15 Fanny's revenge

15 Fanny's revenge
　　That afternoon Joseph Poorgrass was bringing Fanny's coffin back from Casterbridge. Feeling a little frightened of the dead body behind him in the cart，and de-pressed by the autumn fog，he stopped for some beer at a pub，where he met Jan Coggan and Laban Tall. There Gabriel Oak found the three men，completely drunk，two hours later. As Joseph was clearly incapable of driving the cart，Gabriel drove it to Weatherbury himself. On the way into the village，the vicar stopped him.
　　‘I'm afraid it's too late now for the burial，’he said，‘but I can arrange for the body to be buried tomorrow. ’
　　‘I could take the coffin to the church for the night，sir，’offered Gabriel，hoping to prevent Bathsheba from seeing it.
　　But just then Bathsheba herself appeared. ‘No，Gabriel，’she said. ‘Poor Fanny must rest in her old home for her last night. Bring the coffin into the house. ’
　　The coffin was carried into a small sitting-room and Gabriel was left alone with it. In spite of all his care，the worst had happened，and Bathsheba was about to make a terrible discovery. But suddenly he had an idea. He looked at the words written simply on the coffin lid—Fanny Robin and child. With a cloth Gabriel carefully removed the last two words. Quietly he left the room.
　　Bathsheba was in a strange mood. She felt lonely and miser-able，but she had not stopped loving her husband，in spite of her anxiety about his past. She was waiting for him to come home，when Liddy knocked and entered.
　　‘Ma'am，Maryann has just heard something…’she hesitated a little. ‘Not about you or us，ma'am. About Fanny. There's a story in Weatherbury that…’Liddy whis-pered in her mistress's ear.
　　Bathsheba trembled from head to foot.
　　‘I don't believe it！’she cried. ‘There's only one name on the coffin lid！But I suppose it could be true. ’
　　She said no more，and Liddy went quietly out of the room. Bathsheba felt almost sure she knew the truth about Fanny and Troy，but she wanted to be certain. She entered the sitting-room where the coffin lay. Holding her hot hands to her fore-head she cried，‘Tell me your secret，F(xiàn)anny！I hope it isn't true there are two of you！If I could only look. at you，I'd know！’
　　After a pause，she added slowly，‘And I will. ’
　　A few moments later，she stood beside the uncovered coffin. Staring in，she said，‘It was best to know the worst，and I know it now！’Her tears fell fast beside the dead pair in the coffin，tears for Fanny and for herself. Although Bathsheba，not Fanny，had married Troy，in death Fanny was the winner. She was taking her revenge now on Bathsheba for the difficulties she had experienced in her life.
　　Bathsheba forgot the passing of time as she looked at Fanny's cold white face and yellow hair，and did not realize Troy had arrived home. He threw open the door and came in. He did not guess who was in the coffin.
　　‘What's the matter？Who's dead？’he asked.
　　Bathsheba tried to push past him. ‘Let me out！’she cried.
　　‘No，stay，I insist！’He held her arm and together they looked into the coffin.
　　Troy stood completely still when he saw the mother and ba-by. Little by little his shoulders bent forward，and his face showed deep sadness. Bathsheba was watching his expression closely，and she had never been more miserable. Slowly Troy knelt to give Fanny Robin a gentle kiss.
　　Bathsheba threw her arms round his neck，crying wildly from the depths of her heart，‘Don't，don't kiss them！Oh Frank，no！I love you better than she did！Kiss me too，F(xiàn)rank！You will kiss me too，F(xiàn)rank！’
　　Troy looked puzzled for a moment，not expecting this child-like cry from his proud wife. But then he pushed her away.
　　‘I will not kiss you！’he said.
　　‘Can you give me a reason？’asked Bathsheba，fighting to control herself. Perhaps it was unfortunate that she asked.
　　‘I've been a bad，black-hearted man，but this woman，dead as she is，is more to me than you ever were，or are，or can be. I would have married her，if I'd never seen your beau-tiful face！And I wish I had married her！’He turned to Fanny. ‘But never mind，darling，’he said，‘in the sight of God you are my wife！’
　　At these words a long，low cry of despair and anger came from Bathsheba's lips. ‘If she's—that，what—am I？’
　　‘You are nothing to me，nothing，’said Troy heartlessly. ‘A ceremony in front of a vicar doesn't make a marriage. I don't consider myself your husband. ’
　　Bathsheba wanted only to get away from him and his words. She ran straight out of the house. She stayed out all night，wrapped in a cloak，waiting for the coffin to be taken for burial. As soon as the men had taken it away the next morning，she re-entered the house，very cautiously to avoid Troy，but her husband had gone out very early and did not return.




