06-04-苔丝 [67]
‘Is she very pretty？’
‘She certainly is！’
‘And a maiden of course？’
‘Of course．’
‘I imagine you were her first love？’
‘Exactly．’
His father asked no questions，but when the moment for evening prayers arrived，he chose a passage from the Bible．
‘This passage is very suitable，as you are here，Angel．It is in praise of a pure wife．’
‘We shall all think of her as your father reads it，’ added his mother．As they listened to the ancient，beautiful words，Angel felt like crying．
His mother said，‘You see，Angel，the perfect woman，the Bible tells us，is a working woman，not a fine lady，a girl just like your wife．A girl who uses her hands and heart and head for others．I wish I could have met her，Angel．As she is pure，she is fine enough for me．’
Clare's eyes were full of tears．He quickly said goodnight and went to his room．His mother followed and stood at his door looking anxiously at him．
‘Angel，why are you going away so soon？Have you quarrelled with your wife in these three weeks？Angel，is she …is she a woman with a past？’The mother's instinct had found the cause of her son's worries．
‘She is totally pure！’he replied，and felt that he had to tell that lie，even if he went to hell there and then for it．
‘Then never mind the rest．There are few better things in nature than a pure country girl．’
Clare felt furious with Tess，because she had forced him to deceive his parents．Then he remembered her sweet voice， and the touch of her fingers on his face，and her warm breath on his lips．But this well－meaning young man，despite his advanced ideas，was still limited in his thinking．He could not see that Tess was in character as pure as the pure wife in the Bible．
The next day Clare left Emminster and began to prepare for his journey to Brazil．One day，returning from doing some business with a farmer，he happened to meet one of the dairymaids from Talbothays，Izz Huett．He knew her secret：she was an honest girl who loved him and who might have made as good a farmer's wife as Tess．He learnt from Izz that，of the other dairymaids，Retty had become ill，and Marian had started drinking．And Izz herself？
‘Suppose I had asked you to marry me，Izz？’he asked．
‘I would have said“yes”，and you would have had a woman who loved you！’
A wild anger took hold of Clare．Society and its rules had trapped him in a corner．Why shouldn't he take his revenge on society？
‘I'm going to Brazil，Izz，without Tess．We have separated for personal reasons．I may never be able to love you，but will you come with me？’
‘Yes，I will，’said Izz after a pause．
‘You know it's wrong in the eyes of the world，don't you？Do you love me very much？More than Tess？’
‘I do，yes，oh，I do love you，but not more than Tess．Nobody could！She would have laid down her life for you．’
Clare was silent．A sob rose inside him．He heard Izz's words again and again in his head：She would have laid down her life for you．
‘I'm sorry，Izz，’he said suddenly．‘Please forget what I said just now！I must be mad！’
‘Oh please take me！Oh，I shouldn't have been so honest！’sobbed Izz．
‘Izz，by your honesty you have saved me from doing something wicked．Thank you for that．And please forgive me！’
And so Angel said goodbye to the miserable girl．But he did not turn towards Tess's village．He continued with his plan，and five days later left the country for Brazil．
And so the months passed．Tess found occasional dairy work for the spring and summer．She sent all Angel's money to her family，who as usual had many expenses and hardly any income．She was too proud to ask Angel's family for more money．That winter she went to work at another farm，
‘She certainly is！’
‘And a maiden of course？’
‘Of course．’
‘I imagine you were her first love？’
‘Exactly．’
His father asked no questions，but when the moment for evening prayers arrived，he chose a passage from the Bible．
‘This passage is very suitable，as you are here，Angel．It is in praise of a pure wife．’
‘We shall all think of her as your father reads it，’ added his mother．As they listened to the ancient，beautiful words，Angel felt like crying．
His mother said，‘You see，Angel，the perfect woman，the Bible tells us，is a working woman，not a fine lady，a girl just like your wife．A girl who uses her hands and heart and head for others．I wish I could have met her，Angel．As she is pure，she is fine enough for me．’
Clare's eyes were full of tears．He quickly said goodnight and went to his room．His mother followed and stood at his door looking anxiously at him．
‘Angel，why are you going away so soon？Have you quarrelled with your wife in these three weeks？Angel，is she …is she a woman with a past？’The mother's instinct had found the cause of her son's worries．
‘She is totally pure！’he replied，and felt that he had to tell that lie，even if he went to hell there and then for it．
‘Then never mind the rest．There are few better things in nature than a pure country girl．’
Clare felt furious with Tess，because she had forced him to deceive his parents．Then he remembered her sweet voice， and the touch of her fingers on his face，and her warm breath on his lips．But this well－meaning young man，despite his advanced ideas，was still limited in his thinking．He could not see that Tess was in character as pure as the pure wife in the Bible．
The next day Clare left Emminster and began to prepare for his journey to Brazil．One day，returning from doing some business with a farmer，he happened to meet one of the dairymaids from Talbothays，Izz Huett．He knew her secret：she was an honest girl who loved him and who might have made as good a farmer's wife as Tess．He learnt from Izz that，of the other dairymaids，Retty had become ill，and Marian had started drinking．And Izz herself？
‘Suppose I had asked you to marry me，Izz？’he asked．
‘I would have said“yes”，and you would have had a woman who loved you！’
A wild anger took hold of Clare．Society and its rules had trapped him in a corner．Why shouldn't he take his revenge on society？
‘I'm going to Brazil，Izz，without Tess．We have separated for personal reasons．I may never be able to love you，but will you come with me？’
‘Yes，I will，’said Izz after a pause．
‘You know it's wrong in the eyes of the world，don't you？Do you love me very much？More than Tess？’
‘I do，yes，oh，I do love you，but not more than Tess．Nobody could！She would have laid down her life for you．’
Clare was silent．A sob rose inside him．He heard Izz's words again and again in his head：She would have laid down her life for you．
‘I'm sorry，Izz，’he said suddenly．‘Please forget what I said just now！I must be mad！’
‘Oh please take me！Oh，I shouldn't have been so honest！’sobbed Izz．
‘Izz，by your honesty you have saved me from doing something wicked．Thank you for that．And please forgive me！’
And so Angel said goodbye to the miserable girl．But he did not turn towards Tess's village．He continued with his plan，and five days later left the country for Brazil．
And so the months passed．Tess found occasional dairy work for the spring and summer．She sent all Angel's money to her family，who as usual had many expenses and hardly any income．She was too proud to ask Angel's family for more money．That winter she went to work at another farm，