THE next day Jude Fawley was pausing in his bedroom with the sloping ceiling, looking at the books on the table, and then at the black mark on the plaster above them, made by the smoke of his lamp in past months.
It was Sunday afternoon, four-and-twenty hours after his meeting with Arabella Donn. During the whole bygone week he had been resolving to set this afternoon apart for a special purpose,-- the re-reading of his Greek Testament1--his new one, with better type than his old copy, following Griesbach's text as amended2 by numerous correctors, and with variorum readings in the margin3. He was proud of the book, having obtained it by boldly writing to its London publisher, a thing he had never done before.
He had anticipated much pleasure in this afternoon's reading, under the quiet roof of his great-aunt's house as formerly4, where he now slept only two nights a week. But a new thing, a great hitch5, had happened yesterday in the gliding6 and noiseless current of his life, and he felt as a snake must feel who has sloughed7 off its winter skin, and cannot understand the brightness and sensitiveness of its new one.
He would not go out to meet her, after all. He sat down, opened the book, and with his elbows firmly planted on the table, and his hands to his temples began at the beginning:
(Three Greek words)
Had he promised to call for her? Surely he had! She would wait indoors, poor girl, and waste all her afternoon on account of him. There was a something in her, too, which was very winning, apart from promises. He ought not to break faith with her. Even though he had only Sundays and week-day evenings for reading he could afford one afternoon, seeing that other young men afforded so many. After to-day he would never probably see her again. Indeed, it would be impossible, considering what his plans were.
In short, as if materially, a compelling arm of extraordinary muscular power seized hold of him--something which had nothing in common with the spirits and influences that had moved him hitherto. This seemed to care little for his reason and his will, nothing for his so-called elevated intentions, and moved him along, as a violent schoolmaster a schoolboy he has seized by the collar, in a direction which tended towards the embrace of a woman for whom he had no respect, and whose life had nothing in common with his own except locality.
(Three Greek words) was no more heeded8, and the predestinate Jude sprang up and across the room. Foreseeing such an event he had already arrayed himself in his best clothes. In three minutes he was out of the house and descending9 by the path across the wide vacant hollow of corn-ground which lay between the village and the isolated10 house of Arabella in the dip beyond the upland.
As he walked he looked at his watch. He could be back in two hours, easily, and a good long time would still remain to him for reading after tea.
Passing the few unhealthy fir-trees and cottage where the path joined the highway he hastened along, and struck away to the left, descending the steep side of the country to the west of the Brown House. Here at the base of the chalk formation he neared the brook11 that oozed12 from it, and followed the stream till he reached her dwelling13. A smell of piggeries came from the back, and the grunting14 of the originators of that smell. He entered the garden, and knocked at the door with the knob of his stick.
Somebody had seen him through the window, for a male voice on the inside said:
"Arabella! Here's your young man come coorting! Mizzle, my girl!"
Jude winced15 at the words. Courting in such a business-like aspect as it evidently wore to the speaker was the last thing he was thinking of. He was going to walk with her, perhaps kiss her; but "courting" was too coolly purposeful to be anything but repugnant to his ideas. The door was opened and he entered, just as Arabella came downstairs in radiant walking attire16.
"Take a chair, Mr. What's-your-name?" said her father, an energetic, black-whiskered man, in the same businesslike tones Jude had heard from outside.
"I'd rather go out at once, wouldn't you?" she whispered to Jude.
"Yes," said he. "We'll walk up to the Brown House and back, we can do it in half an hour."
Arabella looked so handsome amid her untidy surroundings that he felt glad he had come, and all the misgivings17 vanished that had hitherto haunted him.
