第51章 德伯家的苔丝 (1)

　　Tess of the d’Urbervilles

　　德贝菲尔在偶尔得知自己是古老的武士后裔时，

　　这个小贩高兴得手舞足蹈。他幻想着让苔丝去认毫

　　无渊源的“本家”，这样能帮他摆脱经济上的困境。

　　苔丝在被“本家”亚雷奸污后，遭到了社会的耻笑

　　和指责。后来，苔丝遇到了“真命天子”安玑，但

　　这段姻缘在新婚之夜突变，爱人远走巴西。由于生

　　活所迫，苔丝杀死了乘虚而入的亚雷。

　　[ 英] 托马斯·哈代（ Thomas Hardy）

　　On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man

　　was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott，

　　in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor. The pair of

　　legs that carried him were rickety，and mere was a bias in his

　　gait which inclined him somewhat to the left of a straight line.

　　He occasionally gave a smart nod，as if in confirmation of some

　　opinion，though he was not thinking of anything in particular. An

　　empty egg-basket was slung upon his arm，the nap of his hat

　　was ruffled，a patch being quite worn away at its brim where his

　　thumb came in taking it off. Presently he was met by an elderly

　　parson astride on a gray mare，who，as he rode，hummed a

　　wandering tune.“Good night t’ee，”said the man with the

　　basket.

　　“Good night，Sir John，”said the parson.

　　The pedestrian，after another pace or two，halted，and

　　turned round.

　　“Now，sir，begging your pardon ；we met last market-day

　　on this road about this time，and I said‘Good-night’，and you made

　　reply‘Good night，Sir John’，as now.”

　　“I did，”said the parson.

　　“And once before that near a month ago.”

　　“I may have.”

　　“Then what might your meaning be in calling me‘Sir John’

　　these different times，when I be plain Jack Durbeyfield，the

　　haggler?”

　　The parson rode a step or two nearer.

　　“It was only my whim ，”he said，and，after a moment’s

　　hesitation:

　　“It was on account of a discovery I made some little time ago，whilst

　　I was hunting up pedigrees for the new county history. I am Parson

　　Tringham，the antiquary，of Stagfoot Lane. Don’t you really

　　know，Durbeyfield，that you are the lineal representative of the

　　ancient and knightly family of the d’Urbervilles，who derived their

　　descent from Sir Pagan d’Urberville，that renowned knight who

　　came from Normandy with William the Conqueror，as appears by

　　Battle Abbey Roll?”

　　“Never heard it before，sir!”

　　“Well it’s true. Throw up your chin a moment，so that I may

　　catch me profile of your face better. Yes，that’s the d’Urberville

　　nose and chin — a little debased. Your ancestor was one of the

　　twelve knights who assisted the Lord of Estremavilla in Normandy

　　in his conquest of Glamorganshire. Branches of your family held

　　manors over all this part of England ；their names appear in the

　　Pipe Rolls in the time of King Stephen. In the reign of King John

　　one of them was rich enough to give a manor to the Knights

　　Hospitallers ；and in Edward the Second’s time your forefather

　　Brian was summoned to Westminster to attend the great Council

　　there. You declined a little in Oliver Cromwell’s time，but to no

　　serious extent，and in Charles the Second’s reign you were made

　　Knights of the Royal Oak for your loyalty. Aye，there have been

　　generations of Sir Johns among you，and if knighthood were

　　hereditary，like a baronetcy’，as it practically was in old times，

　　when men were knighted from father to son，you would be Sir，

　　John now.”

　　“Ye don’t say so!”

　　“In short，”concluded the parson，decisively smacking

　　his leg with his switch，“there’s hardly such another family in

　　England.”

　　“Daze my eyes，and isn’t there?”said Durbeyfield.“And

　　here have I been knocking about，year after year，from pillar

　　to post，as if I was no more than the commonest feller in the

　　parish... And how long hev this news about me been knowed，

　　Pa’son Tringham?”

　　The clergyman explained that，as far as he was aware，

　　it had quite died out of knowledge，and could hardly be said

　　to be known at all. His own investigations had begun on a day

　　in the preceding spring when，having been engaged in tracing