# ■ 16

As the carriage drove on through Blackmoor Vale，Tess now began to awake from her sorrow and wonder how she could face her parents．She left the carriage and came into Marlott on foot．When she entered the little cottage， her mother was doing the washing as usual．

‘Why Tess！’she cried when she saw her daughter．‘I thought you were married！Really married this time！’

‘Yes，mother，I am．’

‘Then where's your husband？’

‘Gone away for a time．’

‘Gone away！When were you married then？Tuesday，as you said？’

‘Yes，mother．’

‘Married on Tuesday and today it's only Saturday，and he's gone away！What strange husbands you seem to find，Tess！’

‘Mother！’Tess ran across to Joan and put her head on Joan's shoulder．‘You told me I mustn't tell him．But I did-I couldn't help it—and he went away！’

‘Oh you fool，you little fool！’cried her mother．

‘I know，I know，’sobbed Tess．‘But he was so good！I couldn't lie to him．And if only you knew how much I loved him and how much I wanted to marry him！’

‘Well，it's too late now，’said Mrs Durbeyfield．‘Whatever will your father say？ He was very proud of your marriage．He's been telling them at the public house that you'll help his noble family become great again．Oh，there he is now！’

Tess ran upstairs，but through the thin walls she could hear the whole story being told to Sir John．

‘People will laugh at me in the village！’he said．‘Do you think he really did marry her，Joan？Or is it like the first？’

Tess could listen no more．Even her own family did not believe her．She could not stay．She gave her mother half the money which Clare had given her，and told her family she was going to join him．And so she left Marlott again，looking for work．

Angel Clare also returned home．He had spent three weeks since his wedding trying to remain calm and continue his studies，but with the disturbing picture of Tess always in his mind．He was beginning to wonder if he had treated her unfairly．She had been so much a part of his plans for the future that he was now thinking of countries where they could farm together．The idea of Brazil attracted him．The countryside，people and habits would be so different．Perhaps they could make a new life there together．So he went back to Emminster to tell his parents his new plan．

‘But where's your wife，dear Angel？’cried his mother when he arrived．

‘She's at her mother's for the moment．I've come home in rather a hurry，because I've decided to go to Brazil．’

‘Brazil！But they're all Roman Catholics there！’

‘Are they？I hadn't thought of that．’

But Mr and Mrs Clare were even more interested in their son's marriage than in Brazil's religion．

‘Angel，we do want to meet your wife．We are not in the least angry about this rather hurried wedding，so why haven't you brought her？It seems strange．’

Angel explained that she would be staying at her mother's while he went to Brazil alone to see if the country was suitable．He planned to bring her to meet his parents before he went there a second time，with her．But his mother was disappointed at not seeing Tess．She watched her son as he ate，and asked questions．

‘Is she very pretty？’

‘She certainly is！’

‘And a maiden of course？’

‘Of course．’

‘I imagine you were her first love？’

‘Exactly．’

His father asked no questions，but when the moment for evening prayers arrived，he chose a passage from the Bible．

‘This passage is very suitable，as you are here，Angel．It is in praise of a pure wife．’

‘We shall all think of her as your father reads it，’ added his mother．As they listened to the ancient，beautiful words，Angel felt like crying．

His mother said，‘You see，Angel，the perfect woman，the Bible tells us，is a working woman，not a fine lady，a girl just like your wife．A girl who uses her hands and heart and head for others．I wish I could have met her，Angel．As she is pure，she is fine enough for me．’

Clare's eyes were full of tears．He quickly said goodnight and went to his room．His mother followed and stood at his door looking anxiously at him．

‘Angel，why are you going away so soon？Have you quarrelled with your wife in these three weeks？Angel，is she …is she a woman with a past？’The mother's instinct had found the cause of her son's worries．

‘She is totally pure！’he replied，and felt that he had to tell that lie，even if he went to hell there and then for it．

‘Then never mind the rest．There are few better things in nature than a pure country girl．’

Clare felt furious with Tess，because she had forced him to deceive his parents．Then he remembered her sweet voice， and the touch of her fingers on his face，and her warm breath on his lips．But this well－meaning young man，despite his advanced ideas，was still limited in his thinking．He could not see that Tess was in character as pure as the pure wife in the Bible．

The next day Clare left Emminster and began to prepare for his journey to Brazil．One day，returning from doing some business with a farmer，he happened to meet one of the dairymaids from Talbothays，Izz Huett．He knew her secret：she was an honest girl who loved him and who might have made as good a farmer's wife as Tess．He learnt from Izz that，of the other dairymaids，Retty had become ill，and Marian had started drinking．And Izz herself？

