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Tess and Abraham dressed，led out the old horse Prince with the loaded wagon，
苔絲和亞伯拉罕穿好了衣服，牽出了那匹名叫“王子”的老馬。馬車已經上好了貨。
and set off in the dark．
在黑暗中，他們出發了。
They cheered themselves up with bread and butter and conversation．
他們吃了點兒面包黃油，讓自己振奮起精神，還聊起了天。
‘Tess！’said Abraham，after a silence．
“苔絲！”一陣沉默之后，亞伯拉罕開口了。
‘Yes， Abraham．’
“嗯，亞伯拉罕。”
‘Aren't you glad that we're a noble family？’
“我們是貴族家庭，難道你不高興嗎？”
‘Not particularly．’
“沒有特別高興。”
‘But you're glad you're going to marry a gentleman？’
“但是，你要同一位先生結婚了，你會高興嗎？”
‘What？’said Tess，lifting her face．
“什么？”苔絲仰起了臉，問道。
‘Our noble relations are going to help you marry a gentleman．’
“我們的貴族親戚會幫助你同一位先生結婚的。”
‘Me？Our noble relations？We haven't any．Whatever put that into your head？’
“我？我們的貴族親戚？我們沒有這樣的親戚呀。是什么讓你腦子里有這種想法的？”
‘I heard them talking about it at home．
“我在家里聽到他們談起這件事。
There's a rich lady of our family out at Trantridge，
在純瑞脊那兒，有一位我們家族的有錢太太。
and mother said that if you claimed relationship with her，
媽媽說如果你和她攀上親，
she'd help you marry a gentleman．’
她會幫你嫁給一位先生的。”
His sister became suddenly silent．
他姐姐突然沉默了。
Abraham talked on，not noticing her lack of attention．
亞伯拉罕沒有注意到姐姐已無心在聽，還在繼續說著。
‘Did you say the stars were worlds，Tess？
“苔絲，你說過這些星星就是一個個世界吧？”
‘Yes．’
“是的。”
‘All like ours？’
“全都像我們這兒的世界嗎？”
‘They seem like our apples—most of them good， a few bad．’
“它們就像我們的蘋果一樣——大多數是好的，也有一些是壞的。”
‘Which do we live on？A good one or a bad one？’
“我們住在哪顆星星上呢？好的，還是壞的？”
‘A bad one．’
“壞的。”
‘If we lived on a good one，how would things be different？’
“假如我們住在一顆好的星星上，會有什么不同嗎？”
‘Well，father wouldn't be ill and cough as he does，and mother wouldn't always be washing．’
“那樣，爸爸就不會像現在這樣生病，也不會咳嗽，而媽媽也不會總是洗個沒完。”
‘And you would have been a ready-made rich lady，and not have to marry a gentleman．’
“而你也早是一位有錢的小姐，用不著非得嫁給一位先生不可了。”
‘Oh，Aby，don't—don't talk of that any more！’
“哦，亞比，別說了——別再說這個了！”
