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双语·哈代短篇小说选 西巡路上 三

所属教程:译林版·一个想象力丰富的女人:哈代短篇小说选

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2022年06月05日

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On the Western Circuit III

The calendar at Melchester had been light, occupying the court only a few hours; and the assizes at Casterbridge, the next county-town on the Western Circuit, having no business for Raye, he had not gone thither. At the next town after that they did not open till the following Monday, trials to begin on Tuesday morning. In the natural order of things Raye would have arrived at the latter place on Monday afternoon; but it was not till the middle of Wednesday that his gown and grey wig, curled in tiers, in the best fashion of Assyrian bas-reliefs, were seen blowing and bobbing behind him as he hastily walked up the High Street from his lodgings. But though he entered the assize building there was nothing for him to do, and sitting at the blue baize table in the well of the court, he mended pens with a mind far away from the case in progress. Thoughts of unpremeditated conduct, of which a week earlier he would not have believed himself capable, threw him into a mood of dissatisfied depression.

He had contrived to see again the pretty rural maiden Anna, the day after the fair, had walked out of the city with her to the earthworks of Old Melchester, and feeling a violent fancy for her, had remained in Melchester all Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday; by persuasion obtaining walks and meetings with the girl six or seven times during the interval; had in brief won her, body and soul.

He supposed it must have been owing to the seclusion in which he had lived of late in town that he had given way so unrestrainedly to a passion for an artless creature whose inexperience had, from the first, led her to place herself unreservedly in his hands. Much he deplored trifling with her feelings for the sake of a passing desire; and he could only hope that she might not live to suffer on his account.

She had begged him to come to her again; entreated him; wept. He had promised that he would do so, and he meant to carry out that promise. He could not desert her now. Awkward as such unintentional connections were, the interspace of a hundred miles—which to a girl of her limited capabilities was like a thousand—would effectually hinder this summer fancy from greatly encumbering his life; while thought of her simple love might do him the negative good of keeping him from idle pleasures in town when he wished to work hard. His circuit journeys would take him to Melchester three or four times a year; and then he could always see her.

The pseudonym, or rather partial name, that he had given her as his before knowing how far the acquaintance was going to carry him, had been spoken on the spur of the moment, without any ulterior intention whatever. He had not afterwards disturbed Anna's error, but on leaving her he had felt bound to give her an address at a stationer's not far from his chambers, at which she might write to him under the initials “C. B.”

In due time Raye returned to his London abode, having called at Melchester on his way and spent a few additional hours with his fascinating child of nature. In town he lived monotonously every day. Often he and his rooms were enclosed by a tawny fog from all the world besides, and when he lighted the gas to read or write by, his situation seemed so unnatural that he would look into the fire and think of that trusting girl at Melchester again and again. Often, oppressed by absurd fondness for her, he would enter the dim religious nave of the Law Courts by the north door, elbow other juniors habited like himself, and like him unretained; edge himself into this or that crowded court where a sensational case was going on, just as if he were in it, though the police officers at the door knew as well as he knew himself that he had no more concern with the business in hand than the patient idlers at the gallerydoor outside, who had waited to enter since eight in the morning because, like him, they belonged to the classes that live on expectation. But he would do these things to no purpose, and think how greatly the characters in such scenes contrasted with the pink and breezy Anna.

An unexpected feature in that peasant maiden's conduct was that she had not as yet written to him, though he had told her she might do so if she wished. Surely a young creature had never before been so reticent in such circumstances. At length he sent her a brief line, positively requesting her to write. There was no answer by the return post, but the day after a letter in a neat feminine hand, and bearing the Melchester postmark, was handed to him by the stationer.

The fact alone of its arrival was sufficient to satisfy his imaginative sentiment. He was not anxious to open the epistle, and in truth did not begin to read it for nearly half-an-hour, anticipating readily its terms of passionate retrospect and tender adjuration. When at last he turned his feet to the fireplace and unfolded the sheet, he was surprised and pleased to find that neither extravagance nor vulgarity was there. It was the most charming little missive he had ever received from woman. To be sure the language was simple and the ideas were slight; but it was so selfpossessed; so purely that of a young girl who felt her womanhood to be enough for her dignity that he read it through twice. Four sides were filled, and a few lines written across, after the fashion of former days; the paper, too, was common, and not of the latest shade and surface. But what of those things? He had received letters from women who were fairly called ladies, but never so sensible, so human a letter as this. He could not single out any one sentence and say it was at all remarkable or clever; the ensemble of the letter it was which won him; and beyond the one request that he would write or come to her again soon there was nothing to show her sense of a claim upon him.

To write again and develop a correspondence was the last thing Raye would have preconceived as his conduct in such a situation; yet he did send a short, encouraging line or two, signed with his pseudonym, in which he asked for another letter, and cheeringly promised that he would try to see her again on some near day, and would never forget how much they had been to each other during their short acquaintance.

