'No - no; nonsense!' said the first. 'Dancing in public with a troop of country hoydens - suppose we should be seen! Come along, or it will be dark before we get to Stourcastle, and there's no place we can sleep at nearer than that; besides, we must get through another chapter of A Counterblast to Agnosticism before we turn in, now I have taken the trouble to bring the book.'
“不行——不行；胡说八道！”大哥说，“在公开场合同一群乡下野姑娘跳舞——假如让人看见了怎么办！快走吧，不然我们走不到斯图尔堡天就黑了，走不到那儿我们可找不到地方睡觉。另外，在我们睡觉之前，我们还要把《驳不可知论》①的另一章读完，你看，我还不怕麻烦地带着这本书呢。”

'All right - I'll overtake you and Cuthbert in five minutes; don't stop; I give my word that I will, Felix.'
“好吧——我在五分钟之内赶上你和卡斯贝特；不用等我；你放心，菲力克斯，我会在五分钟内赶上你。”

The two elder reluctantly left him and walked on taking their brother's knapsack to relieve him in following, and the youngest entered the field.
两个哥哥不情愿地走了。他们带走了背包，好让弟弟赶路时轻松些，而最年轻的弟弟则走进了跳舞的场地。 

'This is a thousand pities,' he said gallantly, to two or three of the girls nearest him, as soon as there was a pause in the dance.
“真是万分的遗憾，”跳舞剧一停顿，他就对离他最近的两三个姑娘大献殷勤说。 

'Where are your partners, my dears?'
“亲爱的，你们的舞伴呢？”

'They've not left off work yet,' answered one of the boldest.'They'll be here by and by. Till then, will you be one, sir?'
“现在他们还没有收工呢，”有一个最大胆的姑娘回答说。“他们马上就都来了。趁他们还没来，你来跳好吗，先生？” 

'Certainly. But what's one among so many!'
“当然好。可是我一个人怎么同这许多女孩子跳啊！”

'Better than none. 'Tis melancholy work facing and footing it to one of your own sort, and no clipsing and colling at all. Now, pick and choose.'
“总比没有好呀。同你自己的同类面对面地跳舞，真是一件扫兴的事，根本就不能搂搂抱抱亲一个嘴。现在，由你自己从中挑选一个吧。” 

''Ssh - don't be so for'ard!' said a shyer girl.
“嘘——别厚脸皮吧！”一个害羞的姑娘说。

The young man, thus invited, glanced them over, and attempted some discrimination; but, as the group were all so new to him, he could not very well exercise it. He took almost the first that came to hand, which was not the speaker, as she had expected; nor did it happen to be Tess Durbeyfield. Pedigree, ancestral skeletons, monumental record, the d'Urberville lineaments, did not help Tess in her life's battle as yet, even to the extent of attracting to her a dancing-partner over the heads of the commonest peasantry. So much for Norman blood unaided by Victorian lucre.
年青人这样受到邀请，就把她们打量了一阵，想作一番鉴别；但是，他见这一群姑娘全是新面孔，就感到不能很好地应用他的鉴别力了。他挑选的几乎就是第一个走到他跟前的女孩子，而不是希望被他挑中的那个说话的姑娘。苔丝·德北菲尔德碰巧也没有被挑中。高贵的门第，祖先的枯骨，纪功的铭文，德北菲尔家族的容貌，在苔丝人生的搏斗中到目前为止还没有为她帮上忙，就是在一群最普通的乡村女孩子中间，也没有帮她吸引到一个陪她跳舞的舞伴。没有维多利亚财富支持的诺曼人的血统，原来也不过如此。