Chapter 8 Chapter VII

On the morning of the scheduled departure, Tess woke up before dawn—it was the time when the night was about to dawn, and there was silence in the woods, except for a prophetic bird singing with a clear and clear voice. The bird kept silent, as if convinced that at least he knew the correct time of day, but the other birds remained silent, as if convinced that the singing bird had called the wrong time.Tess had been upstairs packing, and came down at breakfast time in her usual clothes, while her best suits were carefully folded and put away in their trunks. Her mother persuaded her, "Wouldn't you never look more beautiful than the suit you were wearing when you went out to visit relatives?"

"But I'm going to work!" said Tess. "Yes, to work," said Mrs. Durbeyfield; and she added in a whisper, "maybe a little pretense of work at first... but I think you'd better wear your best clothes out." "Well, well; I think you know best," returned Tess coolly, without objecting. In order to please her mother, the girl had to put herself completely in Joan's hands, and said calmly—"Do as you like, mother." Seeing Tess so obedient, Mrs. Durbeyfield could not help feeling very happy.First she fetched a large washbasin, and washed Tess's hair thoroughly, and when it was dry and brushed, it looked as though it had twice as much hair as usual.She tied her hair up with a much wider pink ribbon than usual, before dressing Tess in the white gown she had worn in the Society procession.Tess' fluffy hair, coupled with the large robe she wears, makes her developing body reveal a kind of maturity, people can't see her actual age, and may mistake her for a mature woman , and in fact she was not much older than a child.

"I tell you, I have a hole in the heel of my stocking," said Tess. "It doesn't matter if there's a hole in the stocking—they can't talk! When I was a girl, the devil knew there was a hole in a stocking if I had a pretty hat to wear." Seeing her daughter's beautiful figure, the mother felt proud and stepped back a few steps, like a painter walking away from his easel to examine his masterpiece as a whole. "You must look at yourself!" she cried. "You look much prettier than usual." As the mirror was too small to show only a small part of Tess's body at a time, Mrs. Durbeyfield hung a black coat over the window pane, and in this way turned the window pane into a large mirror. This is also a common method used by villagers in the countryside to dress up.Then she went downstairs to her husband, who was sitting in the downstairs room.

"I'll tell you, Durbeyfield," she said cheerfully, "that he will never fail to love her. But whatever you say, don't say to Tess that he likes her, and don't mention She's got this chance. She's a queer girl, and maybe she'll hate him if she talks too much, and she won't go there right away. If all goes well, I'll have to say hello to the vicar in Buckfoot Lane In return, thank him for telling us those things - he's such a nice guy." But as the hour of the girl's departure drew nearer, Mrs. Joan Durbeyfield's heart was filled with apprehension as soon as the excitement of her adorning had worn off.So the housewife said she was going to take the girl for a ride—to the point on the slope of the valley that was the first commanding point to the outside world.Tess was on the top of the hill, waiting for the buggy from the Stoke d'Urbervilles, while her luggage had been carried by a young man to the top of the hill, and made ready.

Seeing their mother put on the bonnet, the little ones cried out together to go with her. "I'm going to send my sister off too. Now my sister is going to marry a gentleman cousin and wear beautiful clothes!" "Oh," sighed Tess, blushing, and turning away hastily, "I don't want to hear those words any more! Mother, why did you put those things in their heads?" "My children, my sister has gone to work for our rich relations, to help earn some money to buy another horse for the family," said Mrs. Durbeyfield soothingly to the children. "I'm going, Papa," said Tess, choking up.

"Go, my boy," said Sir John, looking up, and dozing with his head down after drinking again in celebration of Tess's absence this morning. "Well, I hope my young friend will like a pretty girl of his own kind. And tell him, Tess, that our family, once a great family, is all ruined, and that I will take our family Sell ​​him the title—yes, sell him—and don’t pay a lot of money.” "There must be a thousand pounds less," exclaimed Mrs. Durbeyfield. "Tell him--I want a thousand pounds. Come on, I remember, I'll ask for less. He's got a better name for it than for a poor wretch like me. Well. Tell him I only want a hundred pounds. But I'm not a man of calculations,--tell him fifty pounds--twenty pounds! Yes, twenty pounds--that's it. It's the lowest price. Damn it, patriarchal honor is patriarchal honor, and I can't afford a penny!"

