A New Life 8
新生活 8
And so it was that on a beautiful morning in May,two to three years after her return from Trantridge,
因此,從純瑞脊回來兩三年后,苔絲·德北在5月的一個美麗的清晨,
Tess Durbeyfield left home for the second time.She was going in the opposite direction this time.
第二次離開了家。這一次她是朝相反的方向走去。
When she reached the first hill,she looked back at Marlott and her father's house with sadness in her heart.
當她爬上第一座小山時,她滿懷憂傷地回頭看了看馬勒特村和她父親的房子。
She travelled partly by carriage and partly on foot,carrying her basket.
她挎著籃子坐了一段馬車,又走了一段路。
Not far to her left she could see the trees which surrounded Kingsbere,with its church where her ancestors lay in their tombs.
在她左邊不遠的地方,她可以看到環繞王陴的樹木,她的祖先就被安放在那兒的教堂墓地里。
She could no longer admire or respect them. She almost hated them for ruining her life.
她不再傾慕,也不再尊敬他們了。她甚至有些恨他們,因為他們毀掉了她的生活。
Nothing of theirs was left except the old seal and spoon.
除了印章和銀匙,他們什么也沒留下。
‘Huh!I have as much of mother as father in me!’she said.
“嘿!媽媽給予我的同爸爸給予我的一樣多!”她說道,
‘All my prettiness comes from her,and she was only a dairymaid.’
“我的美貌都是從她身上繼承下來的,而她只不過是個擠奶女工。”
Her walk took two hours,until she reached the hill overlooking the Valley of the Great Dairies.
她步行了兩個小時,才來到了可以俯視大牛奶場的山頭。
This valley was watered by the river Froom,and produced huge amounts of milk and butter,more even than Tess's Vale of Blackmoor,
福魯姆河灌溉著這個山谷,這兒生產著大量的牛奶和黃油,甚至比苔絲家那邊的黑荒野山谷還多,
which was known as the Vale of Little Dairies.
黑荒野山谷以小牛奶場谷而聞名。
As she stood and looked,she realized the valleys were quite different.
她站定遠眺,發現這兒的山谷截然不同。
Here the fields and farms were much larger.
這里的田地和農場更廣闊,
She saw more cows at a glance than she had ever seen before.
而且她以前從來沒有一眼望見過這么多的奶牛。
The evening sun shone on their red,white and brown bodies.
夕陽85照在它們紅色、白色還有棕色的皮毛上。
She thought that this view was perhaps not as beautiful as a view of Blackmoor Vale,which she knew so well.
她覺得這兒的風景也許并沒有黑荒野山谷美麗,她對那個山谷太熟悉了。
There the sky was deep blue,the smell of the earth was heavy in the air,the streams ran slowly and silently.
那兒的天空湛藍無比,空氣中充滿了泥土的氣息,溪水總是寂靜緩慢地流淌著。
But this view was more cheerful.
但是這兒的景致更讓人歡欣鼓舞。
Here the air was clear and light, and the river Froom rushed as fast as the shadow of a cloud.
這兒的空氣清新怡人,福魯姆河水流湍急,就像一片白云的影子匆匆掠過。
Either the change in the quality of the air,or the feeling that she was going to start a new life here, made her feel much happier.
不管是空氣質量的改變,還是她即將在此開始一種全新生活的感覺,都使她感到更加歡欣愉悅。
She ran along, her hopes and the sunshine warming her.
她朝前跑去,她的希望和這兒的陽光溫暖著她。
She looked at her best as she ran laughing into the warm wind.
當她大笑著跑進柔和的微風時,她的樣子呈現出前所未有的神采。
The desire for pleasure, which is in every living thing, had finally won over Tess.
那種對幸福的渴望,那種存在于每一個有生命的物體中的渴望,終于重新贏得了苔絲。
She was,after all,only a young woman of twenty, who had not finished growing up.
畢竟,她還只是一個20歲的年輕女子,還沒有完全長大成人。
No event,however unpleasant,could have marked her for ever.
任何事情,不管它有多么不幸,都不會永遠在她身上留下傷痕。
She was young and strong and beautiful, and could not remain sad for long.
她年輕健康、精力充沛而且美麗動人,她可以不再長久地悲傷了。
Her hopes rose higher than ever.
她從來沒有像現在這樣滿懷希望。
She wanted to show how grateful she was for this second chance.