‘Suppose I had asked you to marry me，Izz？’he asked．

‘I would have said“yes”，and you would have had a woman who loved you！’

A wild anger took hold of Clare．Society and its rules had trapped him in a corner．Why shouldn't he take his revenge on society？

‘I'm going to Brazil，Izz，without Tess．We have separated for personal reasons．I may never be able to love you，but will you come with me？’

‘Yes，I will，’said Izz after a pause．

‘You know it's wrong in the eyes of the world，don't you？Do you love me very much？More than Tess？’

‘I do，yes，oh，I do love you，but not more than Tess．Nobody could！She would have laid down her life for you．’

Clare was silent．A sob rose inside him．He heard Izz's words again and again in his head：She would have laid down her life for you．

‘I'm sorry，Izz，’he said suddenly．‘Please forget what I said just now！I must be mad！’

‘Oh please take me！Oh，I shouldn't have been so honest！’sobbed Izz．

‘Izz，by your honesty you have saved me from doing something wicked．Thank you for that．And please forgive me！’

And so Angel said goodbye to the miserable girl．But he did not turn towards Tess's village．He continued with his plan，and five days later left the country for Brazil．

And so the months passed．Tess found occasional dairy work for the spring and summer．She sent all Angel's money to her family，who as usual had many expenses and hardly any income．She was too proud to ask Angel's family for more money．That winter she went to work at another farm，where Marian was working．Here the earth was poor，and the work was difficult．But Tess did not mind the hard work in the fields．As she and Marian dug out the vegetables in the pouring rain，they talked of Talbothays and of the sunny green fields and of Angel Clare．Tess did not tell Marian everything，so Marian could not understand why the couple were apart．

They wrote to Izz，asking her to join them if she had no other work．It was the coldest winter for years，but Tess and Marian had to go on working in the snow．Tess realized that the farmer was the same Trantridge man who had recognized her in the market town，and had been knocked down by Angel．He made her work twice as hard as the others．

When Izz came，Tess saw her whispering to Marian．Tess had a feeling it was important．‘Is it about my husband？’she asked Marian later．

‘Well yes，Izz said I shouldn't tell．But he asked her to run away to Brazil with him！’

Tess's face went as white as the snow on the ground．

‘What happened？’

‘He changed his mind．But he was going to take her！’

Tess burst out crying．‘I must write to him！It's my fault！I shouldn't have left it to him！He said I could write to him！I've been neglecting him！’

But in the evening，in her room，she could not finish her letter to him．She looked at her wedding ring，which she wore round her neck in the day，and kept on her finger all night．What kind of husband would ask Izz to go to Brazil with him so soon after parting from his wife？

But this new information made her think again of visiting Angel's family in Emminster．She wanted to know why he had not written to her．She could meet his parents，who would surely be kind to her in her loneliness．So she decided to walk there from the farm at Flintcomb－Ash on a Sunday， her only free day．It was fifteen miles each way．She dressed in her best，encouraged by Marian and Izz，who sent her on her way at four o’clock in the morning．The girls sincerely loved Tess and wished for her happiness．It was a year since her wedding，and on that bright cold morning her unspoken hope was to win over her husband's family and so persuade him back to her．

Although she started cheerfully，she began to lose her courage as she approached Emminster．The church looked forbidding．Perhaps the rather strict parson would not approve of her travelling so far on a Sunday．But she had to go on．She took off her thick walking boots and hid them behind a tree，changing into her pretty shoes．She would collect the boots on the way out of town．

She took a deep breath and rang the bell at the parson's house．Nobody answered．She tried again．Silence．It was almost with relief that she turned and walked away．Then she suddenly remembered that they must all be at church．So she waited in a quiet part of the street until people began to stream out of church．She immediately recognized Angel's brothers and even overheard some of their conversation．

‘Poor Angel！’one of them said．‘There's that nice girl，Mercy Chant．Why on earth didn't he marry her instead of rushing into marriage with a dairymaid？’

‘It's certainly very strange．But his ideas have always been most odd．’

They joined Mercy Chant as she came out of church，and walked together along the road Tess had walked into Emminster．

‘Look，here's a pair of old boots，’said one of the brothers，noticing Tess's boots behind the tree．

‘Excellent walking boots，I see，’said Miss Chant．‘How wicked to throw them away！Give them to me．I'll find a poor person who would like them．’

