【经典名著阅读】《德伯家的苔丝》第四章（中）
They went home together, Tess holding one arm of her father, and Mrs Durbeyfield the other. He had, in truth, drunk very little - not a fourth of the quantity which a systematic tippler could carry to church on a Sunday afternoon without a hitch in his eastings or genuflections; but the weakness of Sir John's constitution made mountains of his petty sins in this kind. On reaching the fresh air he was sufficiently unsteady to incline the row of three at one moment as if they were marching to London, and at another as if they were marching to Bath - which produced a comical effect, frequent enough in families on nocturnal home goings; and, like most comical effects, not quite so comic after all. The two women valiantly disguised these forced excursions and countermarches as well as they could from Durbeyfield their cause, and from Abraham, and from themselves; and so they approached by degrees their own door, the head of the family bursting suddenly into his former refrain as he drew near, as if to fortify his soul at sight of the smallness of his present residence--苔丝挽起父亲的一只胳膊，她的母亲挽起父亲的另一只，一起回家去。说实在的，她的父亲酒喝得很少——一个经常喝酒的人，礼拜天下午喝完酒上教堂，转身向东下跪，一点也不踉跄，她父亲喝的酒还不到这种人喝的四分之一；但是约翰爵士的身体虚弱，在当时的情景下，喝酒这种小罪恶就让他受不了啦。一接触到新鲜空气，他就开始跌跌撞撞的，一会儿他们一行三人好像正向伦敦走去，一会儿又好像朝巴斯走去——看上去叫人感到滑稽可笑，尽管一家人晚上回家是常有的事；不过，像大多数滑稽可笑的事情一样，实在是又不能叫人完全感到滑稽可笑。母女俩尽量把主要来自德北菲尔德的跌跌撞撞以及他所引起的亚伯拉罕和她们自己的跌跌撞撞掩饰起来；他们就这样一步一步地接近了他们的家门口，这家人的家长在走近家门口时，突然放声唱起他先前唱过的歌来，仿佛看见他现在的住所太狭小，要增强自己的信心似的——
'I've got a fam - ily vault at Kingsbere!'“在金斯伯尔我有一个家族墓室！”
'Hush - don't be so silly, Jacky,' said his wife. 'Yours is not the only family that was of 'count in wold days. Look at the Anktells, and Horseys, and the Tringhams themselves gone to seed almost as much as you - though you was bigger folks than they, that's true. Thank God, I was never of no family, and have nothing to be ashamed of in that way!'“嘘——不要犯傻了，杰克，”他的妻子说，“先前的大户人家又不是你一户。你看有安克特尔家，有霍尔斯家，还有特林汉姆家——不都和你们家一样衰败了吗——尽管你们家族比他们的人些，也确实要大些。谢天谢地，我个是什么大家族的出身，但是我从来不觉得我的出身丢人。”
'Don't you be so sure o' that. From your father 'tis my belief you've disgraced yourselves more than any o' us, and was kings and queens outright at one time.'“不要把事情说得太肯定了。从你的天性看来，我敢说你比我们谁都要丢入丢得厉害，你们家曾经出过国王和王后。”
Tess turned the subject by saying what was far more prominent in her own mind at the moment than thoughts of her ancestry--苔丝说的话改变了话题，因为这时候她心里想到了比她的祖先更为重要的事——
'I am afraid father won't be able to take the journey with the beehives tomorrow so early.'“我担心父亲明天起不了那么早，不能上路去送蜂箱啦。”
'I? I shall be all right in an hour or two,' said Durbeyfield.“我？一两个小时我就会好了，”德北菲尔德说。
It was eleven o'clock before the family were all in bed, and two o'clock next morning was the latest hour for starting with the beehives if they were to be delivered to the retailers in Caster-bridge before the Saturday market began, the way thither lying by bad roads over a distance of between twenty and thirty miles, and the horse and waggon being of the slowest. At half-past one Mrs Durbeyfield came into the large bedroom where Tess and all her little brothers and sisters slept.已经十一点了，全家人才上床睡觉，如果要在礼拜六的集市开始前把蜂箱送到卡斯特桥的零售商手里，最晚明天凌晨两点钟就得动身，通往那儿的道路不好走，有二三十英里远近，而且他们家送货的又是走得最慢的马车。一点半钟的时候，德北菲尔德太太走进苔丝和她的弟弟妹妹们睡觉的那间大卧室。
'The poor man can't go,' she said to her eldest daughter, whose great eyes had opened the moment her mother's hand touched the door.“你可怜的爸爸去不了啦。”她对她的大女儿说，而女儿的大眼睛早在她母亲开门时就已经睁开了。
Tess sat up in bed, lost in a vague interspace between a dream and this information.苔丝在床上坐起来，朦朦胧胧地听见母亲的话，一时不知如何是好。
'But somebody must go,' she replied. 'It is late for the hives already. Swarming will soon be over for the year; and if we put off taking 'em till next week's market the call for'em will be past, and they'll be thrown on our hands.'“可是总得有人去呀，”她回答说。“现在去卖蜂箱已经晚了。今年蜜蜂分群的时候很快就要过去了；要是我们推迟到下个礼拜的集市，就没有人要啦，蜂箱也就要积压在我们的手上了。”
Mrs Durbeyfield looked unequal to the emergency. 'Some young feller, perhaps, would go? One of them who were so much after dancing with 'ee yesterday,' she presently suggested.看来德北菲尔德太太没有能力应付这种紧急事情。“也许可以找个年轻的小伙子，让他送去行吗？昨天有许多人和你一起跳舞，在他们中间找一个。”她立刻提议说。
'O no - I wouldn't have it for the world!'declared Tess proudly. 'And letting everybody know the reason such a thing to be ashamed of! I think I could go if Abraham could go with me to kip me company.'“啊，不行——无论如何我也不会同意！”苔丝骄傲地大声说，“这不是要让所有的人都知道这个原因吗——这样一件让人感到羞耻的事情！要是亚伯拉罕能陪着我一起去，我想我可以去送”
Her mother at length agreed to this arrangement. little Abraham was aroused from his deep sleep in a corner of the same apartment, and made to put on his clothes while still mentally in the other world. Meanwhile Tess had hastily dressed herself; and the twain, lighting a lantern, went out to the stable. The rickety little waggon was already laden, and the girl led out the horse Prince, only a degree less rickety than the vehicle.苔丝的母亲最后同意了这种安排。她把睡在同一个屋子里的小亚伯拉罕从熟睡中叫起来，让他在迷迷糊糊中把衣服穿上。这时候，苔丝已经急急忙忙地把衣服穿好了；姐弟俩点起一盏提灯，就出门向马厩走去。那辆摇摇晃晃的小马车已经装好了，苔丝把那匹名叫王子的马牵了出来，同那辆马车比起来，它摇晃的程度也好不了多少。
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