她想表達出自己對第二次機會的到來是如何地充滿感激之情。
She started singing love songs,but found they were not enough to express her feelings.
她放聲唱起了愛情歌曲,但覺得它們不足以表達她的感情。
She remembered the Sunday mornings of her girlhood,and sang:‘Oh sun and moon… Oh stars… Oh children of men… Praise the Lord! Praise Him for ever!’
她回想起了少女時代禮拜日上午的情景,于是唱道:“哦,太陽和月亮……哦星星……哦,人類的孩子們……贊美上帝吧!永遠地贊美他!”
until she stopped suddenly and murmured, ‘But perhaps I don't quite know the Lord yet.’
唱著唱著,她突然停下并自言自語道:“但也許我對上帝了解得還不夠。”
This was probably a pagan feeling in a religious form.
這也許只是用宗教形式表現的非基督教的感情。
People who live in the country and are close to nature, like Tess,keep many of the pagan ideas of their ancestors in their souls.
像苔絲這樣生活在鄉村、貼近自然的人,在心靈里保留了許多源于他們的祖先的非基督教思想。
Religion learned in church comes much later, and does not touch them deeply.
而從教堂得來的宗教信仰要遲得多,并沒有多么深刻地影響他們。
Tess was happy to be making her way independently in life.
可以按自己的方式獨立地生活讓苔絲感到高興。
She really wanted to live honestly and work hard,unlike her father.
她真心愿意實實在在地生活并勤勤懇懇地工作,而不是像她父親那樣。
Tess had her mother's energy and the energy of her youth to help her recover from her experience.
苔絲有從母親那兒獲得的力量和自己年輕生命的力量來幫助她從過去的經歷中恢復過來。
Women do usually live through such experiences.
女人們通常要經歷這種生活。
‘Where there's life there's hope’ is still true for most‘betrayed’women.
對多數被生活玩弄過的女人們來說,“哪兒有生活,哪兒就有希望”仍是一條不變的真理。
As Tess,full of enthusiasm,came downhill towards the dairy,she suddenly heard the milking call,again and again, from all parts of the valley.
當苔絲熱情洋溢地朝著牛奶場跑下山時,她突然聽到了擠奶的號令,一遍又一遍地在山谷各個角落響起。
It was half-past four, when the dairy people brought in the cows.
現在是四點半,到了牛奶場的人們把牛趕回來的時候了。
Tess followed the red and white animals,with their great bags of milk under them,into the farmyard.
苔絲跟著這些紅色或白色、身下垂著碩大乳房的動物,跑進了場院。
She saw the long sheds, and the wooden posts, shining and smooth where the cows had rubbed against them over the years.
她看見了一排長長的屋棚和一根根木樁,由于奶牛長年的摩擦,它們被蹭得油光發亮。
She saw the cows between the posts,the sun throwing their shadows on the wall as carefully as a painter paints a beautiful king or queen.
她看見了木樁之間的一頭頭奶牛,陽光把它們的陰影投射到墻上,就像畫家精心繪制的一幅美麗的國王或王后的畫像。
As the cows waited for their turn,the milk fell in drops on the ground.
還沒有輪到它們呢,有幾滴牛奶已滴到了地上。
The dairymaids and men had come from their cottages as they saw the cows arriving from the fields.
擠奶女工和男人們看到奶牛從地里回來了,就都從屋子里走了出來。
Each girl sat on her three-legged stool as she milked,her right cheek resting on the cow's body,watching Tess arrive.
擠奶時,每個女工都坐在一張三條腿的矮凳上,她們把右臉頰靠在牛的身子上,看到苔絲進來了。
The men milked with their hats low over their eyes and did not see her.
男人擠奶時壓低帽子遮住了眼晴,沒有注意到她。
One of them was a middle-aged man,the head-dairyman she was looking for.
其中有一位中年男子,就是苔絲正在尋找的牛奶場主。
He worked six days a week in his white milking clothes, milking and butter-making, and on the seventh he wore his best suit to take his family proudly to church.
他一禮拜六天穿著白色的擠奶服工作,擠奶,做黃油,到了第七天,他就穿上最好的衣服,帶著全家人,體體面面地到教堂去做禮拜。
Because of this people nearby used to say:
由于這個緣故,附近的人們常說:
Dairyman Dick All the week,On Sundays Mister Richard Crick.
整個星期都是奶場工狄克,星期日是理查德·克里克先生。
Most dairymen are usually bad-tempered at milking time, but Mr Crick was glad to get a new dairymaid at this busy time of the year.
