第九章（第2/12页）

"Shall I shave you this morning, or would you rather do it yourself?" Always the same soft, caressive, subservient, yet managing voice.

“今天早上，我来给您刮脸？还是您亲自动手？”语气依然轻柔亲切，恭敬顺服，但又力争将局势控制在可掌控的范围内。

"I don't know. Do you mind waiting a while. I'll ring when I'm ready.” "Very good, Sir Clifford!" she replied, so soft and submissive, withdrawing quietly. But every rebuff stored up new energy of will in her.

“我不知道。再等会儿可以吗？我做好准备，就按铃通知你。”“遵命，克利福德爵士！”她应道，语调温柔婉转，毕恭毕敬，然后悄无声息地退出房间。但每次碰壁都会使她的意志有所增强。

When he rang, after a time, she would appear at once. And then he would say: "I think I'd rather you shaved me this morning.” Her heart gave a little thrill, and she replied with extra softness: "Very good, Sir Clifford!" She was very deft, with a soft, lingering touch, a little slow. At first he had resented the infinitely soft touch of her lingers on his face. But now he liked it, with a growing voluptuousness. He let her shave him nearly every day: her face near his, her eyes so very concentrated, watching that she did it right. And gradually her fingertips knew his cheeks and lips, his jaw and chin and throat perfectly. He was well-fed and well-liking, his face and throat were handsome enough and he was a gentleman.

少顷，他按铃示意，她立马就位。接下来，他便发号施令：“今天还是你来帮我刮脸为好。”她的心房微微震颤，更为轻声细语地答道：“遵命，克利福德爵士！”她的动作敏捷熟练，触碰轻柔缠绵，稍显缓慢。起初，他很反感她的手指在自己脸上没完没了的抚触。但现在，他却陶醉其中，享受着日益增强的快感。他几乎每天都让她给自己刮脸，两人的脸庞贴得很近，她总是聚精会神，生怕哪里出了岔子。渐渐地，她的指尖彻底熟悉了他的脸颊、他的双唇、他的下颚以及脖项。他养尊处优，红光满面，脸孔和脖项也算得标致，是位地道的贵族。

She was handsome too, pale, her face rather long and absolutely still, her eyes bright, but revealing nothing. Gradually, with infinite softness, almost with love, she was getting him by the throat, and he was yielding to her.

而她也生得很是端庄，洁白的面孔稍长，显得极为沉静，双目炯炯有神，但却不动声色。渐渐地，她用无尽的柔情，近似于爱的温情，牢牢扼住他的喉咙，使他听命于自己。

She now did almost everything for him, and he felt more at home with her, less ashamed of accepting her menial offices, than with Connie. She liked handling him. She loved having his body in her charge, absolutely, to the last menial offices. She said to Connie one day: "All men are babies, when you come to the bottom of them. Why, I've handled some of the toughest customers as ever went down Tevershall pit. But let anything ail them so that you have to do for them, and they're babies, just big babies. Oh, there's not much difference in men!” At first Mrs. Bolton had thought there really was something different in a gentleman, a real gentleman, like Sir Clifford. So Clifford had got a good start of her. But gradually, as she came to the bottom of him, to use her own term, she found he was like the rest, a baby grown to man's proportions: but a baby with a queer temper and a fine manner and power in its control, and all sorts of odd knowledge that she had never dreamed of, with which he could still bully her.

她几乎帮他打理一切，有她相伴，克利福德觉得更加轻松自在，甚至胜过与康妮相处，可以心安理得地接受她的服侍。她也愿意为他效劳。她热衷于掌控他的身体，甚至为他做最为卑下的服务。有一天，她对康妮说：“所有男人都与婴儿无异，关键是要清楚他们内心的想法。哦，我照料过特弗沙尔矿场最凶悍的矿工。但当遭遇伤痛，需要别人照顾时，他们就会变成婴儿，只是心智成熟的婴儿。噢，男人大抵都是如此！”起先，博尔顿太太以为贵族会与众不同，尤其是像克利福德爵爷这样真正的贵族。因此，才会被克利福德占得先手。但时间一久，她深谙他的脾气秉性，用她自己的话来讲，她发现他跟其他男人没什么两样，虽已长大成人，但本质上仍是个婴孩。只不过这个婴孩脾气性格怪异，举止文雅，手握权柄，懂得各种各样稀奇古怪的知识，她想都未曾想过，仅是这些仍足以让她自惭形秽。

Connie was sometimes tempted to say to him: "For God's sake, don't sink so horribly into the hands of that woman!” But she found she didn't care for him enough to say it, in the long run.