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06-04-苔丝 [11]

By Root 5526 0
‘Never!’said Tess independently.
  ‘Let me give you one little kiss, Tess, and I'll stop!’
  ‘Will nothing else do?’cried Tess in despair.‘Oh, very well!’
  As they raced on,he was on the point of kissing her,when she suddenly moved aside,so that he almost fell off.
  ‘I'll break both our necks!’he swore passionately.
  ‘I thought you would be kind to me,’said Tess,her eyes filling with tears.‘I don't want to kiss anybody!’
  But he insisted,so in the end she sat still and d’Urberville kissed her.No sooner had he done so than she wiped the place on her cheek with her handkerchief.Just then her hat blew off into the road and d’Urberville stopped the horse.Tess jumped down to get it,then turned triumphantly to Alec.
  ‘I shall walk from here,’she said firmly.
  ‘But it's five or six miles more.’
  ‘I don't care.’
  ‘You made that hat blow off on purpose!You did,didn't you?’
  She was silent.He swore angrily at her.
  ‘Don't use such bad words!’cried Tess.‘I shall go back to mother!I hate you!’
  D’Urberville suddenly started laughing.
  ‘Look,I promise never to do that again,’he said.‘Come,let me take you in the carriage.’
  But she refused, and began to walk in the direction of Trantridge.So they progressed slowly,d’Urberville driving the carriage beside Tess.


■ 4
  第二天下午,没等苔丝回到家,她母亲就先收到了一封信。信像是德伯夫人写来的,她给苔丝提供了一份养鸡的差事。琼·德北非常高兴。
  “这是让你去他们那里,同时不要抱太大希望。我相信她一定会把你当做一家人看待的。”
  “我宁愿留在家里跟你和爸爸在一起。”苔丝看着窗外说。
  “那又为什么?”
  “还是别对你说的好,妈妈,我也不太清楚。”
  几天过后,当苔丝外出找工作回来时,孩子们都跑了出来,围着她手舞足蹈。
  “有位先生来过这儿!”他们嚷嚷道。
  琼笑意盎然。德伯夫人的儿子来拜访过,他问苔丝还能否去他那儿。
  “他很英俊!”德北夫人说。
  “我可不觉得。”苔丝冷漠地说,“我会仔细考虑的。”说完,她离开了房间。
  “看得出来,他爱上她了。”德北夫人对她丈夫说,“毫无疑问,他会跟她结婚的,她就快是一个贵妇人啦。”
  与体力或健康相比,约翰·德北更为他那新发现的血统感到自豪。“跟古老的家族联姻,使自己的血统变得更高贵,这就是年轻的德伯先生想要做的事!”
  经过母亲和孩子们的劝说,苔丝终于决定去了。德北夫人则暗自筹划着婚礼。到了要走的那天,苔丝依照母亲的吩咐穿上了最好的节日礼服,跟家人告别了。
  “再见,我的孩子。”约翰爵士说道,他刚刚睡了一小觉。“告诉年轻的德伯,我愿意把爵士头衔卖给他。对,卖给他,如果价钱合理的话。”
  “少于一千英镑就不卖!”德北夫人喊道。
  “不,告诉他一百也行!不,五十,不,二十!对,二十英镑是最低价了。家族荣誉到底是家族荣誉,再少我就不干了!”
  苔丝直觉得想哭,但她还是迅速转身走了。她母亲陪她走到了村头。在那儿停住,挥手道别后,母亲就看着女儿渐渐走远了。一辆货车驶过来,装上了苔丝的行李,然后又有一辆时髦的小马车出现在她面前。驾车的是一个抽着雪茄、穿着讲究的年轻人。苔丝犹豫了一下,然后上了车。
  琼·德北瞪大了眼睛,头一次怀疑起她鼓励苔丝去到底正确与否。那天晚上,她对丈夫说:“也许我应该先弄清楚那位先生对她的真实感情才对。”
  “是的,也许你该这
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