大多數擠奶工在擠奶時都脾氣暴躁,但克里克先生很高興在一年中的繁忙季節里迎來了一個新的擠奶女工。
So he received Tess warmly and asked her how her family were.
他熱情地接待苔絲,還問了她家人的情況。
‘When I was a boy I knew your part of the country very well,’be said.
“當我還是一個孩子時,我對你們那個地方就非常熟悉。”他說道,
‘An old woman of ninety—she's dead now but she used to live near here—she once told me there was an ancient noble family of a name like yours,
“一位九十歲的老太太——她現在已經死了,但她過去住在這兒附近——曾經告訴過我,有一個同你的姓氏相像的古老高貴的家族,
who came from here originally.But I didn't take any notice of an old woman like that.’
很早以前是這兒的人。可我沒理會老太太說的話。”
‘Oh no, that's just a story,’said Tess.
“哦,不,那不過是一個故事罷了。”苔絲說。
Then Mr Crick turned to business.
然后克里克先生轉到正事上:
‘You can milk well,my girl?I don't want my cows drying up,especially just now.’
“你擠奶擠得好嗎,我的孩子?我可不想看到我的牛不出奶,特別是在這個時候。”
‘Oh yes,I can,’answered Tess.
“哦,是的,我能行,”苔絲回答。
He looked at her delicate hands and pale face.
他看了看她那雙細嫩的手和有些蒼白的臉。
‘Quite sure you're strong enough for this sort of life?
“你確信你有足夠的體力過這種生活嗎?
It's comfortable enough here for rough country people but it's hard work.’
這兒的生活對強壯的鄉下人來說夠舒服的了,但活兒很累。”
‘Oh yes,I'm strong enough. I'm used to hard work,’Tess insisted.
“哦,是的,我有足夠的體力。我已經習慣干重活兒了。”苔絲堅持說。
‘Well,have some tea and something to eat.You've had a long journey,’he said kindly.
“那好,去喝杯茶,吃點東西。你剛剛走了這么長的路。”他和善地說。
‘No,I'd rather begin milking straight away,’said Tess. ‘I'll just drink a little milk first.’
“不,我寧愿立即開始擠奶,”苔絲說,“我先喝點兒牛奶就可以了。”
This surprised Dairyman Crick,who appeared never to have thought of milk as a drink.
這讓奶場工克里克感到驚訝,他仿佛從來沒想過牛奶也能這么喝似的。
‘Oh,if you can swallow it,have some,’he said,holding the bucket for her to drink from.
“哦,如果你喝得下,就喝吧,”他說,拿起了一個小桶讓她喝。
‘I haven't touched any for years. It would lie in my stomach like a stone,so it would.
“我好幾年沒碰過它了。喝了它就像胃里放了塊石頭似的,是這樣的。
Now,try that one and see how you get on.’And he pointed to the nearest cow.
那么現在,你去擠那頭牛,看看你干得怎樣。”他指著最近的一頭牛說道。
As soon as Tess was on her stool under the cow, and the milk was pouring between her fingers into the bucket,
苔絲坐到了奶牛下面的凳子上,牛奶從她的指間流泄到桶里,
she really felt that her new life was beginning.
她真地感覺到她的新生活開始了。
As she relaxed,she looked around her.
在她歇息的空隙,她環顧了一下四周。
It was a large dairy.
這是一個很大的牛奶場。
There were nearly a hundred milking cows.
有近一百頭待擠的奶牛。
Dairyman Crick milked six or eight of the difficult ones with his own hands.
奶場主克里克親自擠六到八頭不好擠的牛。
He could not trust them to the dairymaids,
他不放心把它們交給擠奶女工去擠,
because if the cows were badly milked their milk would simply dry up.
因為如果奶牛沒被擠好,它們就會不出奶的。
For a while there was no more talk among the milkers.
有一陣子,擠奶工們沒有聲響。
Suddenly Mr Crick got up from his stool.
克里克先生突然從凳子上站了起來。
We're not getting as much milk from them as usual,’he said.
“我們今天擠的奶沒有平常的多。”他說道,
‘We'd better sing them a song, friends, that's the only thing to do.’
“我們最好還是給他們唱支歌吧,朋友們,只有這樣啦。”
So the group of milkers started singing,to encourage the cows to give more.
于是這群擠奶工開始唱起歌來,想促使奶牛們出更多的奶。
Mr Crick went on,‘But I think bulls like music better than cows.
