He unbridled and fed his horse, and as he re-entered the house the clock struck three. Three was the afternoon skimming-hour; and, with the stroke, Clare heard the creaking of the floor-boards above, and then the touch of a descending foot on the stairs. It was Tess's, who in another moment came down before his eyes.
他把馬嚼松開，喂上馬，再回到屋里的時候，時鐘剛好敲響了三點。這是下午撇奶油的時候；鐘聲一響，克萊爾就聽見了頭上樓板的咯吱聲，聽見了有人從樓梯上下樓的腳步聲。那正是苔絲走路的聲音。又過了一會兒，苔絲下了樓，出現(xiàn)在他的面前。

She had not heard him enter, and hardly realized his presence there. She was yawning, and he saw the red interior of her mouth as if it had been a snake's. She had stretched one arm so high as above her coiled-up cable of hair that he could see its satin delicacy above the sunburn; her face was flushed with sleep, and her eyelids hung heavy over their pupils. The brimfulness of her nature breathed from her. It was a moment when a woman's soul is more incarnate than at any other time; when the most spiritual beauty bespeaks itself flesh; and sex takes the outside place in the presentation.
克萊爾進屋時她沒有聽見，也沒有想到他會在樓下。她正打著阿欠，克萊爾看見她嘴里面紅紅的，仿佛蛇的嘴一樣。她把一只胳臂高高地舉起來，伸在已經(jīng)被盤起來的頭發(fā)上面，看得見頭上被太陽曬黑的皮膚的上面部分，像緞子一樣光滑白嫩；她的臉睡得紅紅的，眼皮低垂著，遮住了瞳孔。她的渾身上下都散發(fā)出女性成熟的氣息。正是在這種時刻，一個女人的靈魂才比任何時候更像女人；也正是在這種時候，超凡脫俗的美才顯示出肉欲的一面；女性的特征才在外面表現(xiàn)出來。

Then those eyes flashed brightly through their filmy heaviness, before the remainder of her face was well awake. With an oddly compounded look of gladness, shyness, and surprise, she exclaimed--
接著，她的一雙眼睛從惺松朦朧中睜開了，閃著明亮的光，不過她臉上其它的部分還沒有完全清醒過來。她臉上的表情是奇特的、復(fù)雜的，有高興，有羞怯，也有意外，她喊著說：

'O Mr Clare! How you frightened me - I--'
“啊，克萊爾先生！你把我嚇了一跳——我——”

There had not at first been time for her to think of the changed relations which his declaration had introduced; but the full sense of the matter rose up in her face when she encountered Clare's tender look as he stepped forward to the bottom stair.
最初她還沒有來得及想到，克萊爾已經(jīng)向她表明了心跡，他們的關(guān)系已經(jīng)發(fā)生變化了；克萊爾向樓梯跟前走去，苔絲看見他一臉的溫情，這才完全意識到這件事情，這種意識隨著又在她的臉上表現(xiàn)出來。

'Dear, darling Tessy!' he whispered, putting his arm round her, and his face to her flushed cheek. 'Don't, for Heaven's sake, Mister me any more. I have hastened back so soon because of you!'
“親愛的，親愛的苔絲呀！”他低聲說，一邊伸出胳臂摟著她，一邊把臉朝著苔絲羞紅了的臉?！扒f不要再叫我先生了。我這樣早趕回來，全是為了你呀！”