First they clambered to the top of the great down, during which ascent18 he had occasionally to take her hand to assist her. Then they bore off to the left along the crest19 into the ridgeway, which they followed till it intersected the high-road at the Brown House aforesaid, the spot of his former fervid20 desires to behold21 Christminster. But he forgot them now. He talked the commonest local twaddle to Arabella with greater zest22 than he would have felt in discussing all the philosophies with all the Dons in the recently adored university, and passed the spot where he had knelt to Diana and Phoebus without remembering that there were any such people in the mythology23, or that the sun was anything else than a useful lamp for illuminating24 Arabella's face. An indescribable lightness of heel served to lift him along; and Jude, the incipient25 scholar, prospective26 D.D., professor, bishop27, or what not, felt himself honoured and glorified28 by the condescension29 of this handsome country wench in agreeing to take a walk with him in her Sunday frock and ribbons.
They reached the Brown House barn--the point at which he had planned to turn back. While looking over the vast northern landscape from this spot they were struck by the rising of a dense30 volume of smoke from the neighbourhood of the little town which lay beneath them at a distance of a couple of miles.
"It is a fire," said Arabella. "Let's run and see it--do! It is not far!"
The tenderness which had grown up in Jude's bosom31 left him no will to thwart32 her inclination33 now--which pleased him in affording him excuse for a longer time with her. They started off down the hill almost at a trot34; but on gaining level ground at the bottom, and walking a mile, they found that the spot of the fire was much further off than it had seemed.
Having begun their journey, however, they pushed on; but it was not till five o'clock that they found themselves on the scene,-- the distance being altogether about half-a-dozen miles from Marygreen, and three from Arabella's. The conflagration35 had been got under by the time they reached it, and after a short inspection36 of the melancholy37 ruins they retraced38 their steps--their course lying through the town of Alfredston.
Arabella said she would like some tea, and they entered an inn of an inferior class, and gave their order. As it was not for beer they had a long time to wait. The maid-servant recognized Jude, and whispered her surprise to her mistress in the background, that he, the student "who kept hisself up so particular," should have suddenly descended39 so low as to keep company with Arabella. The latter guessed what was being said, and laughed as she met the serious and tender gaze of her lover--the low and triumphant40 laugh of a careless woman who sees she is winning her game.
They sat and looked round the room, and at the picture of Samson and Delilah which hung on the wall, and at the circular beer-stains on the table, and at the spittoons underfoot filled with sawdust. The whole aspect of the scene had that depressing effect on Jude which few places can produce like a tap-room on a Sunday evening when the setting sun is slanting41 in, and no liquor is going, and the unfortunate wayfarer42 finds himself with no other haven43 of rest.
It began to grow dusk. They could not wait longer, really, for the tea, they said. "Yet what else can we do?" asked Jude. "It is a three-mile walk for you."
"I suppose we can have some beer," said Arabella.
"Beer, oh yes. I had forgotten that. Somehow it seems odd to come to a public-house for beer on a Sunday evening."
"But we didn't."
"No, we didn't." Jude by this time wished he was out of such an uncongenial atmosphere; but he ordered the beer, which was promptly44 brought.
Arabella tasted it. "Ugh!" she said.
Jude tasted. "What's the matter with it?" he asked. "I don't understand beer very much now, it is true. I like it well enough, but it is bad to read on, and I find coffee better. But this seems all right."
"Adulterated--I can't touch it!" She mentioned three or four ingredients that she detected in the liquor beyond malt and hops45, much to Jude's surprise.
"How much you know!" he said good-humouredly.
Nevertheless she returned to the beer and drank her share, and they went on their way. It was now nearly dark, and as soon as they had withdrawn46 from the lights of the town they walked closer together, till they touched each other. She wondered why he did not put his arm round her waist, but he did not; he merely said what to himself seemed a quite bold enough thing: "Take my arm."
She took it, thoroughly48, up to the shoulder. He felt the warmth of her body against his, and putting his stick under his other arm held with his right hand her right as it rested in its place.
"Now we are well together, dear, aren't we?" he observed.
"Yes," said she; adding to herself: "Rather mild!"
