【经典名著阅读】《德伯家的苔丝》第三十四章（中）
Tess looked a little flustered as she took it.苔丝接过包裹的时候，脸色有一点儿慌乱。
'I think I would rather have you open it, dearest,' said she, turning over the parcel. 'I don't like to break those great seals; they look so serious. Please open it for me!'“我想还是由你打开的好，最亲爱的，”她把包裹翻过来说。“我不敢打开那些火漆印，它们看上去太严肃了。请你为我打开它吧！”
He undid the parcel. Inside was a case of morocco leather, on the top of which lay a note and a key.他打开包裹。包裹里面是一个用摩洛哥皮做的皮匣子，上面放有一封信和一把打开箱子的钥匙。
The note was for Clare, in the following words:信是写给克莱尔的，内容如下：
My DEAR SON, - Possibly you have forgotten that on the death of your godmother, Mrs Pitney, when you were a lad, she - vain kind woman that she was - left to me a portion of the contents of her jewel-case in trust for your wife, if you should ever have one, as a mark of her affection for you and whomsoever you should choose. This trust I have fulfilled, and the diamonds have been locked up at my banker's ever since. Though I feel it to be a somewhat incongruous act in the circumstances, I am, as you will see, bound to hand over the articles to the woman to whom the use of them for her lifetime will now rightly belong, and they are therefore promptly sent. They become, I believe, heirlooms, strictly speaking, according to the terms of your godmother's will. The precise words of the clause that refers to this matter are enclosed.我亲爱的儿子，——你可能已经忘了，你的教母皮特尼夫人临终的时候，那时你还是一个孩子，她是一个虚荣心很强的女人，死时把她的一部分珠宝交给我，委托我在你结婚的时候交给你的妻子，无论你娶的妻子是谁，以表示她对你的情爱。我已经完成了她的嘱托，自她去世以来，这副珠宝一直保管在银行里。虽然我觉得在这种情形里把珠宝送给你妻子有点儿不太合适，但是你要明白，我一定要把这些东西送给那个女人，让她终身使用，因此我就立即派人送了来。严格说来，根据你教母的遗嘱的条款，我相信这些珠宝已经变成了传家宝物。有关这件事的准确条文，也一并抄录附寄。
'I do remember,' said Clare; 'but I had quite forgotten.'“我现在想起来了，”克莱尔说，“可是我全忘了。”
Unlocking the case, they found it to contain a necklace, with pendant, bracelets, and ear-rings; and also some other small ornaments.匣子被打开了，他们发现里面装着一条项链，还有坠子，手镯，耳环；也还有一些其它的装饰品。
Tess seemed afraid to touch them at first, but her eyes sparkled for a moment as much as the stones when Clare spread out the set.苔丝起初不敢动它们，但是当克莱尔把全副的首饰摆开的时候，一时间她的眼睛放射出光来，就像那些钻石闪光一样。
'Are they mine?' she asked incredulously.“它们是我的吗？”她有些不敢相信地问。
'They are, certainly,' said he.“是的，肯定是的！”他说。
He looked into the fire. He remembered how, when he was a lad of fifteen, his godmother, the Squire's wife - the only rich person with whom he had ever come in contact - had pinned her faith to his success; had prophesied a wondrous career for him. There had seemed nothing at all out of keeping with such a conjectured career in the storing up of these showy ornaments for his wife and the wives of her descendants. They gleamed somewhat ironically now. 'Yet why?' he asked himself. It was but a question of vanity throughout; and if that were admitted into one side of the equation it should be admitted into the other. His wife was a d'Urberville: whom could they become better than her?他向壁炉里的炉火看去。他还记得，当他还是一个十五岁的孩子的时候，他的教母，一个绅士的妻子——他一生中接触过的唯一一个富有的人，相信他将来一定能够取得成功；她预言他的事业会超群出众。把这些华丽的装饰留给他的妻子，留给她的子孙的妻子，这与他想象中的事业根本就没有矛盾的地方。现在它们在那儿放射出讽刺的光芒。“可是为什么要这样呢？”他问自己。自始至终，这只不过是一个虚荣的问题；如果承认他的教母有虚荣心的话，那么他的妻子也应该有虚荣心啊。他妻子是德贝维尔家族的后人：谁还能比她更值得戴这些首饰呢？
Suddenly he said with enthusiasm--他突然热情地说——
'Tess, put them on - put them on!' And he turned from the fire to help her.“苔丝，把它们戴上——把它们戴上！”他从炉火边转过身来，帮着她戴首饰。
But as if by magic she had already donned them - necklace, ear-rings, bracelets, and all.但是仿佛有魔法帮助她似的，她已经把首饰戴上了——项链、耳环，所有的首饰她都戴上了。
'But the gown isn't right, Tess,' said Clare. 'It ought to be a low one for a set of brilliants like that.'“不过这件袍子不太合身，苔丝，”克莱尔说。“应该是低领口的袍子，才好配这一副闪闪发亮的首饰。”
'Ought it?' said Tess.“是吗？”苔丝问。
'Yes,' said he.“是的，”他说。
He suggested to her how to tuck in the upper edge of her bodice, so as to make it roughly approximate to the cut for evening wear; and when she had done this, and the pendant to the necklace hung isolated amid the whiteness of her throat, as it was designed to do, he stepped back to survey her.他建议她把胸衣的上边折进去，这样就大致上接近晚礼服的式样了；她照着他的话做了，项链上那个坠子就独自垂下来，显露在她脖子的前面了，这正是设计要求戴的样子，他向后退了几步，打量着她。
'My heavens,' said Clare, 'how beautiful you are!'“我的天呀，”克莱尔说，“你有多漂亮啊！”
As everybody knows, fine feathers make fine birds; a peasant girl but very moderately prepossessing to the casual observer in her simple condition and attire, will bloom as an amazing beauty if clothed as a woman of fashion with the aids that Art can render; while the beauty of the midnight crush would often cut but a sorry figure if placed inside the field-woman's wrapper upon a monotonous acreage of turnips on a dull day. He had never till now estimated the artistic excellence of Tess's limbs and features.正如所有的人知道的那样，人是树桩，还要衣妆；一个农村女孩子穿着简单的服饰，随随便便看上去就让人喜爱，要是像一个时髦女人加以打扮，加上艺术的修饰，就会光彩照人美不胜收了。而半夜舞会里的那些美女们，要是穿上乡村种地妇女的衣服，在沉闷的天气里站在单调的胡萝卜地里，她们就会常常显得可怜寒酸了。一直到现在，他都没有想到苔丝面貌和四肢的艺术美点。
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