牛津书虫系列《苔丝》Chapter10 附中英双语文本

他吃惊地发现这个挤奶女工竟如此地愁绪满怀。她用自己的话表达着现代生活的痛苦。这种忧郁让他更加关注她了。他并不知道她的经历给予了她如此强烈的感受。而另一方面，苔丝也不明白为什么像他这样一个出身于宗教家庭、受过良好教育、经济独立的人会对生活感到不幸。像他这样令人羡慕、才华横溢的人，怎么可能与她在两三年前感觉的一样，情愿死去呢？他目前并没有生活在绅士们当中，这是事实，但是他正在学习他想要了解的知识，而且很快，他就会成为一个有钱的农场主的。正因为他们对彼此的内心世界都不了解，他们才都感到迷惑，并期待着进一步了解对方。
At first Tess regarded Angel as an intelligence rather than a man． She became quite depressed as she realized the distance between her own knowledge and his． One day he asked her why she looked so sad．
起初，苔丝把安吉尔·克莱尔看成是智慧的化身，而不是一个凡人。当她发现自己的知识和他的相比存在着如此之大的差距时，她感到非常抑郁。有一天他问她，为什么她看起来闷闷不乐。
‘Oh， it's only that I feel I've been wasting my life！ When I see what you know， I feel what a nothing I am！’
“哦，这只是因为我感到自己一直在浪费自己的生命！当我了解到你所懂的知识，我觉得自己真是太渺小了！”
‘Well， my dear Tess，’ said Angel with some enthusiasm，‘I shall be only too glad to help you study history， for example…’
“噢，亲爱的苔丝，”安吉尔充满热情地说道，“我非常乐意教你，比如说，历史……”
‘I don't know． What's the use of learning that I'm one of a long row， and that my past and future are like thousands of other people's？ But there's one thing I'd like to know—why the sun shines on the good and the bad just the same，’ she said， her voice trembling．
“我不知道。学习又有什么用呢？我只不过是长长一列队伍中的一员，自己的过去和未来与成千上万个别人没有什么区别。但是有一件事我想要弄清楚——为什么太阳一视同仁地照在好人和坏人身上呢？”她说道，声音有些颤抖。
‘Oh，Tess，don't be bitter！’Of course he had wondered this himself in the past． But as he looked at her innocent lips， he thought this pure child of nature could only have picked up the question from others． She could not possibly have any guilt in her past．
“哦，苔丝，不要这么愤世嫉俗！”他自己过去对此也困惑不解过。但是当他看到她那天真无邪的嘴唇时，他认为这个大自然的纯洁的孩子只不过从别人那里得到了这个问题。在她的过去，是不可能有什么罪孽的。
When he had gone， Tess felt again how stupid she must appear to him．She wondered whether she could gain his respect by telling him of her d’Urberville blood． She first asked the dairyman if Mr Clare was interested in old families who had lost their money and land．
当他离开以后，苔丝又觉得自己在他面前一定表现得十分愚蠢可笑。她在考虑如果告诉他自己的德伯家血统，是否会赢得他的尊敬。她先到奶场主那儿打听克莱尔先生是否会对一个失去了财富和土地的古老家族有好感。
‘No，’said Mr Crick firmly． ‘He's a rebel， and the one thing he hates is an old family．’After hearing this not very accurate view of Clare's opinions， poor Tess was glad she had not mentioned her ancestors．
“不，”克里克先生肯定地说，“他是一个叛逆者，他痛恨古老的家族。”听完这番对克莱尔的观点并不十分准确的见解，苔丝庆幸自己没有提起她的祖先们。
That summer， Tess and Clare unconsciously studied each other， balanced on the edge of a passion， yet just keeping out of it． But all the time， like two streams in a valley， they were destined to join．Tess had never been so happy as she was now， and perhaps never would be so again． They met continually．They could not help it．They met daily in the half-light， at three o’clock in the morning， just before milking． They felt they were the first two up in the whole world， like Adam and Eve． Tess seemed like a queen to Clare， perhaps because he knew that she was the most beautiful woman walking about at this time of day． Lovely women are usually asleep at midsummer sunrise． But Tess was near， and the rest were nowhere． In the strange light she was no longer a milkmaid， but a vision of woman， the whole of womanhood in one form．
那个夏天，苔丝和克莱尔都在无意中探究着对方，在感情的边缘徘徊，并试图避免陷入其中。但是在这整段时间里，他们就像山谷中的两条溪流，终究是要汇合在一起的。苔丝从来没有像现在这样快乐过，也许将来也不会再有。他们频频相会，一天不见面心里就受不了。每天凌晨3点钟，在开始挤奶之前，天还没有全亮呢，他们就在一起了。他们觉得自己是整个世界上起得最早的一对，就如同亚当和夏娃。在克莱尔眼里，苔丝就像一个王后，也许是因为他知道她是一天中在这个时候走动的最美丽的女人。漂亮可爱的女人在盛夏太阳初升时，通常还在睡觉。但是苔丝就在身边，其他人却了无影踪。在这种特别的光线中，她不再是一个挤奶女工，而是一个女人的幻象，她集所有女性气质于一身。