第十二章（第6/12页）

"Do you let the hens out now?" she asked.

“你现在放母鸡出笼了吗？”

"Yes, they've sat themselves to skin and bone," he said. "An'now they're not all that anxious to come out an'feed. There's no self in a sitting hen; she's all in the eggs or the chicks.” The poor mother-hens; such blind devotion! Even to eggs not their own! Connie looked at them in compassion. A helpless silence fell between the man and the woman.

“是啊，它们整天窝在笼里，已经瘦得皮包骨头。”他说，“对出来吃食也失去兴趣。孵蛋期间，母鸡完全失去自我，全身心投入到繁衍后代的任务中去。”这些可怜的鸡妈妈，如此不求回报地付出着！甚至不介意所孵的蛋并非属于自己。康妮望着这些伟大的母亲，心生怜悯。这对男女再次被无助的沉默所笼罩。

"Shall us go i'th'ut?" he asked.

“咱俩进屋去？”他问。

"Do you want me?" She asked, in a sort of mistrust.

“你愿意接纳我吗？”她问，心怀疑虑。

"Ay, if you want to come." She was silent.

“是呀，如果你乐意的话。”她不再作声。

"Come then!" he said.

“来吧！”他说。

And she went with him to the hut. It was quite dark when he had shut the door, so he made a small light in the lantern, as before.

接着，她随他走进小屋。他把门掩上，屋里一团漆黑，于是，他如往常那般，将油灯点亮。

"Have you left your underthings off?" he asked her.

“你没穿内衣吧？”他问。

"Yes!" "Ay, well, then I'll take my things off too.” He spread the blankets, putting one at the side for a coverlet. She took off her hat, and shook her hair. He sat down, taking off his shoes and gaiters, and undoing his cord breeches.

“嗯！”“哦，那好，我也把衣服脱掉。”他伸开毛毯，放一条在旁边，准备用来蔽体。她摘掉帽子，轻摇发丝。他坐下来，褪掉鞋子和绑腿，脱下灯芯绒马裤。

"Lie down then!" he said, when he stood in his shirt.

“躺下吧！”他说，仍穿着衬衣站在那里。

She obeyed in silence, and he lay beside her, and pulled the blanket over them both.

她沉默不语，只是照他的意思做，然后，他在她身旁躺下，扯过毛毯盖在两人身上。

"There!" he said.

“我来了！”他说。

And he lifted her dress right back, till he came even to her breasts. He kissed them softly, taking the nipples in his lips in tiny caresses.

他一下将她的衣裙掀了起来，一直掀到胸口。他温柔地亲吻着她的双峰，用嘴唇衔住乳头，轻轻地吸吮着。

"Eh, but tha'rt nice, tha'rt nice!” He said, suddenly rubbing his face with a snuggling movement against her warm belly.

“哇哦，恁太妙了，恁太棒了！”他说着，突然把脸贴上她温热的小腹，来回磨蹭着。

And she put her arms round him under his shirt, but she was afraid, afraid of his thin, smooth, naked body, that seemed so powerful, afraid of the violent muscles. She shrank, afraid.

她将双臂探进他的衬衫，环绕着他的身体，依然心怀畏惧，害怕他那瘦削光滑、充满力量的裸体，害怕他那强健有力的肌肉。她又惊又怕，不断退缩着。

And when he said, with a sort of little sigh: "eh, tha'rt nice!" something in her quivered, and something in her spirit stiffened in resistance: stiffened from the terribly physical intimacy, and from the peculiar haste of his possession.

他轻叹着：“啊，它们真不错！”他这样赞美她娇躯的美妙，这时，她身体的某些部分迎合起来，而心底的某些角落却拼命顽抗着，抗拒性爱的暴风骤雨，抗拒他迫不及待的占有。

And this time the sharp ecstasy of her own passion did not overcome her; she lay with her ends inert on his striving body, and do what she might, her spirit seemed to look on from the top of her head, and the butting of his haunches seemed ridiculous to her, and the sort of anxiety of his penis to come to its little evacuating crisis seemed farcical. Yes, this was love, this ridiculous bouncing of the buttocks, and the wilting of the poor, insignificant, moist little penis. This was the divine love! After all, the moderns were right when they felt contempt for the performance; for it was a performance. It was quite true, as some poets said, that the God who created man must have had a sinister sense of humour, creating him a reasonable being, yet forcing him to take this ridiculous posture, and driving him with blind craving for this ridiculous performance. Even a Maupassant found it a humiliating anti-climax. Men despised the intercourse act, and yet did it.

这次，蚀骨销魂的爱欲并未将她征服。她躺在那里，双手软塌塌地搭在他奋力挺动的身体上。即使尽量迎合，她清醒的思维似乎仍扮演着旁观者的角色。他臀部的耸动依然滑稽至极，而他的阳物为求得片刻的欢愉，急功近利地挺进，更是无聊透顶。没错，这就是爱情，屁股来回的耸动荒唐可笑，那根可有可无的阴茎萎缩时总是湿嗒嗒的，煞是可怜。这就是神圣的爱情！归根到底，现代人对这种行为的鄙视无可厚非，因为它只不过是种性爱的举动而已。诗人们说得有理，缔造人类的上帝想必怀有恶意的幽默感，将人类塑造成理智的存在，但却让他们在交媾时摆出这种可笑的姿势，使他们对这种滑稽的勾当孜孜以求。甚至连莫泊桑（注：1850-1893，法国小说家）都觉得爱情有虎头蛇尾之嫌，实是丢人现眼的举动。人们对性行为深感不齿，但又乐此不疲。