The Love of Bathsheba Learn English through story level 3

chapter 1

gabriel oak falls in love

gabriel oak was a sensible man of good

character who had been brought up by his

father as a shepherd

and then managed to save enough money to

rent his own farm on norcom hill in

dorset

he was 28

a tall well-built man

who did not seem however to think his

appearance was very important

one winter morning he was in one of his

fields on the side of norcom hill

looking over his gate

gabriel could see a yellow cart

loaded with furniture and plants

coming up the road

right on top of the pile

sat a handsome young woman

as gabriel was watching

the cart stopped at the top of the hill

and the driver climbed down to go back

and fetch something that had fallen off

the girl sat quietly in the sunshine for

a few minutes

then she picked up a parcel lying next

to her and looked round to see if the

driver was coming back

there was no sign of him

she unwrapped the parcel

and took out the mirror it contained

the sun shone on her lovely face and

hair

although it was december

she looked almost summery

sitting there in her bright red jacket

with the fresh green plants around her

she looked at herself in the mirror

and smiled

thinking that only the birds could see

her

but behind the gate

gabriel oak was watching too

she must be rather vain

he thought

she doesn’t need to look in that mirror

at all

as the girl smiled and blushed at

herself

she seemed to be dreaming

dreaming perhaps of men’s hearts won and

lost

when she heard the driver’s footsteps

she packed the mirror away

the cart moved on downhill to the

tollgate

gabriel followed on foot

as he came closer

he could hear the driver arguing with

the gatekeeper

my mistresses niece that’s her on top of

the furniture

is not going to pay you the extra

tuppence said the driver

she says she’s offered you quite enough

already

well if she doesn’t pay the toll

your mistress’s niece can’t pass through

the gate replied the gatekeeper

gabriel thought that tuppence did not

seem worth bothering about so he stepped

forward

here

he said

handing the coins to the gatekeeper

let the young woman pass

the girl in the red jacket looked

carelessly down at gabriel and told her

man to drive on

without even thanking the farmer

gabriel and the gatekeeper watched the

cart move away

that’s a lovely young woman said the

gatekeeper

but she has her faults answered gabriel

true farmer

and the greatest of them is what it

always is with

women wanting to win the argument every

time oh you’re right

no

her great fault is that she’s vain

a few days later at nearly midnight on

the longest night of the year

gabriel oak could be heard playing his

flute on norcom hill

the sky was so clear and the stars so

visible

that the earth could almost be seen

turning

in that cold hard air

the sweet notes of the flute rang out

the music came from a little hut on

wheels standing in the corner of a field

shepard’s huts like this are used as a

shelter during the winter and spring

when shepherds have to stay out all

night in the fields looking after very

young lambs

gabriel’s 250 sheep were not yet paid

for

he knew that in order to make a success

of the farming business

he had to make sure they produced a

large number of healthy

so he was determined to spend as many

nights as necessary in the fields

to save his lambs from dying of cold

or hunger

the hut was warm and quite comfortable

inside

there was a stove and some bread and

beer on a shelf

on each side of the hut was a round hole

like a window which could be closed with

a piece of wood

these air holes were usually kept open

when the stove was burning

because too much smoke in a small

airless hut could kill the shepherd

from time to time the sound of the flute

stopped

and gabriel came out of his hut to check

his sheep

whenever he discovered a half-dead new

lamb

he brought the creature into the hut

in front of the stove it soon came back

to life

and then he could return it to its

mother

he noticed a light further down the hill

it came from a wooden hut at the edge of

a field

he walked down to it

and put his eye to a hole in the wood

inside two women were feeding a sick cow

one of the women was middle-aged

the other was young and wore a cloak

gabriel could not see her face

i think she’ll be all right now aunt

said the younger woman

i can come and feed her again in the

morning

oh what a pity i lost my hat on the way

here

just then the girl dropped her cloak and

her long hair fell onto the shoulders of

her red jacket

gabriel recognized the girl of the

yellow card and the mirror

the girl who owed him tappance

the women left the hut

and gabriel returned to his sheep

as the sun was rising the next morning

gabriel waited outside his hut until he

saw the young woman riding up the hill

she was sitting sideways on the horse in

the usual ladies position

he suddenly thought of the hatch he had

lost

searched for it and found it among some

leaves on the ground

he was just going to go up to her to

give it back

when the girl did something very strange

riding under the low branches of a tree

she dropped backwards flat on the

horse’s back

with her feet on its shoulders

then first looking around to make sure

no one was watching

she sat up straight again and pulled her

dress to her knees with her legs on

either side of the horse

this was obviously easier for riding

but not very ladylike

gabriel was surprised and amused by her

behavior

he waited until she returned from her

aunt’s hut

and stepped out into the path in front

of her

i found a hat

he said

it’s mine

she said

she put it on and smiled

it flew away

at one o’clock this morning

well yes i needed my hat this morning

i had to ride to the hut in that field

where there’s a sick cow belonging to my

aunt

yes i know

i saw you

where she asked horrified

riding all the way up the hill

along the path

said gabriel

thinking of her unladylike position on

the horse’s back

a deep blush spread from her head to her

neck

gabriel turned sympathetically away

wondering when he dared look at her

again

when he turned back

she had gone

five mornings and evenings passed

the young woman came regularly to take

care of the sick cow

but never spoke to gabriel

he felt very sorry he had offended her

so much by telling her he had seen her

when she thought she was alone

[Music]

then one freezing night

gabriel returned exhausted to his hut

the warm air from the stove made him

sleepy

and he forgot to open one of the air

holes before going to sleep

the next thing he knew was that the girl

with the lovely face was with him in the

hut

holding his head in her arms

whatever is happening

he asked only half conscious

nothing now she answered

but you could have died in this hut of

yours

yes

i suppose i could

said gabriel

he was hoping he could stay there close

to her for a long time

he wanted to tell her so

but he knew he could not express himself

well

so he stayed silent

how did you find me

he asked in the end

oh

i heard your dog scratching at the door

so i came to see what the matter was

i opened the door and found you

unconscious

it must have been the smoke from the

stove

i believe you saved my life

miss

i don’t know your name

there’s no need to know it i probably

won’t see you again

my name is gabriel oak

mine isn’t

you sound very proud of your name

well

it’s the only one i shall ever have

i don’t like mine

i should think you’ll soon get a new one

well

that’s my business gabriel oak

i’m not very clever at talking miss

but i want to thank you

come

give me your hand

she hesitated then offered her hand

he took it

but held it for only a moment

i’m sorry

he said i didn’t mean to let your hand

go so quickly

you may have it again then

here it is

gabriel held it longer this time

how soft it is even in winter

not rough at all

he said

there that’s long enough

she said but without pulling it away

but i suppose you’re thinking you’d like

to kiss it

you may if you want to

i wasn’t thinking any such thing

said gabriel but

oh no you won’t

she pulled her hand sharply away

now

discover my name

she added laughing

and left

chapter 2

disaster for gabriel oak

young farmer oak was in love

he waited for the girl’s regular visits

to the sick cow just as impatiently as

his dog waited to be fed

he discovered that her name was

bathsheba everdeen and that she lived

with her aunt mrs hurst

his head was so full of her that he

could think of nothing else

i’ll make her my wife he declared to

himself

or i’ll never be able to concentrate on

work again

when she stopped coming to feed the sick

cow

he had to find a reason for visiting her

so he took a young lamb whose mother had

died and carried it in a basket across

the fields to mrs hurst’s house

i’ve brought a lamb for miss everdeen

he told bathsheba’s aunt

girls usually like looking after lambs

thank you mr oak replied mrs hurst but

bathsheba is only a visitor here

i don’t know if she’ll keep it

to tell you the truth mrs hearst

the lamb isn’t my real reason for coming

i want to ask miss everdeen

if she’d like to be married

really

asked mrs hurst looking closely at him

yes

because if she would

i’d like to marry her

do you know if she has any other young

men courting her at the moment

oh yes a lot of young men said mrs hurst

you see farmer oak

she’s so handsome and so well educated

too

of course i haven’t actually seen any of

her young men but she must have at least

10 or 12.

