it consisted of only five altogether; Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the oldest, and another young man.
Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.
Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room; he was lively and unreserved, danced every dance, was angry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him and his friend! Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped that he would never come there again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having slighted one of her daughters.
Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.
``Come, Darcy,'' said he, ``I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.''
``I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.''
``I would not be so fastidious as you are,'' cried Bingley, ``for a kingdom! Upon my honour I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life, as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty.''
``You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,'' said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.
``Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.''
``Which do you mean?'' and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, ``She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.''
Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous.
The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane's pleasure. Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without partners, which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball. They returned therefore, in good spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which they were the principal inhabitants. They found Mr. Bennet still up. With a book, he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such splendid expectations. He had rather hoped that all his wife's views on the stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found that he had a very different story to hear.
``Oh! my dear Mr. Bennet,'' as she entered the room, ``we have had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it. Every body said how well she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with her twice. Only think of that my dear; he actually danced with her twice; and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so vexed to see him stand up with her; but, however, he did not admire her at all: indeed, nobody can, you know; and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going down the dance. So, he enquired who she was, and got introduced, and asked her for the two next. Then, the two third he danced with Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifth with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the Boulanger --''
``If he had had any compassion for me,'' cried her husband impatiently, ``he would not have danced half so much! For God's sake, say no more of his partners. Oh! that he had sprained his ancle in the first dance!''
``Oh! my dear,'' continued Mrs. Bennet, ``I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! and his sisters are charming women. I never in my life saw any thing more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs. Hurst's gown --''
Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against any description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.
``But I can assure you,'' she added, ``that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set downs. I quite detest the man.''