克里克先生繼續說道:“但我認為公牛比母牛更喜歡音樂。
Did I tell you all about William Dewy? On his way home after a wedding he found himself in a field with an angry bull.
我跟你們講過威廉·杜威的事嗎?一次婚禮結束后,在回家路上的一塊田地上,他遇上了一頭憤怒的公牛。
He took his violin and played some Christmas church music and down went the bull on his knees!
他拿出了小提琴,拉起一些圣誕節的教堂音樂,那頭公牛居然跪下來了:
Just like the animals around baby Jesus! And so William was able to escape.’
就像圍繞著小耶穌的動物那樣!然后威廉就得以逃脫了。”
‘It's a curious story.It takes us back to the past,when belief in God was a living thing.’
“這是一個奇特的故事。它把我們帶回到過去的年代,那時對上帝的信仰是生動真實的。”
This unusual remark came from under a cow.
有人從一頭奶牛身下做出了這個不平常的論斷。
‘Well, it's quite true, sir, believe it or not.I knew the man well,’said Mr Crick.
“哦,這是完全真實的,先生,信不信由你。我跟那個人相當熟。”克里克先生說。
‘Oh yes, I'm sure it's true,’said the man behind the brown cow.
“哦,是的,我相信它是真實的,”那頭棕色奶牛后面的人說道。
Tess could not see his face,and could not understand why the head-dairyman himself should call him sir.
苔絲無法看見他的臉,也不明白為什么牛奶場場主本人還要稱呼他為先生。
The man stayed under the cow long enough to milk three,at times saying something angrily to himself.
這人待在一頭奶牛下面的時間足夠讓別人擠三頭牛了,他還不時生氣地自言自語。
Then he stood up, stretching his arms.Tess could now see him clearly.
然后他站了起來,伸展了一下胳膊。這時苔絲可以清楚地看到他的臉了。
He wore the clothes of a dairyman but underneath he was quite different.
他穿著擠奶工的衣服,但他本人顯得與眾不同。
He looked educated and gentlemanly.
他看起來受過教育,很有教養。
But now she realized that she had seen him before.
但是她現在想起來,她以前曾見過這張臉龐。
He was one of the three walking brothers who had stopped their walk to admire the May-Day dance in Marlott a few years before.
幾年以前,在馬勒特村的五月節舞會上,有三個徒步旅行的兄弟曾駐足觀看過,他就是三兄弟之一,
He had danced with some of the other girls but not with her.
那個和其他一些女孩跳過舞但沒同她跳的人。
He had not noticed her and had gone on his way.
他沒注意到她,又繼續上路了。
For a moment she was worried that if he recognized her he might discover her story.
她一時忐忑不安起來,怕他認出她來后會得知她的經歷。
But she soon saw he did not remember her at all.
但很快,她發現他根本想不起她來了。
Since she had seen him in Marlott,his face had grown more thoughtful.
自從她在馬勒特見過他之后,他顯得更深沉了。
He now had a young man's moustache and beard.
他現在蓄起了青年人的唇髭和絡腮胡。
From the time he had spent milking one cow,he was clearly a beginner at dairy work.
從他擠一頭牛花費的時間來看,對牛奶場的活兒,他顯然是一個新手。
Tess discovered that only two or three of the dairymaids slept in the house,besides herself.
苔絲發現除了她之外,還有兩三個擠奶女工和她睡在一間房子里。
They all shared a big bedroom near the cheese room.
她們共有的這間大臥室挨著奶酪室。
That night one of the girls insisted on telling Tess about all the people at the dairy.
那天晚上,她們中有個姑娘堅持要給苔絲講牛奶場里所有人的情況。
To Tess,half asleep, the whispers seemed to be floating in the air.
苔絲半睡半醒地聽著,這些耳語就像漂浮在空中一樣。
‘Mr Angel Clare—he's the one who's learning milking— he's a parson's son and thinks a lot and doesn't notice girls.
“安吉爾·克萊爾先生——就是那個學擠牛奶的人——是一位牧師的兒子,愛思考問題,但對女孩子從不留意。
His father is parson at Emminster,some way from here.His sons,except Mr Clare,are going to be parsons too.’
她父親是愛敏斯特的牧師,離這兒有些距離。他的兒子們,除了克萊爾先生,也都打算當牧師。”
Tess gradually fell asleep.
苔絲漸漸地睡著了。