萎缩的胳膊(外研社双语读库)(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：（英） 托马斯·哈代（Thomas Hardy）

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

萎缩的胳膊(外研社双语读库)试读：

It was an eighty-cow dairy, and the troop of milkers, regular and supernumerary, were all at work; for, though the time of year was as yet but early April, the feed lay entirely in water-meadows, and the cows were 'in full pail.'The hour was about six in the evening, and three-fourths of the large, red, rectangular animals having been finished off, there was opportunity for a little conversation.

这是一个有着八十头奶牛的牛奶场，有一群正式的和临时的挤奶工，他们都在干活；因为虽然眼下才不过是四月初，但奶牛的饲料完全取自浸水草地，所以奶牛个个都装着“满桶奶”。时间到了傍晚六点钟左右，那些大块头、红颜色、长方形的奶牛中有四分之三已经挤完奶了。这样，挤奶工们就有机会聊天了。

'He do bring home his bride tomorrow, I hear. They've come as far as Anglebury today.'“我听说，他明天真要把新娘子带回家了。他们今天已经到了安格伯里了。”

The voice seemed to proceed from the belly of the cow called Cherry, but the speaker was a milking-woman, whose face was buried in the flank of that motionless beast.

声音似乎是从那头叫樱桃的奶牛的肚子里发出来的，不过说话的是一个挤奶女工，她的脸位于母牛的身体的一侧，被这头一动不动的庞然大物给遮住了。

'Hav' anybody seen her?' said another.“有人见过她吗？”另一个人问道。

There was a negative response from the first. 'Though they say she's a rosy-cheeked, tisty-tosty little body enough,' she added; and as the milkmaid spoke she turned her face so that she could glance past her cow's tail to the other side of the barton, where a thin, fading woman of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest.

先前说话的那个人回答说没有。“不过他们说，她可是有着粉红色的脸蛋，樱草花球样的小身段。”她又补充说。这位挤奶工一边说，一边转过脸去。这样，她就可以从那头奶牛的尾巴旁朝场院的另一边瞟上一眼。那边有一个三十岁左右的女人正在挤奶，这个人瘦削而憔悴，和其他人离得有些远。

'Years younger than he, they say,' continued the second, with also a glance of reflectiveness in the same direction.“他们说，新娘子比他小好几岁呢。”第二个人接着说，也向那个方向若有所思地瞥了一眼。

'How old do you call him, then?'“那你说他有多大了？”

'Thirty or so.'“三十岁左右吧。”

'More like forty,' broke in an old milkman near, in a long white pinafore or 'wropper,' and with the brim of his hat tied down, so that he looked like a woman. 'A was born before our Great Weir was builded, and I hadn't man's wages when I laved water there.'“我看更像四十岁。”旁边一个上了岁数的男挤奶工插了一句，他套着一件白色的长围裙，或者说是“工作罩衣”，他的帽檐向下耷拉着，这样让他看起来像个女人。“他出生的时候，我们的大水坝还没建起来，我在那里提水的时候，还不能和成年人拿一样多的工资呢。”

The discussion waxed so warm that the purr of the milk-streams became jerky, till a voice from another cow's belly cried with authority, 'Now then, what the Turk do it matter to us about Farmer Lodge's age, or Farmer Lodge's new mis'ess? I shall have to pay him nine pound a year for the rent of every one of these milchers, whatever his age or hers. Get on with your work, or 'twill be dark afore we have done. The evening is pinking in a'ready.'This speaker was the dairyman himself; by whom the milkmaids and men were employed.

他们议论得越来越热闹，牛奶流下来时发出的声音变得断断续续起来，这时从另一头奶牛的肚子里传出一个充满威信的声音：“好了，农场主洛奇的年纪，或者洛奇的新太太，和咱们有什么关系呢？不管他或她岁数多大，我每年还是要按每头母牛九镑的价格向他交纳租金。接着干你们的活吧，要不然天黑之前就干不完了。天都已经暗下来了。”这个说话的人是牛奶场的老板，这些挤奶工都是他雇来的。

Nothing more was said publicly about Farmer Lodge's wedding, but the first woman murmured under her cow to her next neighbour, ''Tis hard for she,' signifying the thin worn milkmaid aforesaid.

