TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES

　　　　　　　　　　　　Preface to the Fifth (English) Edition


　This novel being one wherein the great campaign of the heroine begins after an event in her experience which has usually been treated as extinguishing her，in the aspect of protagonist at least，and as the virtual ending of her career and hopes，it was quite contrary to avowed conventions that the public should welcome the book，and agree with me in holding that there was something more to be said in fiction than had been said about the shaded side of a well-known catastrophe. But the responsive spirit in which <EM>Tess of the D'Urbervilles</EM> has been received by the readers of England and America would seem to prove that the plan of laying down a story on the lines of tacit opinion，instead of making it to square with the merely vocal formulae of society，is not altogether a wrong one，even when exemplified in so unequal and partial an achievement as the present. For this responsiveness I cannot refrain from expressing my thanks; and my regret is that，in a world where one so often hungers in vain for friendship，where even not to be wilfully misunderstood is felt as a kindness，I shall never meet in person these appreciative readers，male and female，and shake them by the hand.

　I include amongst them the reviewers—by far the majority—who have so generously welcomed the tale. Their words show that they like the others have only too largely repaired my defects of narration by their own imaginative intuition.

　Nevertheless，though the novel was intended to be neither didactic nor aggressive，but in the scenic parts to be representative simply，and in the contemplative to be oftener charged with impressions than with opinions，there have been objectors both to the matter and to the rendering.

　Some of these maintain a conscientious difference of sentiment concerning，among other things，subjects fit for art，and reveal an inability to associate the idea of the title-adjective with any but the licensed and derivative meaning which has resulted to it from the ordinances of civilization. [The original title is Tess of the D'Urbervilles—A Pure Woman.] They thus ignore， not only all Nature's claims，all aesthetic claims on the word，but even the spiritual interpretation afforded by the finest side of Christianity; and drag in，as a vital point，the acts of a woman in her last days of desperation，when all her doings lie outside her normal character. Others dissent on grounds which are intrinsically no more than an assertion that the novel embodies the views of life prevalent at the end of the nineteenth century，and not those of an earlier and simpler generation—an assertion which I can only hope may be well founded. Let me repeat that a novel is an impression，not an argument，and there the matter must rest，as one is reminded by a passage which occurs in the letters of Schiller to Goethe on judges of this class: "They are those who seek only their own ideas in a representation，and prize that which should be as higher than what is. The cause of the dispute，therefore，lies in the very first principles，and it would be utterly impossible to come to an understanding with them." And again "As soon as I observe that any one，when judging of poetical representations，considers anything more important than the inner Necessity and Truth，I have done with him."

　In the introductory words to the first edition I suggested the possible advent of the genteel person who would not be able to endure the tone of these pages. That person duly appeared， mostly mixed up with the aforesaid objectors. In another of his forms he felt upset that it was not possible for him to read the book through three times，owing to my not having made that critical effort which "alone can prove the salvation of such an one." In another，he objected to such vulgar articles as the devil's pitchfork，a lodging-house carving-knife，and a shame-bought parasol appearing in a respectable story. In another place he was a gentleman who turned Christian for half an hour the better to express his grief that a disrespectful phrase about the Immortals should have been used，though the same innate gentility compelled him to excuse the author in words of pity that one cannot be too thankful for: "He does but give us of his best." I can assure this great critic that to exclaim illogically against the gods，singular or plural，is not such an original sin of mine as he seems to imagine. True，it may have some local originality; though if Shakespeare were an authority on history，which perhaps he is not，I could show that the sin was introduced into Wessex as early as the Heptarchy itself. Says Glo'ster to Lear， otherwise Ina，king of that country:


　　　"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;

　　　They kill us for their sport."