"How fast I have become!" he was thinking.
Thus they walked till they reached the foot of the upland, where they could see the white highway ascending49 before them in the gloom. From this point the only way of getting to Arabella's was by going up the incline, and dipping again into her valley on the right. Before they had climbed far they were nearly run into by two men who had been walking on the grass unseen.
"These lovers--you find 'em out o' doors in all seasons and weathers-- lovers and homeless dogs only," said one of the men as they vanished down the hill.
Arabella tittered lightly.
"Are we lovers?" asked Jude.
"You know best."
"But you can tell me?"
For answer she inclined her head upon his shoulder. Jude took the hint, and encircling her waist with his arm, pulled her to him and kissed her.
They walked now no longer arm in arm but, as she had desired, clasped together. After all, what did it matter since it was dark, said Jude to himself. When they were half-way up the long hill they paused as by arrangement, and he kissed her again. They reached the top, and he kissed her once more.
"You can keep your arm there, if you would like to," she said gently.
He did so, thinking how trusting she was.
Thus they slowly went towards her home. He had left his cottage at half-past three, intending to be sitting down again to the New Testament by half-past five. It was nine o'clock when, with another embrace, he stood to deliver her up at her father's door.
She asked him to come in, if only for a minute, as it would seem so odd otherwise, and as if she had been out alone in the dark. He gave way, and followed her in. Immediately that the door was opened he found, in addition to her parents, several neighbours sitting round. They all spoke50 in a congratulatory manner, and took him seriously as Arabella's intended partner.
They did not belong to his set or circle, and he felt out of place and embarrassed. He had not meant this: a mere47 afternoon of pleasant walking with Arabella, that was all he had meant. He did not stay longer than to speak to her stepmother, a simple, quiet woman without features or character; and bidding them all good night plunged51 with a sense of relief into the track over the down.
But that sense was only temporary: Arabella soon re-asserted her sway in his soul. He walked as if he felt himself to be another man from the Jude of yesterday. What were his books to him? what were his intentions, hitherto adhered to so strictly52, as to not wasting a single minute of time day by day? "Wasting!" It depended on your point of view to define that: he was just living for the first time: not wasting life. It was better to love a woman than to be a graduate, or a parson; ay, or a pope!
When he got back to the house his aunt had gone to bed, and a general consciousness of his neglect seemed written on the face of all things confronting him. He went upstairs without a light, and the dim interior of his room accosted53 him with sad inquiry54. There lay his book open, just as he had left it, and the capital letters on the title-page regarded him with fixed55 reproach in the grey starlight, like the unclosed eyes of a dead man:
(Three Greek words.)
Jude had to leave early next morning for his usual week of absence at lodgings56; and it was with a sense of futility57 that he threw into his basket upon his tools and other necessaries the unread book he had brought with him.
He kept his impassioned doings a secret almost from himself. Arabella, on the contrary, made them public among all her friends and acquaintance.
Retracing58 by the light of dawn the road he had followed a few hours earlier under cover of darkness, with his sweetheart by his side, he reached the bottom of the hill, where he walked slowly, and stood still. He was on the spot where he had given her the first kiss. As the sun had only just risen it was possible that nobody had passed there since. Jude looked on the ground and sighed. He looked closely, and could just discern in the damp dust the imprints59 of their feet as they had stood locked in each other's arms. She was not there now, and "the embroidery60 of imagination upon the stuff of nature" so depicted61 her past presence that a void was in his heart which nothing could fill. A pollard willow62 stood close to the place, and that willow was different from all other willows63 in the world. Utter annihilation of the six days which must elapse before he could see her again as he had promised would have been his intensest wish if he had had only the week to live.
An hour and a half later Arabella came along the same way with her two companions of the Saturday. She passed unheedingly the scene of the kiss, and the willow that marked it, though chattering64 freely on the subject to the other two.
"And what did he tell 'ee next?"
