【经典名著阅读】《德伯家的苔丝》第二十七章（上）

英语自学网

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        An up-hill and down-dale ride of twenty-odd miles through a garish mid-day atmosphere brought him in the afternoon to a detached knoll a mile or two west of Talbothays, whence he again looked into that green trough of sappiness and humidity, the valley of the Var or Froom. mmediately he began to descend from the upland to the fat alluvial soil below, the atmosphere grew heavier; the languid perfume of the summer fruits, the mists, the hay, the flowers, formed therein a vast pool of odour which at this hour seemed to make the animals, the very bees and butterflies, drowsy. Clare was now so familiar with the spot that he knew the individual cows by their names when, a long distance off, he saw them dotted about the meads. It was with a sense of luxury that he recognized his power of viewing life here from its inner side, in a way that had been quite foreign to him in his student-days; and, much as he loved his parents, he could not help being aware that to come here, as now, after an experience of home-life, affected him like throwing off splints and bandages; even the one customary curb on the humours of English rural societies being absent in this place, Talbothays having no resident landlord.安琪尔骑着马，一路翻山越谷，在正午的太阳里走了二十多英里路，到了下午，走到了泰波塞斯西边一两英里地方的一个孤立的小山岗上，抬头望去，又看见了前面的低谷瓦尔谷，也就是佛卢姆谷，谷中水分充足，土地滋润，一片青绿。他立刻离开那块高地，向下面那片冲积而成的肥沃土壤走去，空气也变得浓重起来；夏天的果实、雾气、干草、野花散发出懒洋洋的芬芳，汇聚成一个巨大的芳香湖泊，在这个时候，似乎所有的鸟兽、蜜蜂、蝴蝶，受到香气的熏陶，都要一个个睡去了。对于这个地方，克莱尔现在已经非常熟悉了，所以他虽然从老远的地方望见点缀在草地上的牛群，也能够叫出每一头牛的名字来。他心里有一种享受的感觉，因为某些方面他现在和学生时代的他完全不一样了，认识到自己在这儿具有从内部观察生活的能力。虽然他深爱自己的父母，但是现在他也不禁深深感觉到，他回家住了几天，再回到这里，心里就有了一种摆脱羁绊束缚的感觉；泰波塞斯没有固定的地主，在这个地方，对英国农村社会的荒诞行为，甚至连通常的约束也没有。
        Not a human being was out of doors at the dairy. The denizens were all enjoying the usual afternoon nap of an hour or so which the exceedingly early hours kept in summer-time rendered a necessity. At the door the wood-hooped pails, sodden and bleached by infinite scrubbings, hung like hats on a stand upon the forked and peeled limb of an oak fixed there for that purpose; all of them ready and dry for the evening milking. Angel entered, and went through the silent passages of the house to the back quarters, where he listened for a moment. Sustained snores came from the cart-house, where some of the men were lying down; the grunt and squeal of sweltering pigs arose from the still further distance. The large-leaved rhubarb and cabbage plants slept too, their broad limp surfaces hanging in the sun like half-closed umbrellas.奶牛场上，门外看不见一个人。奶牛场里的居民，都在像平常一样享受午后一个小时左右的小睡，夏天起床非常早，中午小睡一会儿是不可缺少的；门前有一棵用来挂牛奶桶的剥了树皮的橡树桩固定在地上，树权上挂着带箍的木桶，木桶经过不断的擦洗，已经让水泡透了，洗白了，挂在那儿就像一顶顶帽子；所有的木桶都洗静了，晒干了，准备晚上挤牛奶使用。安琪尔走进院子，穿过屋子里静静的走道，来到后面，站在那儿听了一会儿。房里睡着几个男工，可以听见从房内传出来的他们的鼾声；在更远一点儿的地方，有一些猪热得难受，发出哼哼唧唧的叫声。长着宽大叶子的大黄和卷心菜也都入睡了，它们宽阔的叶面在太阳下低垂着，就像是半开半合的阳伞。

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        He unbridled and fed his horse, and as he re-entered the house the clock struck three. Three was the afternoon skimming-hour; and, with the stroke, Clare heard the creaking of the floor-boards above, and then the touch of a descending foot on the stairs. It was Tess's, who in another moment came down before his eyes.他把马嚼松开，喂上马，再回到屋里的时候，时钟刚好敲响了三点。这是下午撇奶油的时候；钟声一响，克莱尔就听见了头上楼板的咯吱声，听见了有人从楼梯上下楼的脚步声。那正是苔丝走路的声音。又过了一会儿，苔丝下了楼，出现在他的面前。
        She had not heard him enter, and hardly realized his presence there. She was yawning, and he saw the red interior of her mouth as if it had been a snake's. She had stretched one arm so high as above her coiled-up cable of hair that he could see its satin delicacy above the sunburn; her face was flushed with sleep, and her eyelids hung heavy over their pupils. The brimfulness of her nature breathed from her. It was a moment when a woman's soul is more incarnate than at any other time; when the most spiritual beauty bespeaks itself flesh; and sex takes the outside place in the presentation.克莱尔进屋时她没有听见，也没有想到他会在楼下。她正打着阿欠，克莱尔看见她嘴里面红红的，仿佛蛇的嘴一样。她把一只胳臂高高地举起来，伸在已经被盘起来的头发上面，看得见头上被太阳晒黑的皮肤的上面部分，像缎子一样光滑白嫩；她的脸睡得红红的，眼皮低垂着，遮住了瞳孔。她的浑身上下都散发出女性成熟的气息。正是在这种时刻，一个女人的灵魂才比任何时候更像女人；也正是在这种时候，超凡脱俗的美才显示出肉欲的一面；女性的特征才在外面表现出来。
        Then those eyes flashed brightly through their filmy heaviness, before the remainder of her face was well awake. With an oddly compounded look of gladness, shyness, and surprise, she exclaimed--接着，她的一双眼睛从惺松朦胧中睁开了，闪着明亮的光，不过她脸上其它的部分还没有完全清醒过来。她脸上的表情是奇特的、复杂的，有高兴，有羞怯，也有意外，她喊着说：
        'O Mr Clare! How you frightened me - I--'“啊，克莱尔先生！你把我吓了一跳——我——”
        There had not at first been time for her to think of the changed relations which his declaration had introduced; but the full sense of the matter rose up in her face when she encountered Clare's tender look as he stepped forward to the bottom stair.最初她还没有来得及想到，克莱尔已经向她表明了心迹，他们的关系已经发生变化了；克莱尔向楼梯跟前走去，苔丝看见他一脸的温情，这才完全意识到这件事情，这种意识随着又在她的脸上表现出来。
        'Dear, darling Tessy!' he whispered, putting his arm round her, and his face to her flushed cheek. 'Don't, for Heaven's sake, Mister me any more. I have hastened back so soon because of you!'“亲爱的，亲爱的苔丝呀！”他低声说，一边伸出胳臂搂着她，一边把脸朝着苔丝羞红了的脸。“千万不要再叫我先生了。我这样早赶回来，全是为了你呀！”