Tess and Abraham dressed，led out the old horse Prince with the loaded wagon，

苔丝和亚伯拉罕穿好了衣服，牵出了那匹名叫“王子”的老马。马车已经上好了货。

and set off in the dark．

在黑暗中，他们出发了。

They cheered themselves up with bread and butter and conversation．

他们吃了点儿面包黄油，让自己振奋起精神，还聊起了天。

‘Tess！’said Abraham，after a silence．

“苔丝！”一阵沉默之后，亚伯拉罕开口了。

‘Yes， Abraham．’

“嗯，亚伯拉罕。”

‘Aren't you glad that we're a noble family？’

“我们是贵族家庭，难道你不高兴吗？”

‘Not particularly．’

“没有特别高兴。”

‘But you're glad you're going to marry a gentleman？’

“但是，你要同一位先生结婚了，你会高兴吗？”

‘What？’said Tess，lifting her face．

“什么？”苔丝仰起了脸，问道。

‘Our noble relations are going to help you marry a gentleman．’

“我们的贵族亲戚会帮助你同一位先生结婚的。”

‘Me？Our noble relations？We haven't any．Whatever put that into your head？’

“我？我们的贵族亲戚？我们没有这样的亲戚呀。是什么让你脑子里有这种想法的？”

‘I heard them talking about it at home．

“我在家里听到他们谈起这件事。

There's a rich lady of our family out at Trantridge，

在纯瑞脊那儿，有一位我们家族的有钱太太。

and mother said that if you claimed relationship with her，

妈妈说如果你和她攀上亲，

she'd help you marry a gentleman．’

她会帮你嫁给一位先生的。”

His sister became suddenly silent．

他姐姐突然沉默了。

Abraham talked on，not noticing her lack of attention．

亚伯拉罕没有注意到姐姐已无心在听，还在继续说着。

‘Did you say the stars were worlds，Tess？

“苔丝，你说过这些星星就是一个个世界吧？”

‘Yes．’

“是的。”

‘All like ours？’

“全都像我们这儿的世界吗？”

‘They seem like our apples—most of them good， a few bad．’

“它们就像我们的苹果一样——大多数是好的，也有一些是坏的。”

‘Which do we live on？A good one or a bad one？’

“我们住在哪颗星星上呢？好的，还是坏的？”

‘A bad one．’

“坏的。”

‘If we lived on a good one，how would things be different？’

“假如我们住在一颗好的星星上，会有什么不同吗？”

‘Well，father wouldn't be ill and cough as he does，and mother wouldn't always be washing．’

“那样，爸爸就不会像现在这样生病，也不会咳嗽，而妈妈也不会总是洗个没完。”

‘And you would have been a ready-made rich lady，and not have to marry a gentleman．’

“而你也早是一位有钱的小姐，用不着非得嫁给一位先生不可了。”

‘Oh，Aby，don't—don't talk of that any more！’

“哦，亚比，别说了——别再说这个了！”