Nick-knock, nick-knock, went the cradle; the candle-flame stretched itself tall, and began jigging up and down; the water dribbled from the matron's elbows, and the song galloped on to the end of the verse, Mrs Durbeyfield regarding her daughter the while. Even now, when burdened with a young family, Joan Durbeyfield was a passionate lover of tune. No ditty floated into Blackmoor Vale from the outer world but Tess's mother caught up its notation in a week.
搖籃砰吱砰吱地?fù)u著；燭焰伸長(zhǎng)了，開始上下?lián)u曳起來；德北菲爾德太太仔細(xì)注視著她的女兒，洗衣水從她的胳膊肘上流下來，《花斑母牛》也很快唱到了一段的末尾。甚至現(xiàn)在，瓊·德北菲爾德太太身上壓著一群孩子的重?fù)?dān)，她也十分喜歡唱歌。只要有小調(diào)從外面的世界傳入黑荒原谷，苔絲的母親就能在一星期里學(xué)會(huì)它的曲子。

There still faintly beamed from the woman's features something of the freshness, and even the prettiness, of her youth; rendering it probable that the personal charms which Tess could boast of were in main part her mother's gift, and therefore unknightly, unhistorical.
在德北菲爾德太太的面目上，還依稀閃耀著一些她當(dāng)年年輕時(shí)候的鮮艷甚至美麗的光輝；這表明也許苔絲可以引為自豪的她身上的美貌，主要是來自她母親的恩賜，而不是她的騎士血統(tǒng)和歷史淵源帶來的。

'I'll rock the cradle for 'ee, mother,' said the daughter gently. 'Or I'll take off my best frock and help you wring up? I thought you had finished long ago.'
“我來搖搖籃吧，媽媽，”女兒輕聲說?！耙晃野盐疑砩线@件最好的衣服脫下來，幫你把衣服擰干了吧？我還以為你早已經(jīng)洗完了呢?！?/div>

Her mother bore Tess no ill-will for leaving the house-work to her single-handed efforts for so long; indeed, Joan seldom up-braided her thereon at any time, feeling but slightly the lack of Tess's assistance whilst her instinctive plan for relieving herself of her labours lay in postponing them. To-night, however, she wis even in a blither mood than usual. There was a dreaminess, a preoccupation, an exaltation, in the maternal look which the girl could not understand.
苔絲把家務(wù)事留給母親一個(gè)人做，在外面玩得這么久，但母親并沒有埋怨她。說實(shí)在的，瓊從來都很少因?yàn)檫@個(gè)責(zé)怪女兒，她只是稍微感到?jīng)]有苔絲幫忙，要是想讓自己干活輕松些，就只能把活兒推到后面去。但是今天晚上，她好像比平常要快樂些。在母親的臉上，有一種女兒不明白的朦朧恍餾、心不在焉和洋洋得意的神情。?

'Well, I'm glad you've come,' her mother said, as soon as the last note had passed out of her. 'I want to go and fetch your father; but what's more'n that, I want to tell 'ee what have happened. Y'll be fess enough, my poppet, when th'st know!' (Mrs Durbeyfield habitually spoke the dialect; her daughter, who had passed the Sixth Standard in the National School under a London-trained mistress, spoke two languages; the dialect at home, more or less; ordinary English abroad and to persons of quality.)
“噢，你回來得正好，”她母親剛把最后一個(gè)音唱完就開口說。“我正要出去找你的父親；不過還有比這更重要的，我要告訴你剛才發(fā)生的事。我的小寶貝，你聽了一定要高興的！”德北菲爾德太太習(xí)慣于說土話；她的女兒在國立小學(xué)里經(jīng)過倫敦培養(yǎng)的女教師的教育，已經(jīng)讀完了第六年級(jí)，因而講兩種語言：在家里或多或少講土話；在外面和對(duì)有教養(yǎng)的人講普通英語。?