【经典名著阅读】《德伯家的苔丝》第三十章（上）

英语自学网

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        In the diminishing daylight they went along the level roadway through the meads, which stretched away into gray miles, and were backed in the extreme edge of distance by the swarthy and abrupt slopes of Egdon Heath. On its summit stood clumps and stretches of fir-trees, whose notched tips appeared like battlemented towers crowning black-fronted castles of enchantment.在逐渐减弱的光线中，他们沿着那条穿过草场的平坦的道路走着，那片草场在灰蒙蒙的暮色里延伸出去好几英里，一直延伸到了爱敦荒原上那些幽暗陡峭的山坡尽头。在山坡的顶上，长着一簇簇一片片枞树，树梢有高有低，看上去就像一个个带有雉堞的塔楼，高耸在正面墙壁是黑色的一个个魔堡之上。
        They were so absorbed in the sense of being close to each other that they did not begin talking for a long while, the silence being broken only by the clucking of the milk in the tall cans behind them. The lane they followed was so solitary that the hazel nuts had remained on the boughs till they slipped from their shells, and the blackberries hung in heavy clusters. Every now and then Angel would fling the lash of his whip round one of these, pluck it off, and give it to his companion.他们坐在一起，沉浸在相互接近的感觉里，所以好久他们都没有说话，在他们的沉默中，只有身后高大铁罐里的牛奶发出的咣噹咣噹的响声。他们走的是一条非常僻静的小路，棒子树结的果实还留在树枝上，等着从果壳里掉出来，黑莓也还一大串一大串的挂在树枝上。每次从树下经过，他都要挥起鞭子缠住一串果实，把它们摘下来，送给他的同伴。
        The dull sky soon began to tell its meaning by sending down herald-drops of rain, and the stagnant air of the day changed into a fitful breeze which played about their faces. The quicksilvery glaze on the rivers and pools vanished; from broad mirrors of light they changed to lustreless sheets of lead, with a surface like a rasp. But that spectacle did not affect her preoccupation. Her countenance, a natural carnation slightly embrowned by the season, had deepened its tinge with the beating of the rain-drops; and her hair, which the pressure of the cows' flanks had, as usual, caused to tumble down from its fastenings and stray beyond the curtain of her calico bonnet, was made clammy by the moisture, till it hardly was better than seaweed.不久，沉闷的天空开始落下最初的雨点，表示天气真正要下雨了，白天沉闷的空气也变成了一阵阵微风，从他们的面前吹过。河流和湖泊上水银一样的光泽慢慢消失了；它们原先是一面宽大的明镜，现在泛出阵阵涟漪，变成了没有光泽的铅皮。但是这种景象没有影响苔丝，她仍然还在那儿出神。她的脸本来是一种天然的淡红色，现在被秋天的太阳晒成了淡褐色，上面落满了雨点，颜色变得更深了；她的头发由于挤奶时受到奶牛肚子的压迫，现在已经松散开了，乱七八糟地从头上戴的白色帽檐里披散下来，让雨水淋得又粘又湿，后来简直比海草强不了多少。
        'I ought not to have come, I suppose,' she murmured, looking at the sky.“我想我不应该来的，”她看着天空低声说。
        'I am sorry for the rain,' said he. 'But how glad I am to have you here!'“天下雨了，真是对不起，”他说。“但是有你在这儿，我别提有多高兴了！”

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        Remote Egdon disappeared by degrees behind the liquid gauze. The evening grew darker, and the roads being crossed by gates it was not safe to drive faster than at a walking pace. The air was rather chill.在雨水密织的雨帘里，远处的爱敦荒原逐渐消失不见了。傍晚越来越暗，道路上的十字路口有一些栅栏门，为了安全起见，他们赶车的速度比走路的速度快不了多少。天气也变得更加凉了。
        'I am so afraid you will get, cold, with nothing upon your arms and shoulders,' he said. 'Creep close to me, and perhaps the drizzle won't hurt you much. I should be sorrier still if I did not think that the rain might be helping me.'“我担心你会受凉的，你的胳膊和肩膀上什么也没有，”他说。“向我靠紧些吧，这样雨水也许就不会淋得太厉害了。要是我没有感到这场雨水也许对我有些好处，我就要感到更难受了。”
        She imperceptibly crept closer, and he wrapped round them both a large piece of sail-cloth, which was sometimes used to keep the sun off the milk-cans. Tess held it from slipping off him as well as herself, Clare's hands being occupied.她悄悄地向他靠得近了些，他就把两大块用来为牛奶罐遮太阳的帆布拉过来，把他们遮盖起来。苔丝两手拉住帆布，不让帆布从她和他身上滑下去，因为克莱尔双手空不出来。
        'Now we are all right again. Ah - no we are not! It runs down into my neck a little, and it must still more into yours. That's better. Your arms are like wet marble, Tess. Wipe them in the cloth. Now, if you stay quiet, you will not get another drop. Well, dear - about that question of mine - that long-standing question?'“我们现在都好啦。啊——还是不行！有些雨水流进我的脖子了，流进你脖子里的雨水一定更多了。这样好多了。你的双臂就像被雨水打湿的大理石，苔丝。在帆布上擦擦吧。现在好啦，只要你坐着不动，你就淋不到雨水了。好了，亲爱的——关于我提出的问题——那个长期拖而不决的问题现在怎么样啊？”
        The only reply that he could hear for a little while was the smack of the horse's hoofs on the moistening road, and the cluck of the milk in the cans behind them.过了一会儿，他听到的唯一回答只是马蹄踏在布满雨水的道路上的叭嗒声，以及他们身后牛奶罐里牛奶的晃荡声。
        'Do you remember what you said?'“你还记得你说的话吧？”
        'I do,' she replied.“记得，”她回答说。
        'Before we get home, mind.'“在我们回家前你得回答我，记住啊。”
        'I'll try.'“好吧。”
        He said no more then. As they drove on the fragment of an old manor house of Caroline date rose against the sky, and was in due course passed and left behind.后来他就不再说什么了。他们继续往前走着，一座查理王时代庄园的残余部分显露在夜色里，他们把车从旁边赶了过去，不久就把它抛在后面了。