第五章（第2/10页）

Clifford sat with a fixed face as the chair slowly mounted. When they came to the top of the rise he stopped; he would not risk the long and very jolty down-slope. He sat looking at the greenish sweep of the riding downwards, a clear way through the bracken and oaks. It swerved at the bottom of the hill and disappeared; but it had such a lovely easy curve, of knights riding and ladies on palfreys.

轮椅继续缓慢地向上爬升，克利福德脸上没有任何表情。两人在坡顶停住脚步，克利福德不愿冒险尝试那漫长而又崎岖的下坡旅程。他呆坐在原地，眼望着绿色坡地向下延伸，从蕨草和橡树间穿过。最后在山脚下转个弯，便从视线中消失不见。然而它的蜿蜒曲折是那样的优雅从容，让人不禁想起旧日策马徐行的骑士和贵妇。

"I consider this is really the heart of England," said Clifford to Connie, as he sat there in the dim February sunshine.

“我认为这里才是英格兰的中心。”克利福德对康妮说，沐浴在二月朦胧的阳光中。

"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.

“相当短的时间！这已经是我们所能做的一切。我们只能做好自己的分内的事。我觉得自从拥有这片土地，查泰莱家族的每名成员都尽到了自己的本分。反对陋俗固然可行，但保留传统更加必要。”沉默再度降临。

"What tradition?" asked Connie.

“什么传统？”康妮问。

"The tradition of England! of this!" "Yes," she said slowly.

“英格兰的传统！拉格比的传统！”“是的。”她慢吞吞地应道。

"That's why having a son helps; one is only a link in a chain," he said.

“因此，有个儿子才能作数；每个人都不过是链条中的一环而已。”他解释道。

Connie was not keen on chains, but she said nothing. She was thinking of the curious impersonality of his desire for a son.

康妮有些反感关于链条的话题，但却并没有表露出来。她在想，丈夫求子的愿望实在有些难以理解，又不切实际。

"I'm sorry we can't have a son," she said.

“很遗憾我们没法拥有自己的儿子。”她说。

He looked at her steadily, with his full, pale-blue eyes.

他那淡蓝色的双眸目不转睛地注视着她。

"It would almost be a good thing if you had a child by another man, he said. "If we brought it up at Wragby, it would belong to us and to the place. I don't believe very intensely in fatherhood. If we had the child to rear, it would be our own, and it would carry on. Don't you think it's worth considering?” Connie looked up at him at last. The child, her child, was just an "it" to him. It...it...it! "But what about the other man?" she asked.

“如果你和其他男人生个孩子，也算是个不错的主意。”他说。“只要我们在拉格比将它养育成人，它就会属于我们，属于这片土地。我对血脉传承不太感冒。只要我们将它养大，它就是我们的孩子，让查泰莱的姓氏得以延续。难道你不认为这值得考虑么？”康妮终于抬起头，望着眼前这个男人。孩子，她的孩子，对于他而言，只是“它”而已，跟没有生命的东西无异。它……只不过是件工具……延续香火的工具！“可那个男人怎么办？”她问。