Tess walked quickly past them，tears running down her face．She continued walking as fast as she could away from Emminster．How unlucky that she had met the sons and not the father！Angel's parents would have taken poor lonely Tess to their hearts immediately，as they did every other lost soul，without thought of family or education or wealth．

She grew more and more tired and depressed as she walked the fifteen miles back to Flintcomb－Ash，where only hard work awaited her．But on the way she noticed a crowd listening to a preacher and she stopped for a while to join them．The preacher was describing with enthusiasm how he had been wicked for years and how a certain parson had pointed it out to him：this had gradually turned him from wickedness．But Tess was more shocked by the voice than the words．She moved round behind the crowd to look at his face．As the afternoon sun shone full on him， she recognized Alec d’Urberville．

■ 16

當馬車穿越黑荒野山谷繼續行駛時，苔絲漸漸從悲痛中醒轉過來，開始思考該怎樣面對她的父母。她下了馬車，步行進入馬勒特村。當她走進那間小農舍時，她母親一如往常地在洗著衣服。

“苔絲，為什麼？”她看到她女兒，不由得叫了起來，“我以為你結婚了！這次是真的結婚了吧！”

“是的，媽媽，結婚了。”

“那麼，你的丈夫呢？”

“要離開一段時間。”

“離開！那麼，你們是什麼時候結婚的？如你說的，星期二？”

“是的，媽媽。”

“星期二結婚，今天才不過是星期六，他就已經走了。看來你是找了一個非常奇怪的丈夫啊，苔絲！”

“媽！”苔絲朝瓊奔去，把她的頭伏在瓊的肩上，“你囑咐我不要告訴他，但是我說了——我忍不住——然後他走了！”

“哦，你這個傻瓜，你這個小傻瓜！”她母親喊道。

“我知道，我知道，”苔絲哭訴著，“可是他原來是那麼好的人！我不能對他撒謊。如果你知道我是多麼地愛他，多麼地想嫁給他，你就會明白了！”

“唉，現在已經太遲了，”德北夫人說道，“真不知道你父親會怎麼說？他對你的婚姻非常地自豪。他在酒店裡跟他們說，你會幫忙把他的高貴家族重新振興起來。哦，他來啦！”

苔絲跑到樓上去了。但是透過薄薄的牆壁，她聽到了向約翰爵士敘述的整個事件。

“村裡人會笑話我的！”他說，“你認為他真地跟她結婚了嗎，瓊？還是就像頭一次那樣？”

苔絲再也聽不下去了，甚至她的家人都不信任她。她無法待在這兒了。她把克萊爾留給她的錢分出一半，給了她母親，並告訴家裡人，她打算去和他團聚。於是她又一次離開了馬勒特，去找活兒幹。

安吉爾·克萊爾也回到了家裡。從婚禮之後，他花費了三週的時間試圖讓自己保持平靜並繼續學習，但他腦子裡總不斷地閃現出苔絲的影子，攪得他心神不安。他開始思索自己是不是對她做得太過分了。她曾是他未來生活計劃中如此重要的一部分，以至於他現在還在考慮他們可以一起去哪些國家經營農場。巴西對他頗具吸引力。那兒的鄉村、那兒的居民和風俗都與此地截然不同，也許他們可以一起在那兒開創新的生活。於是他返回愛敏斯特，告訴他父母他的新打算。

“親愛的安吉爾，可是，你的妻子呢？”當他到家時，他母親喊道。

“她這會兒在她孃家，我是相當匆忙地趕回家的，因為我已經決定了要去巴西。”

“巴西！但是那兒都是羅馬天主教徒！”

“是嗎？我還沒想過這個呢。”

但是比起巴西的宗教來，克萊爾先生和克萊爾夫人對他們兒子的婚姻大事更為關切。

“安吉爾，我們真地想見見你的妻子。對你這次草率的婚禮，我們絲毫沒有生氣。那麼，為什麼你不把她帶來？這顯得有點奇怪。”

安吉爾解釋說，在他單獨赴巴西考察那個國家是否適合期間，她先住在孃家。他安排好了，在下次他和她一起去巴西之前，帶她來見他的父母。但他的母親對於沒有見到苔絲非常失望。她看著兒子吃飯，還問了些問題。

“她很漂亮嗎？”

“那是毫無疑問的。”

“自然是個少女嘍？”

“自然是的。”

“我想你是她的初戀吧？”

“正是。”

他的父親什麼也沒問，但是到晚上做祈禱的時刻，他從《聖經》裡挑選了一段文章。

“安吉爾，這一段非常適合現在這個場合，這是讚美純潔的妻子的。”