■ 15 范妮的復(fù)仇
　　那天下午，約瑟夫·普格拉斯把范妮的棺木從卡斯特橋運(yùn)回。身后的馬車上放著的尸體讓他覺得有點(diǎn)害怕，秋霧也使他感到壓抑，他便停下馬車進(jìn)一家酒館喝啤酒。在酒館他遇到了簡(jiǎn)·考根和拉班·托爾。兩小時(shí)后，蓋伯瑞爾在酒館找到這三個(gè)人時(shí)，他們都已醉倒不起了。約瑟夫是沒法趕車了，于是，蓋伯瑞爾便自己把車趕回威瑟伯里。在進(jìn)村的路上，牧師攔住了他。
　　“現(xiàn)在天太晚了，恐怕不能埋了吧，”他說，“不過，我可以安排明天下葬?！?br>　　“我把棺木放到教堂過夜吧，先生。”蓋伯瑞爾提議道，他不想讓芭絲謝芭看見。
　　就在這時(shí)，芭絲謝芭出現(xiàn)了?！安恍?，蓋伯瑞爾，”她說?！翱蓱z的范妮應(yīng)該在她的老家過上最后一夜，把棺木抬進(jìn)房里吧?！?br>　　于是，棺木抬進(jìn)了一間小起居室，蓋伯瑞爾獨(dú)自留下守靈。盡管他小心翼翼，最糟糕的事情還是發(fā)生了，芭絲謝芭即將發(fā)現(xiàn)真相，這可太糟了。突然，他有主意了。他看著簡(jiǎn)簡(jiǎn)單單寫在棺木蓋上的字——“范妮·羅賓及孩子”，然后用一塊布小心地把最后兩個(gè)字蓋住。悄悄地，他離開了房間。
　　芭絲謝芭心情很怪。她既覺得孤單、痛苦，對(duì)丈夫的過去頗為擔(dān)擾，但仍未停止對(duì)她丈夫的愛，她正在等待他回家，這時(shí)利蒂敲門進(jìn)來了。
　　“太太，瑪麗安剛剛聽到點(diǎn)風(fēng)聲……”她猶豫了一下?！安皇悄慊蛭覀兊氖?，是有關(guān)范妮的事。威瑟伯里的人們傳言……”利蒂俯在她的女主人耳邊耳語起來。
　　芭絲謝芭從頭到腳都顫抖起來。
　　“我不相信！”她叫道?！肮撞纳w上只有一個(gè)名字！可這傳說也可能是真的?！?br>　　她不再說什么，利蒂悄聲出了門。芭絲謝芭幾乎已確信范妮和托伊的事，可她還想證實(shí)一下。她走進(jìn)停放棺木的那間起居室，把發(fā)燙的手放在額頭，喊道，“把你的秘密告訴我，范妮！希望這不是真的，不是兩個(gè)人！我要是能看你一眼，就會(huì)知道的！”
　　停了一會(huì)兒，她又緩慢地說，“我要看看你！”
　　又過了片刻，她站在揭去蓋子的棺木邊，一邊向里看，一邊說，“最好還是知道最壞的情況，現(xiàn)在我知道了！”她的眼淚落在棺木里那死去的兩人身邊，這是哭范妮的淚水，也是哭自己的淚水。雖然是芭絲謝芭而不是范妮嫁給了托伊，可死去的范妮才是獲勝者。她活著時(shí)遭受了種種磨難，現(xiàn)在正在向芭絲謝芭復(fù)仇。
　　芭絲謝芭看著范妮那張涼冰冰的、慘白的臉，看著那黃頭發(fā)，忘記了時(shí)間，也沒有意識(shí)到托伊已經(jīng)到家。他推開門進(jìn)來，沒弄明白棺材里是誰。
　　“怎么啦？誰死了？”他問道。
　　芭絲謝芭想從他身邊擠過去?！胺盼页鋈?！”她喊道。
　　“不行，待在這兒，我要你留下！”他抓住她一只胳膊，一起往棺木里看。
　　托伊看到那母親和嬰兒，呆立不動(dòng)。然后他才一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)地彎下身，臉上顯出深深的悲傷。芭絲謝芭仔細(xì)觀察他的表情，她可從未見過他這樣傷心。慢慢地，托伊跪下，給范妮·羅賓輕輕一吻。
　　芭絲謝芭雙手摟住他的脖子，從心底里大聲狂喊，“別！別吻她們！噢，弗蘭克，別！我比她愛你！你也得吻吻我，弗蘭克！你得吻吻我，弗蘭克！”
　　一時(shí)間，托伊十分迷惑，他沒料到自己這位高傲的妻子會(huì)這樣孩子般地叫喊。隨后，他便把她推開了。
　　“我不會(huì)吻你的！”他說。
　　“你能說出理由嗎？”芭絲謝芭問道，努力克制著自己。也許她并不該問。
　　“我一向是個(gè)黑了心的壞蛋，可是這個(gè)女人，這個(gè)死去的女人，對(duì)我來說比你更加重要，過去是，現(xiàn)在是，將來也是。我要不是看到你這張漂亮的臉，早就娶了她了！我真應(yīng)該娶了她！”他轉(zhuǎn)向范妮?！安贿^別在意，親愛的，”他說，“在上帝的眼里，你才是我的妻子！”
　　聽到這些話，芭絲謝芭嘴里發(fā)出長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的一聲絕望而憤怒的叫聲?！叭绻?，那我——是什么？”
　　“你什么也不是，什么都不是，”托伊狠心地說。“僅僅在牧師面前舉行個(gè)儀式并不能締造婚姻，我并不認(rèn)為我是你的丈夫。”
　　芭絲謝芭此刻只想從他身邊跑開，不去聽他說的那些話。她徑直跑到房子外面，身上裹著一件斗篷，在外面待了一整夜，等著棺木抬出下葬。次日早晨，人們剛把棺木抬走，她便進(jìn)到屋內(nèi)，小心地躲避著托伊。但是，她的丈夫一大早便外出了，沒有回來。