牛津书虫系列《苔丝》Chapter3 附中英双语文本

但是亚历克还是把草莓放进了她嘴里。他还采了玫瑰别在她头上，并在她的篮子里装满了草莓和鲜花。他拿东西给她，自己就静静地抽着雪茄看她吃。苔丝看起来比实际上的她更成熟也更具有女人味儿。亚历克无法将视线从她身上移开。她不会想到，就在她天真无邪地对着那些鲜花微笑时，坐在雪茄烟雾后面的，正是会给她未来生活带来痛苦的冤家对头。
‘What is your name？’asked Alec．
“你叫什么名字？”亚历克问道。
‘Tess Durbeyfield．We live at Marlott．’
“苔丝·德北。我家在马勒特村。”
‘I must see if my mother can find a place for you．’They said goodbye and she set off home carrying her strawberries and flowers．
“我一定留意看看我母亲是否能给你找份工作。”他们告别之后，苔丝带着一篮子草莓和鲜花回去了。
This then was the beginning． Why did she have to meet the wrong man， and one who was so strongly attracted to her？Yet to the right man， she was only a half-forgotten impression from an evening's dancing in a country field．In life， the right man to love hardly ever comes at the right time for loving．Nature does not often answer a call for love， until the caller is tired of calling．In this case，as in millions，it was not the two halves of a perfect whole who met．A missing half wandered somewhere else，arriving much later．This delay was to have tragic results．
事情就这样开了头。为什么她一定要遇上这个不合适却如此垂涎于她的男人？而她留给那个适合于她的男人的，只不过是一个来自乡间黄昏舞会的已经模糊了的印象。在生活中，适合于爱的男人很少在适合于爱的时间出现。上天总是无视人们对爱的呼唤，直至人们呼唤得精疲力竭。这只不过是无数个阴差阳错的故事中的一个。两个无法完美结合的一半相遇了，而丢失的另一半还在别处徘徊，姗姗来迟。这样的延误即将导致悲剧的结局。