“當你父親讀這段話時，我們都會想到她。”他母親加了一句。當他聽著這些古老、優美的辭句時，安吉爾簡直要哭了。

他的母親說：“安吉爾，你看，《聖經》告訴我們，完美的女人是一個勤勞的女人，就像你的妻子那樣的姑娘，一個用自己的雙手、心靈和頭腦為別人奉獻的姑娘，而不是一位體面的小姐。安吉爾，我真希望我見過她了。我覺得她已經夠好了，因為她是個純潔的姑娘。”

克萊爾的眼眶裡滿是淚水。他迅速地道了晚安，就到自己的房間去了。他的母親跟了過去，站在門口憂慮地看著他。

“安吉爾，你為什麼這麼快就要離去了？這三個星期裡，你和你的妻子吵架了嗎？安吉爾，她是……她是一個有經歷的女人嗎？”做母親的本能發現了兒子憂慮的原由。

“她是完全純潔的！”他回答道，他覺得自己一定要撒那個謊，哪怕他要為此在此時此地下地獄。

“那就永遠不要在乎別的方面。自然界裡很難再有比一個純潔的鄉村姑娘更好的事物了。”

克萊爾對苔絲感到非常憤怒，因為她逼得他欺騙他的父母。隨後，他又想起了她溫柔甜美的聲音，她的手指在他臉上輕輕觸摸的感覺，還有她在他脣上溫暖柔和的呼吸。但是這個本意善良的年輕人，儘管有先進的思想，在思維上卻不免仍有侷限。他不能看到，在本質上，苔絲與《聖經》中描述的聖潔的妻子是一樣純潔的。

第二天，克萊爾離開了愛敏斯特，開始為去巴西的行程作準備。一天，在同一位農場主了結了一些事情後的返回途中，他碰巧遇上了塔爾勃塞的一個擠奶女工，伊茨·休愛特。他知道她心裡的祕密，她愛他，是個誠實的姑娘，而且能成為一個和苔絲一樣賢惠的農場主妻子。他從伊茨口中得知了一些其他女工的情況。蕾蒂病倒了，瑪麗安開始酗酒。伊茨自己怎麼樣呢？

“伊茨，假設我請求過你嫁給我，會怎麼樣？”他問。

“我會說‘好吧’，然後你就擁有了一個愛你的女人！”

一種瘋狂的憤怒佔據了克萊爾的思想。社會和它的法則設下圈套把他逼到了死角，為什麼他不向這個社會報復？

“伊茨，我將要去巴西了，苔絲不跟著去。我們因為一些私人的原因分手了。可能我永遠也不會愛你，但是，你願意和我一起去嗎？”

“是的，我願意，”沉默了一會兒，伊茨說道。

“你知道這在世人的眼裡是不對的，是不是？你非常非常愛我嗎？愛得比苔絲還深？”

“是的，我愛你，哦，我確實很愛你，但是愛得沒有苔絲深。沒人能這樣！她可以為了你捨棄她的生命。”

克萊爾啞然無語，他的心在哭泣。他聽到伊茨的話一遍又一遍地在腦子裡響起：她可以為了你捨棄她的生命。

“我很抱歉，伊茨，”他突然說道，“請你忘掉我剛才說的話吧！我一定是瘋了！”

“哦，帶我去嗎？喔，我不應該那麼老實！”伊茨嗚咽著說。

“伊茨，你的誠實挽救了我，使我避免了一件罪惡的事情。我要因此感謝你，也請你原諒我！”

於是安吉爾告別了這個可憐的姑娘。但他並沒有轉回到苔絲的村子。他繼續按他的計劃行事，五天之後，他離開這個國家到巴西去了。

時間一個月又一個月地過去了。春夏兩季，苔絲就在牛奶場找點臨時的活兒幹。她把安吉爾留下的錢都寄給了家裡，這個家像往常一樣總有許多支出，卻幾乎沒有什麼收入。她的自尊不允許她向安吉爾的家人伸手要錢。那個冬天她轉到另外一個農場幹活。瑪麗安就在那兒幹活兒。這裡的土地貧瘠，活兒也很辛苦。但是苔絲並不介意在地裡幹那些繁重的活兒。當她們淋著傾盆大雨在地裡挖菜時，她們就講講塔爾勃塞，講講陽光明媚的綠色牧場，還有安吉爾·克萊爾。苔絲沒有把事情的來龍去脈都告訴瑪麗安，所以瑪麗安無法理解為什麼這對夫婦會分開。