"Then he said--" And she related almost word for word some of his tenderest speeches. If Jude had been behind the fence he would have felt not a little surprised at learning how very few of his sayings and doings on the previous evening were private.
"You've got him to care for 'ee a bit, 'nation if you han't!" murmured Anny judicially65. "It's well to be you!"
In a few moments Arabella replied in a curiously66 low, hungry tone of latent sensuousness67: "I've got him to care for me: yes! But I want him to more than care for me; I want him to have me--to marry me! I must have him. I can't do without him. He's the sort of man I long for. I shall go mad if I can't give myself to him altogether! I felt I should when I first saw him!"
"As he is a romancing, straightfor'ard, honest chap, he's to be had, and as a husband, if you set about catching68 him in the right way."
Arabella remained thinking awhile. "What med be the right way?" she asked.
"Oh you don't know--you don't!" said Sarah, the third girl.
"On my word I don't!--No further, that is, than by plain courting, and taking care he don't go too far!"
The third girl looked at the second. "She DON'T know!"
"'Tis clear she don't!" said Anny.
"And having lived in a town, too, as one may say! Well, we can teach 'ee som'at then, as well as you us."
"Yes. And how do you mean--a sure way to gain a man? Take me for an innocent, and have done wi' it!"
"As a husband."
"As a husband."
"A countryman that's honourable69 and serious-minded such as he; God forbid that I should say a sojer, or sailor, or commercial gent from the towns, or any of them that be slippery with poor women! I'd do no friend that harm!"
"Well, such as he, of course!"
Arabella's companions looked at each other, and turning up their eyes in drollery70 began smirking71. Then one went up close to Arabella, and, although nobody was near, imparted some information in a low tone, the other observing curiously the effect upon Arabella.
