第十四章（第8/15页）

“但血脉贲张的时候，你总该信任自己的肉体。”她说。“你不会怀疑，对吗？”“对。哎呀！正因为此，我才会招来那么多麻烦。心中才会充满疑虑。”“多疑就多疑吧。没什么大不了的！”

The dog sighed with discomfort on the mat. The ash-clogged fire sank.

弗洛西伏在毯子上，苦恼地叹着气。照片燃剩的灰烬将炉火弄弱。

"We are a couple of battered warriors," said Connie. He laughed. "Are you battered too?"

“我们是对遍体鳞伤的勇士。”康妮调侃着。他笑着问。“你也遍体鳞伤？”

"And here we are returning to the fray!" "Yes! I feel really frightened." "Ay!" He got up, and put her shoes to dry, and wiped his own and set them near the fire. In the morning he would grease them. He poked the ash of pasteboard as much as possible out of the fire. "Even burnt, it's filthy," he said. Then he brought sticks and put them on the hob for the morning. Then he went out awhile with the dog.

“而在这里，我们又将重整旗鼓！”“没错！我还真有些害怕。”“唉！”他站起身，把她的鞋拿去烤干，擦拭完自己的靴子，也搁在炉火旁边。清晨时分，他会给靴子上油。他把照片的灰烬拨弄到旁边，尽可能地远离火焰。“即便烧成灰，都脏得要死。”他说。接着，他拿来些柴火，放在炉架上，以备明早使用。然后，他带着猎犬，外出巡视。

When he came back, Connie said: "I want to go out too, for a minute." She went alone into the darkness. There were stars overhead. She could smell flowers on the night air. And she could feel her wet shoes getting wetter again. But she felt like going away, right away from him and everybody.

他回来时，康妮说：“我也想出去，稍微透透气。”她独自步入漆黑的暗夜。头顶是满天繁星。夜晚的寒气里，她嗅得到阵阵花香。她感觉到鞋子再次被打湿。但她此刻却想要逃离，远离他，远离所有人。

It was chilly. She shuddered, and returned to the house. He was sitting in front of the low fire.

天寒地冻。她全身战栗，退回到屋里。他正坐在微弱的炉火旁。

"Ugh! Cold!" She shuddered.

“啊！太冷了！”她哆嗦着说。

He put the sticks on the fire, and fetched more, till they had a good crackling chimneyful of blaze. The rippling running yellow flame made them both happy, warmed their faces and their souls.

他添些柴火，然后又去取了些，直到熊熊烈焰充满烟道，快活的噼啪声传入耳膜。黄色的火焰起伏奔腾着，让两人的情绪都愉悦起来，脸庞和灵魂都得到温暖。

"Never mind!" She said, taking his hand as he sat silent and remote. "One does one's best.” "Ay!" He sighed, with a twist of a smile.

“没关系！”看到他一言不发地远远坐着，她上前握住他的手，安慰道。“尽力就好。”“唉！”他苦笑着，叹了口气。

She slipped over to him, and into his arms, as he sat there before the fire.

他坐在炉火前，她走到他身旁，偎入他的怀中。

"Forget then!" She whispered. "Forget! He held her close, in the running warmth of the fire. The flame itself was like a forgetting. And her soft, warm, ripe weight! Slowly his blood turned, and began to ebb back into strength and reckless vigour again.

“别再想了！”她低语道。“忘掉吧！”他紧紧搂着她，炉火喷出的热气扑面而来。火焰本身似乎拥有让人遗忘的魔力。而她那成熟的肉体更是那样柔软温暖，让他感到实实在在的重量！他的血液慢慢开始转变，变得充满力量与无尽的生气。

"And perhaps the women really wanted to be there and love you properly, only perhaps they couldn't. Perhaps it wasn't all their fault," she said.

“或许那些女人都是真心实意想和你相处，想好好爱你，只是她们做不到而已。或许这并不都是她们的错。”她说。

"I know it. Do you think I don't know what a broken-backed snake that's been trodden on I was myself!” She clung to him suddenly. She had not wanted to start all this again. Yet some perversity had made her.

“我知道。难道你认为我已经遗忘，忘记自己像条被任意践踏的蛇，连脊背都已折断！”她突然紧紧拥着他。她本不愿再挑起这个话题。但却抑制不住自己的情绪，任性胡为起来。

"But you're not now," she said. "You're not that now: a broken-backed snake that's been trodden on.” "I don't know what I am. There's black days ahead.” "No!" she protested, clinging to him. "Why? Why?" "There's black days coming for us all and for everybody," he repeated with a prophetic gloom.