Jane Austen の “Pride and Prejudice”（２）

　十九世紀英文学の古典探訪第二回。これでやっと『高慢と偏見』も "Pride and Prejudice" となった。
　ただし、中学生のころだったか読んだ邦訳版では、たしか『自負と偏見』だったような気がする。未見のジョー・ライト監督作品は『プライドと偏見』（2005）

　昔の記憶は "Jane Eyre" よりもさらになく、なんとなく、けっこうおもしろかった、という程度。このほど英語で読んでみて、中学生じゃわかるわけないな、と思える内容だったので、「なんとなく」うんぬんも怪しい。おとなの文学ですね、これは。
　"Jane Eyre" と同じく超有名な古典だが、うちの家人は知らなかった。しかし文学ファンなら読んでいて当たり前。未読のかたでもタイトルくらい耳にしたことがあるのでは。いまさら感想を報告するまでもないだろうと思ったけど、レビューもどき以外に、二、三書き留めておきたいことがある。
　しかしこのところ、表題作もそうだったが、小林信彦のいうように「本は寝ころんで」。血圧が高いせいか頭が重く、デスクにむかうのも、ましてやパソコンを打つのもしんどい。さっさとこの駄文を切りあげるべく、きょうは英語について気がついた点だけ挙げておこう。
　いくつかあるが、まずカンマの位置。Jane Austen の書き癖なのか、当時は正用法だったのか、このカンマ、現代英語ではふつうこんなところには打たないよね、と思える「変則カンマ」があり、あ、またこのカンマか、と馴れるまで当初は苦労した。実例は、と書きかけたが、ここでもうちょっと頭が痛くなってきたのでカット。
　第二に、代名詞の指示内容。通常、he, she は直前の固有名詞を指すものだが、その指しているはずの人物が直前ではなく、かなり前に登場し、そのあいだにべつの人物が出てくる場合がある。文脈的にはありなんだろうな、と思ったけど、これも馴れるまで違和感があった。
　その最たる例はここだ。To no creature had it been revealed, where secresy was possible, except to Elizabeth; and from all Bingley's connexions her brother was particularly anxious to conceal it, from that very wish which Elizabeth had long ago attributed to him, of their becoming hereafter her own.（Penguin Classics, p.257）
　どうやらこれも有名なくだりらしく、"Jane Eyre" を読んでいるときもお世話になった WordReference.com Language Forums を訪ねたところ、こんなやりとりがあった。
(質問者 jinti) Hey ... I've been studying this quotation from Jane Austen's book for nearly 30 minutes only in vain to find what the
1) which Elizabeth had long ago attributed to him is referring to,and
2) underlined "their becoming" implies. Particuarly what "their" is indicating, or whom.
This question may be answerable only to those who have read the book several times or who have adequate knowledge over it./ This dialogue's from Chapter 45./ I'd really appreciate, if you would put your answer forward and answer this.
(回答者 shiness) Here's an annotated version of the paragraph from http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pptopics.html:
This paragraph in chapter 45, during the visit to Pemberley, after Miss Bingley's snide remark about the militia being removed from Meryton, does in fact mean that Darcy had hoped that his sister would marry Bingley; here's a version of the paragraph with annotations supplied by Arnessa:
"Had Miss Bingley known what pain she was then giving her beloved friend [Miss Darcy], she [Miss Bingley] undoubtedly would have refrained from the hint; but she had merely intended to discompose Elizabeth, by bringing forward the idea of a man [Wickham] to whom she [Miss Bingley] believed her [Elizabeth] partial, to make her betray a sensibility which might injure her in Darcy's opinion, and perhaps to remind the latter [Darcy] of all the follies and absurdities by which some part of her [Elizabeth's] family were connected with that corps. Not a syllable had ever reached her [Miss Bingley] of Miss Darcy's meditated elopement. To no creature had it been revealed, where secresy was possible, except to Elizabeth; and from all Bingley's connections, her brother [Darcy] was particularly anxious to conceal it, from that very wish which Elizabeth had long ago attributed to him [Darcy], of their [the Bingleys] becoming hereafter her [Miss Darcy's] own [connections]. He [Darcy] had certainly formed such a plan, and without meaning that it should affect his [Darcy's] endeavour to separate him [Bingley] from Miss [Jane] Bennet, it is probable that it might add something to his [Darcy's] lively concern for the welfare of his friend. [Bingley]."
　けっきょく、文脈や人物関係がよくわかっていないとむずかしい、ということですね。（つづく）