Pride and Prejudice. Адаптированная книга для чтения на английском языке. Intermediate

В«I can't see why I should. You and the girls may go, or, better still, you may send them by themselves. You are as beautiful as any of them, and Mr. Bingley may like you the best of the partyВ».

В«Don't flatter me, my dear. I can't pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to stop thinking of her own beautyВ».

В«It can only happen to a woman who has never had much beauty at allВ».

В«But, Mr. Bennet, you must indeed go and pay Mr. Bingley a visit when he comes into the neighborhoodВ».

В«It is more than I can promise, I assure youВ».

В«But think of your daughters. What good fortune it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas don't usually visit newcomers, but they decided to go now, just for that reason, for their daughter's sake. Indeed you must go. If you don't go, it will be impossible for us to visit himВ».

В«You are over-scrupulous, my dear. I'm sure Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a note by you in which I'll assure him that I will give my hearty consent whichever of the girls he chooses to marry; though I will put in a good word for my little LizzyВ».

В«You shouldn't do anything like that. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and she is not half so beautiful as Jane, and not half so cheerful as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preferenceВ».

В«None of them have much to recommend themВ», replied he, В«they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy is more quick-witted than her sistersВ».

В«Mr. Bennet, how can you say such nasty things about your own children? You like to annoy me so much. You have no compassion for my poor nervesВ».

В«On the contrary, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have listened to your talking about them with great compassion these last twenty years at leastВ».

В«Ah, you do not know how much I sufferВ».

Mr. Bennet expressed his hope that his wife would live long and see many single young men of four thousand a year in the neighborhood.

В«Since you will not visit them, it will be of no use to us, if twenty such men should comeВ».

В«I can assure you, my dear Mrs. Bennet, that when there are twenty, I will visit them allВ».

Mr. Bennet was such a strange mixture of personality traits, sarcastic humor, reserve, and whims, that for twenty three years of their married life his wife hadn't been able to understand his character.