第十七章（第9/18页）

She had been at Venice a fortnight, and she was to stay another ten days or a fortnight. The sunshine blazed over any count of time, and the fullness of physical health made forgetfulness complete. She was in a sort of stupor of well-being.

来威尼斯已有两周时间，按计划，她还能再逗留十天半月。耀目的阳光让她忘记了时光的流逝，而肉体的健康则使这种遗忘更加彻底。她陶醉于这种闲适康乐的状态里。

From which a letter of Clifford roused her.

直到克利福德的来信将她唤醒。

We too have had our mild local excitement. It appears the truant wife of Mellors, the keeper, turned up at the cottage and found herself unwelcome. He packed her off, and locked the door. Report has it, however, that when he returned from the wood he found the no longer fair lady firmly established in his bed, in puris naturalibus; or one should say, in impuris naturalibus. She had broken a window and got in that way. Unable to evict the somewhat man-handled Venus from his couch, he beat a retreat and retired, it is said, to his mother's house in Tevershall. Meanwhile the Venus of Stacks Gate is established in the cottage, which she claims is her home, and Apollo, apparently, is domiciled in Tevershall.

我们这里也有件本地小小的趣事。守林人梅勒斯的妻子，离家多日后再度现身农舍，结果发现自己不受欢迎。他把她撵出家去，还将大门紧锁。可据说，他从树林回到家中时，发现那个容颜不再的悍妇正稳稳盘踞在他的床上，身无片缕，或者应该说脱个精光。她趁他不在，砸碎玻璃，进到屋里。由于无法将这位饱经蹂躏的维纳斯从床上赶走，他只得偃旗息鼓，退避三舍，坊间传闻，他逃回特弗沙尔，住进母亲家里。与此同时，斯塔克斯门的维纳斯将农舍据为己有，声称那是她的地盘，而可怜的阿波罗，显然只好在特弗沙尔暂时落脚。

I repeat this from hearsay, as Mellors has not come to me personally. I had this particular bit of local garbage from our garbage bird, our ibis, our scavenging turkey-buzzard, Mrs. Bolton. I would not have repeated it had she not exclaimed: her Ladyship will go no more to the wood if that woman's going to be about!

上述故事均是道听途说，因为梅勒斯本人并未来找过我。这则无聊的传闻是从我们的垃圾鸟，我们的美洲鹳，我们吃腐肉的秃鹫，博尔顿太太那里听来的。我转述此事，全因为她说过：要是那女人赖着不走，夫人可就没法再去林中散步了！

I like your picture of Sir Malcolm striding into the sea with white hair blowing and pink flesh glowing. I envy you that sun. Here it rains. But I don't envy Sir Malcolm his inveterate mortal carnality. However, it suits his age. Apparently one grows more carnal and more mortal as one grows older. Only youth has a taste of immortality— This news affected Connie in her state of semi-stupefied ell being with vexation amounting to exasperation. Now she ad got to be bothered by that beast of a woman! Now she must start and fret! She had no letter from Mellors. They had agreed not to write at all, but now she wanted to hear from him personally. After all, he was the father of the child that was coming. Let him write!

我很喜欢你栩栩如生的作品，画里的马尔科姆爵士正阔步走进大海，白发迎风飘摆，肌肤泛着红光。真羡慕你那里的太阳。拉格比阴雨连绵。可我并不羡慕他对肉欲无休无止的追求。不过，这种行为倒也符合他的年纪。年龄越大，越是贪图肉欲。只有青春才知不朽为何物——这消息彻底将康妮从半昏迷似的幸福状态中唤醒，心情渐渐从苦恼升格为愤怒。如今，那个泼妇还是跳了出来，扰乱她的清静！从现在开始，有她烦的了！她没收到梅勒斯的信。他俩约好互不通信，但眼下，她渴望能从他那儿了解到真实的情况。他毕竟是腹中婴孩的父亲。快让他写信吧！

But how hateful! Now everything was messed up. How foul those low people were! How nice it was here, in the sunshine and the indolence, compared to that dismal mess of that English Midlands! After all, a clear sky was almost the most important thing in life.

真是可恶！现在所有事都乱成一团。平民百姓的行径果然恶劣！跟英国中部那团解不开的令人沮丧的乱麻相比，这儿和煦的阳光，慵懒的生活实在惬意极了！无论怎样，晴朗的天空几乎是生活中最紧要的东西。

She did not mention the fact of her pregnancy, even to Hilda. She wrote to Mrs. Bolton for exact information.

她没向任何人透露过自己怀孕的事，甚至连希尔达都不知情。她写信给博尔顿太太，打听详细情况。

Duncan Forbes, an artist friend of theirs, had arrived at the Villa Esmeralda, coming north from Rome. Now he made a third in the gondola, and he bathed with them across the lagoon, and was their escort: a quiet, almost taciturn young man, very advanced in his art.