"Ah!" said the last-named slowly. "I own I didn't think of that way! ... But suppose he ISN'T honourable? A woman had better not have tried it!"
"Nothing venture nothing have! Besides, you make sure that he's honourable before you begin. You'd be safe enough with yours. I wish I had the chance! Lots of girls do it; or do you think they'd get married at all?"
Arabella pursued her way in silent thought. "I'll try it!" she whispered; but not to them.
第二天，裘德在他斜坡屋顶的卧室里拿不定主意，先看看书，过了会儿又抬头望望书上方这几个月来天花板上让油灯烟薰出来的黑印子。
这是礼拜天下午，距离他遇见阿拉贝拉已经过了二十四个钟头。他本来老早下了决心，选定这个礼拜的这个下午专门干一件事，也就是重读希腊文本《新约》；他现在手上的是本新书，版本较旧本为佳，因它经过众多审校者对格莱斯巴赫版的修订，页边附有多项集注。他是乍着胆子直接写信给伦敦的该书出版社才买到的，这样的事他以前还没干过，所以他深以获读此本为幸。
他期待着这个下午同往常一样能在姑婆的安静的小屋庇荫下大享读书之乐，眼下他一个礼拜只剩下两个晚上睡在那儿了。不料昨天在他的顺畅而恬静的生活之流中出来了新情况——一个陡然的急转弯，这会儿他就像蜕了冬天的皮的蛇，对新皮的光泽和敏感茫然不解。
反正他是不会出去跟她照面的。他坐下来，翻开书，两个胳臂肘稳稳支在桌子上，两手稳稳抱着太阳穴，开始从头读起：
他不是答应过去找她吗？他的确这样答应过啊！她一定在家里等着哪，可怜的姑娘，为了他把整个下午都牺牲了。再说除了约好之外，她身上真有点东西叫人舍不得。他总不好对她说话不算数吧。好多小伙子不是都腾得出来好多下午吗？就算他只有礼拜天和工余晚上才能看书，腾一个下午出来总可以吧。过了今天，他恐怕也没机会再见到她了。是啊，考虑到订好了的计划，以后绝对不行了。
干脆说吧，这会儿好像实实在在有只力大无朋、蛮不讲理的巨手死死抓住了他一样——这可是跟迄今推动他的精神和影响的东西毫无共同之处。那只手根本不理睬他的理性和他的意志，对他的上进心置若罔闻，犹如粗暴的老师抓住一个小学生的领子，只管拽着他朝着一个方向走，一直走到了一个他并不敬重的女人的怀抱，而他们两个的生活，除了同处一个地方这一点，也是毫无共同之处。
H KAINH △ H HKH放到一边去了，命该如此的裘德猛地站起来，走过了卧室。其实他原来就有思想准备，先就穿上了顶好的服装，齐齐整整。三分钟后，他出了草房，从小路往下走，穿过空旷的山洼子里的麦田。那地方一边是他的村子，另一边是高地尽头阿拉贝拉家的孤零零的房子。
他边走边看表。两个钟头以后总可以回来，没什么大不了的，下午茶后还剩下好多时间可以看书呢。
一过了小路接大路那儿几棵带死不活的杉树和草房，他快马加鞭，刷地左转弯，直下荒野的陡坡，到了棕房子西边。在那儿，走近了白垩质山冈脚下汩汩流出的小河，随即顺水流一径到达她家房子。房后散发着猪圈的臊臭味儿，还有臊臭味儿的一群制造者的咕噜咕噜声。他进了园子，拿手杖圆把敲敲门。
有人已经从窗子后边瞧见他了，因为里边一个男人声音说：
“阿拉贝拉！你那个小伙子来求爱啦！来呀，我的丫头。”
裘德一听这话就越趄不前了。用那么一种做生意口气说出来求爱，在说话的人固然习以为常，可他是连想都没想过。他的意思无非跟她一块儿散散步，说不定还吻吻她，要说是“求爱”未免算盘打得太精，跟他的意思完全合不到一块儿。门一开，他进去了，这当口阿拉贝拉穿着一身亮晶晶的散步常服，款款走下了楼梯。
“请坐，请坐，先生。请问——尊姓——大名哪？”她父亲说，只见这人精神抖搂，留着黑胡子，一板一眼的做生意的腔调，跟刚才他在外面听见的一样。
“我想立刻出去，怎么样？”她低声对裘德说。
“好啊，”他说，“咱们就走到栋房子那儿好吧，来回半个钟头足够啦。”
阿拉贝拉让她家里杂乱无章的环境一衬托，显得那么容光照人，他不禁欣然色喜，觉得真不虚此行，这时候他心里盘旋着的疑团也就涣然冰释了。