没有人再公开地议论农场主洛奇的婚事了。但是第一个说话的女人仍在牛肚子下面对挨着她的挤奶工小声说道：“她不好受。”这个“她”指的是刚才提到的那个瘦削的女挤奶工。

'O no,' said the second. 'He ha'n't spoke to Rhoda Brook for years.'“哦，不会的。”第二个人说，“他已经好些年不和罗达·布鲁克说话了。”

When the milking was done they washed their pails and hung them on a many-forked stand made of the peeled limb of an oak-tree, set upright in the earth, and resembling a colossal antlered horn. The majority then dispersed in various directions homeward. The thin woman who had not spoken was joined by a boy of twelve or thereabout, and the twain went away up the field also.

挤完了奶，他们刷好奶桶，把它们挂在奶桶架上。奶桶架是用一根剥了皮的橡树树枝做的，上面有许多钩子。这个奶桶架竖在地上，像一只硕大的鹿角。之后大多数人都朝着不同的方向各自回家去了。那个一言不发的瘦削的女人和一个十二岁左右的男孩走在一起，他们沿着着那片地离开了。

Their course lay apart from that of the others, to a lonely spot high above the water-meads, and not far from the border of Egdon Heath, whose dark countenance was visible in the distance as they drew nigh to their home.

与其他人的路线不同，他们俩走向一个孤零零的地方，那儿比浸水草地高得多，离伊登荒原的边缘不远，当他们走近家门口的时候，就可以远远地看到荒原阴暗的影子。

'They've just been saying down in barton that your father brings his young wife home from Anglebury tomorrow,' the woman observed. 'I shall want to send you for a few things to market, and you'll be pretty sure to meet 'em.'“他们刚才在院子里说，你爸爸明天要把他年轻的妻子从安格伯里带回家来，”那个女人说道，“我想让你去市场上买些东西，你肯定能见到他们。”

'Yes, mother,' said the boy. 'Is father married then?'“好的，妈妈。”男孩说，“那么爸爸结婚了吗？”

'Yes... You can give her a look, and tell me what's she's like, if you do see her.'“是的……如果你真的见到了她，你可以看她一眼，回来告诉我她长什么样。”

'Yes, mother.'“好的，妈妈。”

'If she's dark or fair, and if she's tall—as tall as I. And if she seems like a woman who has ever worked for a living, or one that has been always well off, and has never done anything, and shows marks of the lady on her, as I expect she do.'“看看她长得黑还是白，看她高不高——是不是和我一样高。看看她是不是个靠干活吃饭的女人，还是像我预料的那样，是个过惯了富日子，从不干活，一身娇气的贵妇人。”

'Yes.'“好的。”

They crept up the hill in the twilight, and entered the cottage. It was built of mud-walls, the surface of which had been washed by many rains into channels and depressions that left none of the original flat face visible; while here and there in the thatch above a rafter showed like a bone protruding through the skin.

他们在暮色中爬上那座小山，回到他们的小屋。小屋是土墙砌成的，经过多次雨水的冲刷，墙面已经出现了许多沟痕和浅坑，原来平整的墙面已经看不见了；而铺着草的房顶不时冒出一根椽子，像是一根戳破了皮肤露在外面的骨头。

She was kneeling down in the chimney-corner, before two pieces of turf laid together with the heather inwards, blowing at the red-hot ashes with her breath till the turves flamed. The radiance lit her pale cheek, and made her dark eyes, that had once been handsome, seem handsome anew. 'Yes,' she resumed, 'see if she is dark or fair, and if you can, notice if her hands be white; if not, see if they look as though she had ever done housework, or are milker's hands like mine.'

她跪在火炉旁边，面对着两块泥煤，煤块中间放着石楠树枝。她用力吹着那堆炽热的余灰，一直吹到泥煤燃烧起来。火光照亮了她苍白的脸颊，让她那双曾经漂亮的黑眼睛好像又漂亮起来。“是的，”她接着说，“看看她长得是黑还是白，如果可以的话，留意看一下她的手白不白；要是不白，看看那双手是像一双从来没有做过家务的手，还是像我这双挤牛奶的手。”

The boy again promised, inattentively this time, his mother not observing that he was cutting a notch with his pocket-knife in the beech-backed chair.

