牛津书虫系列《苔丝》Chapter8 附中英双语文本

“当我还是一个孩子时，我对你们那个地方就非常熟悉。”他说道，“一位九十岁的老太太——她现在已经死了，但她过去住在这儿附近——曾经告诉过我，有一个同你的姓氏相像的古老高贵的家族，很早以前是这儿的人。可我没理会老太太说的话。”
‘Oh no， that's just a story，’said Tess．
“哦，不，那不过是一个故事罢了。”苔丝说。
Then Mr Crick turned to business．‘You can milk well，my girl？I don't want my cows drying up，especially just now．’
然后克里克先生转到正事上：“你挤奶挤得好吗，我的孩子？我可不想看到我的牛不出奶，特别是在这个时候。”
‘Oh yes，I can，’answered Tess．
“哦，是的，我能行，”苔丝回答。
He looked at her delicate hands and pale face．
他看了看她那双细嫩的手和有些苍白的脸。
‘Quite sure you're strong enough for this sort of life？ It's comfortable enough here for rough country people but it's hard work．’
“你确信你有足够的体力过这种生活吗？这儿的生活对强壮的乡下人来说够舒服的了，但活儿很累。”
‘Oh yes，I'm strong enough． I'm used to hard work，’Tess insisted．
“哦，是的，我有足够的体力。我已经习惯干重活儿了。”苔丝坚持说。
‘Well，have some tea and something to eat．You've had a long journey，’he said kindly．
“那好，去喝杯茶，吃点东西。你刚刚走了这么长的路。”他和善地说。
‘No，I'd rather begin milking straight away，’said Tess． ‘I'll just drink a little milk first．’
“不，我宁愿立即开始挤奶，”苔丝说，“我先喝点儿牛奶就可以了。”
This surprised Dairyman Crick，who appeared never to have thought of milk as a drink．
这让奶场工克里克感到惊讶，他仿佛从来没想过牛奶也能这么喝似的。
‘Oh，if you can swallow it，have some，’he said，holding the bucket for her to drink from．‘I haven't touched any for years． It would lie in my stomach like a stone，so it would． Now，try that one and see how you get on．’And he pointed to the nearest cow．
“哦，如果你喝得下，就喝吧，”他说，拿起了一个小桶让她喝。“我好几年没碰过它了。喝了它就像胃里放了块石头似的，是这样的。那么现在，你去挤那头牛，看看你干得怎样。”他指着最近的一头牛说道。
As soon as Tess was on her stool under the cow， and the milk was pouring between her fingers into the bucket，she really felt that her new life was beginning． As she relaxed，she looked around her．
苔丝坐到了奶牛下面的凳子上，牛奶从她的指间流泄到桶里，她真地感觉到她的新生活开始了。在她歇息的空隙，她环顾了一下四周。
It was a large dairy．There were nearly a hundred milking cows．Dairyman Crick milked six or eight of the difficult ones with his own hands． He could not trust them to the dairymaids， because if the cows were badly milked their milk would simply dry up．
这是一个很大的牛奶常有近一百头待挤的奶牛。奶场主克里克亲自挤六到八头不好挤的牛。他不放心把它们交给挤奶女工去挤，因为如果奶牛没被挤好，它们就会不出奶的。
For a while there was no more talk among the milkers． Suddenly Mr Crick got up from his stool．
有一阵子，挤奶工们没有声响。克里克先生突然从凳子上站了起来。
We're not getting as much milk from them as usual，’he said．‘We'd better sing them a song， friends， that's the only thing to do．’So the group of milkers started singing，to encourage the cows to give more．
“我们今天挤的奶没有平常的多。”他说道，“我们最好还是给他们唱支歌吧，朋友们，只有这样啦。”于是这群挤奶工开始唱起歌来，想促使奶牛们出更多的奶。
Mr Crick went on，‘But I think bulls like music better than cows．Did I tell you all about William Dewy？ On his way home after a wedding he found himself in a field with an angry bull． He took his violin and played some Christmas church music and down went the bull on his knees！ Just like the animals around baby Jesus！ And so William was able to escape．’
克里克先生继续说道：“但我认为公牛比母牛更喜欢音乐。我跟你们讲过威廉·杜威的事吗？一次婚礼结束后，在回家路上的一块田地上，他遇上了一头愤怒的公牛。他拿出了小提琴，拉起一些圣诞节的教堂音乐，那头公牛居然跪下来了：就像围绕着小耶稣的动物那样！然后威廉就得以逃脱了。”
‘It's a curious story．It takes us back to the past，when belief in God was a living thing．’This unusual remark came from under a cow．
“这是一个奇特的故事。它把我们带回到过去的年代，那时对上帝的信仰是生动真实的。”有人从一头奶牛身下做出了这个不平常的论断。