他们先是一路攀登，直达丘陵地的顶高处，途中他间或拉着她的手，助她一臂之力；接着沿山顶左转，插进山脊路，顺着这条古道一直走到前面提过的它跟大路在栋房子左右交叉的地方。他以前曾经在这儿心潮澎湃，遥瞻基督堂，可是这会儿全忘了。他对阿拉贝拉不断东拉西扯，没话找话，其兴致之高，就算他能跟近来崇拜的所有大学学监、导师、研究员讨论各种流派的哲学，恐怕也比不了。等到他们路过以前他向戴亚娜和菲波斯顶礼膜拜的地方，他再也想不起来神话中还有诸如此类的人物；至于太阳呢，那也不过是照耀着阿拉贝拉脸蛋的一盏有用的灯就是了。他脚下觉着说不出来的轻快爽利，令他大为飘飘然；裘德这位初出茅庐的学子，异日前程无量的神学博士、教授。主教，或者别的什么头衔，这会儿因为那位漂亮乡下姑娘纡尊降格，一身礼拜天盛装，系着丝带，陪着他一道散步，居然受宠若惊，感到备受抬举，不胜荣幸。
他们到了栋房子谷仓——他原计划从那儿回头。在居高临下，眺望北方广漠的景色时，他们瞧见脚下二英里远处的小镇居民区突然冒起了一股浓烟。
“着火啦，”阿拉贝拉说，“快跑，瞧瞧去——快，快！离这儿不远哪。”
裘德胸中正酝酿着的万缕柔情断不容他扫了阿拉贝拉的兴头，何况这还给他提供了借口，可以跟她一起多呆会儿。他们立刻下山，几乎一路跑去，不过到了山脚平地以后，又走了一英里，才发现起火的地方比它初看起来远得多。
既然这段路程开了头，他们索性一不做二不休一直往前走，直到五点钟才走到火场——那地方距离马利格林大概六英里，离阿拉贝拉家大概三英里。他们到达之前，大火已经扑灭了。看了看劫后惨状，他们就掉头往回走，正好路经阿尔夫瑞顿。
阿拉贝拉说她想喝点茶，于是他们走进一家低级酒馆，要了茶。因为要的不是啤酒，就得等好一阵子。女招待认得裘德，就把这件叫她大感意外的事，小声跟没露面的女老板说了，提到他是个念书的，“人平素自爱得不得了”，怎么一下子那么作践自己，跟阿拉贝拉搞到了一块儿。这些话全让阿拉贝拉猜着了，她一对上她的情人的一本正经、情深意切的目光，忍不住笑出声来——只有毫无顾忌、一向大咧咧的女人在较量中占了上风的时候，才会那么得意洋洋、粗鄙不堪地笑出声来。
他们坐在那儿，东瞧瞧，西望望，墙上挂着参孙和大利拉的画像，桌上有啤酒杯底留下的圆印子，还看见锯末垫着的痰盂。整个景象弄得裘德意绪低沉，因为再没有什么地方会像酒馆在礼拜天傍晚时分产生那样的效果，那时候夕照临窗，酒闹人散，而不幸的旅人却发现竞然找不到能托庇一下，好好歇歇脚的地方。
天近黄昏。他们实在不能把茶等下去了。“那我们能怎么办呢？”裘德问，“你还得走三英里路哪。”
“我看要点啤酒好啦。”阿拉贝拉说。
“啤酒，行啊，我倒忘了。礼拜天晚上到酒店要上啤酒，总透着有点怪。”
“可咱们刚才没要过。”
“对，没要过。”裘德这会儿但愿逃离这样叫人不舒服的气氛，不过他还是要了啤酒，店里立刻送过来。
阿拉贝拉尝了一口。“噗！”她说。
裘德也尝了一口。“怎么啦？”他问。“我到现在也不大懂啤酒，真的。喜欢我倒是喜欢，可是它对读书不合适。我觉着咖啡好一点。不过这个啤酒好像怪不错的。”
“搀假喽——我才不沾它呢！”除了麦芽和蛇麻子，她还另外点出酒里三四种成分，这叫裘德感到意外。
“你知道得真多啊！”裘德高兴地说。
她说是那么说，还是喝了她那杯，然后他们就继续上路了。天已经擦黑了，他们一走出小镇灯光的范围，就紧贴着，身子挨到一块儿。她奇怪他干吗不搂着她腰，可是他没这么干，只说了句：“挽着我胳臂吧。”这在他也就算大胆了。
她挽着他的胳臂，一直连肩膀都挽到了。她身子贴着，他觉着暖烘烘的，就把手杖交给另一只胳臂夹着，拿右手握着她放在他胳臂上的右手。
“这会儿咱们俩全在一块儿啦，亲爱的，对不对呀？”他认真地说。
“是啊。”她说，可是她心里又加上一句：“真没味哟！”
“我变得多快呀！”他心里想着。
他们就这样走到了高地跟前，在那儿看得见白晃晃大路在昏暗中向上伸展，只有一条路能从那儿通到阿拉贝拉家，要先上一个斜坡，再下来到右边她家所在的低谷。他们往上走没多远，差点撞上两个在草地上走着的男人，那两人先头没看见他们。
“这些情人哪——什么天气、什么节气都往外溜，只有情人跟野狗才这样哪。”他们走下山坡，快消失的时候，其中一个这样说。
阿拉贝拉听见了，哧哧一笑。
“咱们算不算情人呀？”裘德问。
”你还不是顶清楚吗？”
“可你得跟我说呀？”
她把头靠在他肩上，算是回答。裘德明白这意思，就顺水推舟搂住她的腰，把她抱过来，吻了她。
他们这会儿不再挽着胳臂走了，而是按她早就期待的那样，紧紧抱在一起走。裘德心里想，反正天黑了，这样没关系。他们上山走到半路时，好像事先约好了，停下来，他又吻了她。到了山顶，他再吻了一回。
“要是你想的话，你就把胳臂放在那儿好啦。”她温柔地说。
他那样做了，心想她对他才真心哪。
他们就这样慢慢往她家走。他离开草房时候三点半，打算五点半再坐下念《新约》。现在已经九点了，他又拥抱她一回，把她送到她爸爸家门口。