男孩同样答应了下来，不过这次却有些心不在焉。他妈妈并没有注意到他正在用小刀在山毛榉靠背椅上刻着一道凹痕。CHAPTER2The young wife第二章年轻的妻子

The road from Anglebury to Holmstoke is in general level; but there is one place where a sharp ascent breaks its monotony. Farmers homeward-bound from the former market-town, who trot all the rest of the way, walk their horses up this short incline.

安格伯里和霍尔姆斯托克间是一片坦途，只有一段陡峭的上坡路打破了这种千篇一律的平坦。从老集镇赶集回家的农民们本来一路骑马匆匆前行，到了这处短短的斜坡，都要牵着马走着上坡。

The next evening, while the sun was yet bright, a handsome new gig, with a lemon-coloured body and red wheels, was spinning westward along the level highway at the heels of a powerful mare. The driver was a yeoman in the prime of life, cleanly shaven like an actor, his face being toned to that bluish-vermilion hue which so often graces a thriving farmer's features when returning home after successful dealings in the town. Beside him sat a woman, many years his junior—almost, indeed, a girl. Her face too was fresh in colour, but it was of a totally different quality—soft and evanescent, like the light under a heap of rose-petals.

第二天傍晚，天色尚明的时候，一辆崭新漂亮的双轮马车——有着柠檬色的车身和红色的轮子，由一头健硕的母马拉着——沿着这条平坦的大路向西疾驰。驾车的是个正值盛年的自耕农，他像演员一样把胡子刮得干干净净，红润的脸庞略带青色，像刚在城里做了几笔好生意，正在回家的成功农场主那样容光焕发。他身旁坐着一个女人，比他年轻好几岁——其实，她几乎还只是个女孩。女孩也是面色红润，但这红润是柔和的、淡淡一抹，就像是从一捧玫瑰花瓣滤过的光一样，跟驾车人的面色截然不同。

Few people travelled this way, for it was not a main road; and the long white riband of gravel that stretched before them was empty, save of one small scarce-moving speck, which presently resolved itself into the figure of boy, who was creeping on at a snail's pace, and continually looking behind him—the heavy bundle he carried being some excuse for, if not the reason of, his dilatoriness. When the bouncing gig-party slowed at the bottom of the incline above mentioned, the pedestrian was only a few yards in front. Supporting the large bundle by putting one hand on his hip, he turned and looked straight at the farmer's wife as though he would read her through and through, pacing along abreast of the horse.

这条路不是主路，很少有人从这里经过。在他们面前这条沙砾铺就的白色长带上，除了一个缓慢移动的小点就看不到别人了。小点渐渐变成一个小男孩的模样。男孩背着一只很重的包，蜗牛似的慢慢走着，不断向后张望。如果这包不是他拖拖拉拉的原因，那就是他拖拖拉拉的借口。活力四射的马车在前面说到的斜坡前慢了下来，行路的小男孩就在车前几码远的地方。他现在和马并排前行，一只手放在屁股上来托住那个大包。他转过身来，直直地看着农民的妻子，好像要把她仔仔细细看个透彻一样。

The low sun was full in her face, rendering every feature, shade, and contour distinct, from the curve of her little nostril to the colour of her eyes. The farmer, though he seemed annoyed at the boy's persistent presence, did not order him to get out of the way; and thus the lad preceded them, his hard gaze never leaving her, till they reached the top of the ascent, when the farmer trotted on with relief in his lineaments—having taken no outward notice of the boy whatever.

