Clare had resolved never to kiss her until he had obtained her promise; but somehow, as Tess stood there in her prettily tucked-up milking gown, her hair carelessly heaped upon her head till there should be leisure to arrange it when skimming and milking were done, he broke his resolve, and brought his lips to her cheek for one moment. She passed downstairs very quickly, never looking back at him or saying another word. The other maids were already down, and the subject was not pursued. Except Marian they all looked wistfully and suspiciously at the pair, in the sad yellow rays which the morning candles emitted in contrast with the first cold signals of the dawn without.
克萊爾下了決心，除非她答應嫁給他，他是不再吻她了；但是看見苔絲站在那兒，身上穿著漂亮的擠奶長裙，下擺扎在腰里，頭發(fā)隨便地盤在頭上，等奶油撤完了，牛奶也擠完了再梳理它們，這時候他的決心瓦解了，就用他的嘴唇在她的面頰上輕輕地吻了一下。她趕忙下了樓，再也沒有看他一眼，也沒有再說一句話。其他的擠奶女工已經(jīng)下樓了，所以這個話題他們，就誰也不再提了。除了瑪麗安外，所有的人都用沉思和懷疑的目光看著他們兩個，在破曉的第一道清冷的晨光的映襯下，早晨的蠟燭散發(fā)著憂傷昏黃的光。

When skimming was done - which, as the milk diminished with the approach of autumn, was a lessening process day by day. Retty and the rest went out. The lovers followed them.
撇奶油很快就結(jié)束了——秋天來了，奶牛的出奶量減少了，所以撇奶油的時間也就越來越短了——萊蒂和其他的擠奶女工走了。這一對情人也跟在她們的后面走了。

'Our tremulous lives are so different from theirs, are they not?' he musingly observed to her, as he regarded the three figures tripping before him through the frigid pallor of opening day.
“我們小心謹慎地過日子，和她們多么不同呀，是不是？”天色漸漸泛白了，他一面注視著在清冷的白光中走著的三個人影，一面幽默地對苔絲說。

'Not so very different, I think,' she said.
“我覺得并沒有什么多大的不同，”她說。

'Why do you think that?'
“你為什么要那樣認為呢？”

'There are very few women's lives that are not tremulous,' Tess replied, pausing over the new word as if it impressed her. 'There's more in those three than you think.'
“很少有女人不小心謹慎的，”苔絲回答說，說到這個新詞的時候猶豫了一下，仿佛對這個詞印象很深刻?！霸谒齻?nèi)齻€人身上，優(yōu)點比你想的還要多?！?/div>

'What is in them?'
“有什么優(yōu)點？”

'Almost either of 'em,' she began, 'would make - perhaps would make - a properer wife than I. And perhaps they love you as well as I - almost.'
“幾乎她們每一個人，”她開始說，“也許她們比我更適合做你的妻子。也許她們和我一樣地愛你——幾乎是一樣。”

'O, Tessy!'
“啊，苔絲！”