【经典名著阅读】《德伯家的苔丝》第十章（中）

英语自学网

23370130.jpg

        'But when be any of you going home?' asked Tess with some anxiety.“可是你们什么时候回家呢？”苔丝有点儿担心地问。
        'Now - almost directly. This is all but the last jig.'“现在——马上就走。这是最后的一场舞了。”
        She waited. The reel drew to a close, and some of the party were in the mind for starting. But others would not, and another dance was formed. This surely would end it, thought Tess. But it merged in yet another. She became restless and uneasy; yet, having waited so long, it was necessary to wait longer; on account of the fair the roads were dotted with roving characters of possibly ill intent; and, though not fearful of measurable dangers, she feared the unknown. Had she been near Marlott she would have had less dread.她等着。里尔舞结束了，有些跳舞的人心想该动身回家了。但是另外有些人不想回家，所以另一场舞就又开始了。苔丝心想，这场完了就该散场了。可是这场还没有完，下一场就又开始了。苔丝心里不安，开始变得烦躁起来，不过既然已经等了这样长时间了，所以她就必须继续等下去；因为这一天是集市，路上可能有一些不怀好意的人在东游西逛；虽然她不害怕那些能够想得到的危险，但是她害怕那些想不到的危险。假如她离马洛特村不远，她就不会害怕了。
        'Don't ye be nervous, my dear good soul,'expostulated, between his coughs, a young man with a wet face, and his straw hat so far back upon his head that the brim encircled it like the nimbus of a saint. 'What's yer hurry? Tomorrow is Sunday, thank God, and we can sleep it off in church time. Now, have a turn with me?' She did not abhor dancing, but she was not going to dance here. The movement grew more passionate: the fiddlers behind the luminous pillar of cloud now and then varied the air by playing on the wrong side of the bridge or with the back of the bow. But it did not matter; the panting shapes spun onwards.“不要紧张，我亲爱的好姑娘，”一个满脸汗水的年轻男子一边咳嗽一边劝她说，他把草帽扣在后脑勺上，围绕脑袋的帽沿就像是圣灵头上的光环。“你着什么急呀？明天是星期天，谢天谢地，我们可以在上教堂作礼拜的时候睡一觉。过来，和我跳一场好不好。”她并不讨厌跳舞，但是她不会在这儿跳。跳舞的脚步开始变得热烈起来：站在发光的云柱后面的小提琴手们不断地跑调，要不是拉到了弦马的下端，就是拉琴时把弓背当成了弓弦。不过这也没有什么关系，喘着气的人影不断地照样旋转着。
        They did not vary their partners if their inclination were to stick to previous ones. Changing partners simply meant that a satisfactory choice had not as yet been arrived at by one or other of the pair, and by this time every couple had been suitably matched. It was then that the ecstasy and the dream began, in which emotion was the matter of the universe, and matter but an adventitious intrusion likely to hinder you from spinning where you wanted to spin.跳舞的人如果还想继续同原来的舞伴跳舞，他们就用不着更换舞伴了。简单地说，更换舞伴就是说跳舞的两个人中还有一个没有完全感到满意，到了那个时候，所有跳舞的人就会搭配得很合适了。到了那时候，狂欢和梦想也就开始了，在这种狂欢和梦想里，激情变成了宇宙的物质，而物质只不过是一种外来的插进来的东西，有可能妨碍你在想旋转的时候旋转起来。

enone

        Suddenly there was a dull thump on the ground: a couple had fallen, and lay in a mixed heap. The next couple, unable to check its progress, came toppling over the obstacle. An inner cloud of dust rose around the prostrate figures amid the general one of the room, in which a twitching entanglement of arms and legs was discernible.突然，地上传来一声扑通的响声：一对跳舞的人跌倒了，躺在地上乱成了一团。接下来的一对没法停止前进，也绊倒在前一对舞侣的身上。屋内已是一片尘土，现在又在跌下去的人四周飞扬起更浓的尘埃，尘埃中隐约只见一些胳膊大腿纠缠在一起。
        'You shall catch it for this, my gentleman, when you get home!' burst in female accents from the human heap - those of the unhappy partner of the man whose clumsiness had caused the mishap; she happened also to be his recently married wife, in which assortment there was nothing unusual at Trantridge as long as any affection remained between wedded couples; and, indeed, it was not uncustomary in their later lives, to avoid making odd lots of the single people between whom there might be a warm understanding.“回了家我非得臭骂你一顿不可，我的先生！”骂人的话是从人堆里的一个女人嘴里发出来的——她是那个因笨拙而闻祸的男人的不幸舞伴，刚好又是不久前同他结婚的妻子。在特兰里奇，刚结婚的夫妇只要蜜月的感情还在，相互配对跳舞也没有什么奇怪的；而且，夫妻在他们的后半辈子一起配对跳舞也并非不合习惯，那样可以避免让那些脉脉含情的独身男女给互相分开了。
        A loud laugh from behind Tess's back, in the shade of the garden, united with the titter within the room. She looked round, and saw the red coal of a cigar: Alec d'Urberville was standing there alone. He beckoned to her, and she reluctantly retreated towards him.从苔丝身后的园子阴暗处传来一阵哈哈大笑，笑声同屋内的嬉笑声交织在一起。她回头看去，看见了一只雪茄烟的烟头火光：阿历克·德贝维尔独自一人站在那儿。他招手让她过去，她只好勉强走过去。
        'Well, my Beauty, what are you doing here?'“喂，我的美人儿，你在这儿干什么呀？”
        She was so tired after her long day and her walk that she confided her trouble to him - that she had been waiting ever since he saw her to have their company home, because the road at night was strange to her. 'But it seems they will never leave off, and I really think I will wait no longer.'她累了一整天，走了许多路，疲惫极了，只好把自己的困难告诉了他：她告诉他说，在刚才他们见面以后，她就一直等在这儿，好找一个同伴一起回家，因为她不熟悉晚上回家的路。“可是他们好像永远没有个完，我也真的不想再等下去了。”
        'Certainly do not. I have only a saddle-horse here to-day; but come to "The Flower-de-Luce", and I'll hire a trap, and drive you home with me.'“当然不用再等下去了。今天我这儿有一匹备好了鞍子的马；我们可以骑马到花露斯酒店，在那儿我可以雇一辆马车，和我一起坐马车回家去。”
        Tess, though flattered, had never quite got over her original mistrust of him, and, despite their tardiness, she preferred to walk home with the work folk. So she answered that she was much obliged to him, but would not trouble him. 'I have said that I will wait for 'em, and they will expect me to now.'虽然苔丝听了心里高兴，但是她心里原来对他的不信任感并没有完全消除，所以尽管跳舞的人一再拖延着不走，她还是宁肯等着这些做工的人，同他们一起回家。她回答说，她很感谢他，不过她还是不想麻烦他。“我说过我要等着他们，现在他们也会以为我在等着他们的。”