她們給伊茨寫信，叫她來跟她們一起幹，如果她沒別的活兒乾的話。這是幾年來最冷的一個冬天，可是苔絲和瑪麗安必須頂著雪花幹活兒。苔絲意識到農場主就是那個在集鎮上認出她來的純瑞脊人，曾經被安吉爾擊倒在地。他讓她乾的活兒比其他人的加重了一倍。

當伊茨到來時，苔絲見她跟瑪麗安耳語著什麼。苔絲感覺這一定是件重要的事。“是有關我丈夫的事嗎？”之後，她向瑪麗安問道。

“嗯，是的，伊茨說我不應該告訴你。可是，他叫她跟他一起私奔到巴西去！”

苔絲的臉變得像地上的雪一樣慘白。

“後來呢？”

“他改變了主意。但是他原來是打算帶她去的！”

苔絲放聲大哭起來。“我必須給他寫信！這是我的過錯！我原不該把這事留給他去做的！他說過我可以給他寫信！我一直都疏忽他了！”

可是到了晚上，她在房間裡給他寫信時，又寫不下去了。她盯著她的結婚戒指，她在白天把它掛在脖子上，到了晚上就整夜把它戴在手上。與妻子分離後，這麼快就叫伊茨和他一起去巴西了，這是什麼樣的丈夫呢？

但是這個新信息讓她重新考慮起到愛敏斯特拜訪安吉爾的家人。她想知道為什麼他沒有給她寫信。她可以見見他的父母，在她孤苦伶仃的時候，他們一定會善待她的。於是她決定在一個她唯一空閒的日子，禮拜天，從弗林特石灰谷的農場出發，步行去那兒。單程的路就有15英里。在瑪麗安和伊茨的慫恿下，她穿上了最好的衣服。她們在那天清晨4點鐘把她送上了路。姑娘們都真摯地愛著她，由衷地希望她幸福。現在距她結婚的日子已有一年了，在那個睛朗寒冷的早晨，她那不曾說出口的願望就是贏得她丈夫的家人，然後說服他回到她的身邊。

雖然她出來時歡欣鼓舞，但是隨著漸漸走近愛敏斯特，她卻開始心慌了。教堂顯得令人生畏。也許那位相當嚴格的牧師會不讚許她在禮拜日長途跋涉。可是，她只有往前走了。她脫下笨重的靴子，把它們藏到一棵樹後面，然後，換上那雙精緻漂亮的靴子。她想在出鎮的路上再把靴子撿回來。

她深深地吸了口氣，按響了牧師家的門鈴。沒有人答應。她又按了一次。還是沒有動靜。她幾乎是鬆了口氣，轉身離開了。然後她想起來他們一定都在教堂呢。於是她就在街上一個安靜的地方等著，直到人們川流不息地從教堂出來了。她馬上認出了安吉爾的哥哥們，甚至還遠遠地聽到了他們的談話。

“可憐的安吉爾！”其中一個說道，“默茜·錢特，那個好姑娘在那兒。到底為什麼他不娶她，而是跟一個擠奶工倉促地結了婚？”

“這真是很奇怪。不過，他的想法一直是最古怪的。”

當默茜·錢特從教堂出來時，他們便上前陪同她一起沿著那條苔絲走進愛敏斯特的路走著。

“看，這兒有一雙舊靴子，”兄弟中有一人說道，他發現了苔絲放在樹後的靴子。

“我覺得，這是很不錯的步行靴子。”錢特小姐說道，“這樣就扔了，多差勁啊！把它們交給我吧。拿去送給窮人，會有人喜歡的。”

苔絲匆匆地超過了他們，淚水從她臉上潸潸滾下。她繼續儘可能快地走著，離開了愛敏斯特。她是多麼不走運啊，碰見的偏偏會是兩個兒子，而不是父親。安吉爾的父母會立即打心底裡接受孤苦可憐的苔絲，就像他們對每一個迷失的人做的那樣，而不會去考慮他的出身、學識或財富。

在返回弗林特石灰谷的15英里路中，她變得越來越疲憊沮喪，那兒只有繁重的活兒等著她幹。可是在半路上，她注意到有一群人正在聽一個傳道士說著什麼。她停下腳步，也去聽了一會兒。這個傳道士正熱情高漲地講述他多年來曾是如何地品行不端，而一個牧師又是怎樣地給他指出來：這讓他漸漸地從邪惡中轉變過來。但是他的聲音比他的講道更讓苔絲震驚。她從人群后繞過去看他的臉，午後的陽光充沛地照在他身上，她認出來了，他是亞歷克·德伯。