第51章 德伯家的苔丝 (1)
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