第十二章（第2/15页）

“午饭吃得挺晚，”她说，“接着吃吧！”她在门边的木椅上坐下，享受着和煦的阳光。

"I had to go to Uthwaite," he said, sitting down at the table but not eating.

“我去了趟乌斯维特。”他说着，在桌边坐下，但并没有继续用餐。

"Do eat," she said. But he did not touch the food.

“吃呀。”她催促道。但他并没有碰食物。

"Shall y'ave something?” he asked her. "Shall y'ave a cup of tea? T'kettle's on t'boil’—he half rose again from his chair.

“你来点啥？”他问。“来杯茶？壶里的水开了。”——他欠身离座。

"If you'll let me make it myself," she said, rising. He seemed sad, and she felt she was bothering him.

“还是我自己来吧。”她说着，站起身来。他似乎有些伤感，她感觉自己是他烦恼的根源。

"Well, tea-pot's in there’—he pointed to a little, drab corner cupboard; 'an'cups. An'tea's on t'mantel ower yer 'ead,” She got the black tea-pot, and the tin of tea from the mantel-shelf. She rinsed the tea-pot with hot water, and stood a moment wondering where to empty it.

“哦，茶壶在那边”——他指着墙角土褐色的碗碟柜，“还有茶杯。茶叶在你头顶的炉架上。”她拿过黑色茶壶，从炉架上取下茶叶罐。她将热水注入茶壶，之后呆立半晌，不知道把水倒去哪里。

"Throw it out," he said, aware of her. "It's clean.” She went to the door and threw the drop of water down the path. How lovely it was here, so still, so really woodland. The oaks were putting out ochre yellow leaves: in the garden the red daisies were like red plush buttons. She glanced at the big, hollow sandstone slab of the threshold, now crossed by so few feet.

“倒去外面。”他说，显然是察觉到她的不知所措。“水很干净。”她走到门口，将水倾洒在路面上。这里多么美妙啊，如此静谧，名副其实的林地。橡树发出赭黄色的嫩叶，园中鲜红的雏菊像是长毛绒钮扣。那块硕大凹陷的砂岩门槛映入眼帘，如今已很少有人从上跨越。

"But it's lovely here," she said. "Such a beautiful stillness, everything alive and still." He was eating again, rather slowly and unwillingly, and she could feel he was discouraged. She made the tea in silence, and set the tea-pot on the hob, as she knew the people did. He pushed his plate aside and went to the back place; she heard a latch click, then he came back with cheese on a plate, and butter.

“这里真美。”她赞叹道。“宁静得让人心醉，一切都鲜活而寂静。”他继续吃起午餐来，咀嚼和吞咽都相当缓慢，显得极不情愿，她感觉得到他有些沮丧。她默默沏着茶，接着把茶壶放回到炉架上，她知道这里的百姓都这样做。他把餐盘推开，走向屋后，她听到门闩开启的声音，过了一会，他端着一盘奶酪和黄油回来了。

She set the two cups on the table; there were only two. "Will you have a cup of tea?" she said.

她把两只茶杯摆在桌上，那是仅有的两只茶杯。“想来杯茶吗？”她问。

"If you like. Sugar's in th'cupboard, an'there's a little cream jug. Milk's in a jug in th'pantry.” "Shall I take your plate away?" she asked him. He looked up at her with a faint ironical smile.

“如果您乐意的话。糖搁在橱柜里，还有一小罐奶油。牛奶在食品间的罐子里。”“让我来收拾你的餐盘吧？”她问。他抬头看着她，嘴角微微露出嘲讽的微笑。

"Why...if you like," he said, slowly eating bread and cheese. She went to the back, into the pent-house scullery, where the pump was. On the left was a door, no doubt the pantry door. She unlatched it, and almost smiled at the place he called a pantry; a long narrow white-washed slip of a cupboard. But it managed to contain a little barrel of beer, as well as a few dishes and bits of food. She took a little milk from the yellow jug.