英文
A Changed Man II
Regularly once a week they rode out in marching order.
Returning up the town on one of these occasions, the romantic pelisse flapping behind each horseman's shoulder in the soft southwest wind, Captain Maumbry glanced up at the oriel. A mutual nod was exchanged between him and the person who sat there reading. The reader and a friend in the room with him followed the troop with their eyes all the way up the street, till, when the soldiers were opposite the house in which Laura lived, that young lady became discernible in the balcony.
“They are engaged to be married, I hear,” said the friend.
“Who—Maumbry and Laura? Never—so soon?”
“Yes.”
“He'll never marry. Several girls have been mentioned in connection with his name. I am sorry for Laura.”
“Oh, but you needn't be. They are excellently matched.”
“She's only one more.”
“She's one more, and more still. She has regularly caught him. She is a born player of the game of hearts and she knew how to beat him in his own practices. If there is one woman in the town who has any chance of holding her own and marrying him, she is that woman.”
This was true, as it turned out. By natural proclivity Laura had from the first entered heart and soul into military romance as exhibited in the plots and characters of those living exponents of it who came under her notice. From her earliest young womanhood civilians, however promising, had no chance of winning her interest if the meanest warrior were within the horizon. It may be that the position of her uncle's house (which was her home) at the corner of West Street nearest the barracks, the daily passing of the troops, the constant blowing of trumpet-calls a furlong from her windows, coupled with the fact that she knew nothing of the inner realities of military life, and hence idealized it, had also helped her mind's original bias for thinking men-at-arms the only ones worthy of a woman's heart.
Captain Maumbry was a typical prize; one whom all surrounding maidens had coveted, ached for, angled for, wept for, had by her judicious management become subdued to her purpose; and in addition to the pleasure of marrying the man she loved, Laura had the joy of feeling herself hated by the mothers of all the marriageable girls o the neighbourhood.
The man in the oriel went to the wedding; not as a guest, for at this time he was but slightly acquainted with the parties; but mainly because the church was close to his house; partly, too, for a reason which moved many others to be spectators of the ceremony; a subconsciousness that, though the couple might be happy in their experiences, there was sufficient possibility of their being otherwise to colour the musings of an onlooker with a pleasing pathos of conjecture. He could on occasion do a pretty stroke of rhyming in those days, and he beguiled the time of waiting by pencilling on a blank page of his prayer-book a few lines which, though kept private then, may be given here—
AT A HASTY WEDDING
(Triolet)
If hours be years the twain are blest,
For now they solace swift desire
By lifelong ties that tether zest
If hours be years. The twain are blest
Do eastern suns slope never west,
Nor pallid ashes follow fire.
If hours be years the twain are blest
For now they solace swift desire.
As if, however, to falsify all prophecies, the couple seemed to find in marriage the secret of perpetuating the intoxication of a courtship which, on Maumbry's side at least, had opened without serious intent. During the winter following they were the most popular pair in and about Casterbridge—nay, in South Wessex itself. No smart dinner in the country houses of the younger and gayer families within driving distance of the borough was complete without their lively presence; Mrs. Maumbry was the blithest of the whirling figures at the county ball; and when followed that inevitable incident of garrison-town life, an amateur dramatic entertainment, it was just the same. The acting was for the benefit of such and such an excellent charity—nobody cared what, provided the play were played—and both Captain Maumbry and his wife were in the piece, having been in fact, by mutual consent, the originators of the performance. And so with laughter, and thoughtlessness, and movement, all went merrily. There was a little backwardness in the bill-paying of the couple; but in justice to them it must be added that sooner or later all owings were paid.
