第十七章（第16/18页）

I asked him if it would be easy for him to find another job. He said: "if you're hintin' that you'd like to shunt me out of this job, it'd be easy as wink.” So he made no trouble at all about leaving at the end of next week, and apparently is willing to initiate a young fellow, Joe Chambers, into as many mysteries of the craft as possible. I told him I would give him a month's wages extra, when he left. He said he'd rather I kept my money, as I'd no occasion to ease my conscience. I asked him what he meant, and he said: "you don't owe me nothing extra, Sir Clifford, so don't pay me nothing extra. If you think you see my shirt hanging out, just tell me.” Well, there is the end of it for the time being. The woman has gone away: we don't know where to: but she is liable to arrest if she shows her face in Tevershall. And I heard she is mortally afraid of gaol, because she merits it so well. Mellors will depart on Saturday week, and the place will soon become normal again.

我问他另找工作是否容易。他说：“要是您在暗示我卷铺盖走人，那再简单不过。”他毫未犹豫，答应下周末离开，似乎也毫不吝啬，愿意将自己的经验所得传授给年轻的乔·钱伯斯。我说会在他离职时，多付一个月的薪水。他却说宁愿我留着自己的钱，没必要借此换个心安理得。我问他此话怎讲，他说：“您没欠我任何东西，克利福德爵士，也没必要多付我钱。要是您还有什么不满，只管说出来。”好了，眼下这件事终于可以告一段落。那女人不见踪影，谁也不知道她去了哪里，只要她再在特弗沙尔露面，就会立即被关进班房。我听说她对坐牢怕得要命，可确实应该给她点教训。梅勒斯下周六就会走人，这里很快就将恢复原貌。

Meanwhile, my dear Connie, if you would enjoy to stay in Venice or in Switzerland till the beginning of August, I should be glad to think you were out of all this buzz of nastiness, which will have died quite away by the end of the month.

因此，我亲爱的康妮，如果你愿意在威尼斯或者瑞士呆到八月初，我会感到很高兴，因为那样的话，你就可以完全跟这些污言秽语绝缘，月底之前一切都会销声匿迹。

So you see, we are deep-sea monsters, and when the lobster walks on mud, he stirs it up for everybody. We must perforce take it philosophically. The irritation, and the lack of any sympathy in any direction, of Clifford's letter, had a bad effect on Connie. But she understood it better when she received the following from Mellors: The cat is out of the bag, along with various other pussies. You have heard that my wife Bertha came back to my unloving arms, and took up her abode in the cottage: where, to speak disrespectfully, she smelled a rat, in the shape of a little bottle of Coty. Other evidence she did not find, at least for some days, when she began to howl about the burnt photograph. She noticed the glass and the back-board in the square bedroom. Unfortunately, on the back-board somebody had scribbled little sketches, and the initials, several times repeated: C.S.R. This, however, afforded no clue until she broke into the hut, and found one of your books, an autobiography of the actress Judith, with your name, Constance Stewart Reid, on the front page. After this, for some days she went round loudly saying that my paramour was no less a person than Lady Chatterley herself. The news came at last to the rector, Mr. Burroughs, and to Sir Clifford. They then proceeded to take legal steps against my liege lady, who for her part disappeared, having always had a mortal fear of the police.

你瞧瞧，我们的确是深海的怪物，当龙虾从泥潭淌过，就会将水全部搞浑。我们必须冷静地接受这一点。克利福德的信里表现出十足的愤怒，并无半点同情，这让康妮感觉糟糕。但收到梅勒斯的来信时，她才更加透彻地了解到事情的真相。大猫从袋子里面跑出来，还带着形态各异的小猫。你应该已经听说，我妻子贝莎重新投入我冰冷的怀抱，将我家据为己有。在那儿，请原谅我的不敬，她在科蒂香水瓶里嗅到老鼠的气味。之后的几天里，她没能找到任何蛛丝马迹，就开始为我烧掉结婚照的事呼天抢地。她在卧室里找到玻璃框和后挡板。糟糕的是，有人在后挡板上涂抹了幅素描，落款留的首字母是C.S.R.，且留了数处。尽管如此，仅凭这些，她无法获取任何线索，直到她闯进林中小屋，找到你留下的一本书，女演员朱迪斯的自传，扉页上写有你的全名，康斯坦斯·斯图瓦特·里德。之后，她便四处宣扬，说我的情妇并非普通女子，而是查泰莱夫人。最终，这消息还是没逃过牧师，伯勒斯先生以及克利福德爵士的耳朵。接着，他们就对我忠诚的妻子提起控诉，那女人一向极为惧怕警察，见状不妙，立马溜之大吉。