　The remaining two or three manipulators of <EM>Tess</EM> were of the sort whom most writers and   readers would gladly forget，professed literary boxers，who put on their convictions for the  occasion，modern "Hammerers of Heretics"; sworn discouragers of effort，ever on the watch to prevent the tentative half-success from becoming the whole success; who pervert plain  meanings，and grow personal under the name of practising the great historical method. However，they may have causes to advance，privileges to guard，traditions to  keep going; some of which a mere tale-teller，who writes down how the things of the world  strike him， without any ulterior intentions whatever，has overlooked，and may by pure inadvertence have run foul of when in the least aggressive mood. Perhaps some passing perception，the outcome of a dreamhour，would，if generally acted on，cause such an assailant considerable inconvenience with respect to position，interests，family，servant，ox，ass，neighbor or neighbor's wife. He therefore valiantly hides his personality behind a publisher's shutters，and cries "Shame!" So densely is the world thronged that any shifting of positions，even the best warranted advance， hurts somebody's heels. Such shiftings often begin in sentiment，and such sentiment sometimes begins in a novel.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　T.H.

July， 1892.

　Thomas Hardy， English novelist and poet， was born in 1840 in Dorset， an agricultural district in southwestern England. He was educated at local schools and articled to an architect at the age of sixteen. At twenty-two， he went to London to study architecture. After working as an architect for several years， he turned to novel- writing. But when publication of Jude the Obscure caused a scandal he turned again to poetry， which was his early pursuit. He died in 1928 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
　Tess of the d'Urbervilles is among Hardy's best and most widely-read novels. It tells of the tragic story of Tess Durbeyfield， who is a pretty， warm-hearted farm girl. Her father is a pedlar and， after learning from the local clergyman that he is the last descendant of the ancient family of the D'Urbervilles， he goes to a public house and spends all his money on drink to celebrate his noble blood. He gets so drunk that Tess has to take the load of beehives herself to the retailers in Casterbridge for the Saturday market. On the way a mail cart runs into her wagon and kills the horse. At her father's insistence， she goes to Trantridge to claim kinship with the wealthy but spurious d'Urbervilles， and as a result she is seduced by the young master of the house， Alec d'Urberville. Tess returns home and afterwards gives birth to a child， which dies in infancy.
　The sordid poverty of her family forces her to work as a milkmaid at the Talbothays dairy where she meets Angel Clare. They soon fall in love and get married. On the wedding night， Clare tells her of his own experience with a bad woman， but when she discloses her past
to him， he abandons her and leaves for Brazil.
　To support her family， Tess has to slave away on a distant farm at Flintcomb-Ash， grubbing and trimming swedes or "untying sheaf after sheaf in endless succession" on the platform of the threshing-machine. Worn down by hardship， she writes to Clare， imploring him to return but in vain. Then she goes to Emminster to see his parents， who happen to be away when she gets there. On her way back，she is walking past a church when she finds that the preacher is Alec D'Urberville. She immediately turns away. Alec， however， has caught sight of her. On finding out where she lives， he pays her frequent visits， trying to force her to go and live with him. What with the death of her father and the forced uprooting and migration of her family， she is driven to go back to Alec. Meanwhile， Angel Clare returns from Brazil. After he confesses to her that he has been wrong in deserting her， she kills Alec and goes off with Clare， only to be arrested a few days later and hanged in the Winchester gaol.
　As a work of fiction， Tess has undoubtedly an element of the pessimistic and the painful. Readers tend to regard Hardy as a "pessimist"， but Hardy professed himself a "meliorist". He said， "My motto is， first， correctly diagnose the complaint—in this case， human ills—and ascertain the cause， then set about finding a remedy if one exists，" According to Hardy， the aim of the artist is to "give impressions not arguments." In the case of Tess of the d'Urbervilles， the author perhaps intends to give the impression or make the diagnosis that the tragic fate of Tess and her family is symbolic of the disintegration of the peasantry after the intrusion of industrialism into the English countryside in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
　Tess was first published serially in the Graphic with the last two paragraphs of Chapter 9 and the whole of Chapters 10 and 11 omitted at the request of the publisher， but when it appeared in book form， the original text was restored. The present text is that of the Wessex Edition of 1912.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Lü Tianshi (吕天石)

Introduction

PREFACE

THE MAIDEN  

MAIDEN NO MORE  

THE RALLY  

THE CONSEQUENCE

THE  WOMAN PAYS

THE CONVERT  

FULFILMENT