that’s unfortunate

said farmer oak staring sadly at the

floor

i’m just a very ordinary man

and my only chance was being the first

to ask to marry her

well

that was all i came for

i’d better go home now mrs hirst

he had gone halfway across the first

field

when he heard a cry behind him

he turned and saw a girl running after

him

it was bathsheba

gabriel blushed

farmer oak she called breathlessly

i want to say

my aunt made a mistake when she told you

i had a lot of young men courting me

in fact i haven’t got any

and i’ve never had any

i am glad to hear that

said gabriel with a wide smile holding

out his hand to take hers

but she pulled her hand away quickly

i have a nice comfortable little farm

he added a little less confidently

and when we are married

i’m sure i can work twice as hard as i

do now

and earn more

he stretched out his arm towards her

bathsheba moved rapidly behind a tree to

avoid him

performer oak she said in surprise

i never said i was going to marry you

well

said gabriel disappointed

to run after me like this

and then say you don’t want me

i only wanted to explain that my aunt

was wrong she answered eagerly

anyway i had to run to catch up with you

so i didn’t have time to decide whether

i wanted to marry or not

just

think for a minute or two replied

gabriel hopefully

i’ll wait a while miss everdeen

will you marry me

do bathsheba

i love you very much

i’ll try to think

she answered

give me time

and she looked away from him at the

distant hills

i can make you happy

he said to the back of her head

you shall have a piano

and i’ll practice the flute to play with

you in the evenings

yes

i’d like that

and at home by the fire

whenever you look up

there i’ll be

and whenever i look up

there you’ll be

wait

let me think

she was silent for a while

and then turned to him

no

she said

i don’t want to marry you

it’d be nice to have a wedding

but having a husband

well he’d always be there

as you say

whenever i looked up

there he’d be

of course he would it would be me

that’s the problem

i wouldn’t mind being a bride if i could

be one without having a husband

but as a woman can’t be a bride alone

i won’t marry

at least not yet

what a silly thing for a girl to say

cried gabriel

and then he said softly

but darling

think again

he moved round the tree to reach her

why won’t you have me

because i don’t love you she replied

moving away

but i love you

and i’m happy to be liked if that’s all

you feel for me

he spoke more seriously than he had ever

spoken before

only one thing is certain in this life

i shall love you

and want you

and keep on wanting you until i die

his feelings were plain to see in his

honest face

and his large brown hands were trembling

it seems wrong not to accept you when

you feel so strongly she replied

unhappily

i wish i hadn’t run after you

but we wouldn’t be happy together mr oak

i’m too independent

i need a husband who can keep me in

order and i’m sure you wouldn’t be able

to do that

gabriel looked hopelessly away and did

not reply

and mr oak she continued in a clear

voice

i’m so poor that my aunt has to provide

a home for me

you’re just starting your farming

business

it would be much more sensible for you

to marry a woman with money

then you could buy more sheep and

improve your farm

that’s just what i’d been thinking

answered gabriel in surprise

what common sense she had he thought

admiringly

well then why did you ask to marry me

she said angrily

i can’t do what i think would be

sensible

i must do what my heart tells me

he did not see the trap she had set for

him

now you’ve confessed that marrying me

wouldn’t be sensible mr oak do you think

i’ll marry you after that

don’t mistake my meaning like that he

cried

just because i’m honest enough to tell

you the truth

i know you’d be a good wife for me

you speak like a lady everyone says so

and your uncle at weatherbury has a

large farm i’ve heard

may i visit you in the evenings

or will you come for a walk with me on

sundays

you don’t have to decide at once

no no i cannot don’t insist don’t i

don’t love you so it would be foolish

she said with a laugh

no man likes to see his feelings laughed

at

so gabriel oak said turning away

very well

then i won’t ask you again

gabriel did not see bathsheba again and

two days later he heard that she had

left the area and was now in weatherbury

a village 20 miles away

her departure did not stop gabriel from

loving her

in fact he loved her even more deeply

now that they were apart

the next night before going to bed

gabriel called his two dogs to come into

the house for the night

his old dog george obeyed the call

but the younger one was missing

gabriel was having difficulty training

this young dog which although

enthusiastic still did not understand a

sheepdog’s duties

he did not worry about the dog’s absence

but went to bed

very early in the morning he was woken

by the sound of sheep bells ringing

violently

shepherds know every sound that sheep

bells make

and gabriel immediately realized that

his sheep were running fast

he jumped out of bed

threw on his clothes and ran up norcom

hill to his fields near the chalk pit

there were his fifty sheep with their

lambs all safe in one field

but in the other field the two hundred

pregnant sheep had completely

disappeared

he noticed a broken gate and felt sure

the sheep had gone through it

there was no sign of them in the next

field

but ahead of him at the top of the hill

he saw the young dog looking black

against the morning sky

it was standing quite still

staring down into the chalk pit

gabriel felt sick as he realized the

horrible truth

he hurried up the hill to the edge of

the chalk pit

and looked down into it

in the deep pit lay his dead and dying

sheep

two hundred of them

which would have produced 200 more in

the next few weeks

the young untrained dog must have chased

them up to the edge of the pit

where they fell to their death

his first feeling was pity for those

gentle sheep and their unborn lambs

then he thought of himself

all his savings which he had worked so

hard for in the last ten years had been

spent on renting the farm

now his hopes of being an independent

farmer were destroyed

he covered his face with his hands

after a while he looked up

thank god i’m not married to bathsheba

he thought

what would she have done married to a

husband as poor as i shall be

the young dog was shot the next day

gabriel sold all his farm tools to pay

what he owed for the sheep

he was no longer a farmer

just an ordinary man who owned the

clothes she was wearing and nothing more

now he had to find work where he could

on other men’s farms chapter 3

the fire

two months later gabriel went to the

great fair at casterbridge hoping to

find a job as farm manager

but when he realized by late afternoon

that none of the farmers at casterbridge

wanted a farm manager or even a shepherd

he decided to try his luck at another

fair the next day

it was 15 miles further away

in a village the other side of

weatherbury

the name weatherbury reminded him of

bathsheba

and he wondered if she still lived there

he set out on foot as it was getting

dark and had already walked three or

four miles when he saw a cart half full

of hay by the side of the road

that’s a comfortable place to sleep he

thought

and he was so tired after his long

disappointing day at the fair

that when he climbed into the cart he

fell asleep immediately

a couple of hours later however he was

woken by the movement of the cart

it was being driven towards weatherbury

by two farm workers who had not noticed

gabriel

he listened to their conversation

she’s a handsome woman that’s true said

one but proud too

and very vain that’s what people say

oh

if she’s vain billy smallbury

i’ll never be able to look at her

i’m such a shy man as you know said the

other a single woman and vain

and does she pay her farm work as well

i don’t know about that joseph poor

grass

gabriel thought they could be talking

about bathsheba

except that the woman they were

discussing seemed to be the mistress of

a farm

as the cart was now quite near

weatherbury

gabriel jumped out unseen by the two men

he climbed a gate into a field intending

to sleep for the rest of the night under

a hayrik

but then he noticed an unusual light in

the darkness about half a mile away

something was on fire

he hurried across the fields towards the

fire

soon in the rich orange light of the

flames he could see a heyrik burning

fiercely

it was too late to save the rick

so for a few minutes he stood and stared

at the flames

but when the smoke cleared for a moment

he was horrified to see very close to

the burning rick a whole row of

wheatricks these probably contained most

of the wheat produced on the farm that

year

and could catch fire at any moment

as he rushed towards the wheat rick that

was most in danger

he saw he was not alone

a crowd of farm workers had seen the

fire and run into the field to help save

the wheat but they were so confused they

did not know what to do

gabriel took control and gave

orders get a large cloth he shouted

put it over the wheatrick so the wind

can’t blow the flames from the hay rick

onto it now

you stand here with a bucket of water

and keep the cloth wet

the men hurried to obey him

the flames prevented from burning the

bottom and sides of the wheatrick began

to attack its roof

get me a ladder cried gabriel

and a branch and some water

he climbed up the wheat rick and sat on

the top beating down the flames with the

branch

billy smallbury one of the men who had

been in the cart climbed up with a

bucket of water to throw water on

gabriel and keep the flames off him

the smoke was at its thickest at this

corner of the rick but gabriel never

stopped his work

on the ground the villagers were doing

what they could to stop the fire which

was not much

a little further away was a young woman

who had just arrived on her horse with

her maid on foot

they were watching the fire and

discussing gabriel

he’s a fine young man mom said lydia the

maid

and look at his clothes

they’re all burnt

who does he work for asked the woman in

a clear voice

i don’t know mom nor do the others

he’s a stranger

john coggan called the woman to one of

her workers

do you think the wheat is safe now

i think so yes ma’am he answered

if the fire had spread to this waitrick

all the other ricks would have caught

fire too

that brave young man up there on top of

the rick is the one who saved your wheat

he does work hard said the young woman

looking up at gabriel who had not

noticed her

i wish he worked for me

as the ricks were no longer in danger

gabriel started to climb down

and at the bottom he met the maid

i have a message from the farmer

who wishes to thank you for all you’ve

done she said

where is he ask gabriel suddenly aware

of the chance of getting some work

it isn’t a he

it’s a she

answered the girl

a woman farmer

asked gabriel

yes

and a rich one too said a villager who

was standing near

she inherited her uncle’s farm when he

died suddenly she has business in every

bank in caster bridge

she’s over there wrapped in a cloak on

her horse added the maid

in the darkness gabriel could only see

the shape of a woman sitting on a horse

he walked over to her

although his face was black from the

smoke and his clothes were burnt by the

fire

he remembered to lift his hat politely

and asked looking up at her

do you want a shepherd mom

she let her cloak fall back from her

head in surprise

gabriel and his cold-hearted darling

bathsheba everdeen

stared at each other

she did not speak

he only repeated sadly

do you want a shepherd mom

bathsheba turned away into the shadows

to consider

she was a little sorry for him

but also glad that she had improved her

position since they last met

she realized she had almost forgotten

his offer of marriage on norcom hill

yes

she answered quietly blushing a little

i do want a shepherd but

he’s just the right man mom said one of

the villagers

that’s right said a second and a third

then will you men tell him to speak to

the farm manager said bathsheba in a

business-like way as she rode off

gabriel soon arranged the details of his

employment with bathsheba’s farm manager

benji pennyways

and walked onto the village to find a

place to live

as he walked

he thought of bathsheba

how quickly the young girl he remembered

had become the capable mistress of a

farm

when he passed the churchyard and the

ancient trees around it

he noticed that someone was standing

behind one of the trees

is this the right way to weatherbury

ask gabriel

oh yes

straight on

said a girl’s voice low and sweet

after a pause she added

you’re not a weatherbury man

no

i’m the new shepherd just arrived

only a shepherd

you seem almost like a farmer to me

only a shepherd

repeated gabriel in a dull voice

thinking of the disaster that had

destroyed his hopes of being a farmer

please don’t tell anyone in the village

that you’ve seen me

beg the girl

i’m rather poor

and i don’t want anyone to know about me

her thin arms trembled in the cold

i won’t tell anyone said gabriel

but you ought to be wearing a cloak on a

night like this

oh

it doesn’t matter

please go on and leave me

he hesitated

perhaps you’d accept this

it’s not much

but it’s all i have to spare

he put a coin into her small hand and as

he touched her wrist he noticed how

quickly the blood was beating

it was the same quick hard beat that he

felt in his lambs when they were close

to death

what’s the matter can’t i help you he

asked

he felt a deep sadness in this thin weak

creature

no

no

don’t tell anyone you’ve seen me

good night

she stayed in the shadows

and gabriel went on to weatherbury

chapter four

fanny robin disappears

the farm manager had advised gabriel to

go straight to the malt house in

weatherbury to ask for somewhere to stay

that was the place where the men of the

village spent their evenings drinking

beer and talking by the fire

when gabriel entered the warm dark room

some of bathsheba’s workers recognized

him

come in shepherd you’re welcome said one

gabriel oak is my name neighbors

the ancient molster with his white hair

and long white beard turned his old head

stiffly towards gabriel

gabriel oak of gnoccum he said

i knew your grandparents well

my boy jacob and his young son billy

know your family too

his boy jacob was bald and toothless

and young billy was about forty

you must be very old monster said

gabriel politely

dab such an old son as jacob here

yes i’ve lived for over 100 years

replied the little old man proudly

sit down and drink with us shepherd

the cup of warm beer passed around the

circle of drinkers

there was silence for a moment

then gabriel turned the conversation to

the matter closest to his heart

what kind of mistress is miss everdeen

he asked

we know almost nothing of her shepherd

answered jan coggin a big cheerful man

with a red face

she only arrived here a few days ago

when her uncle died

but the aberdeens are a good family to

work for

of course it’s the farm manager who’ll

be giving us our orders

uh

said the molster frowning bendy

pennyways

you can’t trust him added jacob darkly

soon afterwards gabriel left with jan

coghan who had offered the shepherd a

bed in his house

the remaining men were just preparing to

leave when suddenly a young man called

laban tall rushed into the malt house

almost too excited to speak

it’s benji pennyways he cried

miss everdanes caught him stealing wheat

from the barn

she sent him away

and worse than that

fanny robin you know miss everdeen’s

youngest maid is missing

the mistress wants us to look for her

tomorrow

and billy smallbury she wants you to go

to casterbridge to see if you can find

the young soldier who’s been courting

fanny

that night the news spread fast round

the village

but did not reach gabriel whose dreams

were only of bathsheba

through the long slow hours of darkness

he saw her lovely face

and forgot that she did not love him

the next morning bathsheba and her maid

liddy were dusting some books when a

visitor arrived at the front door

it was mr boldwood who had a large farm

in weatherbury

i can’t see him like this liddy

said bathsheba looking in horror at her

dusty dress

go down and tell him i’m busy

when liddy came back after mr boldwood

had gone bathsheba asked

what did he want liddy

and who is he exactly

he just wanted to ask if fanny had been

found miss

you know as she had no family or friends

he was kind enough to pay for her to go

to school

and found her a job here with your uncle

he’s your neighbor

his farm is next to yours

is he married and how old is he

he isn’t married

he’s about 40

very handsome

and rich

all the girls in the area have tried to

persuade him to marry

but he just doesn’t seem interested in

women

have you ever had an offer of marriage

miss

yes i have liddy

answered bathsheba after a pause

thinking of gabriel

but he wasn’t quite good enough for me

oh how nice to be able to refuse

when most of us are glad to accept the

first offer

and did you love him miss

oh no

but i rather liked him

in the afternoon bathsheba called her

workers together and spoke to them in

the old hall of the farmhouse

men

i want to tell you that i’m not going to

employ a new farm manager

i shall manage the farm myself

there were gasps of surprise from the

men

she gave her orders for the next week’s

farm work

and then turned to one of the men

billy smallbury

what have you discovered about fanny

robin

i think she’s run away with her young

man mom

the soldiers have left casterbridge

and i suppose she’s gone with them

well

perhaps we’ll discover more later one of

you can go and tell mr boldwood what

billy says

now men

i hope i can trust you all to do your

work well for me

good night

later that evening in a town many miles

north of weatherbury

a small white shape could be seen

walking slowly along a path beside a

large building

it was a dull snowy night

with heavy grey clouds hanging low in

the sky

the kind of night when hopes are

destroyed

and love is lost

one

two

three

four

five

the white shape was counting windows in

the building

then it began to throw small stones

covered in snow at the fifth window

at last the window opened

and a man called out

is there

is that sergeant troy

asked a girl’s voice

yes

answered the man

who are you

oh frank

don’t you know me

cried the girl desperately

i’m your

i’m fanny robin

fanny

gasped the man in surprise

how did you get here

i walked most of the way from

weatherbury

but frank

are you glad to see me

frank

when will it be

what are you talking about

you know

you

promised when shall we be married frank

oh

i see

well

you need proper clothes

we must inform the vicar

it takes time

i didn’t expect you to come so soon

oh frank

i love you so

and

you said you’d marry me don’t cry now

it’s foolish

if i said so of course i will

i’ll come and see you tomorrow

to decide the details

oh yes frank do

i’m staying at mrs twills in north

street

come tomorrow frank

good night frank

chapter five

bathsheba sends a valentine

when bathsheba first appeared at the

weekly casterbridge market where farmers

bought and sold their wheat and animals

she caused a sensation

men’s heads turned to look at her

the only woman there

like any woman she was happy to be

admired

but she was also determined to sell her

wheat at a good price

and to do business with the other

farmers like a man

there was one farmer however

who did not seem to notice her

and this annoyed her a little

it was mr boldwood

one sunday afternoon on the 13th of

february

bathsheba and liddy were in the sitting

room together

it was a dull cold day and they were

both very bored

have you ever tried to discover who

you’re going to marry miss

ask liddy

with a bible

and a key

i don’t believe in such foolish games

liddy

well

some people believe it works

all right let’s try it said bathsheba

suddenly jumping up from her seat

together they opened the big family

bible

and put a key on a page

now

you think of someone you could marry

miss

said liddy then read aloud the words on

that page

and if the bible moves

perhaps you’ll marry him

bathsheba read the words holding the

bible

as they watched

the bible turned in her hands

and bathsheba blushed

who were you thinking of

asked liddy curiously

i’m not going to tell you

answered her mistress

by the way

did you notice mr boldwood in church

this morning asked liddy making it very

clear who she was thinking of

he didn’t turn his head once to look at

you

why should he replied bathsheba annoyed

i didn’t ask him to look at me

oh no

but everybody else in church was looking

at you

bathsheba did not reply to this

after a few minutes she said oh i nearly

forgot the valentine card i bought

yesterday

a valentine

who’s it for miss

farmer boldwood

no of course not

it’s for one of the village children

that sweet little boy of jan coggins

i’ll write the address on the envelope

now and we’ll post it today

what fun it would be to send it to that

silly old boldwood laughed liddy

bathsheba paused to consider

it was certainly a little depressing

that the wealthiest and most important

man in the area did not seem to admire

her as all the other men did

we’ll throw a coin to decide she said

lightly

no

we shouldn’t play with money on a sunday

i know

we’ll throw this book

if it comes down open i’ll send the

valentine to jan’s son

if it comes down shut

i’ll send it to boldwood

the little book went up in the air

and came down

shut

bathsheba immediately picked up her pen

and wrote boldwood’s address on the

envelope

now we need a seal she said

look for an interesting one liddy

ah let’s use this one i can’t remember

what it says but i know it’s funny

when she had sealed the envelope

bathsheba looked closely at the words

left by the seal

marry me

just right she cried

that would make even a vicar laugh

and so the valentine was sent not for

love but as a joke

bathsheba had no idea of the effect it

would have

it arrived at mr boldwood’s house on the

morning of saint valentine’s day 14th of

february

he was puzzled but strangely excited by

it

he had never received one before

and all day he thought about it

who could the woman be

who admired him so much

that she sent him a valentine

he kept on looking at it

until the words on the large red seal

danced in front of his tired eyes and he

could no longer read them

but he knew what they said

marry me

the valentine had destroyed the peaceful

routine of boldwood’s life

that night he dreamed of the unknown

woman and when he woke up very early the

first thing he saw was the valentine

with its message in red on the table by

his bed

marry me

he repeated to

himself he was too restless to sleep

anymore

so he went out for a walk

he watched the sun rise over the snowy

fields

and on his way home he met the postman

who handed him a letter

boldwood took it quickly and opened it

thinking it could be from the center of

the valentine

i don’t think it’s for you sir said the

postman

i think it’s for your shepherd

boldwood looked at the address on the

envelope

to the new shepherd

weatherbury farm near casterbridge

oh what a mistake

it isn’t mine or my shepherds it must be

for miss everdeen’s shepherd

his name is

gabriel oak

at that moment he noticed a figure in a

distant field

ah there he is now boldwood added i’ll

take the letter to him myself

the shepherd started walking towards the

malt house and boldwood followed him

holding the letter

chapter six

fanny’s mistake

at the malt house the men were

discussing bathsheba

is she getting on without a farm manager

the old molster asked the younger men

she can’t manage the farm alone replied

jacob and she won’t listen to our advice

proud she is i’ve often said it

you have jacob you have that’s true

agreed little joseph poor grass

but she’s intelligent said billy

