第十七章（第19/21页）

我问他在家里留宿女人是否为实，他却说：“呵，这跟您有什么关系，克利福德爵士？”我说不希望领地里出现有伤风化的丑事，他却说：“那您可要把那些恶婆娘的嘴巴都封上。”我再度追问留宿女人的事，他却回答：“您大可以编段我和母狗弗洛西乱搞的丑事。您可错过了好机会呢。”说实话，他可真是厚颜无耻的典型，无人能及。

I asked him if it would be easy for him to find another job. He said: "if you're hintin' that you'd like to shunt me out of this job, it'd be easy as wink.” So he made no trouble at all about leaving at the end of next week, and apparently is willing to initiate a young fellow, Joe Chambers, into as many mysteries of the craft as possible. I told him I would give him a month's wages extra, when he left. He said he'd rather I kept my money, as I'd no occasion to ease my conscience. I asked him what he meant, and he said: "you don't owe me nothing extra, Sir Clifford, so don't pay me nothing extra. If you think you see my shirt hanging out, just tell me.” Well, there is the end of it for the time being. The woman has gone away: we don't know where to: but she is liable to arrest if she shows her face in Tevershall. And I heard she is mortally afraid of gaol, because she merits it so well. Mellors will depart on Saturday week, and the place will soon become normal again.

我问他另找工作是否容易。他说：“要是您在暗示我卷铺盖走人，那再简单不过。”他毫未犹豫，答应下周末离开，似乎也毫不吝啬，愿意将自己的经验所得传授给年轻的乔·钱伯斯。我说会在他离职时，多付一个月的薪水。他却说宁愿我留着自己的钱，没必要借此换个心安理得。我问他此话怎讲，他说：“您没欠我任何东西，克利福德爵士，也没必要多付我钱。要是您还有什么不满，只管说出来。”好了，眼下这件事终于可以告一段落。那女人不见踪影，谁也不知道她去了哪里，只要她再在特弗沙尔露面，就会立即被关进班房。我听说她对坐牢怕得要命，可确实应该给她点教训。梅勒斯下周六就会走人，这里很快就将恢复原貌。

Meanwhile, my dear Connie, if you would enjoy to stay in Venice or in Switzerland till the beginning of August, I should be glad to think you were out of all this buzz of nastiness, which will have died quite away by the end of the month.

因此，我亲爱的康妮，如果你愿意在威尼斯或者瑞士呆到八月初，我会感到很高兴，因为那样的话，你就可以完全跟这些污言秽语绝缘，月底之前一切都会销声匿迹。

So you see, we are deep-sea monsters, and when the lobster walks on mud, he stirs it up for everybody. We must perforce take it philosophically. The irritation, and the lack of any sympathy in any direction, of Clifford's letter, had a bad effect on Connie. But she understood it better when she received the following from Mellors: The cat is out of the bag, along with various other pussies. You have heard that my wife Bertha came back to my unloving arms, and took up her abode in the cottage: where, to speak disrespectfully, she smelled a rat, in the shape of a little bottle of Coty. Other evidence she did not find, at least for some days, when she began to howl about the burnt photograph. She noticed the glass and the back-board in the square bedroom. Unfortunately, on the back-board somebody had scribbled little sketches, and the initials, several times repeated: C.S.R. This, however, afforded no clue until she broke into the hut, and found one of your books, an autobiography of the actress Judith, with your name, Constance Stewart Reid, on the front page. After this, for some days she went round loudly saying that my paramour was no less a person than Lady Chatterley herself. The news came at last to the rector, Mr. Burroughs, and to Sir Clifford. They then proceeded to take legal steps against my liege lady, who for her part disappeared, having always had a mortal fear of the police.