'Is she of a family such as you would care to marry into - a lady, in short?' asked his startled mother, who had come softly into the study during the conversation.
“她的出身是不是你愿意娶她的那種家庭，簡而言之，她是不是一個小姐？”在他們談話的時候，他的母親悄悄地走進了書房，聽了他的話大吃一驚，問他。

'She is not what in common parlance is called a lady,' said Angel, unflinchingly,?'for she is a cottager's daughter, as I am proud to say. But she is a lady, nevertheless - in feeling and nature.'
“按照普通的說法，她是不能被稱為小姐的，”安琪爾急忙說，一點兒也不畏懼?！耙驗槲铱梢则湴恋卣f，她是一個鄉(xiāng)下小戶人家的女兒。但是她在感情和天性方面，你不能不說她是一位小姐。”

'Mercy Chant is of a very good family.'
“梅茜·羌特可是出身于一個高貴的家庭啊。”

'Pooh! - what's the advantage of that, mother?' said Angel quickly.?'How is family to avail the wife of a man who has to rough it as I have, and shall have to do?'
“呸——那有什么好處，母親？”安琪爾急忙說。“我現(xiàn)在不得不過勞苦的生活，將來也不得不過勞苦的生活，做我這種人的妻子家庭再好又有什么用處呢？”

'Mercy is accomplished. And accomplishments have their charm,' returned his mother, looking at him through her silver spectacles.
“梅茜可是一個多才多藝的姑娘。多才多藝是自有魅力的，”他的母親透過銀邊眼鏡看著他，反駁他說。

'As to external accomplishments, what will be the use of them in the life I am going to lead? - while as to her reading, I can take that in hand. She'll be apt pupil enough, as you would say if you knew her. She's brim full of poetry - actualized poetry, if I may use the expression. She lives what paper-poets only write... And she is an unimpeachable Christian, I am sure; perhaps of the very tribe, genus, and species you desire to propagate.'
“至于說到外在的才藝，它們對于我將要過的生活又有什么意義呢？——而說到讀書，我可以親自教她呀。你們因為不認識她，不然你們會說，她是一個多么聰明的學(xué)生啊。我可以這樣比方說，她渾身上下充滿了詩意——其實她本身就是詩。在理論上懂得詩的詩人只能把詩寫出來，而她卻是一首具有生命的詩……而且我敢肯定，她還是一個無可指摘的基督徒；也許她就是你們想宣揚的那一類典型中的一個?！?/div>

'O Angel, you are mocking!'
“啊，安琪爾，你是在說笑吧！”

'Mother, I beg pardon. But as she really does attend Church almost every Sunday morning, and is a good Christian girl, I am sure you will tolerate any social shortcomings for the sake of that quality, and feel that I may do worse than choose her.' Angel waxed quite earnest on that rather automatic orthodoxy in his beloved Tess which (never dreaming that it might stand him in such good stead) he had been prone to slight when observing it practised by her and the other milkmaids, because of its obvious unreality amid beliefs essentially naturalistic.
“母親，你聽我說。每個禮拜天的早晨，她可真的都去了教堂，她是一個優(yōu)秀的基督教徒，我敢肯定，她有了這種品質(zhì)，你們就會容忍她在社會出身方面的缺陷了，就會認為我要是不娶她，那就是大錯而特錯了。”他心愛的苔絲身上的正統(tǒng)信仰，那完全是自發(fā)產(chǎn)生的，他當時看見苔絲和別的擠奶女工按時去作禮拜時，心里也是瞧不起的，因為在她們本質(zhì)上是對自然崇拜的信仰里，作禮拜顯然就不是誠心誠意的。可是他做夢也沒有想到這一點竟會對他大有幫助，成了支持自己的理由，于是對這一點就越說越認真了。