smallbury and must have some common

sense

it seems her old uncle’s furniture

wasn’t good enough for her said the

monster i hear she’s bought new beds

chairs and a piano

if she’s a farmer

why does she want a piano

just then they heard a heavy footstep

outside and a voice called

neighbors can i bring a few lambs in

there

of course shepherd they all replied

gabriel appeared in the doorway his

cheeks red and his healthy face shining

on his shoulders were four half-dead

lambs which he put down carefully close

to the fire

i haven’t got a shepherd’s hut here as i

used to have at norcomb he explained

these new lambs would die if i couldn’t

keep them warm for a while

it’s very kind of you molster to let me

bring them in here

we’ve been talking of the mistress and

her strange behavior shepherd said the

monster

what have you been saying about her ask

gabriel sharply turning to the others

i suppose you’ve been speaking against

her he added angrily to joseph poor

grass

no

no not a word said joseph trembling and

blushing with terror

well look here neighbors

gabriel although normally one of the

quietest and most gentle men on earth

had suddenly become aggressive

the first man i hear saying anything bad

about our mistress will receive this in

his face

and he banged his great heavy hand down

on the molsters table

no

don’t get so angry shepherd and sit down

said jacob

we he you’re a very clever man shepherd

added joseph poor grass from behind the

master’s bed where he had been hiding

we all wish we were as clever as you

don’t we neighbors

there was general agreement

i think

mistress ought to have made you her farm

manager

you’re so suitable for the job continued

joseph he could see that gabriel was no

longer angry

i don’t mind confessing i was hoping to

be her farm manager said gabriel in his

honest way

but miss everdeen can do as she likes

and she’s chosen to manage her own farm

and keep me

as an ordinary shepherd only

he sounded rather depressed

and looked sadly into the fire

before anyone could reply the door

opened and mr boldwood came in he

greeted them all and handed the letter

to gabriel

i opened this by mistake oak he said but

it must be for you i’m sorry

oh it doesn’t matter at all answered

gabriel who had no secrets from anyone

he read this letter

dear friend

i don’t know your name but i want to

thank you for your kindness to me on the

night i left weatherbury

i’m also returning the money you gave me

i’m happy to say

i’m going to marry the young man who has

been courting me

sergeant troy

as he is a nobleman’s son

i know he wouldn’t like me to accept a

gift from anyone

please don’t tell anyone about my

marriage

we intend to surprise weatherbury by

arriving there as husband and wife very

soon

thank you again

fanny robin

you better read it mr boldwood said

gabriel

it’s from fanny robin

she wants to keep this a secret

but i know you’re interested in her

i met her on my way to weatherbury but i

didn’t know then who she was

when mr boldwood had finished reading

the letter he looked very serious

oh fanny he said

i don’t think this sergeant troy will

ever marry her he’s clever and handsome

but he can’t be trusted

what a silly girl fanny is

i’m very sorry to hear that said gabriel

by the way oak said mr boldwood quietly

as he and the shepherd left the malt

house together

could you tell me whose writing this is

he showed gabriel the envelope

containing the valentine

gabriel looked at it and said simply

miss aberdeens

then he realized that bathsheba must

have written to mr boldwood without

signing her name

and he looked puzzled at the farmer

mr boldwood replied rather too quickly

to gabriel’s unspoken question

it’s quite normal to try to discover who

has written the valentine

that’s the fun of it

there was no fun at all in his manner

goodbye oak he added and walked slowly

back to his empty house

a few days later in the town north of

weatherbury where the soldiers were

staying a wedding was arranged

as the church clock in the square struck

half past eleven

a handsome young soldier marched into

the church and spoke to the vicar

then he stood still in the center of the

church

waiting for his bride

the church was full of the women and

girls who had attended the morning

service and had decided to wait to see

the wedding

they watched the young man straight back

whispering among themselves

the soldier waited without moving a

muscle

the church clock struck a quarter to

twelve

and still the bride did not come

the whispers stopped

and there was silence

the young man stood as stiff and

straight as the church columns around

him

there was a little quiet laughter from

some of the women but soon they were

silent again

waiting for the end

as the church clock struck twelve they

listened to the heavy notes ringing out

from the church tower

the vicar left his position near the

soldier and disappeared into a back room

every woman in the church was waiting to

see the young man’s face

and he knew it

at last he turned

and marched bravely back the way he had

come

through the rows of smiling women

when he got outside and crossed the

square he met a girl hurrying towards

the church

when she saw him the anxiety on her face

changed to

terror well

he said staring coldly at her

oh frank

i made a mistake

i thought it was the other church the

one near the market

and i waited there till a quarter to 12

and then i realized my mistake

but it doesn’t matter because we can

just as easily get married tomorrow

you’re a fool to play games with me

he replied angrily

so

shall we get married tomorrow frank she

asked not understanding how seriously

she had offended him

tomorrow he repeated and laughed

i don’t want another experience like

that for a while i can promise you

but frank

she begged in a trembling voice

it wasn’t such a terrible mistake

now

dear frank

when will our wedding be

ah when

god knows he said

and turning away from her

walked rapidly away

chapter 7

farmer boldwood proposes marriage

on saturday at casterbridge market

boldwood saw the woman who was

disturbing his dreams

for the first time he turned his head

and looked at her

it was in fact the first time in his

life that he had looked at any woman

up to now he had considered women to be

distant almost foreign creatures who had

nothing to do with him

now he saw bathsheba’s hair

and every detail of her face

he noticed her figure her dress

and even her feet

she seemed very beautiful to him

and his heart began to move within him

and this woman

this lovely young woman

has asked me to marry her he thought

as he was watching bathsheba selling

wheat to another farmer

he was filled with jealousy

all this time bathsheba was aware of his

eyes on her

at last she had made him look at her

but she would have preferred him to

admire her from the beginning without

the encouragement of her valentine

she felt sorry she had disturbed the

usual calmness of a man she respected

but considered she could not apologize

to him without either offending or

encouraging him

mr boldwood did not try to speak to her

and returned home to his farm

he was a man of strong feelings which

normally lay hidden deep inside him

because he was serious and did not joke

with his neighbors

people thought he was cold

but when he loved or hated

it was with his whole heart

if bathsheba had known how strong the

feelings of this dark and silent figure

were

she would have blamed herself terribly

for her thoughtlessness

but nobody guessed what lay behind his

calm appearance

a few days later mr boldwood was looking

at bathsheba’s fields which were next to

his own

when he saw her helping gabriel oak with

the sheep

to boldwood bathsheba shone like the

moon on a dark night

his heart which had never been touched

before was filled completely with his

love for her

he decided to go and speak to her

as he stopped at the gate of the field

bathsheba looked up and noticed him

gabriel was watching her face and saw

her blush

he immediately thought of the envelope

with the valentine that boldwood had

shown him and suspected bathsheba of

encouraging the farmer to fall in love

with her

boldwood realized they had noticed him

and suddenly felt unsure of himself

he did not know enough about women to

discover from bathsheba’s manner whether

she wanted to see him or not

and so he did not enter the field but

walked on past the gate

bathsheba however knew that he had come

to see her and felt extremely guilty

she promised herself never again to

disturb the peace of this man’s life

unfortunately her promise was made too

late

as such promises often are

it was not until the end of may that

boldwood was brave enough to declare his

love

he went to bathsheba’s house where the

maids told him their mistress was

watching the sheep washing

every spring the sheep were washed in a

special pool to keep their wool clean

and to get rid of insects on their skin

boldwood walked across the fields to the

pool where he found the farm workers

busily washing the sheep

bathsheba was standing near them and saw

boldwood coming towards her

she moved away walking beside the river

but she could hear footsteps behind her

in the grass

and felt love all around her like

perfume in the air

boldwood caught up with her

miss everdeen

he said quietly

she trembled turned and said

good morning

she had guessed the truth from the way

he spoke those two words

i feel

almost too much to think

he said simply

my life does not belong to me anymore

miss everdeen

but to you

i’ve come to propose marriage to you

bathsheba tried not to show any

expression on her face

i’m now 41 he continued

i’ve never married

or thought i ever would marry

but we all change

and i changed when i saw you

more than anything else

i want you as my wife

i think

mr boldwood

that although i respect you very much

i don’t feel

enough for you

to accept your proposal

but my life is worthless without you he

cried calm no longer

i want you

to let me say i love you again and again

bathsheba remain silent

i think and hope you care enough for me

to listen to what i have to say he had

it

bathsheba was about to ask why he should

think that

when she remembered the valentine

after all

it was quite natural for him to think

she admired him

i wish i could court you with beautiful

words the farmer went on

but i can only say i love you madly and

want you for my wife

i wouldn’t have proposed if you hadn’t

allowed me to hope

mr boldwood

this is difficult for me

i’m afraid i can’t marry you

i’m not in love with you

i should never have sent that valentine

forgive me

it was a thoughtless thing to do

no

no don’t say it was thoughtless

say it was the beginning of a feeling

that you would like me

just consider whether you can accept me

as a husband

i know i’m too old for you

but believe me i’ll take more care of

you than a younger man would

you will have nothing to worry about

you’ll have everything you want

god only knows how much you mean to me

bathsheba’s young heart was full of pity

for this sensitive man who had spoken so

simply and honestly

don’t say it

don’t

you feel so much and i feel nothing she

replied

don’t discuss it anymore

i can’t think

oh i’ve given you such pain

tell me that you don’t refuse completely

give me some hope

may i ask you again

may i think of you

yes i suppose so

may i hope you will accept my proposal

next time

no

don’t hope

i must go now

give me time to think

yes

i’ll give you time

he answered gratefully

thank you

i’m happier now

no

please don’t be happier mr boldwood

if happiness only comes from my agreeing

i must think

i’ll wait

he agreed

they turned away from each other

and returned to their separate houses

chapter 8

bathsheba’s sheep in danger

because bathsheba was not at all in love

with farmer boldwood

she was able to consider his proposal of

marriage calmly

it was an offer which many women of good

family in the area would have been

delighted to accept

he was serious respectable and rich

if she had wanted a husband she could

not have found a good reason for

refusing to marry him

but she was still enjoying her new

position as mistress of a farm and house

and although she respected and liked him

she did not want to marry him

however

she was honest enough to feel that

as she had begun the courting by sending

him the valentine

she ought not to refuse him now

there was only one person whose opinion

she trusted more than her own

and that person was gabriel oak

so the next day she decided to ask his

advice

she found him with jan coggin sharpening

the shears which would be used to shear

the sheep

jan

go and help joseph with the horses she

ordered

i’ll help you gabriel

i want to talk to you

the shears were sharpened on a stone

which was turned by a wheel which was

itself turned by a handle

bathsheba could not manage the handle so

she held the shears while gabriel turned

the handle

you aren’t holding them right miss he

told her

let me show you how

he let go of the handle and put his

large hands round hers

to hold the shears

like that he said continuing to hold her

hands for a peculiarly long time

that’s enough said bathsheba i don’t

want my hands held turn the handle

they went on sharpening the shears

gabriel what do the men think about me

and mr boldwood

they say you’ll marry him before the end

of the year miss

what a foolish thing to say

i want you to contradict it gabriel

well bathsheba said gabriel staring at

her in surprise

miss everdeen you mean she said

well

if mr boldwood really asked you to marry

him i’m not going to contradict that

just to please you

i said i wanted you just to say it

wasn’t true that i was going to marry

him

she said less confidently

i can say that if you wish miss everdeen

i could also give my opinion of the way

you’ve behaved

he continued with his work

bathsheba knew that he would always give

his honest opinion

even if she asked him whether she should

marry another man

and there was nobody else she could

trust

well

what is your opinion of my behavior

she asked

no

good respectable woman

would behave like that

he replied

you should never have sent him that

valentine

bathsheba blushed angrily

luckily i don’t care about your opinion

why do you think i’m not good or

respectable i wonder

because i didn’t agree to marry you

perhaps

not at all

said gabriel quietly

i’ve long ago stopped thinking about

that

or wishing it i suppose she said

expecting him to protest that he still

loved her

or wishing it repeated gabriel calmly

bathsheba would not have minded being

spoken too angrily by gabriel for her

thoughtlessness

if only he had told her he loved her

but his cold words of blame annoyed her

greatly

i cannot allow any man to accuse me of

bad behavior she cried

so you will leave the farm at the end of

the week

all right

i will

said gabriel calmly

in fact i would rather go at once

go at once then she replied angrily

don’t let me see your face anymore

very well miss everdeen

and so he took his shears and walked

quietly away

it was only 24 hours after gabriel had

left the farm the three men came running

to report a disaster to bathsheba

sixty of your sheep said joseph poor

grass breathless

have broken through the gate said billy

also breathless

and got into a field of young clover

said laban tall

they’re eating the clover and they’re

all swollen up

they’ll all die if someone doesn’t do

something

oh you fools cried bathsheba

go straight to the field and get them

out

she rushed towards the cloverfield

followed by the men

her sheep were all lying down

their stomachs badly swollen

joseph billy and laban carried the sheep

back into their own field

where the poor creatures lay helplessly

without moving

oh what can i do what can i do

cried bathsheba

there’s only one way of saving them said

laban

someone must make a hole in the sheep’s

side explain billy with a special tool

then the air comes out

and the sheep will survive

can you do it

can i do it she asked wildly

no ma’am

if it isn’t done very carefully the

sheep will die

most shepherds can’t even do it

only one man in the area can do it said

joseph

who is he

let’s get him said his mistress

it’s gabriel oak

ah he’s a clever man replied joseph

that’s right he certainly is agreed the

other two

how dare you say his name to me she said

angrily what about farmer boldwood

perhaps he can do it

no mom answered la ban when his she bet

some clover the other day and was

swollen just like these he sent for

gabriel at once and gabriel saved their

lives

i don’t care

don’t just stand there go and find

someone cried bathsheba

the men ran off without any clear idea

where they were going

and bathsheba was left alone with her

dying sheep

never will i send for him

never

she promised herself

one of the sheep jumped high in the air

fell heavily and did not move

it was dead

bathsheba knew she must swallow her

pride

and called to laban who was waiting at

the gate

take a horse

and go and find gabriel she ordered

give him a message from me that he must

return at once

bathsheba and her men waited miserably

in the field

several more sheep jumped wildly into

the air their stomachs horribly swollen

and their muscles stiff

then died

at last a rider could be seen across the

fields but it was not gabriel it was

laban

he says he won’t come unless you ask him

politely

la ban reported to bathsheba

what

said the young woman opening her eyes

white

joseph poor grass hid behind a tree in

case she became violent

how dare he answer me like that

another sheep fell dead

the men looked very serious

and did not offer their opinion

bathsheba’s eyes filled with tears

and she did not try to hide her anger

and her injured pride

don’t cry about it miss suggested billy

sympathetically

why not ask gabriel in a gentler way

i’m sure he’ll come then

oh he’s cruel to me said bathsheba

drying her eyes

but i’ll beg him

yes i’ll have to

she wrote a few words quickly on a piece

of paper

and at the last moment added at the

bottom

gabriel

do not desert me

she blushed a little as she wrote this

and gave the letter to laban who rode

off again to find gabriel

when gabriel arrived bathsheba knew from

his expression

which words in her note had made him

come

he went straight to work on the swollen

sheep and managed to save almost all of

them

when he had finished bathsheba came to

speak to him

gabriel

will you stay on with me

she asked smiling

i will

said gabriel

and she smiled at him again

a few days later the sheep shearing

began

the sheep were shown every year at the

beginning of june and their wool was

sold

the shearing was always done in the

great barn which had stood on the farm

for four centuries

today the sunshine poured in on the

shearers

bathsheba was watching them carefully to

make sure that the sheep were not

injured and that all the wool was cut

off

gabriel was the most experienced shearer

he loved being watched by bathsheba and

felt warm with pride when she

congratulated him on his speed

but he was not happy for long

farmer boldwood arrived at the door of

the barn and spoke to bathsheba

they stepped outside into the bright

sunlight to carry on their conversation

gabriel could not hear what they were

saying

but noticed that bathsheba was blushing

he continued cheering

feeling suddenly very sad

bathsheba went back to the house and

returned a short while later in her new

green riding dress

she and boldwood were obviously going

for a ride together

as gabriel’s concentration was broken

for a moment his shears cut the sheep’s

skin bathsheba at the door of the bar

noticed the animal jump and saw the

blood

oh gabriel

she said

be more careful

gabriel knew she was aware that she

herself had indirectly caused the poor

sheep’s wound

but he bravely hid his hurt feelings

and watched boldwood and bathsheba ride

away

feeling as sure as the other workers

that the couple would soon be married

chapter 9

bathsheba meets a handsome soldier

farmers always gave a special supper to

the sheepshearers when they had finished

their work

this year bathsheba had ordered her

maids to put a long table in the garden

with the top end of the table just

inside the house

the farm workers took their seats and

she sat at the top of the table

so that she was with them but a little

apart

there was an empty place at the bottom

of the table

at first she asked gabriel to sit there

but just then mr boldwood arrived

apologizing for his lateness

gabriel said bathsheba

will you move again please and let mr

boldwood sit there

gabriel moved away in silence to another

seat

they all ate and drank and celebrated

the end of the sheep-shearing by singing

their favorite songs

mr boldwood seemed unusually cheerful

and at the end of the meal he left his

seat and went to join bathsheba at her

end of the table just inside the sitting

room

it was growing dark

but gabriel and the other men could not

avoid noticing how boldwood looked at

her

it was clear that the middle-aged farmer

was deeply in love

after a while bathsheba said good night

to her farmworkers and closed the

sitting room door and windows

now she and boldwood were alone

kneeling in front of her he took her

hands

tell me

tell me what you’ve decided he begged

i’ll try to love you

she answered in a trembling voice

and if you think i’ll make a good wife

i’ll agree to marry you

but mr boldwood

any woman would hesitate before deciding

on something as important as marriage

could you wait a few weeks

until i’m sure

i’ll be away on business for five or six

weeks anyway

do you really think that by that time

you will

i feel almost sure

that when you come back at harvest time

i’ll be able to promise to marry you

but remember

i can’t promise yet

i don’t ask for anything more

i can wait

good night miss everdeen

and he left her

bathsheba now realized how thoughtlessly

she had behaved towards him

and understood how deeply he loved her

she was very sorry for her mistake

and was therefore punishing herself by

agreeing to marry him

that evening she went round the farm as

usual lighting her lamp whenever

necessary to check that all the animals

were safe

on her way back

she was walking along the narrow public

path which led to her house

it was very dark there among the trees

and she was a little surprised to hear

some footsteps coming towards her

it was unfortunate that she would meet

the traveler at the darkest point of the

path

as she was about to pass the dark sheep

something seemed to attach her skirt to

the ground and she had to stop

what’s happened have i hurt you friend a

man asked

no

said bathsheba trying to pull her skirt

away

ah you’re a lady

the spur on my boot has got tied up with

your dress

have you got a lamp i’ll light it for

you

the light from the lamp shone suddenly

on a handsome young man in a bright red

and gold army uniform

he looked admiringly at bathsheba

thank you for letting me see such a

beautiful face he said

i didn’t want to show it to you she said

coldly blushing

please undo your spur quickly

he bent down to pull rather lazily at

his boots

you’re making it even worse she accused

him angrily to keep me here longer

oh no surely not smile the soldier

don’t be angry

i was doing it so that i could have the

pleasure of apologizing to such a lovely

woman

bathsheba had no idea what to say

she wondered whether to escape by

pulling the material away but did not

want to tear her best dress

i’ve seen many women in my life

continued the young man staring into her

face

but i’ve never seen a woman as beautiful

as you

i don’t care if you’re offended that’s

the truth

who are you then if you don’t care who

you offend

people know me in weatherbury

my name’s sergeant troy

ah

you see your skirt’s free now

i wish you and i had been tied together

forever

she pulled her dress quickly away from

his spurs

and ran up the path and into her house

the next day she discovered from liddy

