On the morning appointed for her departure Tess was awake before dawn at the marginal minute of the dark when the grove is still mute, save for one prophetic bird who sings with a clear voiced conviction that he at least knows the correct time of day, the rest preserving silence as if equally convinced that he is mistaken. She remained upstairs packing till breakfast-time, and then came down in her ordinary weekday clothes, her Sunday apparel being carefully folded in her box.
在约好动身的那天早上,天还没亮苔丝就醒了——那时候正是黑夜即将天亮的时刻,树林里静悄悄的,只有一只先知先觉的鸟儿在用清脆嘹亮的声音歌唱着,坚信至少自己知道一天的正确时辰,但是其它的鸟儿却保持着沉默,仿佛也同样坚信那只唱歌的鸟儿把时辰叫错了。苔丝一直在楼上收拾行李,到了吃早饭的时候,她才穿着日常穿的衣服走下楼,而她那套最好的服装却仔仔细细地叠好了放在箱子里。

Her mother expostulated. 'You will never set out to see your folks without dressing up more the dand than that?'
她的母亲劝她说:“你出门去走亲戚,从来都不会比你身上那套衣服穿得漂亮些吗?”

'But I am going to work!' said Tess.
“可我是去工作的呀!”苔丝说。

'Well, yes,' said Mrs Durbeyfield, and in a private tone, 'at first there mid be a little pretence o't... But I think it will be wiser of lee to put your best side outward,' she added.
“不错,是去工作,”德北菲尔德太太说;她用说悄悄话的口气补充说,“开头也许要假装点儿去工作……不过我觉得你还是把最好的衣服穿在外面好些。”

'Very well; I suppose you know best,' replied Tess with calm abandonment.
“好啦,好啦;我想你知道得最清楚,”苔丝不再反对了,冷淡地回答说。

And to please her parent the girl put herself quite in Joan's hands, saying serenely 'Do what you like with me, mother.'
为了让母亲高兴,姑娘只好把自己完全交到琼的手里,平静地说——“你爱怎样就怎样吧,妈妈。”

Mrs Durbeyfield was only too delighted at this tractability. First she fetched a great basin, and washed Tess's hair with such thoroughness that when dried and brushed it looked twice as much as at other times. She tied it with a broader pink ribbon than usual. Then she put upon her the white frock that Tess had worn at the clubwalking, the airy fullness of which, supplementing her enlarged coiffure, imparted to her developing figure an amplitude which belied her age, and might cause her to be estimated as woman when she was not much more than a child.
看见苔丝这样听话,德北菲尔德太太不由得心中大喜。她先去拿来一个大脸盆,彻底地把苔丝的头发洗了一遍,等到头发干了,梳理好了,看起来头发好像比平时多了一倍。她用一根比通常宽得多的粉红色带子把头发扎起来,然后再给苔丝穿上那件在会社游行时穿的白色袍子。苔丝一头蓬松的头发,配上身上穿的宽大袍子,使她正在发育的身体透露出一种成熟来,让人看不出她的实际年龄,也许会错误地把她当成一个成熟的妇人,而其实她比一个孩子大不了多少。

'I declare there's a holes in your stockings-heel!' said Tess.
“我告诉你,我的袜子后跟上有一个洞,”苔丝说。