第六章（第5/12页）

小屋的门没关，里面传出咔嗒咔嗒的声响。康妮放缓脚步，女孩挣出手来，跑进屋去。

"Gran! Gran!"

“奶奶！奶奶！”

"Why, are yer back a'ready!”

“咋回事？这会儿就回来了！”

The grandmother had been blackleading the stove, it was Saturday morning. She came to the door in her sacking apron, a blacklead-brush in her hand, and a black smudge on her nose. She was a little, rather dry woman.

那是周六的早晨，女孩的祖母正用黑铅粉漆着炉灶。她系着粗布围裙，走到门口来，手拿沾满铅粉的毛刷，鼻头上有块黑渍。她五短身材，形容颇为枯槁。

"Why, whatever?" she said, hastily wiping her arm across her face as she saw Connie standing outside.

“哎呀，啥事情？”她说，看到康妮站在屋外，忙不迭地抬起手臂去抹脸。

"Good morning!" said Connie. "She was crying, so I just brought her home." The grandmother looked around swiftly at the child: "Why, wheer was yer Dad?" The little girl clung to her grandmother's skirts and simpered.

“早安！”康妮说。“她哭个不停，我就把她送回家来了。”孩子祖母麻利地转过来望向自己的孙女。“我说，你爹上哪去了？”小姑娘扯着奶奶的裙摆，哧哧笑着。

"He was there," said Connie, "but he'd shot a poaching cat, and the child was upset.” "Oh, you'd no right t'ave bothered, Lady Chatterley, I'm sure! I'm sure it was very good of you, but you shouldn't 'ave bothered. Why, did ever you see! and the old woman turned to the child: "Fancy Lady Chatterley takin' all that trouble over yer! Why, she shouldn't ave bothered!”

“他在那边呢，”康妮解释说，“可他击毙一只野猫，把孩子给吓着了。”“哦，真是太麻烦您了，查泰莱夫人。您的心肠实在太好了，可真不应该给您添麻烦。嘿，你瞧见没？老人转向孩子道：“恁给好查泰莱夫人添了不少麻烦！唉，麻烦她真是过意不去！”

"It was no bother, just a walk," said Connie smiling.

“没什么麻烦的，我正好也散散步。”康妮笑着说。

"Why, I'm sure 'twas very kind of you, I must say! So she was crying! I knew there'd be something afore they got far. She's frightened of 'im, that's wheer it is. Seems 'e's almost a stranger to 'er, fair a stranger, and I don't think they're two as'd hit it off very easy. He's got funny ways.” Connie didn't know what to say.

“哎呀，您真是大好人，这可是掏心掏肺的话！也难怪这丫头会哭！他俩还没走远，我就知道会出岔子。她怕她爹，这是根本原因。她几乎把他当作外人，地地道道的外人，他俩压根儿就合不来。他的脾气可怪呢。”康妮不知如何回应。

"Look, Gran!" simpered the child.

“奶奶，快看！”女孩笑着说。

The old woman looked down at the sixpence in the little girl's hand.

老妇人低头看到女孩手中的硬币。

"An'sixpence an'all! Oh, your Ladyship, you shouldn't, you shouldn't. Why, isn't Lady Chatterley good to yer! My word, you're a lucky girl this morning!” She pronounced the name, as all the people did: Chat'ley. Connie was moving away... "Well, thank you ever so much, Lady Chat'ley, I'm sure. Say thank you to Lady Chat'ley!"——this last to the child.”

“六便士呢！噢，尊敬的夫人，您何必这样呢，您不必这样的。天呢，查泰莱夫人对恁多好！哎呀，你这丫头今儿早上真是交运了！”跟所有村民一样，她把查泰莱读作查莱。康妮正打算抽身离去。“哦，从心底感谢您，查莱夫人。跟查莱夫人说谢谢！”最后这句是跟孙女说的。

"Thank you," piped the child.

“谢谢。”女孩尖声细气地说。

"There's a dear!" laughed Connie, and she moved away, saying "Good morning", heartily relieved to get away from the contact.

“真是乖孩子！”康妮笑着回应，道别后，便转身远去，能摆脱这对祖孙，她感觉如释重负。

Curious, she thought, that that thin, proud man should have that little, sharp woman for a mother!

她心中暗自诧异，那个身材瘦削、目中无人的男子，居然有位五短身材、却精明强干的母亲！

And the old woman, as soon as Connie had gone, rushed to the bit of mirror in the scullery, and looked at her face. Seeing it, she stamped her foot with impatience. "Of COURE she had to catch me in my coarse apron, and a dirty face! Nice idea she'd get of me!” Connie went slowly home to Wragby. "Home!——it was a warm word to use for that great, weary warren. But then it was a word that had had its day. It was somehow cancelled. All the great words, it seemed to Connie, were cancelled for her generation: love, joy, happiness, home, mother, father, husband, all these great, dynamic words were half dead now, and dying from day to day. Home was a place you lived in, love was a thing you didn't fool yourself about, joy was a word you applied to a good Charleston, happiness was a term of hypocrisy used to bluff other people, a father was an individual who enjoyed his own existence, a husband was a man you lived with and kept going in spirits. As for sex, the last of the great words, it was just a cocktail term for an excitement that bucked you up for a while, then left you more raggy than ever. Frayed! It was as if the very material you were made of was cheap stuff, and was fraying out to nothing.