that sergeant troy’s supposed father was

a doctor

but people said his real father was a

nobleman

he had been brought up in weatherbury

and was well known as a young soldier

with a great interest in girls

bathsheba could not remain angry for

long with someone who admired her as

much as he obviously did

it was unfortunate that boldwood when

courting her

had forgotten to tell her even once

that she was beautiful

sergeant troy was certainly an unusual

man

he lived only in the present

caring nothing for the past or the

future

because he never expected anything he

was never disappointed

to men he usually told the truth

but to women never

he was intelligent and well educated and

proud of his success with women

a week or two after the sheep shearing

bathsheba was in the hayfields where her

workers were cutting the hay

she was surprised to see a bright red

figure appear from behind a cart

sergeant troy had come to help on the

farm

she blushed as the young soldier came to

speak to her

miss everdeen he said

i didn’t realize it was the queen of

caster bridge market i was speaking to

the other night

i apologize for expressing my feelings

so strongly to you then

of course i’m not a stranger here

i often helped your uncle on the farm

and now i’m helping you

i suppose i must thank you for that

replied the queen of casterbridge market

rather ungratefully

your cross because i was honest when i

spoke to you that night

but i couldn’t look at you and say you

aren’t beautiful

you are pretending sergeant troy said

both sheba laughing in spite of herself

at his clever way of talking

no miss everdeen

you must let me say how lovely you are

what’s wrong with that

it’s wrong because

it isn’t true

she said hesitating

but you know that everybody notices how

beautiful you are don’t you

well no

that is

i’ve heard liddy say they do but

she paused

she had never intended to become

involved in this kind of conversation

with the soldier

but somehow he had trapped her into

replying

thank you for helping the men with the

hay she continued

but please don’t speak to me again

oh miss bathsheba that’s too hard

i won’t be here long

i’m going back to the army in a month

but you don’t really care about a word

from me do you

i do miss everdeen

perhaps you think it’s foolish of me to

want just a good morning

but you have never loved a beautiful

woman like yourself as i do

but you only saw me the other night

i don’t believe you could fall in love

so fast

i won’t listen to you anymore

i wish i knew what time it was i’ve

spent too much time with you

haven’t you got a watch miss i’ll give

you one

and he handed her a heavy gold watch

that watch belonged to a nobleman my

father

and is all the inheritance i have

but

sergeant troy

i can’t take this it’s your father’s and

so valuable said bathsheba horrified

i loved my father true

but i love you more

the young man was not pretending now

as he looked at bathsheba’s beautiful

excited face

can it be true

that you love me

you’ve seen so little of me

please take it back

well then i’ll take it he said

because it’s all i have to prove that i

come of good family

but will you speak to me while i’m in

weatherbury

will you let me work in your fields

yes or no

i don’t know

oh

why did you come and disturb me like

this

perhaps in setting a trap

i’ve caught myself

such things sometimes happen

goodbye miss aberdeen

blushing and almost crying

bathsheba hurried home

whispering to herself

oh what have i done

what does it mean

i wish i knew how much of what he says

is true

chapter 10

bathsheba in love

once or twice during the next few days

bathsheba saw troy working in her hay

fields

he behaved in a pleasant friendly manner

towards her and she began to lose her

fear of him

cutting your hay is harder work than

sword practice he told her one day a

smile lighting up his handsome face

is it

i’ve never seen sword practice she

answered

ah

would you like to

asked troy

bathsheba hesitated

she had heard wonderful stories from

people who had watched soldiers

practicing

stories of shining metal flashing

through the air

i would like to see it very much

well i’ll show you

i can get a sword by this evening

will you

and he bent over her whispering in her

ear

oh no

said bathsheba blushing i couldn’t

surely you could nobody would know

well

if i came

liddy would have to come with me

i don’t see why you want to bring her

troy said coldly

well then

i won’t bring her

and i’ll come

but only for a very short time

so

at eight o’clock that evening bathsheba

found herself in spite of her doubts

climbing the hill near her house and

going down the other side

now she was in what seemed like a

natural theater

a deep round hollow in the ground

it was completely hidden from her house

and the path

this was the place where troy had asked

her to meet him

and troy

in his bright red uniform

was there

now he said producing his sword which

flashed in the evening sunlight

let me show you

one

two

three four

like this

a sword can kill a man in a second

bathsheba saw a kind of rainbow in the

air and gasped

how cruel and murderous she cried

yes

now i’ll pretend to fight you

you are my enemy

but the only difference from a real

fight is that i’ll miss you each time

stand in front of me

and don’t move

bathsheba was beginning to enjoy this

i’ll just test you first a detroit to

see whether you are brave enough

the sword flashed in the air

from her left to right side

it seemed to go through her body

but there it was again in troy’s hand

perfectly clean and free from blood

oh she cried frightened

have you killed me oh no you haven’t how

did you do it

i haven’t touched you

said troy quietly

now you aren’t afraid are you

i promise i won’t hurt you or even touch

you

i

don’t think i’m afraid

is the sword very sharp

oh no

just stand very still

now

in a second

bathsheba could no longer see the sky or

the ground

the shining weapon flashed above around

and in front of her catching light from

the low sun and whistling as it rushed

through the air

never had sergeant troy managed his

sword better than today

your hair is a little untidy he said

allow me

and before she could move or speak

a curl dropped to the ground

you are very brave for a woman

he congratulated her

it was because i didn’t expect it

now i’m afraid of you i am really

this time i won’t even touch your hair

i’m going to kill that insect on your

dress

stand still

not daring to tremble

she saw the point of his sword coming

towards her heart

and sure that this time she would die

closed her eyes but when she opened them

she saw the insect dead

on the point of the sword

it’s magic she cried

and how could you cut off one of my

curls with a sword that isn’t sharp

it’s sharper than any knife he said

i had to lie to you about that to give

you the confidence to stand still

bathsheba’s feelings were almost too

much for her to control

and she sat down suddenly in the grass

i could have died

she whispered

you were perfectly safe troy told her

my sword never makes a mistake

i must leave you now

i’ll keep this to remind me of you

he bent to pick up the curl of hair

which he put carefully in his pocket

next to his

heart was not strong enough to say or do

anything

he came closer

bent again

and a minute later his red coat

disappeared through the grass

bathsheba blushed guiltily and tears

rolled down her face

in that minute

troy had kissed her on the lips

determined independent women often show

their weakness when they fall in love

and bathsheba had very little experience

of the world or of men

it was as difficult for her to see

troy’s bad qualities which he kept

carefully hidden

as to admire gabriel oak’s good ones

which were not all obvious at first

sight

one evening a few days later gabriel

went to find his mistress

he knew that she was falling in love and

had decided to warn her of the mistake

she was making

he found her walking along a path

through the fields

i was worried about you walking alone

miss he said

it’s rather late

and there are some bad men in the area

he was hoping to introduce troy’s name

as one of the bad men

i never meet any said bathsheba lightly

gabriel tried again

farmer boldwood will be taking care of

you in future of course

what do you mean gabriel

well

when you and him married miss as

everybody expects

you’ve let him court you after

all everybody is wrong gabriel

i didn’t promise him anything

i respect him but i won’t marry him

i wish you had never met that young

sergeant troy miss he said sadly

he’s not good enough for you

how dare you say that

he’s of good family and well-educated

replied bathsheba angrily

he can’t be trusted miss

don’t trust him i beg you

he’s as good as anybody in the village

he goes to church regularly he told me

so himself

i’m afraid nobody has ever seen him in

church

i certainly haven’t

gabriel’s heart ached when he saw how

completely bathsheba trusted the soldier

that’s because he enters by the old

tower door and sits at the back where he

can’t be seen

she replied eagerly

you know mistress said gabriel in a deep

voice full of sadness

that i love you

and shall love you forever

i accept that i can’t marry you now that

i’m poor

but bathsheba

dear mistress

think of your position

be careful of your behavior towards this

soldier

mr boldwood is 16 years older than you

consider how well he would look after

you

leave my farm gabriel said bathsheba her

face white with anger

you can’t speak like that to me your

mistress

don’t be foolish

you’ve already sent me away once how

would you manage without me

no

although i’d like to have my own farm

i’ll stay with you

and you know why

well i suppose you can stay if you wish

will you leave me here now please

i ask not as your mistress

but as a woman

of course miss everdeen

said gabriel gently

he was a little surprised by her request

as it was getting dark and they were on

a lonely hill some way from her house

as she moved away from him

the reason became clear

the figure of a soldier appeared on the

hill and came to meet bathsheba

gabriel turned away and walked sadly

home

on his way he passed the church where he

looked closely at the old tower door

it was covered with climbing plants and

clearly had not been used for years

half an hour later bathsheba arrived

home

with troy’s words of love still in her

ears

he had kissed her a second time

wild and feverish with excitement

she sat down immediately to write to

boldwood to inform him that she could

not marry him

the letter would reach him on his

business trip

she was so eager to send the letter at

once that she called liddy to post it

liddy tell me she said urgently when her

maid entered the room

promise me that sergeant troy isn’t a

bad man promise me that he doesn’t chase

girls as people say

but miss

how can i say he doesn’t if he don’t be

so cruel liddy

say you don’t believe he’s bad

i

don’t know what to say miss said liddy

beginning to cry

i’ll make you angry whatever i say

oh how weak i am

how i wish i’d never seen him

you see how much i love him liddy

don’t tell anyone my secret liddy

i’ll keep your secret miss

said liddy gently

chapter 11

farmer boldwood becomes desperate

liddy was allowed a week’s holiday to

visit her sister who lived a few miles

away

to avoid seeing mr boldwood

bathsheba herself arranged to visit

lydia at her sister’s home for a day or

two

she left her cleaning woman marianne in

charge of the house

and set out on foot one evening

she had walked only about two miles when

she saw coming towards her the one man

who she did not wish to see

his changed appearance showed her that

he had received her letter

oh

is it you mr boldwood she said with a

guilty blush

you know how i feel about you

he said slowly

a love as strong as death

a letter cannot change that feeling

don’t speak of it

she whispered

then i have nothing to say

your letter was excellently clear

we are not going to marry

bathsheba said confusedly

good evening

and walked on a little further

but boldwood could not let her go

bathsheba

darling

is it really final

indeed it is

oh bathsheba have pity on me

i am mad with love for you

don’t refuse me now

you turned to me and encouraged me

before i ever thought of you

what you call encouragement was a

childish joke

i’m deeply sorry i sent the valentine

must you go on reminding me of it

i love you too much to blame you for it

bathsheba you are the first woman i have

ever loved

how nearly you promised to marry me

what has happened to your kindness

towards me

bathsheba looked him quietly and openly

in the face and said

mr boldwood

i promised you nothing

how can you be so heartless

if i had known how awfully bitter this

love would be i’d have avoided you and

been deaf to you

i tell you all this but what do you care

bathsheba’s control was breaking

she shook her head desperately as the

man’s angry words rained down on her

forgive me sir

i can’t love as you can

that’s not a good reason miss everdeen

you aren’t the cold woman you’re

pretending to be

you’re hiding the fact that you’ve a

burning heart like mine

your love is given to another man

he knows she thought

he knows about frank

why didn’t troy leave my darling alone

he continued fiercely tell me honestly

if you hadn’t met him would you have

accepted my proposal

she delayed her answer but she was too

honest to stay silent

yes

she whispered

in my absence he stole my most valuable

prize from me

now i’ve lost my respect and my good

name and everybody laughs at me

marry him go on marry him

i would have died for you

but you have given yourself to a

worthless man

perhaps he has even kissed you

tell me he hasn’t

she was frightened of boldwood’s anger

but she answered bravely

he has

i’m not ashamed to speak the truth

i would have given a fortune to touch

your hand cried boldwood wildly

but you have let a man like that kiss

you

one day he’ll be sorry

and realize the pain he’s caused me

be kind to him sir she cried miserably

because i love him so much

boldwood was no longer listening to her

i’ll punish him

sweet bathsheba forgive me

i’ve been blaming you

but it’s his fault

he stole your dear heart away with his

lies

when i find him i’ll fight him

keep him away from me bathsheba

the desperate man stood still for a

moment

then turned and left her

bathsheba walked up and down crying and

whispering to herself

then threw herself down by the road

exhausted

she knew that troy was away in bath at

the moment but would be returning to

weatherbury very soon

if he came to visit her and boldwood saw

him a fierce argument would be the

result and troy could be hurt

but perhaps gabriel and boldwood were

right

and she should not see him again

if she could only see troy now

he would help her to decide

she jumped to her feet and hurried back

along the road to weatherbury

that night marianne the only person

sleeping in bathsheba’s house

was woken by strange noises in the field

where the horses were kept

she looked out of her bedroom window

just in time to see a dark figure

leading bathsheba’s horse and cart out

of the field

she ran to jan coggins house for help

jan and gabriel immediately rode after

the thief

after riding for some time in the dark

they finally caught up with the cart at

a toll gate

keep the gate closed shouted gabriel to

the gatekeeper that man stolen the horse

and cart

well man asked the gatekeeper puzzled

gabriel looked closely at the driver of

the cart

and saw a woman

bathsheba

she turned her face away from the light

when she heard his voice

but jan coghan had also recognized her

she was quick to hide her surprise but

not her annoyance

well gabriel she asked coldly

where are you going

we thought someone had stolen the horse

and cart

oh how foolish of you

some important business made me change

my plans

i’m on my way to bath

i may visit lydia at her sisters later

i arrived home during the night so i

didn’t wake marianne up i just took the

horse and cart myself

thank you for taking all this trouble

but it wasn’t necessary

the gatekeeper opened the gate and she

passed through

cogan and gabriel turned their horses

and rode slowly home

gabriel said

i think we’ll keep this strange trip of

hers to bath a secret jan

and jan agreed

so at first the people of weatherbury

had no idea where she had gone

she stayed away for two weeks and there

were reports that she had been seen in

bath with sergeant troy

gabriel knew in his heart that this must

be true

he worked as hard as ever on her farm

but all the time

there was a deep ache inside him

chapter 12

bathsheba makes her choice

on the same day that bathsheba arrived

home

mr boldwood went to apologize to her for

speaking so violently the last time he

had seen her

he knew nothing of her trip to bath and

suppose she had only been to visit liddy

but at her door he was told he could not

see her

and he realized she had not forgiven him

on his way home through weatherbury he

saw the coach from bath it stopped at

the usual place and a soldier in a red

and gold uniform jumped down

sergeant troy picked up his bag and was

about to take the road to bathsheba’s

house when boldwood stepped forward

sergeant troy

i am william boldwood

indeed said troy showing little interest

i want to speak to you

about two women

troy saw the heavy stick boldwood was

holding

and realized how determined he was

he decided it was worth being polite

i’ll listen with pleasure but do speak

quietly

well then

i’ve heard about your relationship with

fanny robin

and i think you ought to marry her

i suppose i ought

indeed i want to but i cannot

why can’t you

troy was going to reply immediately but

he stopped himself

i am too poor

he said looking quickly at boldwood to

see if the farmer believed him

boldwood did not notice the look

i don’t want to talk about right or

wrong

i just want to discuss business with you

i was engaged to miss everdeen when you

came

not engaged said troy

more or less engaged insisted boldwood

if you hadn’t come she would certainly

have accepted my proposal by now

well

her position in society is so much

higher than yours that you can’t hope to

marry her

so all i ask is that you don’t bother

her anymore

and marry fanny

why should i ask troy carelessly

i’ll pay you

if you leave weatherbury today

i’ll give you 50 pounds

fanny will have 50 pounds for wedding

clothes and i’ll give her 500 pounds the

day she marries you

boldwood’s manner showed that he was a

little ashamed of offering money

but he was prepared to do almost

anything to prevent troy marrying

bathsheba

troy appeared to consider the offer

it’s true i like fanny best although

she’s only a maid

50 pounds now you said

here’s the money

said boldwood handing the soldier a

purse of gold coins

stop

listen

said troy in a whisper

light footsteps could be heard on the

road coming from bathsheba’s house

it’s bathsheba she’s expecting me

i must go and speak to her and say

goodbye to her as you and i have

arranged

why do you need to speak to her

she’ll look for me if i don’t

don’t worry you’ll hear every word i say

to her

it may help you in your courting when

i’ve gone

stand over there behind the tree and

listen

troy stepped forward and whistled a

double note

frank darling is that you

it was bathsheba’s voice

oh god

said boldwood unheard behind the tree

yes it’s me replied troy

you’re so late frank she continued

the coach arrived a long time ago

frank

it’s so lucky there’s nobody in my house

except me tonight

so nobody will know about your visit

excellent said troy

but i’ll just have to collect my bag so

you run home and i promise to be there

in ten minutes

yes frank she ran back to her house

troy turned to boldwood who had stepped

out from behind the tree his face white

and his whole body trembling

shall i tell her i cannot marry her

laugh the soldier

no

no wait

i have more to say to you whispered

boldwood the muscles in his face

strangely out of control

now

said troy

you see my problem

i can’t marry them both

but i have two reasons for choosing

fanny

first i like her best

i think

and second

you’re paying me for it

at that moment boldwood lost control

he attacked troy fiercely holding his

neck with both hands

wait gasped troy who had not expected

this

let me breathe

if you kill me you injure the woman you

love

what do you mean cried the farmer i

should kill you like a dog

but he let go of troy’s neck and

listened

you heard how bathsheba loves me and

expects me to visit her tonight

soon the whole village will know this

the only way to save her good name and

her position in weatherbury

is for me to marry her

true

true agreed boldwood after a pause

try

marry her poor weak woman

she must love you madly to give herself

so completely to you

but what about fanny

asked the soldier cleverly

don’t desert her troy i beg you

i don’t mean fanny

i’m speaking of bathsheba

how can i persuade you

i know

i’ll pay you 500 pounds on the day you

marry bathsheba

troy was secretly shocked at boldwood’s

wild offer

and i’ll receive something now as well

he asked

yes

all the money i have with me

he counted the coins in his pocket

21 pounds

it’s all for you

give me the money

and we’ll go to her house

i’ll ask her to marry me

of course i won’t say anything about the

money

they went along the road to the

farmhouse

and boldwood waited outside while troy

entered

he returned in a moment with a piece cut

out of a bath newspaper

here

read this

he said smiling

and boldwood read

marriages

on the 17th in bath

frank troy

sergeant to bathsheba everdeen of

weatherbury

the paper fell from boldwood’s hands as

the soldier began to laugh

fifty pounds to marry fanny

21 pounds not to marry fanny but

bathsheba

and now you see i’m already bathsheba’s

husband

you’re a fool boldwood

although i may be a bad man i’d never

bribe anyone to marry as you’ve tried to

and fanny

she left me long ago and i don’t know

where she is i’ve searched everywhere

for her

now take your money back i don’t want it

and troy threw the gold coins into the

road

you black-hearted dog

i’ll punish you one day

remember that

cried the broken man

troy laughed loudly as he closed

bathsheba’s front door

through the whole of the long night that

followed

boldwood’s dark figure could be seen

walking over the hills of weatherbury

like a ghost

just before the clock struck five the

next morning

gabriel and coggin were walking to the

hayfields past their mistress’s house

when they saw a surprising sight

bathsheba’s bedroom window was open

and looking out of it was a handsome man

with his red jacket undone

it was sgt troy

she has married him whispered coggin

gabriel said nothing

but he felt so ill that he had to rest

on the gate for a moment

he thought with pity of her future

as he knew her marriage to troy could

not be happy for long

good morning friends shouted troy

cheerfully to the men

we must be polite to him whispered

coggin if he’s married the mistress

good morning sergeant troy

said gabriel miserably

now that i’ve left the army i’ll soon be

down in the fields with you again said

troy lightly my new position won’t

change that

and i’ll be friendly with you all just

as before

drink to my health men

and he threw a coin towards gabriel who

refused to pick it up

coggin however put it in his pocket

as they went on their way they noticed

mr boldwood riding past them

gabriel forgot his own sadness when he

saw the bitterness and deep despair

on the farmer’s face chapter 13

the storm

there was always a harvest supper for

the farm workers after all the hay and

wheat had been cut

on behalf of his wife sergeant troy

decided to have it one evening at the

end of august in the great barn

the weather was unpleasantly warm that

night

on his way to the harvest supper gabriel

stopped to check the eight huge hay and

wheat ricks

if as he suspected there was a storm

the ricks which were all uncovered would