西巡路上 三

梅尔切斯特的日程安排很轻松,雷伊只需要出庭几个小时;巡回法庭的下一个开庭市镇在卡斯特桥,那儿没什么工作需要雷伊做,所以他也就没过去。而再下一个市镇要等到下礼拜一才开庭,审判则要等到礼拜二早上。因此正常情况下雷伊应该在礼拜一下午到达后一个小镇;不过事实上直到礼拜三中午他才急匆匆从住处向市镇正街走去,身后随风飞舞摆动的除了他的律师长袍,还有按照最时新的亚述浅浮雕样式做成的层叠鬈曲的银色假发。他虽然进了巡回法庭大厅,但其实却无事可做,便坐在铺着蓝色粗呢台面的桌子后的律师席上,一边削笔,一边想着跟眼前的案子毫无关系的事情。他做了一件始料未及的事——一个星期以前他都不敢相信自己会做出这样的事——想到这儿,他陷入了一种不满与消沉的情绪中。

在集市后第二天,他又设法见到了那位漂亮的乡下少女安娜,并陪她一起出城去参观了旧梅尔切斯特遗址;他对她产生了遏制不住的迷恋,于是整个礼拜天、礼拜一和礼拜二都逗留在梅尔切斯特;在此期间一共哄劝姑娘跟他见面、散步了六七次;在这短短的时间内便得到了她——从身体到心灵。

他猜想大概是因为最近自己在城里独自一人生活太久,才会轻易被激情左右,放纵自己如此对待一个淳朴少女,而她因为涉世未深,一开始就毫无保留地交付自己任由他摆布。他深悔不该因为一时的情欲玩弄她的感情;现在只能希望她不会因为他而一生受苦。

她恳请他再回去看她,苦苦哀求、泣不成声。他答应了她,也打算履行诺言。他不能现在就抛弃她。虽然这种意料之外的交往是有些棘手,但好在两人隔着一百英里——对她这样能力有限的女孩来说就跟隔了一千英里一般——能够有效地避免这段夏日热恋太过影响他的生活;而且当他想勤奋工作的时候,思及她那淳朴的爱,也许能有些反面的好处,让他不必去城里瞎晃找乐子。巡回法庭的工作让他每年有三到四次机会去梅尔切斯特,那个时候他尽可以去看望她。

一开始他并不知道两人这段关系会发展到多深,所以当时情急之下告诉她的是自己的化名,或者说是不完整的名字,倒不是存心要欺骗她。他后来也没有费心跟安娜纠正这个错误,但在离开前他觉得有必要给她留个通讯地址——离他办公室不远的一家文具店,她可以写信寄到那里,收信人就用他名字的缩写“查·布”就可以了。

雷伊按计划返回了伦敦住所,返程途中又经过梅尔切斯特,特意逗留了几个小时,和他迷人的自然之子在一起。回城后他每天过着单调的生活。他和办事处的各个房间大多数时候都被黄褐色的烟雾包围,与外界隔绝开来;等他点亮汽油灯读书写字时,他总觉得自己身处奇境之中,不由得望着灯上的火焰,翻来覆去想的都是梅尔切斯特的那位轻信了他的姑娘。他时常因为疯狂地思念她而倍感郁闷,便从北门走进法院大楼那昏暗肃穆的正厅,挤到其他跟他一样穿着打扮,一样尚未受聘的初级律师中间去;或者挤进这个或那个人头攒动的法庭,里面正在审理一桩轰动一时的案子,就好像他跟这案子有关一样,虽然守在门口的警官和他自己都心知肚明他与这案子毫无瓜葛,就跟站在旁听席门外耐心等候的那些闲人一样;他们早上八点就守在门外等着进来,因为他们跟他一样,都属于一个在等候中打发时光的阶层。但是他无论怎么做都是徒劳,于是不禁思量,这种场合里的这些人同粉粉嫩嫩、活泼可爱的安娜比起来多么迥异啊。

出乎他意料的是这个农家姑娘到现在还没给他来信,虽然他告诉过她想写就尽管写。很显然处于这种状态中的年轻女子不应该会这样按兵不动的。最后他给她写了寥寥数语的短信,直言希望她写信来。回来的邮车没有带来回信,不过一天以后文具店主交给他一封信,上面盖着梅尔切斯特的邮戳,信封上是一个女性娟秀的笔迹。

有信件来这件事本身就已经足够让想象力丰富的他感到满足了。他没有急着拆开,事实上他过了近半小时才展信阅读,预计信里肯定满是些热切的回忆和温婉的恳请。然而等到他走到壁炉边打开信纸,发现信里既没有夸张的情感也没有鄙俗的言辞时,他大为讶异又十分欣喜。这是他收到过的女性来信中最令人心动的一封。是的,信里的语言简单平实,思想也无足轻重;然而它是这般沉着自信,只有为自己身为女子感到矜持自尊的年轻女孩才能写得出来;他从头到尾看了两遍。信写了整整四页纸,还有几行是照着已过时的习惯横过来交叉写的;[6]信纸也非常普通,底色和表面都不时新。不过这又有什么关系呢?他从前也收到过一些完全称得上是大家闺秀的女子的来信,但是统统都没有像这一封这般通晓事理又富有人情味。他挑不出一句话,说它不同寻常机智过人,所以只能说这封信“浑然一体”赢得了他的心;除了请他再给她写信以及早点来看她之外,没有只言片语表明她认为自己对他有权提出要求。

在这种情况下再给她写信并建立起长期通信关系是雷伊事前万万没有想到的;然而他真的又回了一封短信,写了几句鼓励的话语,签上自己的化名,还让她继续来信,并兴冲冲地保证他近期内会设法再去看望她,以及他永远也不会忘记他们相识虽短却情深意浓的爱情。

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