中文
浪子回头 二
骑兵们照例每周一次着行军装外出操练。
一次行军归来回到镇上时，每个骑士肩上那浪漫的“霹雳斯”都迎着柔和的西南风飘舞，蒙布里上尉抬头望向飘窗，同坐在窗后看书的人相互点头致意。看书人和屋内另一个在场的朋友目送着部队沿路上坡，来到了萝拉住的房子对面，然后看到那位年轻姑娘出现在阳台上。
“我听说他们已经订婚了。”朋友说。
“谁——蒙布里和萝拉？不会吧——这么快？”
“是呀。”
“他不会结婚的。已经有好几个姑娘跟他不清不楚了。我真为萝拉感到难过。”
“噢，你完全不必担心。这两人是绝配。”
“她不过是下一个而已。”
“她是下一个，但不仅于此。她已经套牢了他。她是个天生的爱情玩家，懂得怎么在他擅长的游戏里打败他。要说全镇有哪个姑娘能够立于不败之地成为他的终结者，那就只有萝拉啦。”
结果真是如此。也许是天性使然，萝拉从一开始便醉心于军营爱情；这从她青睐的角色以及她同他们上演的故事情节便可以看出来。自她刚成年到现在，只要她周围能见到一个士兵，无论此人多么平庸，她也绝对不会对平民感兴趣，无论这个平民多么优秀。也许是因为她叔叔的房子（她就住在叔叔家）正好位于西街离军营最近的一角，每天从窗户就可以看到两百米开外部队进进出出，号角不时地吹响，加上她对于军营内的真实生活一无所知，于是将之理想化了，因此强化了她最初的偏见，认为军人才是唯一值得她倾心的对象。
蒙布里上尉则是她的最高战利品：他是周围所有少女的梦中情人，姑娘们为他心乱如麻、绞尽脑汁、伤心哭泣，但他却被她的才智与手段征服，拜倒在她的石榴裙下。嫁给自己中意的男子固然让她心满意足，但更让她得意的是周围所有适婚少女的母亲们都对她恨之入骨。
飘窗后的那个男人去参加了他们的婚礼仪式。不是应邀前往，因为这时他跟夫妇俩还只是点头之交而已。主要是因为教堂就在他家旁边，还有一部分原因是因为大家潜意识里都觉得，这对夫妇虽然日后可能会幸福，但也有充分的理由不会幸福，这样旁观者就可以一边悲天悯人地揣测，一边沾沾自喜，所以许多人都是冲着这个原因去观礼的。他那个时候偶尔还能写些很不错的格律诗，于是在等待中，他用铅笔在祈祷书的空白页上写了几句诗来打发时间。这首诗那时并未被发表，不过这里可以公开了。
闪婚观礼有感
（八行两韵诗）[1]
若二人有福，愿此刻永驻。
贪一时之欢，惹一生牵绊。
结一世姻缘，变万般束缚。
若二人有福，愿此刻永驻。
愿东升太阳，永不会日暮。
愿熊熊烈火，永不会黯淡。
若二人有福，愿此刻永驻。
贪一时之欢，惹一生牵绊。
虽然这场恋爱——至少在蒙布里这一方——一开始并没有抱着正经的目的，但是这对夫妻似乎找到了让婚姻永葆恋爱时的激情的秘诀，就仿佛是为了向众人证明所有预言都是错的。接下来的那个冬天，他们是卡斯特桥镇及附近地区——不，应该说是整个南威塞克斯——最受欢迎的一对。凡是从镇上驾车能到的范围内，那些年轻快活的乡绅府上要举办时髦晚宴的话，必定得有他俩到场才算完美；在全郡舞会上蒙布里太太是舞姿最轻盈快活的那个。接下来便是驻军小镇生活里不可避免的事件：业余戏剧表演，两人还是一样受欢迎。他们宣称这演出是为了不起的××慈善机构筹款——不过没人关心具体名称，只要有戏可看就行——蒙布里上尉和他的妻子都参与了演出，事实上两人就是这次演出的始作俑者。总之一切都开心顺利，两人生活中充满了欢声笑语、无忧无虑，活动精彩纷呈。尽管夫妻俩在付账时有些不大爽快，不过公平来讲，他们无论早晚最后还是付清了所有欠款。