低垂的太阳让她满面生辉，从小巧的鼻孔的曲线到眼睛的颜色，她脸上每一个部位、每一丝阴影和每一条轮廓都变得清晰分明。这个农民虽然看起来对小男孩一直走在旁边有些恼怒，却并没有叫他闪开。男孩就这样走在他们前面，一直紧紧地盯着那年轻的妻子，直到他们到达坡顶。农民脸上露出了放松的神情，放马小跑起来——其间他都没有特别注意那个男孩子。

'How that poor lad stared at me!' said the young wife.“瞧那可怜的男孩一直在盯着我看！”年轻的妻子说道。

'Yes, dear; I saw that he did.'“是的，亲爱的，我看见他在盯着你。”

'He is one of the village, I suppose?'“我想他是村里的人吧？”

'One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mile or two off.'“应该住得不远。我想，他跟他母亲住在一两英里以外的地方。”

'He knows who we are, no doubt?'“他肯定知道咱们是谁吧？”

'O yes. You must expect to be stared at just at first, my pretty Gertrude.'“啊，没错。你一定得有准备，刚开始会有人盯着你瞧的，我漂亮的格特鲁德。”

'I do,—though I think the poor boy may have looked at us in the hope we might relieve him of his heavy load, rather than from curiosity.'“我有准备。不过，我觉得那可怜的男孩看着咱们不是出于好奇，而是想让咱们帮他驮那个大包。”

'O no,' said her husband off-handedly. 'These country lads will carry a hundredweight once they get it on their backs; besides his pack had more size than weight in it. Now, then, another mile and I shall be able to show you our house in the distance—if it is not too dark before we get there.'The wheels spun round, and particles flew from their periphery as before, till a white house of ample dimensions revealed itself, with farm-buildings and ricks at the back.“哦，不是这样的。”她的丈夫不假思索地说，“这些乡下男孩一次能背上百英担重的东西。而且，他的那个包虽然看起来很大，实际上没有那么重。好啦，再有一英里，我就能远远地把咱们的房子指给你看了——要是到时候天色还不算太黑的话。”车轮飞转，小沙粒像从前那样从轮子的边缘飞溅出去，直到一座高大的白色房子出现在前面才停下来，房子后面有些农舍和干草堆。

Meanwhile the boy had quickened his pace, and turning up a by-lane some mile and half short of the white farmstead, ascended towards the leaner pastures, and so on to the cottage of his mother.

这时，男孩也加快了步伐，在离白色农庄不到一英里半的地方拐到另一条小路上。他顺着小路爬上贫瘠的草原，一直走回到他母亲的小屋。

She had reached home after her day's milking at the outlying dairy, and was washing cabbage at the doorway in the declining light. 'Hold up the net a moment,' she said, without preface, as the boy came up.

她在偏远的奶场挤了一天奶，已经回家了，现在正在门口借着渐渐暗淡下来的日光冲洗卷心菜。男孩一回来，她也不打招呼就直接说道：“拿一会儿这网袋”。

He flung down his bundle, held the edge of the cabbage-net, and as she filled its meshes with the dripping leaves she went on, 'Well, did you see her?'

男孩扔下他的大包，握住装着卷心菜的网袋的边缘。她一边把还在滴水的菜叶倒进网袋里，一边说道：“嗯，你见着她了吗？ "

'Yes; quite plain.'“见着了，看得很清楚。”

'Is she ladylike?'“她像位夫人吗？”

'Yes; and more. A lady complete.'“嗯，不止这样呢。百分百是位夫人。”

'Is she young?'“她年轻吗？”

'Well, she's growed up, and her ways be quite a woman's.'“嗯，她已经是个大人了，举止行为都带着十足的女人味。”

'Of course. What colour is her hair and face?'“当然了。她的头发和脸蛋是什么颜色？”

'Her hair is lightish, and her face as comely as a live doll's.'“她头发的颜色很浅，脸长得很好看，就像个活生生的娃娃。”

'Her eyes, then, are not dark like mine?'“那，她眼睛的颜色像我的这么深吗？”

'No—of a bluish turn, and her mouth is very nice and red; and when she smiles, her teeth show white.'“没这么深——是浅蓝色的，她的嘴巴红红的，很好看，一笑就露出白白的牙齿。”

'Is she tall?' said the woman sharply.“她高吗？”女人尖声问道。

'I couldn't see. She was sitting down.'“我没有看见。她是坐着的。”

'Then do you go to Holmstoke church tomorrow morning: she's sure to be there. Go early and notice her walking in, and come home and tell me if she's taller than I.'“那你明天早上到霍尔姆斯托克教堂去，她肯定会去那里。早点去，看着她走进去，回来告诉我她是不是比我高。”

