Thomas Hardy
He (W. B. Yeats) was dining once with Thomas Hardy, and as they were finishing their coffee he asked Hardy the very same question. “What do you do, Hardy, about1 books that are sent to you for signature？2 ”
“Yeats,” said Hardy, “come with me, there is something upstairs I want to show you.” At the top of the house Hardy opened a door, and the two poets entered a larger room. This room was covered from floor to ceiling with books. Hardy waved his hand at the odd-thousand3volumes that filled the room. — “Yeats,” said he, “these are the books that were sent to me for signature.”
— J. Stephens
ceiling n. 樓頂，天花板
odd-thousand adj……千多
中譯 為書簽名（哈代）
有一次，他（葉芝）和托馬斯·哈代一起吃飯。就要喝完咖啡時，他向哈代提了那個老問題：“哈代，那些寄來要你簽名的書，你怎麼處理？”
“葉芝，”哈代說，“跟我來，我樓上有東西要給你看。”在頂樓上哈代打開了一扇房門。兩位詩人走進一間較大的房間。房間裏的書從地板一直堆到了天花板。朝著這一房間的幾千冊書，哈代揮揮手說：“葉芝，這些就是寄來要我簽名的書。”
——〔英〕斯蒂芬斯
原來如此！
Thomas Hardy（哈代，1840-1928），英國批判現實主義小說家、詩人。他善於細致入微地刻畫人物複雜的內心活動，景物描寫優美動人，風格多樣，戲劇性強，具有感人的藝術力量。他的作品揭露了資本主義社會的罪惡和資產階級道德、宗教、觀念的偽善本質。不過，作品帶有宿命論的悲觀色彩。代表作為小說《德伯家的苔絲》（Tess of the D’Urbervilles, 1891）、《無名的裘德》（Jude the Obscure, 1895）、曆史詩劇《列王》（Dynasts, 1903-1908）等。