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，Fanny！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，Frank！You will kiss me too，Frank！’ 
　　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 范妮的复仇 
　  
　　那天下午，约瑟夫·普格拉斯把范妮的棺木从卡斯特桥运回。身后的马车上放着的尸体让他觉得有点害怕，秋雾也使他感到压抑，他便停下马车进一家酒馆喝啤酒。在酒馆他遇到了简·考根和拉班·托尔。两小时后，盖伯瑞尔在酒馆找到这三个人时，他们都已醉倒不起了。约瑟夫是没法赶车了，于是，盖伯瑞尔便自己把车赶回威瑟伯里。在进村的路上，牧师拦住了他。 
　　“现在天太晚了，恐怕不能埋了吧，”他说，“不过，我可以安排明天下葬。” 
　　“我把棺木放到教堂过夜吧，先生。”盖伯瑞尔提议道，他不想让芭丝谢芭看见。 
　　就在这时，芭丝谢芭出现了。“不行，盖伯瑞尔，”她说。“可怜的范妮应该在她的老家过上最后一夜，把棺木抬进房里吧。” 
　　于是，棺木抬进了一间小起居室，盖伯瑞尔独自留下守灵。尽管他小心翼翼，最糟糕的事情还是发生了，芭丝谢芭即将发现真相，这可太糟了。突然，他有主意了。他看着简简单单写在棺木盖上的字——“范妮·罗宾及孩子”，然后用一块布小心地把最后两个字盖住。悄悄地，他离开了房间。 
　　芭丝谢芭心情很怪。她既觉得孤单、痛苦，对丈夫的过去颇为担扰，但仍未停止对她丈夫的爱，她正在等待他回家，这时利蒂敲门进来了。 
　　“太太，玛丽安刚刚听到点风声……”她犹豫了一下。“不是你或我们的事，是有关范妮的事。威瑟伯里的人们传言……”利蒂俯在她的女主人耳边耳语起来。 
　　芭丝谢芭从头到脚都颤抖起来。 
　　“我不相信！”她叫道。“棺材盖上只有一个名字！可这传说也可能是真的。” 
　　她不再说什么，利蒂悄声出了门。芭丝谢芭几乎已确信范妮和托伊的事，可她还想证实一下。她走进停放棺木的那间起居室，把发烫的手放在额头，喊道，“把你的秘密告诉我，范妮！希望这不是真的，不是两个人！我要是能看你一眼，就会知道的！” 
　　停了一会儿，她又缓慢地说，“我要看看你！” 
　　又过了片刻，她站在揭去盖子的棺木边，一边向里看，一边说，“最好还是知道最坏的情况，现在我知道了！”她的眼泪落在棺木里那死去的两人身边，这是哭范妮的泪水，也是哭自己的泪水。虽然是芭丝谢芭而不是范妮嫁给了托伊，可死去的范妮才是获胜者。她活着时遭受了种种磨难，现在正在向芭丝谢芭复仇。 
　　芭丝谢芭看着范妮那张凉冰冰的、惨白的脸，看着那黄头发，忘记了时间，也没有意识到托伊已经到家。他推开门进来，没弄明白棺材里是谁。 
　　“怎么啦？谁死了？”他问道。 
　　芭丝谢芭想从他身边挤过去。“放我出去！”她喊道。 
　　“不行，待在这儿，我要你留下！”他抓住她一只胳膊，一起往棺木里看。 
　　托伊看到那母亲和婴儿，呆立不动。然后他才一点一点地弯下身，脸上显出深深的悲伤。芭丝谢芭仔细观察他的表情，她可从未见过他这样伤心。慢慢地，托伊跪下，给范妮·罗宾轻轻一吻。 
　　芭丝谢芭双手搂住他的脖子，从心底里大声狂喊，“别！别吻她们！噢，弗兰克，别！我比她爱你！你也得吻吻我，弗兰克！你得吻吻我，弗兰克！” 
　　一时间，托伊十分迷惑，他没料到自己这位高傲的妻子会这样孩子般地叫喊。随后，他便把她推开了。 
　　“我不会吻你的！”他说。 
　　“你能说出理由吗？”芭丝谢芭问道，努力克制着自己。也许她并不该问。 
　　“我一向是个黑了心的坏蛋，可是这个女人，这个死去的女人，对我来说比你更加重要，过去是，现在是，将来也是。我要不是看到你这张漂亮的脸，早就娶了她了！我真应该娶了她！”他转向范妮。“不过别在意，亲爱的，”他说，“在上帝的眼里，你才是我的妻子！” 
　　听到这些话，芭丝谢芭嘴里发出长长的一声绝望而愤怒的叫声。“如果她——是，那我——是什么？” 
　　“你什么也不是，什么都不是，”托伊狠心地说。“仅仅在牧师面前举行个仪式并不能缔造婚姻，我并不认为我是你的丈夫。” 
　　芭丝谢芭此刻只想从他身边跑开，不去听他说的那些话。她径直跑到房子外面，身上裹着一件斗篷，在外面待了一整夜，等着棺木抬出下葬。次日早晨，人们刚把棺木抬走，她便进到屋内，小心地躲避着托伊。但是，她的丈夫一大早便外出了，没有回来。 
　　　    


 