'Very well, mother. But why don't you go and see for yourself?'“行，妈妈。可你为什么不自己去看？”

'I go to see her! I wouldn't look up at her if she were to pass my window this instant. She was with Mr. Lodge, of course. What did he say or do?'“我去看她！就算她现在从我窗边走过，我也决不看她一眼。她自然是跟洛奇先生在一起。他说了什么，做了什么？”

'Just the same as usual.'“就跟往常一样。”

'Took no notice of you?'“没有注意你？”

'None.'“没有。”

Next day the mother put a clean shirt on the boy, and started him off for Holmstoke church. He reached the ancient little pile when the door was just being opened, and he was the first to enter. Taking his seat by the font, he watched all the parishioners file in. The well-to-do Farmer Lodge came nearly last; and his young wife, who accompanied him, walked up the aisle with the shyness natural to a modest woman who had appeared thus for the first time. As all other eyes were fixed upon her, the youth's stare was not noticed now.

第二天母亲给男孩穿上一件干净的衬衣，让他去了霍尔姆斯托克教堂。这座年岁久远的小教堂才刚刚开门，男孩就到了那里，他是第一个进去的。男孩在挨着圣水盆的位置坐下，看着其他教区居民陆续走进来。富裕的农场主洛奇差不多最后才来，他年轻的妻子跟他在一起。她带着羞怯的神情走过通道。对于头一次出现在众人面前的端庄女性来说，这份羞怯是再自然不过的了。现在所有人的眼睛都盯着她，因而男孩注视的目光并没有引起注意。

When he reached home his mother said, 'Well?' before he had entered the room.

男孩一到家，还没等他进屋，他母亲就问道：“怎么样？”

'She is not tall. She is rather short,' he replied.“她不高。挺矮的。”他答道。

'Ah!' said his mother, with satisfaction.“啊！”他母亲满意地说了一声。

'But she's very pretty—very. In fact, she's lovely.'“但是她特别漂亮——特别漂亮。实际上她很可爱。”

The youthful freshness of the yeoman's wife had evidently made an impression even on the somewhat hard nature of the boy.

显然，连这个性格有点倔强的男孩都对这个自耕农妻子的青春靓丽印象深刻。

'That's all I want to hear,' said his mother quickly. 'Now, spread the table-cloth. The hare you caught is very tender; but mind that nobody catches you. —You've never told me what sort of hands she had.'“我听够了。”他母亲很快地说，“现在把桌布铺上。你逮的野兔肉很嫩，但是注意点，别让人家抓着你。你一直都没有告诉我她的手是什么样的。”

'I have never seen 'em. She never took off her gloves.'“我根本没看到。她一直戴着手套。”

'What did she wear this morning?'“她今早穿戴着什么？”

'A white bonnet and a silver-coloured gown. It whewed and whistled so loud when it rubbed against the pews that the lady coloured up more than ever for very shame at the noise, and pulled it in to keep it from touching; but when she pushed into her seat, it whewed more than ever. Mr. Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuck out, and his great golden seals hung like a lord's; but she seemed to wish her noisy gownd anywhere but on her.'“戴着一顶白色的无边帽，穿着一件银色的长裙。裙子蹭到长椅上，窸窸窣窣的，动静很大。那位太太的脸比平时更红了，为弄出这些声响感到不好意思。她拽着裙子不让它蹭到椅子，可她坐下的时候，那声响更大了。洛奇先生看起来很高兴，他的马甲露了出来，他那金闪闪的大印就像一个大老爷的印章一样挂着。可她像是在希望没有穿那件吵人的裙子。”

'Not she! However, that will do now.'“是吗！不管怎么说，现在这些就足够了。”

These descriptions of the newly-married couple were continued from time to time by the boy at his mother's request, after any chance encounter he had had with them. But Rhoda Brook, though she might easily have seen young Mrs. Lodge for herself by walking a couple of miles, would never attempt an excursion towards the quarter where the farmhouse lay. Neither did she, at the daily milking in the dairyman's yard on Lodge's outlying second farm, ever speak on the subject of the recent marriage. The dairyman, who rented the cows of Lodge, and knew perfectly the tall milkmaid's history, with manly kindliness always kept the gossip in the cow-barton from annoying Rhoda. But the atmosphere thereabout was full of the subject during the first days of Mrs. Lodge's arrival; and from her boy's description and the casual words of the other milkers, Rhoda Brook could raise a mental image of the unconscious Mrs Lodge that was realistic as a photograph.

