"That it ought not to be attempted. Mr. Darcy has not authorised me to make his communication public. On the contrary, every particular relative to his sister was meant to be kept as much as possible to myself; and if I endeavour to undeceive people as to the rest of his conduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent, that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton to attempt to place him in an amiable light. I am not equal to it. Wickham will soon be gone; and therefore it will not signify to anyone here what he really is. Some time hence it will be all found out, and then we may laugh at their stupidity in not knowing it before. At present I will say nothing about it. "
"You are quite right. To have his errors made public might ruin him for ever. He is now, perhaps, sorry for what he has done, and anxious to reestablish a character. We must not make him desperate. "
1.on the contrary 正相反 It doesn't seem ugly to me; on the contrary, I think it's rather beautiful. 我觉得它并不丑,恰恰相反,它挺美。
2.attempt to do sth. 尝试去做某事 Before they fled the country, the enemy vainly attempted to destroy all the factories. 敌人在逃往国外前,妄图把所有工厂都毁掉。
3.be equal to 胜任 The task took quick thinking, but John was equal to it. 这项任务需要思想敏捷,但约翰胜任得了。