托马斯·哈代(Thomas Hardy)
Nevertheless she returned to the beer and drank her share, and they went on their way. It was now nearly dark, and as soon as they had withdrawn from the light of the town they walked closer together, till they touched each other. She wondered why he did not put his arm round her waist, but he did not, he merely said what to himself seemed a quite bold enough thing: “Take my arm.”
She took it, thoroughly, up to the shoulder. He felt the warmth of her body against his, and putting his stick under his other arm held with his right hand her right as it rested in its place. “Now we are well together, dear, aren't we?” he observed.
“Yes,” said she, adding to herself:“Rather mild!”
“How fast I have become!” he was thinking.
Thus they walked till they reached the foot of the upland, where they could see the white highway ascending before them in the gloom . From this point the only way of getting to Arabella's was by going up the incline, and dipping again into her valley on the right. Before they had climbed far they were nearly run into by two men who had been walking on the grass unseen.
“These lovers — you find them out of doors in all seasons and weathers — lovers and homeless dogs only,” said one of the men as they vanished down the hill.
Arabella tittered lightly.
“Are we lovers?”asked Jude.
“You know best.”
“But you can tell me?”
For answer she inclined her head upon his shoulder. Jude took the hint, and encircling her waist with his arm, pulled her to him and kissed her.
They walked now no longer arm in arm but, as she had desired, clasped together. After all, what did it matter since it was dark, said Jude to himself. When they were half-way up the long hill they paused as by arrangement, and he kissed her again. They reached the top, and he kissed her once more.
“You can keep your arm there, if you would like to,” she said gently.
He did so, thinking how trusting she was.
- withdraw [wɪðˈdrɔː] v. 退出
- bold [bəʊld] a. 大胆的
- gloom [ɡluːm] n. 黑暗
- vanish [ˈvænɪʃ] v. 消失
- titter [ˈtɪtə] v. 窃笑
- clasp [klɑːsp] v. 紧紧抱住
尽管如此，她还是转身端起啤酒杯，把她的那份一饮而尽。随后他们便上路了。天已经快黑了，他们一躲开小镇的灯火，就愈走愈靠近了，直到彼此相触碰。她不知他怎么不用手臂搂着她的腰，可他就是不这么做，仅仅说了一句他自己也觉得很唐突的话：“挽住我的胳膊。”
她齐肩抱住了他的胳膊。他感觉到她的体温传遍他的身体，于是把手杖递到另一只手臂下面，腾出右手在她右臂依偎着的位置搂着她。“这会儿咱们彻底在一起了，亲爱的，对吧？”他说道。
“是啊，”她又补一句，“相当温柔！”
“我进展得多快呀！”他在想。
他们就这样走着，一直到了山丘脚下，从那里他们可以看到一条白色的公路，在眼前一片苍茫暮色中向上延伸。从这里到阿拉贝拉家唯一的路就是走上这个斜坡，然后再直往下行，进入右边她所在的山谷里。他们还没爬多远，就险些撞上两个一直在草丛里走着、昏暗中看不见的人。
“这些小情人——什么季节什么天气你都能在户外看到他们——只有小情人和流浪狗是这样，”其中一人这么说着，他们往山下走去，迅速消失在夜幕中。
阿拉贝拉轻声窃笑着。
“我们是小情人吗？”裘德问道。
“你最清楚了。”
“但你总可以告诉我吧？”
她把头靠在了他的肩膀上算是给出了答案。裘德也立刻领会，用一只手臂搂住她的腰，将她拉近身边热吻起来。
他们现在不再手拉手地走，而是如她所愿，两人身体紧贴着往前走。裘德心里在想，毕竟天都这么黑了，这又有什么关系呢。这长长的山路他们向上爬到一半的时候，如同事先安排好了似的，他们停了下来，他又一次吻了她。当他们到达山顶，他再一次吻了她。
“如果你愿意可以把手臂一直放在这里。”她温柔地说。
他照着做了，心想她对自己是多么信任啊。
托马斯·哈代(1840—1928)，英国著名小说家兼诗人。他的小说多写作于19世纪。20世纪以来，因为代表作《德伯家的苔丝》(Tess of the D'Urbervilles )和《无名的裘德》(Jude the Obscure )深刻揭露了当时英国社会的现实矛盾，受到批评家敌视与非难，于是愤然放弃小说创作，从事诗歌写作。他的诗作与小说，都遵循自己的创作原则“多记印象，少写主见”。作品充满了浓厚的生活气息，人物描写细腻生动，富于个性。