'Mr Clare,' said the dairyman emphatically, 'is one of the most rebellest rozums you ever knowed - not a bit like the rest of his family; and if there's one thing that he do hate more than another 'tis the notion of what's called a' old family. He says that it stands to reason that old families have done their spurt of work in past days, and can't have anything left in 'em now. There's the Billetts and the Drenkhards and the Greys and the St Quintins and the Hardys and the Goulds, who used to own the lands for miles down this valley; you could buy 'em all up now for an old song a'most. Why, our little Retty Priddle here, you know, is one of the Paridelles - the old family that used to own lots o' the lands out by King's-Hintock now owned by the Earl o' Wessex, afore even he or his was heard of. Well, Mr Clare found this out, and spoke quite scornful to the poor girl for days. 'Ah!' he says to her, 'you'll never make a good dairymaid! All your skill was used up ages ago in Palestine, and you must lie fallow for a thousand years to git strength for more deeds!' A boy came here t'other day asking for a job, and said his name was Matt, and when we asked him his surname he said he'd never heard that 'a had any surname, and when we asked why, he said he supposed his folks hadn't been established long enough. "Ah! you're the very boy I want!" says Mr Clare, jumping up and shaking hands wi'en; "I've great hopes of you"; and gave him half-a-crown. O no! he can't stomach old families!'
“克萊爾先生，”奶牛場(chǎng)老板強(qiáng)調(diào)說，“他是一個(gè)你從來沒聽說過的最有反抗精神的怪人——一點(diǎn)兒也不像他家里的其他人；有一件事他是最討厭不過的，那就是什么古老世家了。他說，從情理上講，古老世家在過去已經(jīng)用盡了力氣，現(xiàn)在他們什么也沒有剩下了。你看什么比勒特家、特倫哈德家、格雷家、圣昆丁家、哈代家，還有高爾德家，從前在這個(gè)山谷里擁有的產(chǎn)業(yè)有好幾英里，而現(xiàn)在你差不多花一點(diǎn)兒小錢就可以把它們買下來。你問為什么，你知道我們這兒的小萊蒂·普里德爾，他就是帕里德爾家族的后裔——帕里德爾是古老的世家，新托克的王家產(chǎn)業(yè)現(xiàn)在是威塞克斯伯爵的了，而從前卻是帕里德爾家的，可從前沒有聽說過威塞克斯伯爵家啊。唔，克萊爾先生發(fā)現(xiàn)了這件事，還把可憐的小萊蒂嘲笑了好幾天呢?！?！’他對(duì)萊蒂說，‘你永遠(yuǎn)也做不成一個(gè)優(yōu)秀的擠奶女工的！你們家的本領(lǐng)在幾十輩人以前就在巴勒斯坦用盡了，你們要恢復(fù)力氣做事情，就得再等一千年。’又有一天，有個(gè)小伙子來這兒找活兒干，說他的名字叫馬特，我們問他姓什么，他說他從來沒有聽說他有什么姓，我們問為什么，他說大概是他們家建立起來的時(shí)間還不夠長(zhǎng)吧?！?！你正是我需要的那種小伙子呀！’克萊爾說，跳起來去同他握手；‘你將來一定大有前途’；他還給了他半個(gè)克朗呢。啊，他是不吃古老世家那一套的。

After hearing this caricature of Clare's opinions poor Tess was glad that she had not said a word in a weak moment about her family - even though it was so unusually old as almost to have gone round the circle and become a new one. Besides, another dairy-girl was as good as she, it seemed, in that respect. She held her tongue about the d'Urberville vault, and the Knight of the Conqueror whose name she bore. The insight afforded into Clare's character suggested to her that it was largely owing to her supposed untraditional newness that she had won interest in his eyes.
可憐的苔絲在聽了對(duì)克萊爾思想的形容和描述后，暗自慶幸自己沒有在軟弱的時(shí)候?qū)ψ约旱募衣猛侣冻鲆粋€(gè)字——雖然她的家族不同尋常地古老，差不多都要轉(zhuǎn)一圈了，又要變成一個(gè)新的家族了。另外，還有一個(gè)擠奶的姑娘在家世方面似乎和她不相上下。因此，她對(duì)德貝維爾家族的墓室，對(duì)她出生的那個(gè)征服者威廉的騎士家族，都閉口不提。她對(duì)克萊爾的性格有了這種了解以后，她猜想她之所以引起他的興趣，大半是他認(rèn)為她不是一個(gè)古老世家，而是一個(gè)新家。