be badly damaged

he went on to the barn where the farm

workers had already finished eating and

started dancing

gabriel had to wait until sergeant troy

had finished his dance with bathsheba

before he could warn him about possible

damage to the ricks

troy however was enjoying himself too

much to listen to gabriel’s message

friends he was saying

i’ve ordered brandy to be served to you

all so that we can celebrate my wedding

properly

no frank

don’t give them brandy

begged bathsheba it will only do them

harm

don’t be silly said troy

friends

let’s send the women home

then we men can drink and sing as much

as we like

angrily bathsheba left the barn followed

by the other women

gabriel left soon afterwards

later when he went to check that

bathsheba’s sheep were safe

he noticed that they looked very

frightened

they were crowded together in a corner

their tails pointing the same way

to the shepherd this meant they were

expecting a storm

he went to look at the ricks again

should the whole harvest of the farm

worth at least 750 pounds be lost

because of a woman’s weakness

never if i can prevent it thought

gabriel

he returned to the barn to ask the other

farmworkers to help him cover the ricks

but the only noise he could hear coming

from the barn was the men’s loud and

regular breathing

and when he entered

he found them all asleep

including troy

the brandy which they had been too

polite to refuse had made them drunk in

a very short time as they were not used

to drinking anything stronger than beer

it was useless trying to wake them

gabriel left the barn and returned to

the ricks

two of which he managed to cover with

the heavy material kept on the farm for

this purpose

the only way to cover the other six

ricks was by thatching them with straw

and this was a long and difficult job to

do alone

the moon disappeared

and there was a slow light wind

like the breath of a dying man

as gabriel climbed the ladder and

started thatching high up on top of the

third rick

lightning flashed in the sky

and there was a loud crash of thunder

in the sudden brightness gabriel could

see every tree around him

until the light disappeared just as

suddenly leaving him in the blackest

darkness

he knew his position was dangerous but

considered his life was not valuable

enough to worry about

another flash of lightning allowed him

to see the figure of a woman running

towards the rick

was it bathsheba

is that you ma’am he called to the

darkness

who’s there said bathsheba’s voice

is gabriel i’m on the rick thatching

oh gabriel

i’m so worried about the ricks can we

save them the thunder woke me i can’t

find my husband is he there

no he isn’t he’s

asleep in the barn

he promised me the ricks would be

covered and he hasn’t done it

can i help you let me help

you can bring the straw up to me in

armfuls if you aren’t afraid to climb

the ladder in the dark said gabriel i’ll

do anything to help she said

she started to go up and down the ladder

carrying the straw

in the brightness of the lightning

gabriel saw their two shadows wildly

enlarged on the hill in front of him

then came the loudest crash so far

how terrible cried bathsheba and held

onto his arm

the lightning flashed in a wild dance of

death and thunder came from every part

of the huge sky

bathsheba and gabriel could only stare

and tremble at the strange and dangerous

beauty of the storm

as they watched a tall tree in front of

them seemed to be burning with a white

flame

there was a final violent crash of

thunder

and in the bright light they saw that

the tree had been torn in half by the

lightning

that was close to us said gabriel

we’d better go down

they climbed down and stood together in

the darkness

bathsheba seeming to think only of the

storm

gabriel thinking only of her

at last he said

the storm appears to have passed

but the rain will be coming soon

i’ll go up and finish thatching the

ricks

gabriel

you are kind to me

why aren’t the others here

don’t tell me i know

they’re all drunk in the barn aren’t

they

it was my husband’s fault

gabriel

i want to tell you something

the soft flashes of the dying lightning

showed her face very white against the

black sky

i care about your good opinion of me

so i want to explain why i went to bath

that night

it wasn’t to marry troy

it was to break off my relationship with

him

perhaps you wonder why i married him

then

well i suppose i must tell you

it was because he told me he had seen a

woman more beautiful than me

and said that if i wanted him as a

husband i must marry him at once

i was wild with love and jealousy so i

married him

gabriel did not reply

i’ll bring some more straw up to you

shall i

she offered

she made several more journeys before he

noticed her tiredness

i think you’d better go indoors now he

said as gently as a mother

i’ll finish the work alone

if i’m useless i’ll go said bathsheba

but oh if you fell

you aren’t useless but you’re tired

you’ve done well

and you’ve done better she said

gratefully

thank you a thousand times gabriel

good night

she disappeared in the darkness

he went on thatching in a kind of dream

she had spoken more warmly to him

tonight than she had ever done when she

was unmarried and free to speak as

warmly as she liked

the wind changed and became stronger

at the same time heavy rain started

falling

as gabriel worked on the top of the

ricks he suddenly remembered that eight

months before

he had been fighting against fire in the

same place as desperately as he was

fighting against water now

and for love of the same woman

who did not love him

it was not until seven o’clock in the

morning that gabriel climbed down from

the last rick exhausted and wet to the

skin

he noticed figures coming out of the

barn walking slowly and painfully to

their homes

they all looked ashamed except troy who

was whistling cheerfully as he entered

the farmhouse

none of them thought of looking at the

ricks

on his way back to coggins house gabriel

met boldwood

how are you sir ask gabriel

yes it’s a wet day

oh i’m very well thank you

you look a little different sir

no you’re wrong oak i’m just the same

nothing hurts me

but you look tired

i’ve been working all night to get our

rakes covered

never worked so hard in my life

yours are safe of course sir

oh yes

boldwood added after a silence

what did you ask

your ricks are all covered

no

none of them i forgot to tell the men to

thatch them

i expect most of my wheat will be

destroyed in this rain

forgot

repeated gabriel to himself

it was difficult to believe that the

most careful farmer in the area would

lose all his harvest because of a

moment’s forgetfulness

this would never have happened before

boldwood fell in love with bathsheba

clearly wanted to talk although it was

still raining heavily

oak

you knew i wanted to get married

i thought my mistress was going to marry

you said gabriel sympathetically

however

nothing that we expect ever happens

he spoke with the calmness of a man used

to disaster

perhaps the villagers laughed at me said

boldwood with the pretended likeness

oh no

i don’t think so

but the truth is

that we were never engaged

so she never broke off the engagement

you see

but boldwood could not remain calm

oh gabriel he said wildly i’m weak and

foolish

and i feel it’s better to die than to

live

after a silence

he continued more normally

i’ve accepted the fact of her refusal

now

i’m sorry of course

but no woman has ever controlled my life

well

good morning

chapter 14

bathsheba discovers the truth

summer turned into autumn

and one saturday evening in october

bathsheba and her husband were riding

home from casterbridge market

yes if it hadn’t rained so hard i’d have

won 200 pounds easily my love troy was

saying

the horse i put my money on fell over in

the mud you see

such bad luck

but frank said bathsheba miserably

do you realize you’ve lost more than a

hundred pounds in a month with this

awful horse racing

it’s foolish of you to spend my money

like that

you promise not to go to the next race

on monday won’t you

it doesn’t matter whether i go or not

i’ve already put money on an excellent

horse in the monday race

don’t cry bathsheba if i’d known you

were so cautious i’d never have he did

not finish what he was saying

just then they noticed a woman walking

towards them

although it was almost dark they could

see that she was poorly dressed

please sir

do you know what time the caster bridge

workhouse closes

she asked in a voice of extreme sadness

troy jumped in surprise but kept his

face turned away from her before

replying

i don’t know

when the woman heard him speak and

looked up to his face

her expression showed both pain and

happiness

she gave a cry

and fell to the ground unconscious

oh poor thing cried bathsheba i’ll help

her no

stay on your horse and take mine

ordered troy jumping down

take the horses to the top of the hill

bathsheba obeyed and moved away

troy lifted up the woman

i thought you were far away

or dead he told her in a strangely

gentle voice

why didn’t you write to me fanny

i was afraid too

have you any money

no

here’s all i have it’s not much

i can’t ask my wife for any more at the

moment

the woman said nothing

listen

continue troy

i’ll have to leave you now

you’re going to the caster bridge

workhouse

well stay there for tonight and tomorrow

anyway

but i’ll find somewhere better for you

i’ll meet you on monday morning at 10

o’clock on the bridge just outside town

i’ll bring you all the money i can

goodbye

at the top of the hill bathsheba turned

and saw the woman walking slowly on

towards caster bridge

troy soon caught up with his wife

he looked very upset

who is that woman bathsheba looked

closely into his face

she’s not important to either of us he

replied coldly

i think you know her

bathsheba went on

i don’t care what you think

he answered

and they continued their ride in silence

the two miles to casterbridge seemed a

very long way to the woman who was tired

and ill

sometimes she walked sometimes she

rested a little beside the road

all through the night her eyes were

fixed on the lights of casterbridge the

end of her journey

at six o’clock the next morning

she finally fell in front of the door of

the workhouse

and the people there took her in

bathsheba and her husband did not speak

much that evening or the following day

but on sunday evening troy said suddenly

bathsheba

could you let me have 20 pounds i need

it

oh she said sadly

for the race is tomorrow

oh frank only a few weeks ago you said i

was far sweeter than all your other

pleasures

now won’t you stop risking money on

horses

which is more a worry than a pleasure

say yes to your wife frank say yes

her beautiful face would have persuaded

most men including troy if he had not

been married to her

but he no longer loved her enough to

agree to anything she wanted

well the money isn’t for racing anyway

he said

don’t keep me short of money bathsheba

well you’ll be sorry

i’m sorry already she replied

sorry that our love has come to an end

love always ends after marriage

i think you hate me

no

not you

i only hate your faults

then why not help me to improve

come let’s be friends just give me the

20 pounds

well here’s the money take it

thank you

i expect i’ll be away before breakfast

tomorrow

must you go frank stay with me

there was a time when you used to call

me darling

now you don’t care how i spend my time

i must go said troy taking out his watch

he opened the back of the watch case and

bathsheba who happened to be looking

saw that there was a curl of hair hidden

inside

oh frank she gasped

a woman’s hair

whose is it

troy closed the watch immediately and

replied carelessly

why yours of course i’d quite forgotten

i had it

you’re lying frank

it’s yellow hair mine is darker

well all right if i must tell you it’s

the hair of a young woman i was going to

marry before i met you

tell me her name

is she married

i can’t tell you her name but she’s

single

is she alive

is she pretty

yes to both questions

how can she be pretty poor thing with

hair that color

her hair has been admired by everybody

who’s seen her

it’s beautiful hair

don’t be jealous bathsheba

you shouldn’t have married me if you

didn’t trust me

this is all i get for loving you so much

cried bathsheba bitterly

i would have died for you when i married

you

and now you laugh at my foolishness in

marrying you

but you’ll burn that hair won’t you

frank

to please me

troy only answered

i have a duty to someone in my past

mistakes were made which i must put

right

that’s more important than my

relationship with you if you’re sorry

you married me well so am i

frank

i’m only sorry if you love another woman

more than me said bathsheba in a

trembling voice

you like the woman with that pretty hair

yes

it is pretty

was she the woman we met on the road

last night

well yes

now you know the truth i hope you’re

happy you haven’t told me everything

tell me the whole truth she said looking

bravely into his face

i never thought i’d beg a man to do

anything but my pride is all gone

don’t be so desperate said troy crossley

he left the room

bathsheba was in deep despair

she knew that she had lost her

independence as a woman which she had

been so proud of

she hated herself for falling in love so

easily with her handsome husband

who she now realized could not be

trusted

the next morning troy left the house

early

bathsheba was walking in her garden when

she noticed gabriel oak and mr boldwood

deep in conversation in the road

they called to joseph poor grass who was

picking apples and soon he came along

the path to bathsheba’s house

well

what’s the message joseph she asked

curious

i’m afraid fanny robins dead man

dead in the caster bridge workhouse

no

why

what did she die from

i don’t know ma’am

but she was never very strong mr

boldwood is sending a cart to bring her

back to be buried here

oh

i won’t let mr boldwood do that

fanny was my uncle’s maid and mine too

oh very sad to die in a workhouse

tell mr boldwood

that you will drive my new cart over to

casterbridge this afternoon to fetch her

body

and joseph

put flowers on the cart for poor fanny

how long was she in the workhouse

only a day mum

she arrived ill and exhausted on sunday

morning

she came on foot through weatherbury

the color left bathsheba’s face at once

along the road from weatherbury to

casterbridge she asked eagerly

when did she pass weatherbury

last saturday night it was

ma’am thank you joseph

you may go

later that afternoon bathsheba asked

liddy

what was the color of poor fanny robin’s

hair

i only saw her for a day or two

she used to keep it covered

but it was lovely golden hair ma’am

her young man was a soldier wasn’t he

yes

and mr troy knows him well

what

mr troy told you that

yes

one day i asked him if he knew fanny’s

young man

and he said

he knew him as well as he knew himself

that’s enough liddy said bathsheba her

anxiety making her unusually cross

chapter 15 fanny’s revenge

that afternoon joseph poor grass was

bringing fanny’s coffin back from

casterbridge

feeling a little frightened of the dead

body behind him in the cart

and depressed by the autumn fog

he stopped for some beer at a pub where

he met jan coggin and laban tall

there gabriel oak found the three men

completely drunk two hours later

as joseph was clearly incapable of

driving the cart

gabriel drove it to weatherbury himself

on the way into the village the vicar

stopped him

i’m afraid it’s too late now for the

burial he said

but i can arrange for the body to be

buried tomorrow

i could take the coffin to the church

for the night sir offered gabriel hoping

to prevent bathsheba from seeing it

but just then bathsheba herself appeared

no gabriel

she said

poor fanny must rest in her old home for

her last night

bring the coffin into the house

the coffin was carried into a small

sitting room and gabriel was left alone

with it in spite of all his care the

worst had happened

and bathsheba was about to make a

terrible discovery

but suddenly he had an idea

he looked at the words written simply on

the coffin lid

fanny robin and child

with a cloth

gabriel carefully removed the last two

words

quietly he left the room

bathsheba was in a strange mood she felt

lonely and miserable

but she had not stopped loving her

husband

in spite of her anxiety about his past

she was waiting for him to come home

when liddy knocked and entered

mom

marianne has just heard something

she hesitated a little

not about you or us ma’am

about fanny

there’s a story in weatherbury that

liddy whispered in her mistress’s ear

bathsheba trembled from head to foot

i don’t believe it she cried

there’s only one name on the coffin lit

but i suppose it could be true

she said no more

and liddy went quietly out of the room

bathsheba felt almost sure she knew the

truth about fanny and troy

but she wanted to be certain

she entered the sitting room where the

coffin lay

holding her hot hands to her forehead

she cried

tell me your secret fanny

i hope it isn’t true there are two of

you

if i could only look at you

i’d know

after a pause

she added slowly

and

i

will

a few moments later she stood beside the

uncovered coffin

staring in she said

it was best to know the worst

and i know it now

her tears fell fast beside the dead pear

in the coffin

tears for fanny

and for herself

although bathsheba not fanny had married

troy

in death fanny was the winner

she was taking her revenge now on

bathsheba for the difficulties she had

experienced in her life

bathsheba forgot the passing of time as

she looked at fanny’s cold white face

and yellow hair

and did not realize troy had arrived

home

he threw open the door and came in

he did not guess who is in the coffin

what’s the matter

who’s dead he asked

bathsheba tried to push past him

let me out she cried

no stay i insist

he held her arm

and together they looked into the coffin

troy stood completely still when he saw

the mother and baby

little by little

his shoulders bent forward

and his face showed deep sadness

bathsheba was watching his expression

closely

and she had never been more miserable

slowly troy knelt to give fanny robin a

gentle kiss

bathsheba threw her arms around his neck

crying wildly from the depths of her

heart

don’t

don’t kiss them

oh frank no

i love you better than she did

kiss me too frank

you will kiss me too frank

troy looked puzzled for a moment

not expecting this childlike cry from

his proud wife

but then he pushed her away

i will not kiss you he said

can you give me a reason

ask bathsheba fighting to control

herself

perhaps it was unfortunate that she

asked

i’ve been a bad black-hearted man

but this woman

dead as she is

is more to me than you ever were or are

or can be

i would have married her

if i’d never seen your beautiful face

and i wish i had married her

he turned to fanny

but never mind darling

he said

in the sight of god you are my wife

at these words a long low cry of despair

and anger came from bathsheba’s lips

if she’s

that

what

am i

you are

nothing to me

nothing

said troy heartlessly

a ceremony in front of a vicar doesn’t

make a marriage

i don’t consider myself your husband

bathsheba wanted only to get away from

him and his words

she ran straight out of the house

she stayed out all night wrapped in a

cloak waiting for the coffin to be taken

for burial

as soon as the men had taken it away the

next morning she re-entered the house

very cautiously to avoid troy

but her husband had gone out very early

and did not return

chapter 16

sergeant troy leaves

when bathsheba ran out of the house the

previous night

troy first replaced the coffin lid

then went upstairs to lie on his bed and

wait miserably for the morning

the day before on monday he had waited

for fanny as arranged on the bridge just

outside cast bridge for over an hour

he had bathsheba’s twenty pounds and

seven pounds of his own to give fanny

when she did not come he became angry

remembering the last time she had failed

to arrive on her wedding day

in fact she was at that moment being put

in her coffin at the workhouse but he

did not know that

he rode straight to the races at

budmouth and stayed there all afternoon

but he was still thinking of fanny

and he did not risk any money on the

horses

only on his way home did he suddenly

realize that illness could have

prevented her from meeting him

and only when he entered the farmhouse

that evening did he discover that she

was dead

on tuesday morning troy got up

and without even thinking about

bathsheba went straight to the

churchyard to find the position of

fanny’s grave

he continued on foot to cast a bridge to

order the best gravestone available for

27 pounds which was all the money he had

having arranged for it to be put on the

grave that afternoon

he returned to weatherbury in the

evening with a basket of flowering

plants

the new gravestone was already in place

and he worked solidly for several hours

in the churchyard putting the plants

carefully into the soft earth of her

grave

when it started raining however he

decided to spend the rest of the night

in the shelter of the church and finish

his planting in the morning

the rain that night was unusually heavy

and water began to pour from a broken

pipe on the church roof straight on to

fanny’s grave

as the earth there had only recently

been dug

the grave became a kind of muddy pool

soon the plants were floating on top of

the grave

and then were washed away in the stream

of water flowing through the churchyard

when troy woke up stiff and still tired

he went out of the church to finish work

on the grave

the rain had stopped and the sun was

shining through the red and gold autumn

leaves

the air was warm and clear

as troy walked along the path

he noticed it was very muddy and covered

with plants

surely these could not be the ones he

had planted

he turned the corner

and saw the damage the heavy rain had

done

the new gravestone was stained with mud

and there was a shallow hole in the

grave where the water had poured in

nearly all the plants had been washed

out of the grave

this strange accident had a worse effect

on troy than any of his troubles

worse even than fanny’s death

he had tried to show his love for her

knowing that he had failed to do so when

she was alive

planting the flowers was also a way of

softening his feelings of sadness and

guilt at her death

and now his work had been destroyed

he was too depressed to start work on

the grave again

he left it as it was

and went silently out of the churchyard

a minute later he had left the village

meanwhile bathsheba had spent a day and

a night as a willing prisoner in a small

bedroom in her house

except when liddy brought her food or

messages she kept the bedroom door

locked so that her husband could not

come in

[Music]

liddy knew there was trouble between

husband and wife but did not know the

reason

on wednesday morning she brought

breakfast up to bathsheba

what heavy rain we had in the night

ma’am she said

yes

and there was a strange noise from the

churchyard

gabriel thinks it was water from a

broken pipe on the church roof

and he’s gone there to see

are you going to the churchyard ma’am to

look at fanny’s grave

did mr troy come in last night bathsheba

asked anxiously

no ma’am he didn’t

and lavantol says he saw mr troy walking

out of the village towards budmoth

replied liddy

budmoth

thirteen miles away

at once bathsheba’s heart felt lighter

yes liddy

i need some fresh air

i’ll go to see fanny’s grave she said

and after breakfast she walked almost

cheerfully to the churchyard

she saw the hole in the grave and the

expensive new gravestone

but did not think it could be fanny’s

she looked round for a plain grave

then she noticed gabriel reading the

words on the gravestone and her eyes

followed his

this stone was put up by francis troy

in loving memory of fanny robin who died

on october 9 1866

aged 20.

