第五章（第3/16页）

"Do you?" she said, seating herself in her blue knitted dress, on a stump by the path.

“是么？”康妮说，她身着蓝色毛织连衣裙，坐在道旁的树墩上。

"I do! this is the old England, the heart of it; and I intend to keep it intact." "Oh yes!" said Connie. But, as she said it she heard the eleven-o'clock hooters at Stacks Gate colliery. Clifford was too used to the sound to notice.

“当然！这里才是古老的英格兰，是其核心所在，我要将它完好无损地保存下去。”“哦，没错！”康妮应道。刚一开口，耳边便传来斯塔克斯门煤矿11点钟的汽笛声。而对此司空见惯的克利福德根本没有注意到。

"I want this wood perfect...untouched. I want nobody to trespass in it," said Clifford.

“我希望这树林完美无缺……毫发无伤。不愿意看到任何人擅入其中。”克利福德接着说。

There was a certain pathos. The wood still had some of the mystery of wild, old England; but Sir Geoffrey's cuttings during the war had given it a blow. How still the trees were, with their crinkly, innumerable twigs against the sky, and their grey, obstinate trunks rising from the brown bracken! How safely the birds flitted among them! And once there had been deer, and archers, and monks padding along on asses. The place remembered, still remembered.

他的话语中透出几分悲凉的意味。这片树林依然保有古老英伦那份原始的神秘感，但战时杰弗里爵士的砍伐却使它遭受重创。其间的树木是多么地静谧，无数虬曲的枝条伸向天空，灰白的树干倔强地从棕色蕨草丛中挺直腰身！盘旋飞舞的鸟儿在这里不会受到半点威胁！曾几何时，这里还曾经有鹿出没，还见得到弓箭手，甚至是端坐驴背、四海为家的游方僧人。这片净土记得过往的一切，半点不曾遗忘。

Clifford sat in the pale sun, with the light on his smooth, rather blond hair, his reddish full face inscrutable.

克利福德依然安坐着，暗淡的阳光照耀着他那柔顺的金发，那难以捉摸的绯红脸庞。

"I mind more, not having a son, when I come here, than any other time," he said.

“身处此地，我比任何时候都感到没有子嗣的缺憾。”他感慨道。

"But the wood is older than your family," said Connie gently.

“但这树林比查泰莱家族更加古老。”康妮柔声说。

"Quite!" said Clifford. "But we've preserved it. Except for us it would go...it would be gone already, like the rest of the forest. One must preserve some of the old England!” "Must one?" said Connie. "If it has to be preserved, and preserved against the new England? It's sad, I know.” "If some of the old England isn't preserved, there'll be no England at all," said Clifford. "And we who have this kind of property, and the feeling for it, must preserve it." There was a sad pause. "Yes, for a little while," said Connie.

“说的没错！”克利福德说。“然而却是我们把它保存下来。假若没有我们，它早已灰飞烟灭……消失得无踪无影，就像森林的其他部分。必须为保护英格兰古老的精髓而努力！”“必须这样做么？”康妮提出疑问。“即使保护它意味着与新英格兰背道而驰？我明白，这实在令人难过。”“如果对古老的留存不管不顾，那么英格兰将无从寻觅踪迹了。”克利福德说。“因此，既然我们拥有此类产业，且对其怀有深情，就必须为保存它尽心竭力。”两人双双陷入沉默，只剩空气中飘荡的哀伤气氛。“话虽如此，但也只能保存相当短的时间。”康妮说。

"For a little while! It's all we can do. We can only do our bit. I feel every man of my family has done his bit here, since we've had the place. One may go against convention, but one must keep up tradition.” Again there was a pause.