Tess's eyes filled with tears, her throat choked, her heart was full of emotions, but she could not utter a word.She turned around hastily and walked out the door. The mother and daughter walked together in this way, with a child on either side of Tess holding her hand, seeming to be thinking of something, and looking at Tess from time to time, as if watching a girl who was about to do something. her mother walked behind with the youngest child; the group formed a picture in which honest beauty walked in the middle, innocence followed on both sides, and simple vanity followed.In this way they walked together until they reached the bottom of the hill, where the carriage sent from Trantridge met her at the top, it being arranged so that the carriage would not have to climb the slope.Behind the first tier of hills in the distance, the cliff-like houses of Shaston interrupted the outline of the ridge.There was no one to be seen on the winding road, except the young man they had sent to fetch Tess.The young man sat on the handlebars, which contained all Tess's belongings in this world.

"Wait here a little while; there is no doubt that the carriage will be coming soon," said Mrs. Durbeyfield. "Well, I've seen the carriage over there!" The carriage had come—it seemed to appear suddenly from behind the nearest plateau, and stopped beside the boy pushing the cart.Tess's mother and children therefore decided not to go any further, and Tess, after hastily saying good-bye to them, stooped up the hill. They saw Tess' figure getting closer to the carriage, and her box had already been put on the carriage.But before she had quite come to the carriage, another carriage sped out from a clump of trees on the top of the hill, rounded a bend in the road, passed the luggage cart, and stopped at Tess's. Tess looked up, seemingly taken aback.

Her mother was the first to see that the second carriage was different from the first one. It was not a simple and shabby carriage, but a beautiful and neat one-horse carriage, also called a dog carriage, with shiny paint. Bright and well equipped.The driver was a young man of twenty-three or fourteen years old, with a cigar in his mouth, a fancy cap on his head, a gray jacket and breeches of the same color, and a white scarf around him. He wore a high collar and brown driving gloves--in short, he was a handsome, long-faced young man who, just a week or two ago, had called on Joan to ask her Inquired about Tess' reply.

Mrs. Durbeyfield clapped her hands like a child.After applauding, she looked down and then up.Does that mean it will still deceive her? "Is that the gentleman relative who wants to make my sister your wife?" asked the youngest child. At that moment, the figure of Tess in fine gauze could be seen standing quietly beside the carriage with a hesitant expression, and the owner of the carriage was talking to her.In fact, her apparent hesitation was far from hesitation, but doubt.She seemed to prefer the simple, shabby carriage.The young man got out of the car and seemed to persuade her to get in.She turned her face away, facing her relatives down the mountain, watching the small group.Something seemed to make her resolve; probably, the thought that the Prince had died at her hands.She got into the cart suddenly; he got into the cart and sat beside her, and immediately lashed the horses that drew the cart.They passed the slow car carrying the boxes in a short time and disappeared behind the hill.

Tess disappeared from sight, and the amusing incident was like a drama, which came to an end, with tears in the eyes of the child."I wish poor, poor Tess hadn't left home to be a lady," said the youngest child, and with that he grinned at the corners of his mouth and burst into tears.This new perspective was contagious, and a second child cried in the same way, and then another, and then all three cried together. Joan's eyes were similarly filled with tears as she turned to go home.But when she walked back to the village, she had to passively resign herself to fate.But that night she kept moaning in bed, and her husband asked her what was wrong. "Well, I can't tell," she said. "I kept thinking that it might be better if Tess hadn't left home." "Why didn't you think of it before?" "Well, that's the girl's chance—but if it happens again, I'll have to wait until I find out whether the gentleman was a really good man, and whether Tess was His cousin, or I wouldn't have let Tess go." "Yes, perhaps you should inquire first," snored Sir John. Joan Durbeyfield could always find consolation somewhere: "Well, as a true blood, she should attract him if she plays her cards well. If he doesn't marry her today, he'll marry her tomorrow." Marry her. For anyone can see that he is deeply in love with Tess." "What is her trump card? You mean her d'Urberville blood?" "No, it's stupid; her face—just like mine used to be."