男孩会时不时地偶遇这对新婚夫妇，每次他母亲都让他说说他们的情况。尽管罗达·布鲁克只消走上几英里，就能见到年轻的洛奇太太。可她从没打算走这段短短的路，到农庄房屋那里去。奶场主的院子就在洛奇第二个偏远的农场里，她每天都在那里挤奶，可她从来不提近来的这桩婚事。奶场主从洛奇那里租来奶牛，他对这个高个子挤奶女工的过去了解得一清二楚。出于男子汉的善意，他总是不让奶场里的闲言碎语烦扰罗达。但是在洛奇太太刚来的那些日子里，周围的环境里充斥着这个话题。从她儿子的描述和其他挤奶工的只言片语中，罗达·布鲁克也能在心里描绘出这个从未谋面的洛奇太太的样子，就像照片一样逼真。CHAPTER3A vision第三章幻象

One night, two or three weeks after the bridal return, when the boy was gone to bed, Rhoda sat a long time over the turf ashes that she had raked out in front of her to extinguish them. She contemplated so intently the new wife, as presented to her in her mind's eye over the embers, that she forgot the lapse of time. At last, wearied with her day's work, she too retired.

这对新人回来两三个星期后的一天晚上，男孩已经睡了，罗达在自己耙出来的泥炭灰前坐了许久，好让它们熄灭。她面对着那些余烬，按照她想象的模样，寻思着那位新妻子。她思索得那么专注，都忘记了时间过去了多久。最后，白天的工作让她感到疲惫，于是她也去睡了。

But the figure which had occupied her so much during this and the previous days was not to be banished at night. For the first time Gertrude Lodge visited the supplanted woman in her dreams. Rhoda Brook dreamed—since her assertion that she really saw, before falling asleep, was not to be believed—that the young wife, in the pale silk dress and white bonnet, but with features shockingly distorted, and wrinkled as by age, was sitting upon her chest as she lay. The pressure of Mrs. Lodge's person grew heavier; the blue eyes peered cruelly into her face; and then the figure thrust forward its left hand mockingly, so as to make the wedding-ring it wore glitter in Rhoda's eyes. Maddened mentally, and nearly suffocated by pressure, the sleeper struggled; the incubus, still regarding her, withdrew to the foot of the bed, only, however, to come forward by degrees, resume her seat, and flash her left hand as before.

这些日子以来一直萦绕在她心头的那个形象却无法在夜晚被驱走。格特鲁德·洛奇第一次进入了这个被取代的女人的梦境。罗达·布鲁克坚信自己在睡着之前看见了那位年轻的妻子，而这不足为信。她梦见年轻的妻子穿着浅色的丝绸裙子，戴着一顶白色的无边帽，面容骇人地扭曲着，长满了岁月侵蚀出的皱纹。罗达躺着，年轻的妻子就坐在她的胸口上。洛奇太太的身体压得越来越重。她用蓝眼睛冷漠地盯着罗达的脸，然后她嘲讽地向前伸出自己的左手，好让上面戴着的婚戒在罗达眼前闪闪发光。睡梦中的罗达发了疯，几乎要在这重压之下窒息，这熟睡的人挣扎着。而这梦魇仍然紧盯着她，才刚刚退到床脚，却又一步步移上前来，重新坐上她的胸口，像刚才那样炫耀着自己的左手。

Gasping for breath, Rhoda, in a last desperate effort, swung out her right hand, seized the confronting spectre by its obtrusive left arm, and whirled it backward to the floor, starting up herself as she did so with a low cry.