gabriel looked anxiously at her to see

if she was upset

but she remained calm

she asked him to fill in the hole and to

have the broken water pipe repaired

finally

to show she did not hate the woman who

had caused her such bitterness she

replanted the flowers herself

and cleaned the muddy gravestone so that

the words could be read clearly

then she went home

troy meanwhile was walking towards the

south

he could not decide what to do next

all he knew was that he had to get away

from weatherbury

at the top of a hill he saw the sea

stretching for miles in front of him

now he felt more cheerful and decided to

swim

so he climbed down the cliffs undressed

on the beach and jumped into the sea

the water was so smooth that he swam

confidently out to where it was very

deep

here he was surprised and a little

frightened to find that he was being

carried further out to sea

he suddenly remembered that the budmouth

coast was famous for the number of

swimmers drowned there every year and he

began to be afraid that he would soon be

one of them

however strongly he swam

the sea pulled him further away from the

coast

and he was already beginning to feel

tired and breathless

just then he saw a small boat moving out

to sea towards a ship

with his right arm he swam and with his

left he waved wildly shouting as loudly

as he could

the sailors saw him at once and rode

over to rescue him

chapter 17

farmer boldwood begins to hope

when troy did not return

bathsheba felt neither happiness nor

sadness

she had no hope for the future

she was sure that one day he would

return and spend the rest of her money

then they would have to sell the farm

she could do nothing to prevent it

one saturday at casterbridge market a

stranger came up to her

i must tell you ma’am he said

your husband is dead

no

it can’t be true gasp bathsheba

darkness came over her eyes and she fell

but not to the ground

boldwood who had been standing in a

corner watching her ran forward to catch

her

tell me more he said to the stranger as

he held the unconscious girl gently in

his arms

the police found her husband’s clothes

on the beach he must have been swimming

and drowned off the budmouth coast

there was a strange excitement in

boldwood’s face

but he said nothing

he carried her to a private room at the

hotel

where she could rest until she felt well

enough to ride home

when she arrived home still feeling weak

and confused

liddy had already heard the news

shall we get some black clothes made for

you ma’am

said the maid hesitating a little

no liddy it isn’t necessary

you see i think he may still be alive

i feel

i think i’m sure he’s alive

but the following monday troy’s death

was reported in the local newspaper

a witness had seen him in deep water

shouting and waving for help

and when his clothes and his watch found

on the beach were delivered to the

farmhouse

bathsheba began to doubt that he was

alive

she opened the back of his watch case

and took out the curl of golden hair

he was fannies

and she was his

she said to herself

they should be together

i mean nothing to either of them

why should i keep her hair

she held the curl over the fire

no

i won’t burn it

i’ll keep it in memory of her

poor thing

through the autumn and winter

bathsheba’s life was more peaceful

she no longer took such an interest in

the farm

and very sensibly appointed gabriel oak

her farm manager

he had already been doing the job

unofficially and now would be paid for

it

at last his good qualities were being

recognized

gabriel’s luck had certainly changed

boldwood could not concentrate on

farming these days either

his wheat and hay had all been so

damaged by the rain that it was

worthless

weatherbury people were shocked by the

changes they had noticed recently in

farmer boldwood

soon he himself realized that something

must be done

and arranged for gabriel to manage his

farm too

so gabriel was responsible for both the

important farms in the area

while their owners sat alone in their

lonely farmhouses

after a time boldwood started to hope

that one day if bathsheba remarried at

all she would marry him

he tried to maintain a friendly

business-like relationship with her

keeping his love for her out of sight

until the right moment came to propose

again

he had no idea how long he would have to

wait to marry her

but he was prepared to wait for the rest

of his life

the right moment did not come until the

following summer when most of the

weatherbury people attended the great

sheep fair at green hill

gabriel was there with bathsheba’s and

boldwood sheep and so were both his

employers

this year a traveling circus put up its

tent and offered the public a horse

riding show

most of bathsheba’s farm workers were

already in the tent when bathsheba

herself arrived to see the show

at the back of the tent behind a curtain

with the circus riders

and one of them pulling on his boots

was sergeant troy

after being rescued troy had decided to

stay on the ship and work as a sailor

but he was not happy with this

travelling life and finally returned to

england

he hesitated to go back to bathsheba and

a comfortable life on the farm

perhaps bathsheba would fail at farming

and then he would be responsible for her

and anyway perhaps she would not welcome

him back

for the moment he was working as actor

and horse rider with the circus

so it was with no plans for the future

that troy found himself at green hill

fair dangerously close to weatherbury

when he looked through a hole in the

curtain to see the audience

he was horrified to see his wife

she looked more beautiful than he

remembered

perhaps she would laugh at him a

nobleman’s son working in a circus

as he rode into the tent he was careful

to keep his face away from her and

remain wrapped in his cloak she did not

seem to recognize him

when the show was over troy went out

into the darkness

in the large tent where meals and drinks

were being served he saw bathsheba

talking to a man

was she forgetting her husband so soon

thought troy angrily

he decided to listen to their

conversation and knelt down outside the

tent making a little hole with his knife

in the heavy cotton so that he could see

the two people inside

she was drinking a cup of tea which

boldwood had just brought her

troy watched her every movement

she was as handsome as ever

and she belonged to him

after a few moments troy got up and

walked slowly from the tent

he was considering what to do next

meanwhile boldwood had offered to ride

back to weatherbury with bathsheba as it

was getting laid and she accepted

her pity for the man she had hurt so

deeply made her behave more kindly

towards him than was perhaps sensible

her kindness made poor boldwood dream of

their future marriage

and suddenly unable to stop himself he

said

mrs troy

will you marry again someday

you forget that my husband’s death has

never been proved

so i may not really be a widow she said

confused

i’ve a feeling he’s alive

and i’m not thinking of marrying anyone

else

do you know bathsheba that according to

the lawyers you can remarry seven years

after your husband’s supposed death

that is six years from now

could you

promise to marry me then

i don’t know

six years is too far away

i’m bitterly sorry i behaved so stupidly

towards you but

i can promise

i’ll never marry another man while you

want me to be your wife but

you could put right the mistake you made

by promising to be my wife in six years

time

there was wild hope in his eyes

oh what shall i do

i don’t love you

but if i can give you happiness by just

promising then i will

consider

and

promise soon

shall we say by christmas

your promise at christmas

well

i’ll say no more

as christmas came nearer bathsheba

became more anxious

and one day she confessed her difficulty

to gabriel

the saddest reason of all for agreeing

to his proposal she said

is that if i don’t i’m afraid he’ll go

mad

his feelings are so extreme

i don’t say that because i’m vain

but i believe i hold that man’s future

in my hands

oh gabriel it’s a terrible worry

then why don’t you promise ma’am

i don’t think people would think it

wrong

the only thing that makes it wrong in my

view is that you don’t love

him that is my punishment gabriel

for playing that foolish trick with the

valentine on him

gabriel had given her a reasonable

sensible answer as she knew he would

but she felt annoyed with his cool

advice

not once had he spoken of his love for

her

or said that he could wait for her too

she would have refused him of course

but at least it would have shown that he

still admired her chapter 18

mr boldwood’s christmas party

for months weatherbury people had been

discussing the party that mr boldwood

was going to give just before christmas

and now the day had finally arrived

bathsheba was getting ready for it

i’m upset liddy

it’s foolish of me i know she said

i wish i didn’t have to go to the party

i haven’t spoken to mr boldwood since

the autumn when i promised to see him at

christmas

so i’ll have to go

my black silk dress please

surely you don’t need to wear black

tonight ma’am

you’ve been a widow for 14 months now

that’s a long time

no

if i wear a bright dress people will say

i’m encouraging mr boldwood

how do i look liddy

i’ve hardly ever seen you look so lovely

ma’am

i risk offending him if i don’t go

oh i wish i could have continued as i’ve

been for the last year or so with no

hopes or fears

and no pleasures and no sadness

if mr boldwood asked you to run away

with him what would you say man

said liddy with a smile

now liddy no joking this is far too

serious i won’t marry anyone for a long

time

get my cloak it’s time to go

at the same time in his farmhouse

boldwood was also dressing

he was trying on a new coat which had

just been delivered tonight he wanted to

look his best

just then gabriel entered to report on

farm business

oh oak said boldwood

you’re invited to the party tonight of

course

i’ll try to come if i’m not too busy

said gabriel quietly

i’m glad to see you looking happier sir

yes i confess i’m cheerful tonight

but my happiness depends on a hope oak

my hands are shaking

could you help me with the buttons on

this coat

and as gabriel came forward to help he

went on feverishly

oak

does a woman keep her promise to become

engaged you know women better than i do

tell me

i don’t think i understand women well at

all

but if she wants to put right a mistake

she may keep a promise like that

i think she will

whispered boldwood

she says she can think of me as a

husband seven years after troy’s

disappearance

seven years said gabriel shaking his

head

a long time

but it isn’t seven years answered

boldwood impatiently it’s only five

years nine months and a few days now

build your hopes on her promise sir

remember

she disappointed you once

and she’s young

she never promised me that first time so

she’s never broken her promise to me yet

i trust her to keep her word

but let’s talk business for a moment oak

you work so hard as my farm manager that

i want you to have a larger share of the

profits

i know a little about your secret

you have warm feelings for her too

but you’ve let me succeed in courting

her

i want to show you how grateful i am for

that

oh that’s not necessary thank you said

gabriel hurriedly

i must get used to my disappointment as

other men have

he left rather worried by boldwood’s

strange manner

outside the front door of boldwood’s

house a group of men were talking

quietly

sergeant troy was seen in casterbridge

this afternoon said billy smallbury his

body was never found you know neighbours

should we tell the mistress asked

labantol

poor woman

what a mistake she made in marrying him

just then boldwood came out and walked

to the gate

he did not notice the men who were

standing in the darkness

i hope to god shall come he whispered

oh my darling my darling

why do you make me wait like this

they all heard his words clearly

the sound of wheels came from the road

and bathsheba arrived

boldwood took her into the house and the

door closed behind them

i didn’t realize he was still in love

with her said billy

poor mr boldwood the news will be hard

for him said jan coghan

we’ll have to tell the mistress her

husband’s still alive

we’ll go in and find the right moment to

speak to her

but the right moment never came

bathsheba had planned to stay at the

party for only an hour and she was in

fact preparing to leave when boldwood

found her alone in an upstairs room

mrs troy you can’t go

he said wildly we’ve only just begun

i’d like to go now

i think i’ll walk home

you know what i want to say to you

bathsheba looked silently at the floor

you do give it

he said eagerly

give what she asked

although she knew well what he meant

your promise

just a business arrangement between two

sensible people who no longer think of

love

to marry me in five to six years

you owe it to me

i have no feeling in that matter at all

she replied hesitating

but if i must

i promise

if i’m really a widow

you’ll marry me in five and

three-quarter years time

let me think

i’ll marry nobody else oh i don’t know

is frank really dead

perhaps i should ask a lawyer

say the words my dear one and i won’t

speak about it anymore

a long engagement then marriage

oh bathsheba promise yourself to me

he begged wildly forgetting his cool

business-like manner

i’ve loved you so much and for so long

very well

she said after a pause

i’ll marry you six years from now

if we’re both alive

and if my husband doesn’t return

then wear this ring for me

boldwood took from his pocket a diamond

engagement ring

and held it out to her

no

no i can’t

i don’t want anyone to know

just wear it tonight

to please me

bathsheba could say no more

and weakly let him put it on her finger

he left her

in a few minutes she was calmer

she put on her cloak and went downstairs

she paused at the foot of the stairs

boldwood was standing near the fire

and he had just noticed that a group of

villagers were whispering among

themselves

what’s the matter men he asked

cheerfully is anybody engaged or married

born or dead tell us the news tall

i wish somebody was dead

replied laban tall in a whisper

what was that tall ask boldwood speak

out if you have anything to say

at that moment there was a knock on the

front door

one of the men opened it

a stranger wants to see mrs troy he said

ask him to come in said boldwood

the message was given

and troy

wrapped up to his eyes in the cloak

stood in the doorway

those who knew he was in the area

recognized him immediately

boldwood did not

he said

come in stranger and have a christmas

drink with us.

troy entered

threw off his cloak and looked boldwood

in the face

but it was only when he laughed that

bold would recognize the man who had

destroyed his hope and happiness once

and was about to do it again

troy turned to bathsheba

she had dropped miserably onto the

lowest stair

her mouth was blue and dry

her eyes empty and staring

he said

bathsheba

i’ve come here for you

she did not reply

come home with me do you hear

he went towards her

a strange thin voice full of despair

came from the fireplace

bathsheba

go with your husband

said boldwood

she did not move

and when troy stretched out his hand to

pull her towards him

she fell back with a quick low scream

a second later there was a loud bang

and the hall was filled with smoke

at bathsheba’s cry boldwood’s despair

had turned to anger

from the wall above the fireplace he had

taken a gun and shot troy

who now lay very still

boldwood turned the gun on himself but

was stopped by one of his men

it doesn’t matter

boldwood gasped there’s another way to

die

he crossed the room to bathsheba

and kissed her hand

then he went out into the darkness

before anyone could prevent him chapter

19

bathsheba and gabriel

gabriel arrived at boldwood’s house

about five minutes after the shooting

the villagers were all shocked and

silent

but bathsheba was sitting on the floor

calmly holding troy’s head

gabriel

she said simply

i’m afraid it’s too late

but ride to caster bridge for a doctor

mr boldwood has shot my husband

gabriel obeyed at once

and while riding along was thinking so

hard about the shooting

that in the darkness he failed to notice

a man walking along the road to cast a

bridge

that man was boldwood

on his way to casterbridge to confess to

his crime

bathsheba ordered the body to be removed

to her house

and by herself she washed and dressed

her dead husband for burial

but when the doctor the vicar and

gabriel arrived and she no longer needed

to be strong

her self-control finally broke and she

became very ill

on the doctor’s advice she was put to

bed

and her illness continued for several

months

at his trial the following march

boldwood was found guilty of murder

for which the usual punishment was death

however weatherbury people began to

protest publicly that he should not be

held responsible for the crime

over the last few weeks the villagers

had noticed how his moods changed from

wild despair to feverish excitement

he had forgotten his farm

and even lost the previous year’s

harvest

and a pile of carefully wrapped parcels

of dresses and jewels was found at his

house

addressed to bathsheba boldwood and

dated six years ahead

these were accepted by the judges as

signs of his madness

and in the end boldwood was sent to

prison for life

gabriel knew that bathsheba blamed

herself for troy’s death

and would have blamed herself even more

for boldwoods

her health improved only very slowly

she hardly ever went out of the house or

garden

and did not discuss her feelings with

anyone even liddy

but by the summer she was beginning to

spend more time in the open air

and one august evening she walked to the

churchyard

she could hear the village children

inside the church practicing their

singing for sunday

she went straight to fanny’s grave and

read troy’s words on the large

gravestone

this stone was put up by francis troy

in loving memory of fanny robin who died

on october 9

1866

aged 20.

underneath

on the same stone were the words she had

added

in the same grave lies francis troy

who died on december the 24th 1867

aged 26.

as she listened to the sweet voices of

the children coming from the church

and thought of the pain she had

experienced in her short life

tears came to her eyes

she wished she were as innocent as those

children again

she was still crying when she suddenly

noticed gabriel oak who had come up the

path on his way to the church

and was watching her sympathetically

are you going in

she asked trying to dry her tears

i was he replied

i’m one of the church singers you know

and tonight’s my practice evening

but i don’t think i’ll go in now

there was a pause

while they both tried to think of

something to say

at last gabriel said slowly

i haven’t seen you

to speak to

for a long time

are you better now

yes i am

she replied

i came to look at the gravestone

eight months ago it happened

said gabriel

it seems like yesterday to me

and to me it seems like years

long years ago

there’s something i must tell you

said gabriel hesitating

the fact is

i won’t be your farm manager much longer

i’m thinking of leaving england

and farming in america

leaving england she cried in surprise

and disappointment

but everyone thought you would rent poor

mr boldwood’s farm and manage it

yourself

the lawyers have offered it to me it’s

true

but i’ll be leaving weatherbury next

spring

i have my reasons

and what shall i do without you

oh gabriel

we’re such old

friends you’ve helped me so much in the

past

and now that i’m more helpless than ever

you’re going away

it’s unfortunate said gabriel unhappily

it’s because of that helplessness

that i have to go

and he walked so quickly out of the

churchyard that she could not follow him

in the next few months bathsheba noticed

miserably that gabriel communicated with

her as little as possible

and then only by messenger

she could not avoid thinking that he the

last friend she had

had lost interest in supporting her and

was about to desert her

on the day after christmas she received

the letter from him which he had been

expecting

in it he explained that he would leave

the farm in three months time

bathsheba sat and cried bitterly over

this letter

she was deeply hurt that gabriel no

longer loved her

she was also worried about having to

manage the farm by herself again

she thought about it all morning

and was so depressed by the afternoon

that she put on her cloak and found her

way to where gabriel lived

she knocked at the door

who is it said gabriel opening the door

oh it’s you

mistress i won’t be your mistress much

longer will i gabriel she said sadly

well no

i suppose not

because these two people who knew each

other well were meeting in a strange

place

they felt like the strangers they were

when they first met

and neither spoke for a moment

gabriel

perhaps i shouldn’t have come but

i

i thought

i must have offended you and that’s why

you’re going away

offended me

you couldn’t do that bathsheba

couldn’t i

she said gladly

but then

why are you going

i am not going to america you know

i decided not to when you seemed against

the idea

no

i’ve arranged to rent mr boldwood’s farm

and i could have been your farm manager

as well if

well

if people hadn’t said things about us

what

said bathsheba surprised

what things

well

if you must know

that i’m just waiting and hoping for the

chance to marry you someday

marry me that’s too foolish

too soon

to think of

yes of course

it’s foolish

i certainly agree

too soon were the words i used

i’m sorry

but i think you said too foolish

i’m sorry too

she replied with tears in her eyes

too soon was what i said

but it doesn’t matter a bit not at all

but i only meant

too soon

indeed you must believe me

gabriel looked into her face for a long

time

bathsheba he said

coming closer

if i only knew one thing

whether you’d allow me to love you

and marry you after all

if i only knew

but you never will know

she whispered

why not

because you never ask

oh

said gabriel delightedly

my darling

you should never have sent me that cruel

letter this morning it shows you don’t

care a bit about me

now bathsheba he said laughing

you know very well that i had to be very

careful as a single man working for you

a good-looking young woman

i’ve been so worried about your good

name

that’s why i was going to leave

and that’s the only reason

oh i’m so glad i came

she cried thankfully as she got up to

leave

i’ve thought so much more about you

since i imagined you didn’t even want to

see me again

but gabriel

i shouldn’t have come to visit you

i seem to be courting you

how awful

well

i’ve courted you my beautiful bathsheba

for a very long time

so one visit from you isn’t much to ask

as he walked back to the farmhouse with

her they talked of his plans for

boldwood’s farm

they spoke very little of their feelings

for each other

they were such old friends that

expressions of love were probably

unnecessary

their shared interests and their long

friendly relationship

had given them a complete understanding

of each other’s character

and this finally developed after their

wedding

into a love that nothing could destroy

you

第 1 章

加布里埃尔·奥克坠入爱河

加布里埃尔·奥克是一个聪明的人，

他的性格很好，他的父亲把他当作牧羊人抚养长大

，然后设法攒够钱

在多塞特郡的诺康山租了自己的农场，

他 28 岁，

有一口高大的井 - 一个

看起来并不认为自己的

外表很重要的

人，一个冬天的早晨，他在

诺科姆山一侧的一块田地里，

看着他的大门，加布里埃尔

可以看到一辆

满载家具和植物的黄色推车

从路上驶来

堆顶上

坐着一位英俊的年轻女子

，加布里埃尔

看着马车停在山顶

，司机爬下

回去取掉从身上掉下来的东西。

女孩静静地在阳光下坐

了几分钟

然后她拿起旁边的一个包裹

，环顾四周，看看

司机是不是回来了

，没有他的踪迹。

她打开包裹

，取出装着镜子的镜子，

阳光照在她可爱的脸蛋上。 头饰和

头发

尽管现在是十二月，

但

她穿着鲜红色的夹克坐在那儿，

周围是新鲜的绿色植物，看起来几乎

是夏天的样子

她也一定很虚荣，

他认为

她根本不需要照镜子

，

因为女孩对自己微笑着脸红

了，

她似乎在做梦，

梦到男人的心，也许

当她听到司机的脚步声时，

她收拾行李 照

镜子 推车下坡到

收费站

加布里埃尔步行跟

在他走近时

他能听到司机

和看门人吵架

我的情妇侄女是她

在家具

上不会付钱给你额外的

tuppence 司机说

她 说如果她不支付过路费，她已经为你提供了足够的服务，

你情妇的侄女

不能通过大门，但看门人加布里埃尔回答说

塔彭丝似乎不

值得理会所以他上前

说

把硬币递给看门人

让年轻女人过去

穿红夹克的女孩

漫不经心地看着加布里埃尔并告诉她的

男人继续开车

甚至没有感谢农夫

gabriel 和看门人看着

马车开走

那是一个可爱的年轻女子，看门人说，

但她有自己的错

不，

她最大的错

是几天后

，在一年中最长的

夜晚将近

午夜时分，她很虚荣

在寒冷的空气中转动

长笛的甜美音符

响起 音乐来自

站在田野角落的一间带

轮子的小屋 像这样的牧羊人小屋被用来

冬天和春天的

时候，牧羊人不得不

在田野里整夜照顾

幼小的羔羊，

这是一个避难所，加布里埃尔

的 250 只羊

还没有得到报酬 生产了

大量健康的动物，

因此他决定尽可能多地

在田里度过必要的夜晚

，以免他的小羊死于寒冷

或饥饿。

小屋温暖舒适，

里面

有炉子，架子上放着一些面包和

啤酒

小屋的每一侧都有一个圆孔，

就像一扇可以用一块木头关闭的窗户，

这些气孔通常

在炉子燃烧时保持打开，

因为在一个不通风的小小屋里，太多的烟

会时不时地杀死牧羊人

。 当长笛的声音

停止

，加布里埃尔从他的小屋里出来检查

他的羊

时，每当他发现一只半死不活的新

羊羔时，

他就把这只动物带到

炉子前的小屋里，它很快又回来了

然后他可以把它还给它的

母亲

他注意到山下有一盏灯

来自田野边缘的一间木屋

他走到它那里

，眼睛盯着

里面两个女人的树林里的一个洞 喂一头病牛

一个女人是

中年 另一个女人很年轻，穿着斗篷

加布里埃尔看不到她的脸

我想她现在会

没事的

哦，真可惜，我在来的路上把帽子丢

了，那个女孩丢下了她的斗篷，

她的长发落在了她红色夹克的肩膀上，

加布里埃尔认出了黄牌的女孩

和镜子

，那个欠他的女孩

轻拍女人 第二天早上太阳升起时

，加布里埃尔离开小屋，回到他的羊

身边，加布里埃尔在他的小屋外等着，直到他

看到那个年轻的女人骑上山，

她正以通常的女士姿势侧身坐在马上，

他突然想到了舱口 他

输了

寻找它，在地上的一些树叶中找到它，

他正要上去把它还给她，

当那个女孩骑在一棵树的低矮树枝下做了一件非常奇怪的事情时，

她和她一起倒在马背

上 双脚放在马的肩膀上，

然后首先环顾四周以确保

没有人在看

她再次坐直，将

裙子拉到膝盖上，双腿放在

马的两侧，

这显然更容易骑，

但不是很淑女，

加布里埃尔感到惊讶和 他被她的行为逗乐了，

等她从

姑妈的小屋回来

，走到她面前的小路上，

我找到了一顶帽子，

他

说是我的，

她说

她戴上，然后笑了笑

，今天早上它飞走

了 是的，我今天早上需要我的帽子，

我不得不骑马去那个田野里的小屋，

那里有一头属于我

姑妈的病牛

是的，我知道

我看到了你

，她问，惊恐地

沿着小路一路

骑着山上山 d

gabriel 想着她在马背上的不淑女的姿势

她的头到脖子都泛起了深深的红晕

gabriel 同情地转过身去

想知道他什么时候敢再看她

当他转身时

她已经走了

五个早晚

那个年轻女人经常来

照顾生病的母牛，

但从未与加布里埃尔说话，

他感到非常抱歉，

当她认为她独自一人时，他告诉她他见过她，如此冒犯了她

[音乐]