她要他进来，哪怕一分钟也好，要不然就太不像话了，好像她一个人一直在黑地里转悠似的。他只好答应，跟她进去。门一打开，他就发现屋里不只她爹妈，还有几个邻居坐在一块儿。他们说话全带着一股子道贺的腔调，全都认认真真地把他当成阿拉贝拉选中了的终身伴侣。
他跟他们不是臭味相投的人，觉得非常不自在，手足无措。他根本就没他们那么说的意思，他不过下午跟阿拉贝拉一块儿走走，就是这么回事儿。他跟她的后妈，一位俭朴、安静、没刀尺也没特色的妇女，说了几句，然后就要走；向他们大伙儿道了晚安之后，他如释重负，赶快上了丘陵地的小路。
不过这种如释重负之感并不长；阿拉贝拉很快在他内心中重新占了支配地位。他一边走着，一边觉着此时的裘德已非昨日的裘德。那他的书该怎么说呀？他至今坚持不变的宏愿，哪天都是几乎一分钟也不肯白过去，又怎么说呀？“白过啦！”不过这得看你究竟从什么角度来界定它的定义：其实他这才是真正第一次活着，并不是日子白过了。爱女人要比当个大学毕业生或者当个教区牧师都好呢；唉，比当个教皇也好呀！
他到家时候，姑婆已经入睡了；他觉得所有东西似乎都朝着他表示它们已经深深了解了他怎样荒唐放荡，不务正业。他摸黑上了楼，暗淡无光的卧室内部处处伤心地向他请问，要知道个究竟。他的书还翻开着，跟走时一个样，书名页上的大写字母像死人闭不上的眼睛，在惨淡的星光映照下，一直对准他，发出永远不变的谴责：
裘德一大早就得出门，赶到他的住处，按平常每个礼拜那样上班赶活。他有一种失落感，把那本带回家、可又没看的书随便扔在篓子里工具和日常用品的上面。
他对自己情场得意三缄其口，简直对自己都保了密。阿拉贝拉可恰恰相反，她把什么都对所有朋友和认识的人公开无遗。
在晨光熹微中，他再次走上前几个钟头在夜色朦胧中同心上人走过的那条路。这会儿他到了山脚下，走得慢了，后来屏息而立。正是这个地点，他第一次吻她。太阳刚刚升起，那一带很可能后来没人走过。裘德对地面瞧着，叹了口气。他仔细一瞧，看明白原来是他们站在那儿紧紧拥抱时候，在潮湿的浮士上留下来的脚印。她这会儿人不在啦，于是他就拿“在自然、平实的底子上，加以想象，而绣出的花饰”这句话来描画她前时的形象，这反而又在心里产生无法填补的空虚感。近边有棵截了顶梢的柳树，它跟世上所有其他柳树多不一样啊。他答应过她，说他还可以见到她，他这会儿最强烈急切的愿望就是恨不得一家伙把非过不可的六个工作日消灭掉，哪怕他加起来只能活一个礼拜都行。
一个半钟头之后，阿拉贝拉跟她上礼拜六待在一块儿的两个同伴也顺着同一条路走过来了。她走过接吻的地方，根本没注意那棵给当时做见证的柳树，不过她倒是正跟那两个随随便便聊她跟裘德的事。
“他下边跟你说了什么啦？”
“接着他说——”她几乎一字不漏地学说了他对她说的一些顶温柔不过的情话。如果裘德那会儿就在树篱后面，听见他头天晚上说的做的全属隐私的东西，至此一泄无余，他又该怎样为之骇然啊。
“那你已经叫他有点喜欢上你喽，要不然，就算我错啦！”安妮揣摩着说，‘你可真有一套啊！”
阿拉贝拉稍等了一下回答，她的声调低得出奇，隐含着内心充满肉欲的渴望：“我已经叫他喜欢我啦：真真的！可我还要让他更喜欢呢；我要他把我占了——跟我结婚！我就是要他。没他，我活不下去啦。他就是我一心想要的男人哪。我要是嫁不了他，那我就要疯啦！我头一眼瞧见他，我就知道我准会是这么回事。”
“这小伙子倒是挺帅，又直爽又老实样儿，要是你这会儿拿合适的办法，出手去抓住他，他就是你的人，就成了你的男人啦。”
阿拉贝拉又想了会儿。“怎么样才算合适的办法？”
“哎，你不懂嘛——就是不懂嘛！”第三个姑娘萨拉说。
“我真是不懂呢！我就知道老老实实谈恋爱，还得留神别让他搞得过了头哩！”
第三个姑娘瞧着第二个。“她不懂！”
“她不懂，一点不假！’安妮说。
“真跟别人讲得一样啊，还在镇上呆过呢！好吧，我0］这就可以教你点，你也得教我们。”
“行！你倒说说——怎么才有把握把男人搞上手？就当我什么都不懂好啦，干脆说了吧！”
“这得是找当家的才行哪。”
“是找当家的呀。”
“要找的是他那样儿讲体面、一个心眼儿的乡下人才行哪。我可不是他妈的指什么当兵的，当水手的，镇上做生意的，不是什么滑头滑脑、专骗可怜的女人的家伙！我可不让朋友吃那门子亏！”
“是呀！就得那样儿的！”
阿拉贝拉的同伴彼此瞧了瞧，挤挤眼，嘻嘻笑起来了。一个走到阿拉贝拉旁边，紧挨着，尽管近边没人，她还是低声教了办法，另一个蛮有兴趣地仔细看着阿拉贝拉有什么反应。
“唉！”阿拉贝拉慢吞吞说，“我承认没想到那个办法！……可他万一不讲体面呢？我看女人顶好别试这一套！”
“想做生意，先别怕赔本儿！再说，你开始干之前，先得有把握他讲体面，那你跟你的人就绝对保险啦。我但愿也有这个缘分呢！好多女孩儿都这么干；你想想她们后来还不是成了家吗？”
阿拉贝拉默默思考着，继续走下去。“我要试试！”她声音挺小，可不是跟她们说话。
收听单词发音 |
1
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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sloughed
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| v.使蜕下或脱落( slough的过去式和过去分词 )；舍弃；除掉；摒弃 | |
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heeded
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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fervid
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| adj.热情的；炽热的 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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hops
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| 跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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futility
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| n.无用 | |
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retracing
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| v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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imprints
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| n.压印( imprint的名词复数 )；痕迹；持久影响 | |
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embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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64
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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sensuousness
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| n.知觉 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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69
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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70
drollery
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| n.开玩笑，说笑话；滑稽可笑的图画（或故事、小戏等） | |
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71
smirking
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| v.傻笑( smirk的现在分词 ) | |
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