罗达艰难地喘息着，她孤注一掷，伸出右手抓住眼前这个幽灵伸出的左臂，猛地把它向后甩向地板，同时她发出一声低沉的叫喊，一下子坐了起来。

'O, merciful heaven!' she cried, sitting on the edge of the bed in a cold sweat; 'that was not a dream—she was here!'“噢，仁慈的上帝啊！”她坐在床边，浑身冷汗，她喊道，“那不是梦——她刚才就在这儿！”

She could feel her antagonist's arm within her grasp even now—the very flesh and bone of it, as it seemed. She looked on the floor whither she had whirled the spectre, but there was nothing to be seen.

她现在依然能感觉到自己手里攥着对手的胳膊——似乎能真切地感觉到上面的骨头和肉。她看着地面，自己刚才就把幽灵甩在那儿了，可是地上却什么也没有。

Rhoda Brook slept no more that night, and when she went milking at the next dawn they noticed how pale and haggard she looked. The milk that she drew quivered into the pail; her hand had not calmed even yet, and still retained the feel of the arm. She came home to breakfast as wearily as if it had been suppertime.

那晚，罗达·布鲁克就再也没有睡着了。第二天破晓的时候她去挤奶，奶场的人都注意到她看上去面色苍白、面容憔悴。她颤颤巍巍地把挤好的奶倒进桶里。她的手到现在依然没镇定下来，还是能感觉到那只胳膊的存在。她回到家吃早饭，疲惫得像是现在已经到了吃晚饭的时间一样。

'What was that noise in your chimmer, mother, last night?' said her son. 'You fell off the bed, surely?'“妈妈，昨晚你屋里是什么动静？”她儿子问，“你肯定从床上掉下来了吧？”

'Did you hear anything fall? At what time?'“你听见有东西摔下来的声音了吗？什么时候？”

'Just when the clock struck two.'“就在钟敲两点的时候。”

She could not explain, and when the meal was done went silently about her household work, the boy assisting her, for he hated going afield on the farms, and she indulged his reluctance. Between eleven and twelve the garden-gate clicked, and she lifted her eyes to the window. At the bottom of the garden, within the gate, stood the woman of her vision. Rhoda seemed transfixed.

她没法解释。吃完饭后，她一声不吭地做着家务。男孩帮着她干家务，因为他不想大老远地跑到农场里去干活。她也迁就了男孩的不情愿。过了十一点，还没到十二点的时候，园子门咔嗒作响，她抬眼看向窗户。她幻象中的女人正站在园子尽头的院门口处。罗达好像呆住了。

'Ah, she said she would come!' exclaimed the boy, also observing her.“啊，她说她会来的！”男孩大声说，他也看见了她。

'Said so—when? How does she know us?'“她这么说过？什么时候？她怎么知道我们的？”

'I have seen and spoken to her. I talked to her yesterday.'“我跟她见过面，也跟她说过话。我昨天还跟她聊了几句。”

'I told you,' said the mother, flushing indignantly, 'never to speak to anybody in that house, or go near the place.'“我告诉过你，”母亲说道，她的脸由于愤怒变得通红，“不要跟那房子里的任何人说话，也不要靠近那个地方。”

'I did not speak to her till she spoke to me. And I did not go near the place. I met her in the road.'“她先跟我说话，我才跟她说话的。而且我也没有走近那个地方。我在路上遇见了她。”

'What did you tell her?'“你跟她说了什么？”

'Nothing. She said, "Are you the poor boy who had to bring the heavy load from market?"And she looked at my boots, and said they would not keep my feet dry if it came on wet, because they were so cracked. I told her I lived with my mother, and we had enough to do to keep ourselves, and that's how it was; and she said then, "I'll come and bring you some better boots, and see your mother."She gives away things to other folks in the meads besides us.'“没说什么。她说：‘你是那个得从集市往回背大包的可怜男孩吗？’她看着我的靴子，又说如果路上湿，我的脚就会湿，因为靴子裂了很多口子。我告诉她我跟我妈妈住在一起，我们有活干，能维持自己的生活，就是这样。然后她又说：‘我会去你家，给你带双好点的靴子，顺便看看你的妈妈。’她不止送东西给我们，也给草场上的其他人送。”

Mrs. Lodge was by this time close to the door—not in her silk, as Rhoda had seen her in the bed-chamber, but in a morning hat, and gown of common light material, which became her better than silk. On her arm she carried a basket.

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