然后一个寒冷的夜晚，

加布里埃尔筋疲力尽地回到他

温暖的小屋 炉子里的空气让他

昏昏欲睡

，睡前忘了打开一个通风

孔。

他知道的下一件事是，那个

有着可爱脸庞的女孩和他一起在

小屋里，

把他的头抱在怀里，

不管发生了什么，

他 半醒半醒的问

她现在什么都没有回答

但你本可以死在你的这间小屋里

是的

我想我可以

说加布里埃尔

他希望他能

在她身边待很长时间 我

他想告诉她

但是他知道他不能很好地表达自己

所以他保持沉默

你是怎么找到我的

他最后问我

哦

我听到你的狗在门口抓

我所以我来看看是什么

我打开了 进门发现你

不省人事 一定是炉子冒出的烟

我相信你救了我的命

小姐

我不知道你的

名字 没必要知道 我

可能再也见不到你

我的名字是 gabriel Oak mine is

你听起来对你的名字很自豪

吗这是我唯一的名字

我不喜欢我的

我应该认为你很快就会得到一口新

井

那是我的生意加布里埃尔橡树

我不太擅长说话小姐

但我要谢谢你

过来

把你的手给我

她犹豫了一下然后伸出手

他握住了

但只握了

一会儿对不起

他说我不是故意让你的

手这么快

你可能会再次得到它 那么

这里是

加布里埃尔这次握得更久

了即使在冬天它也很柔软，一点

也不粗糙 我

说

那已经够长了，她说的时间已经够长了

，但没有把它拉开，

但我想你在想你

想亲吻它

，如果你愿意，你可以亲吻它

她猛地拉开她的手

现在

发现我的名字

她笑着

加了

第二章

灾难给加布里埃尔·奥克

年轻的农夫奥克恋爱了

他等待女孩定期

看望病牛就像

他的狗等待喂食一样不耐烦

发现她的名字叫

Bathsheba everdeen，她

和她的姑姑赫斯特夫人住在一起

，他的脑子里全是她，他

想不出别的

了

又上班了

，她不来喂

病牛了，

他不得不找个理由去看她，

所以他带着一只母亲去世的小羊羔，

用篮子把它抬到

了赫斯特夫人家。

我带来了一只羊羔 为了爱弗丁小姐，

他告诉了爸爸 thsheba 的阿姨

女孩们通常喜欢照顾小羊

谢谢你 Oak 先生回答 hurst 夫人 但

Bathsheba 只是来这里的访客

我不知道她是否会留下

来告诉你真相 赫斯特夫人

小羊不是我来的真正原因

我想问埃弗丁小姐

她是否愿意结婚

真的

问赫斯特夫人仔细地看着他

是的

因为如果她愿意

我愿意嫁给她

你知道她现在是否有其他

年轻人在向她求婚

哦 是的，很多年轻人都说赫斯特夫人，

你看到农夫橡树了，

她很英俊，受过良好的

教育当然我还没有真正见过

她的年轻人，但她至少有

10 或 12 个。

不幸的是

农夫橡树盯着 可悲的是，在

地板上，

我只是一个非常普通的男人

，我唯一的机会就是第一个

向她求婚

，这就是我来的全部

我最好回家现在赫斯特夫人

他已经穿过第一个

场地

的一半 他听到身后传来一声哭声，

他转身看到一个女孩在跑 在

他

之后，是巴舍巴·

加布里埃尔脸红了，

她气喘吁吁地打电话

给

我，我想说我姨妈错了，她告诉你

我有很多年轻人在向我求爱

，事实上我没有

，我从来

没有 很高兴

听到 gabriel 笑着

伸出手来

拉她的手，但她很快拉开了她的手

比我现在努力两倍

，挣得更多

他向她伸出手臂

这

然后说你不要我

我只是想解释我

姑姑错了她还是急切地回答

我不得不跑来追你

所以我没有时间决定

我是否要结婚

想一两分钟 回复

g abriel 希望

我能等一会儿，伊芙丁小姐，

你愿意嫁给我

吗？

我非常爱你，

我会尽量认为

她回答了，

给我时间

，她把目光从他身上移开，看着

远处的山丘，

我可以让你开心

他说 在她的后脑勺上，

你应该有一架钢琴

，晚上我会练习长笛和你一起演奏

是的，

我想要那个

，

无论你何时抬头

，我都会在火炉旁

，无论何时我抬头

等一下，

让我觉得

她沉默了一会儿

，然后转向他，

不，

她说

我不想嫁给你

，如果有一个婚礼很好，

但有个好丈夫，

他永远都是

正如你所说，

每当我抬头

时，

他当然会在那里，这就是

我的问题，

如果我

可以在没有丈夫的情况下成为新娘，

但作为女人不能成为新娘，我不介意成为新娘 新娘一个人，

我不会结婚

，至少现在还不会

，一个女孩说这话是多么愚蠢的事，

加布里尔哭着说

，然后他轻声说，

但是 ling

再想一想，

他绕过树来接近她，

为什么你不拥有我，

因为我不爱你，她回答说

离开了，

但我爱你

，如果这就是你对我的全部感受，我很高兴被人喜欢

他说 比他

以前说过的更严肃，

只有一件事是肯定的，这辈子

我会爱你

，想要你

，一直想要你，直到我死去

，从他诚实的脸上可以清楚地看出他的感情

，他棕色的大手似乎在颤抖

当你感觉如此强烈时不接受你是错误的，

她不高兴地回答

我希望我没有追你，

但我们不会在一起快乐橡树先生

我太独立了

我需要一个可以让我保持秩序的丈夫

，我 我敢肯定你

做不到那个

加布里埃尔绝望地看着别处没有

回答奥克先生她用清晰的声音继续

说我太穷了我的姨妈必须

为我提供一个家

你才刚刚开始种地

生意

上，

你娶个有钱的女人会明智得多

你可以买更多的羊和

改善你的农场

这正是我一直在想的

回答加布里埃尔惊讶地回答

她有什么常识他认为他

非常好那么你为什么要嫁给我

她生气地说

我不能做我想的

明智的

我必须按照我的内心告诉我

他没有看到她为他设置的陷阱

现在你已经承认嫁给我

是不明智的 奥克先生 你认为

在那之后我会嫁给

你 不 误会我的意思他

哭了

只是因为我足够诚实地告诉

你真相

我知道你会成为我的好妻子

你说话像个女士每个人都这么说

你在韦瑟伯里的叔叔有一个

大农场我有 听说

我晚上可以拜访你

还是星期天你会来和我一起散步

你不必立即决定

不不我不能不坚持我

不爱你所以这将是愚蠢的

她笑着说

没有人喜欢看到他的感情被嘲笑

所以加布里埃尔奥克说转身

很好

那么我不会再问你了，

加布里埃尔再也没有见过巴舍巴，

两天后，他听说她已经

离开了该地区，现在在

20 英里外的韦瑟伯里村。

她的离开并没有阻止加布里埃尔

爱她

，事实上他爱她 更深

的是

，第二天晚上睡觉前他们分开了，

加布里埃尔叫他的两只狗

来家里过夜，

他的老狗乔治听从了召唤，

但年轻的狗不见了，

加布里埃尔很难训练

这只小狗， 虽然

热心的还是不明白

牧羊犬的职责

他并不担心狗不在，

而是

很早就上床睡觉，他被

羊铃猛烈敲响的声音吵醒了

牧羊人知道羊铃发出的每一个声音

，加布里埃尔立即意识到

他的羊跑得很快，

他从床上跳下，

穿上衣服，跑上诺科姆

山，来到他的田地，靠近粉笔坑，

那里有他的五十只羊和他们的

羊在一块地安全，

但在另一块地，两百只

怀孕的羊已经完全

消失了。

他注意到一扇破门，

确信羊已经通过

了。下一块地没有它们的迹象，

但在他前面的顶部

他看到那条年轻的狗

在早晨的天空

中显得黑色 它

在深坑里躺着他死去的垂死的

绵羊

200 只在接下来的几周内会再生产 200 只

未经训练的年轻狗一定是把

它们追到了坑的边缘

，它们在那里摔死

了他的第一感觉 可怜那些

温顺的羊和它们未出生的小羊，

然后他想到自己

在过去十年辛勤工作的所有积蓄都

花在了租用农场上，

现在他希望成为一名 依赖的

农夫被毁

了 过了一会儿他用手捂住脸 他抬起头

谢天谢地 我没有嫁给巴舍巴

他想如果她嫁给一个

像我这样穷的丈夫会怎样

这只小狗下一个被枪杀了 那天，

加布里埃尔卖掉了他所有的农具来偿还

他欠羊的钱

他不再是一个农民，

只是一个拥有她所穿衣服的普通人，

现在他不得不

在其他男人的农场找到工作，他可以在第 3 章

火灾

两个月后，加布里埃尔去了

卡斯特桥的大型集市，希望能

找到一份农场经理的工作，

但当他在下午晚些时候

意识到卡斯特桥的农民都不

想要农场经理甚至牧羊人时，

他决定在 第二天又是一个

集市，在

距离韦瑟伯里另一边 15 英里

的一个村庄里，

韦瑟伯里

这个名字让他想起了巴舍巴

，他想知道她是否还住在那里，

他步行出发了

天黑了，已经走了

三四英里，当他看到路边有一辆装满干草的手推车时

，他想那是个很舒服的睡觉地方。

几小时后，他立即睡着了推车，但是他被

推车的移动吵醒

了，两名农场工人没有注意到

Gabriel

把它开往韦瑟伯里，他听了他们的

谈话 骄傲

也很自负 人们这么说

哦，

如果她是自负的 比利·斯莫伯伯里

我永远无法看她

我是个害羞的男人 你知道吗

另一个单身女人 很

自负 她会付农活

我也不知道那个约瑟夫可怜的

草

加布里埃尔认为他们可能在

谈论巴舍巴，

只是他们正在

讨论的那个女人似乎是一个农场的女主人，

因为马车现在离韦瑟伯里很近

加布里埃尔在两个人看不见的情况下跳了出来，

他爬上一扇门，进入一片田野，

打算在

干草堆下睡一晚，

但随后他注意到

大约半英里外的黑暗中有一盏

不寻常的光，

他匆匆穿过

很快，在浓郁的橙色

火光中，他可以看到一头海瑞克正在猛烈燃烧，

但救里克已经太迟了，

所以他站了几分钟，

盯着火焰看，

但当烟雾消散片刻时，

他已经 惊恐地看到离

燃烧的麦垛很近的地方有一排麦垛，

这些麦垛可能包含

了当年农场生产的大部分小麦，

当他冲向他看到

的最危险的麦垛时，随时可能着火。

不仅

是一群农场工人看到了

大火并跑到地里帮助

拯救小麦，但他们非常困惑，

不知道该怎么办

把它放在麦架上，这样风

就不会把干草架上的火焰

吹到上面了，现在

你拿着一桶水站在这里

，把布

弄湿，男人们赶紧服从

他，火焰阻止了燃烧的

底部和侧面 小麦里克

开始攻击它的屋顶

给我一个梯子，加布里埃尔

和一根树枝和一些水

他爬上小麦里克，

坐在顶部用

树枝

扑灭火焰 比利·斯莫伯伯里 一个在车里的人

爬了上去 拿一

桶水往

gabriel 身上泼水，让火焰远离他

。 rick 的这个角落的烟雾最浓，但 gabriel 从未

停止他

在地上的工作，村民们正在

尽其所能阻止火灾

不远处有一个年轻女子

，她骑着马刚到，

她的女仆步行，

他们正在看火，

讨论着加布里埃尔，

他是一个很好的年轻人，妈妈说女仆莉迪亚

，看看他的衣服

他们都被烧死了

他为谁工作 用清晰的声音问那个女人

我不认识妈妈，其他人也不认识

他是陌生人

约翰·科根把那个女人叫给

她的一个工人

你认为现在小麦安全吗

我想 所以是的，女士，他回答说，

如果大火已经蔓延到这个服务员身上，

所有其他的堆场也会着火

那个勇敢的年轻人在堆场

顶上是拯救你的小麦的人

他确实努力工作 那个年轻女人说

抬头看着没有

注意到她的 gabriel

我希望他为我工作，

因为 ricks 不再处于危险之中

gabriel 开始爬下

，在底部他遇到了女仆

我收到了农夫的消息，

他想感谢你们 你已经

完成了 她说

他在哪里问加布里埃尔突然意识到

有机会找到

工作不是

他是她

回答那个女孩

一个女农民

问加布里埃尔

是

的一个富人也说一个

站在附近的村民

当她叔叔突然去世时，她继承了他的

农场 y 她

在施法特桥的每家银行都有生意

她在那边披着斗篷

骑在马上 加布里埃尔补充说

黑暗中的女仆 加布里埃尔只能看到

一个坐在马上的女人的形状

他走到她身边

尽管他的脸是黑色的

烟和他的衣服都被火烧焦了

他记得礼貌地抬起他的帽子

，抬头看着她问，

你想要一个牧羊妈妈吗？

她让她的斗篷从

头上掉下来，加布里埃尔

和他冷酷的

宝贝巴舍巴伊弗丁

盯着看 对着对方，

她没有说话，

他只是悲伤地重复了一遍

，你想要一个牧羊妈妈

芭丝谢芭转身躲进阴影

里，考虑到

她有点为他感到难过，

但也很高兴

自从他们上次见面以来她的地位有所改善，

她意识到她几乎 忘记

了他在诺科姆山上的求婚

是的

她小声回答 脸有点红

我确实想要一个牧羊人 但

他是正确的人 妈妈

说 一个村民说得对 第三个

然后你们男人会告诉他和

农场经理说话吗？ 巴什谢巴在

骑马离开加布里埃尔时以公事公办的方式说，她

很快安排了他

与巴什谢巴的农场经理

benji

pennyways的工作细节，然后走到村子里寻找一个

地方

边走边生活

他想起了芭丝谢芭，

他记得的那个年轻女孩是多么迅速

地成为了一个有能力的农场主妇

当他经过教堂墓地和

周围的古树时，

他注意到有人站在

其中一棵树后面

是正确的方式 去

韦瑟伯里问加布里埃尔

哦，是的，

直接

说一个女孩的声音

在停顿后低沉而甜美，她补充说

你不是韦瑟伯里的男人

不，

我是新的牧羊人刚到

只是一个牧羊人

你看起来就像一个农民对我来说

只是一个牧羊人

加布里埃尔用沉闷的声音重复着，

想着那场灾难

摧毁了他成为农民的希望，

请不要告诉村里的任何人

你见过我

乞求那个女孩

或者我不想让任何人知道我

她瘦弱的手臂在寒冷中颤抖

我不会告诉任何人说加布里埃尔

但你应该在这样的夜晚穿着斗篷

哦

没关系

请继续 离开我

他犹豫了

也许你会接受 这

虽然不多

但这是我所剩无几

他把一枚硬币放在她的小手上，当

他触摸她的手腕时，他注意到

血液跳动的速度有多快，

那是同样快速的用力

当他的小羊快要死了的时候，他在他的羔羊身上感觉到了

怎么回事

阴影

和加布里埃尔继续前往韦瑟伯里

第 4 章

范妮·罗宾消失

了 农场经理曾建议加布里埃尔直接去韦瑟伯里

的麦芽屋

寻求

住处，那里是村里的男人

们晚上喝

啤酒聊天的地方 闲聊时在火

边 瑞尔走进温暖的黑暗房间

，巴什谢巴的一些工人认出了

他

是牧羊人进来的，不客气说，

我的名字

是一棵加布里埃尔橡树，他的邻居是一位有着白发

和长长的白胡子的古老莫斯特，他的老头

僵硬地转向

加布里埃尔加布里埃尔橡树，他 说

我很了解你的祖父母，

我的儿子雅各布和他年幼的儿子比利

也认识你的家人

活了100多年

的小老头子自豪地

坐下来和我们一起喝酒

那种情妇是埃弗丁小姐

他问

我们对她的牧羊人几乎一无所知

o

当她的叔叔死了，

但阿伯丁是一个可以工作的好家庭

，当然是农场经理会给

我们下订单，

呃

说，你不能相信他的 molster 皱着眉头

弯着腰，

你不能相信他

。 jan

coghan 在他的房子里给了牧羊人一张

床，

剩下的人正准备

离开，突然一个名叫

laban tall 的年轻人冲进了麦芽屋，

几乎兴奋得说不出话来

，是 benji pennyways，他哭

了

她送他离开的谷仓

，比那个罗宾更糟糕，

你知道埃弗丁小姐

最小的女仆失踪

了情妇要我们明天去找她

，比利·斯莫伯伯里，她要你去卡斯特桥

看看你能不能找到

那个年轻的士兵。

那天晚上向范妮求爱，消息

在村子里迅速传开，

但没有传到加布里埃尔，他的

梦想只是

在漫长的黑暗中缓慢地梦见芭丝谢巴。

看到她可爱的脸

，

第二天早上忘记她

不爱他了 这位利迪

说，巴什谢巴惊恐地看着她

满是灰尘的裙子，

下楼告诉他我很忙，

当利迪在博尔德伍德先生离开后回来时，

巴什谢巴问

利迪想要什么

，他到底是谁，

他只是想问范妮有没有

找到

你知道的小姐，因为她没有家人或朋友

他很乐意支付她

上学的费用

并在你叔叔那里找到了一份工作

他是你的邻居

他的农场就在你

旁边 他结婚了吗 他多大了

未婚

他大约 40 岁

非常英俊

和富有

该地区所有的女孩都试图

说服他结婚

但他似乎对女人不感兴趣

你有没有求婚

小姐

是的 我有里迪

回答巴谢巴之后 停顿

一下 加布里埃尔的墨水，

但他对我来说还不够

好哦，

当我们大多数人都很高兴接受第一个提议时，能够拒绝真是太好了

，你爱他吗，错过

哦，不，

但我更喜欢他

在下午巴舍巴打电话 她的

工人一起

在农舍的旧大厅里和

他们交谈

我想告诉你，我不会

雇用新的农场经理

我将自己管理农场

她给她下达命令的男人们惊讶地倒吸一口凉气 为了下周的

农活

，然后转向其中一个人

比利·斯莫伯伯里你对范妮·罗宾

有什么发现

我想她和她的年轻人妈妈一起逃跑了，

士兵们已经离开了卡斯特布里奇

，我想她和他们一起走了

也许我们会 稍后发现更多，

你们中的一个可以去告诉博尔德伍德先生现在

比利说

了什么，

我希望我可以相信你们所有人都

为我做好工作，

晚安

那天晚上晚些时候，在韦瑟伯里以北数英里的一个小镇上

，

一个白色的小形状可能是 看到

在一座大建筑旁边的小路上慢慢走

那是一个沉闷的雪夜

，天空低垂着厚厚的灰云

那种希望

破灭

，爱情失去的夜晚

一二

三四五 白色的形状正在数

窗户 建筑物

然后它开始

向第五个窗户投掷被雪覆盖的小石头

终于窗户

打开了一个男人叫

在那里

是那个中士特洛伊

问一个女孩的声音

是

回答那个男人

你是谁

哦坦白

你不认识我吗

女孩拼命地哭了，

我是你的，

我是

范妮罗宾范妮惊讶地喘着粗气，你是

怎么到这里的？

我从韦瑟伯里走了大部分路，

但坦率地说

，你很高兴见到我

坦率

，

你在说什么？

你知道

你

答应过我们什么时候结婚，弗兰克，

哦，

我明白了，

你需要合适的衣服，

我们必须通知牧师，

这需要时间

d 现在别哭了

，

如果我这么说当然是愚蠢的，

我明天会来看你

来决定细节

哦，是的，弗兰克，

我要住在北街的斜纹布太太，

明天来吧，弗兰克

晚安弗兰克

第五章巴舍巴

当芭丝谢芭第一次出现在

每周一次的卡斯特桥市场上时，她会送一个情人节礼物，在那里农民们

买卖他们的小麦和动物。

她引起了轰动，

男人的头转过头来看着

她，她是那里唯一的女人，

她很高兴受到

钦佩，

但她也很坚定 为了以高价出售她的

小麦

并像男人一样与其他农民做生意，

有一个

农民似乎没有注意到她

，这让她有点恼火，

这是 2

月 13 日的一个星期日下午，

博尔德伍德先生 和liddy一起在客厅

那是一个沉闷的寒冷天，他们

俩都很无聊

你有没有试过发现

你要嫁给谁 小姐

用圣经

和钥匙问liddy

我不知道 不相信这种愚蠢的游戏 莉迪

很好

有些人认为它行得通

让我们试试吧 据说芭丝谢芭

突然从她的座位上跳起来

他们打开了大家庭

圣经

并在页面上放了一把钥匙

现在

你想到了可以嫁给

小姐的人

莉迪说，然后大声朗读那页上的文字

，如果圣经动了，

也许你会嫁给他，

芭丝谢芭读着拿着

圣经

的词，他们

看着圣经在她手中转动

，芭丝谢巴脸红了

，你在想谁，

莉迪好奇地问

我' 我不会告诉你

回答她的

情妇顺便

说一句你有没有注意到今天早上在教堂里的博尔德伍德先生

问利迪很

清楚她在想谁

他没有转过头看你一次

他为什么要回答巴舍巴生气

我没有让他看我

哦不，

但教堂里的其他人都在

看着你，

芭丝谢巴几分钟后没有回复这个问题

，她说哦，我差点

忘了我之前买的情人节贺卡

情人节

，是送给

农

夫博尔德伍德小姐的，当然不是

送给村里的一个孩子

，简·科金斯的那个可爱的小男孩，

我现在把地址写在信封上

，我们今天就寄出去，

这会是多么有趣 把它寄给那个

愚蠢的老博尔德伍德 笑着 莉迪·

巴斯谢巴停下来考虑

，这个地区最富有和最重要的

男人似乎并不

像所有其他男人那样钦佩她，这确实有点令人沮丧，

我们会扔硬币来决定她

轻声

说不，

我们不应该在星期天玩钱

升到空中

然后下来

关闭

巴什谢巴立即拿起笔

在信封上写下了博尔特伍德的地址

现在我们需要一个印章 她说

找一个有趣的盖子

啊让我们用这个 我不记得上面写了

什么但我 她知道这很

有趣 已经封好信封的

芭丝谢芭仔细看了看

印章留下的字，

嫁给我

就好了，她哭了

，连牧师都笑了

，所以情人节不是为了

爱，而是开玩笑，

芭丝谢芭不知道会有什么效果

2 月 14 日的圣瓦伦丁那天早上，它送到了博尔德伍德先生的家里，

他感到困惑，但又奇怪地兴奋起来

，

他以前从未收到过它

，他整天

都在想，那个对

他如此钦佩

以至于她派人来的女人是谁？ 他是个情人，

他一直看着它，

直到大红色印章上的字在

他疲倦的眼睛前跳动，他

再也看不懂了，

但他知道他们所说的

嫁给

我，情人节破坏了

博尔德伍德平静的生活

， 晚上他梦见了一个陌生的

女人，当他很早醒来时，

他看到的第一件事是情人节

，他床边的桌子上写着红色的信息，

嫁给我，

他对

自己重复说他要 o 再也睡不着

了，

所以他出去散步，

他看着太阳从雪原上升起，在

回家的路上，他遇到了

递给他

一封信的邮递员。

情人节，

我想不是给你的，先生，邮递员说，

我想是给你的

牧羊人的 是

因为埃弗丁小姐的牧羊人

他的名字是加布里埃尔

奥克那一刻他注意到

远处

有一个人影啊，他现在是波德伍德补充说我会亲自

把信给他

牧羊人开始走向

麦芽屋，波德伍德跟着他

拿着 信

第六章

范妮在麦芽厂犯的错误

男人们正在

讨论

芭丝谢芭 她在没有农场经理

的情况下过得去吗 老莫斯特问年轻人

她不能独自管理农场 回复 ed

jacob，她不会听我们的建议，

她很自豪，她是我经常说的，

你有 jacob，你有，这是真的

对她来说不够

好说我听说的怪物她买了新床

椅子和钢琴

如果她是农民

为什么她想要一架

钢琴然后他们听到外面有沉重的脚步声

和一个叫邻居的声音

我可以带几只小羊进来吗

当然是牧羊人 他们都回答

加布里埃尔出现在门口 他的

脸颊通红 健康的脸

在他的肩膀上闪闪发光 是四只半死的

羔羊 他小心翼翼地把它们放在

靠近火的地方

我这里没有牧羊人的小屋，因为我

用过 在诺科姆，他解释说，

如果我不能给它们保暖一段时间，这些新的羔羊就会死掉

rd 说

怪物

你对她说了什么 问

gabriel 急忙转向其他人

我想你一直在说

她的坏话 他生气地加了 joseph 可怜的

草

不 不 一句话也没说 约瑟夫吓得发抖，

脸红了

好吧 看看这里的邻居

加布里埃尔虽然通常是

地球上最安静和最温和的男人之一

突然变得咄咄逼人，

但我听到的第一个男人

说我们的情妇的任何坏话都会在

他的脸上接受这个

，他用他沉重的大手

敲打着molsters桌子

不不不 太生气了 牧羊人坐下

来说 jacob

we he 你是个非常聪明的人 牧羊人

在主人床后加了约瑟夫可怜的草

，他一直躲在那里

我们都希望我们和你一样聪明

我们邻居

那里有将军 同意

我认为

情妇应该让你成为她的农场

经理

你非常适合这份工作 约瑟夫继续说道

他可以看到加布里埃尔

不再生气

我不介意承认我是 ho ping to

be her farm manager 加布里埃尔诚实地说，

但埃弗丁小姐可以为所欲为

，她选择管理自己的农场

，让我

成为一个普通的牧羊人，只是

他听起来很沮丧

，

在任何人回答之前悲伤地看着火 门

开了，Boldwood 先生进来了，他

向他们所有人打招呼，把信递给了

gabriel

我不小心打开了这个 Oak，他说，

但一定是给你的，对不起

哦，一点都不重要

gabriel 没有秘密的回答 他从任何人

那里读到这封信

亲爱的朋友，

我不知道你的名字，但我想

感谢你在我离开韦瑟伯里的那天晚上对我的好意，

我还要归还你给我的钱

我很高兴地说

我 我要嫁给一直向我求爱的年轻人，

特洛伊中士，

因为他是贵族的儿子

那里作为丈夫和妻子版本

很快

再次感谢你，

范妮罗宾，你最好读一下，博尔德伍德先生说，加布里埃尔

这是范妮罗宾寄来的，

她想保守秘密，

但我知道你对她感兴趣

我在去韦瑟伯里的路上遇到了她，但我

当时不知道

当博尔德伍德先生

读完信时，

她

是谁？ 我很遗憾听到

加布里尔说，顺便说一句，奥克

在他和牧羊人一起离开麦芽

屋时悄悄地说了博尔德伍德先生，

你能告诉我这是谁写的吗？

aberdeens

然后他意识到 Bathsheba 一定

是在没有署名的情况下写信给了大胆

谁写了情人节

这就是它的

乐趣他的态度一点也不有趣

他补充说再见橡树并慢慢

走回他的空

房子几天后在韦瑟伯里以北的小镇

士兵们

住在那里举行婚礼是

广场上教堂的钟敲

了十一点半，

一个英俊的年轻士兵

走进教堂，对牧师说话，

然后他站在教堂中央

等待他的

新娘，教堂里挤满了女人和

女孩 参加了早间

礼拜并决定等着

看婚礼

他们看着年轻人直接回来

，他们彼此窃窃私语

士兵一动不动地等着

教堂的钟敲响了

十二点一刻

，新娘仍然没有

来窃窃私语停了

下来 寂静中

，年轻人站得

笔直，就像他周围的教堂柱子一样

。一些女人轻轻地笑了起来，

但很快她们就笑了。

教堂的钟敲了十二下，他们再次静默等待结束，他们

听着教堂钟楼传来的沉重的音符

，牧师离开了他在士兵附近的位置

，消失在一个密室

里，教堂里的每个女人都在等着

看这个年轻人

他终于知道

了，他转身

勇敢地往回走

吓坏了，

他冷冷地盯着她说，

坦率地说，

我犯了一个错误，

我以为是

市场附近的另一个教堂

，我在那里等到了 12 点一刻

，然后我意识到我的错误，

但这没关系，因为我们

明天也能轻易结婚

你是个傻子跟我玩游戏

他生气地回答 那

我们明天结婚好吗 坦率 她

问不明白

她明天得罪他有多严重

h 我重复着笑着说

我暂时不想再有

这样的经历我可以向你保证

但是弗兰克

她用颤抖的声音恳求

这不是一个可怕的错误

亲爱的弗兰克

什么时候我们的婚礼

啊当

上帝知道他说

转身从她身边

迅速走开

第7章

农

夫博尔德伍德星期六在

卡斯特桥市场求婚 博尔德伍德第一次看到那个

打扰他梦想

的女人 他转过

头看着她，

这实际上是他一生中的第一次

到现在他看过任何女人他认为女人是

遥远的几乎是陌生的生物

与他无关

现在他看到了芭丝谢芭的头发

和她脸上的每一个细节

他注意到她的身材她的衣服

甚至她的

脚 对他来说非常美丽

，他的心开始在他里面移动

，这个女人

这个可爱的年轻女人

已经向我求婚了，

当他看着芭丝谢巴卖

小麦给另一个农民时，他想

他一直充满嫉妒，

芭丝谢芭意识到他的

眼睛

终于让他看着她，

但如果没有情人的鼓励，她宁愿他

从一开始就钦佩她。

她很抱歉她打扰了她。

一个她尊重

但认为她不能

向他道歉而不冒犯或

鼓励

他的男人的一贯

镇定

因为他是认真的，不

和邻居开玩笑，

人们认为他很冷漠

，但当他爱或恨

时，他全心全意，

如果巴舍巴知道

这个黑暗而沉默的人物的感情

有多强烈，她会非常自责

她的粗心大意，

但没人猜到他

平静的外表背后

的原因 几天后，博尔德伍德先生正在

看着巴舍巴的田地，这些田地就在

他自己的旁边

当他看到她帮助 gabriel Oak

牵羊

去黑夜的黑夜里，巴什谢巴像月亮一样闪耀，

他以前从未被触动

过的心完全被他

对她的爱所填满，

他决定去和她说话，

因为他停在了 田野之门

芭丝谢芭抬起头，发现他

正在注视着她的脸，看到

她脸红了，

他立刻想起

了鲍尔伍德给他看的装有情人节礼物的信封，

并怀疑芭丝谢巴

鼓励农民

爱上她的

鲍尔伍德。 注意到了他

，突然觉得自己

对女人不够了解，

从芭丝谢芭的态度

中看出她是否想见他

，所以他没有进场，而是

走过大门，

芭丝谢芭知道他来

了 见到她，感到万分愧疚，

她答应自己再也不

打扰这个男人的平静生活，

可惜她的诺言

太迟了，

因为这样的承诺 通常

直到五月底，

博尔德伍德才勇敢地表白了他的

爱，

他去了芭丝谢芭的家，

女仆告诉他，她们的女主人

每年春天都在看着洗羊。

羊毛清洁

并清除皮肤上的昆虫

波德伍德穿过田野来到

游泳池，他发现农场工人正

忙着洗羊

，巴什谢巴站在他们旁边，看到

波德伍德向她走来，她

沿着河边走开，

但她可以 听到她

身后草丛中的脚步声

感觉到爱在她身边 就像

空气中的香水

几乎无法想象

他只是简单地说

我的生活不再属于我了

在她脸上表现出任何表情

我现在 41 他继续说

我从未结婚

或认为我会结婚

但我们都

改变了当我看到你最重要的事情时我改变了

我希望你成为我的妻子

我认为

博尔德伍德先生

虽然我很尊重你

我觉得你还不够

接受你的提议

但是没有你我的生活一文不值他

哭了平静不再

我要

你让我一次又一次说我爱你

巴谢巴保持沉默

我想和希望 你足够关心我

听我说他有

它

巴谢巴正要问为什么他会

认为

当她想起情人节

毕竟他很自然地认为

她钦佩他

我希望我能向你求婚 农夫用美丽的

话语继续说，

但我只能说我疯狂地爱你，

想要你做我的妻子，

如果你

不让我希望

博尔德伍德先生

，我不会求婚，这对我来说很难，

恐怕我可以 不要嫁给你

我不爱你

我应该 从来没有送过那个情人

原谅我

这是一件轻率的事情

不不不不要说这是轻率的

说这是你想要我的感觉的开始

只是考虑你是否可以接受我

作为丈夫

我知道我 我对你来说太老了，

但相信我，我会

比年轻人更关心你，

你会没有什么可担心的，

你会拥有你想要的一切，

上帝只知道你对我有多重要

芭丝谢巴年轻的心充满了

可怜这个敏感的人，他说得如此

简单和诚实

，不要说，

你没有

这么多感觉，我没有任何感觉。她

回答

不要再讨论它了

我你没有完全拒绝

给我一些希望

我可以再问你一次

我可以想你吗

是的我想

所以我希望你下次接受我的提议

不不希望

我现在必须去

给我时间思考

是的，

我会给你时间，

他感激地回答

谢谢，

我现在更开心了，

不，

请

如果幸福只来自我的同意，

那就不要更快乐

了 农夫博尔德伍德，

她能够冷静地考虑他的求婚，如果她想要一个丈夫，她

不可能找到一个好丈夫

，该地区的许多有好家庭的妇女会

很高兴地接受

他的提议。

拒绝嫁给他的理由，

但她仍然享受她

作为农场和家庭主妇的新职位

，虽然她尊重和喜欢他，但

她不想嫁给他，

但

她足够诚实地感觉到，

因为她已经开始追求 送

他情人节礼物

她不应该拒绝他现在

只有一个人的意见

她比她自己更信任

，那个人就是加布里埃尔

奥克所以第二天她决定 o 问他的

意见

她发现他和 jan coggin 一起磨剪羊毛的剪子

jan 去帮 joseph 和她订购的马匹

我会帮你 gabriel

我想和你谈谈

剪子是在石头上磨的

它是由一个轮子转动的，而轮子

本身是由一个把手转动的，

巴什谢巴无法控制把手，所以

她拿着剪刀，而加布里埃尔

转动把手，

你没有握住它们，正确的小姐，他

告诉她

让我告诉你

他是如何松开手的 把手，用他的

大手搂住

她的手，像那样握住剪刀 他说 继续握住她的

手特别长的

时间 就够了 巴谢巴 我

不想让我的手被握住 转动把手

他们继续磨剪刀

加布里埃尔 怎么办 男人们想起了我

和博尔德伍德先生

他们说你会在年底前嫁给他

小姐

说这话太愚蠢了

我要你反驳它 加布里埃尔

好吧 巴斯谢巴说 加布里埃尔

惊讶地盯着她看

埃弗德小姐 你的意思是她说得

很好

如果博尔德伍德先生真的要你嫁给

他我不会反驳那

只是为了取悦你

我说我想要你只是

说我要嫁给他不是真的

她说得少

我可以自信地说，如果你希望埃弗丁小姐，

我也可以就你的行为方式发表我的看法。

他继续他的工作，

芭丝谢巴知道，即使她问他是否应该嫁给另一个男人，他也总是会

给出诚实的意见，

并且 没有其他人她可以完全

相信

你对我的行为的看法

她问

没有一个

好受人尊敬的女人

会表现得像

他回答

你永远不应该送他那个

情人

芭丝谢芭生气

地脸红幸运我不在乎你的意见你

为什么 认为我不好或不

值得尊敬 我想知道

是因为我不同意嫁给你

也许

根本没有

加布里埃尔悄悄地说

我很久以前就不再考虑

这个

或希望它 我想她说

希望他保护 知道他仍然

爱她，

或者希望加布里埃尔平静地重复一遍，如果他告诉她他爱她，

巴谢巴不会介意被加布里埃尔

说得太生气，因为她的

粗心大意

，

但他冷酷的责备的话让她非常恼火，

我不能让任何男人 指责我

行为不端 她哭了

所以你周末离开农场

好吧

我会

平静地说 加布里埃尔

其实我宁愿马上

去 马上去 然后她生气地回答

不要让我再看到你的脸

很好，埃弗丁小姐

，所以他拿起剪子

悄悄地走

了。在加布里埃尔离开农场后仅 24 小时

，三个人跑来

向巴舍巴报告一场灾难

，你的 60 只羊说约瑟夫可怜的

草气喘吁吁

地冲破了大门 比利

也气喘吁吁地说

，钻进一片年轻的三叶草

说拉班高

他们正在吃三叶草，他们

都肿了

，如果有人不做某事，他们都会死去

哦，你这些傻瓜哭了 d Bathsheba

直接去田野把它们弄

出来

她冲向了苜蓿地

她的羊都趴

在肚子里 肿得很厉害

约瑟夫比利和拉班把羊

抱回自己的

田地 可怜的动物无助地躺在那里一

动不动

哦，我能做什么我能做什么

哭着巴示巴

只有一种方法可以拯救他们说

拉班

有人必须在羊的侧面打一个洞

解释比利用一个特殊的工具

然后空气出来

，羊会活下来

你能做到吗？

我做到了她疯狂地问

没有女士

如果做得不仔细

羊会死

大多数牧羊人甚至做不到

该地区只有一个人可以做到说

约瑟夫

他是

谁让我们让他说他的情妇

是加布里埃尔奥克

啊，他是个聪明人回答约瑟夫

说是的，他当然同意

其他两个

你怎么敢对我说他的名字她

生气地说农民博尔德伍德呢，

也许他能做到

没有妈妈回答拉班什么时候 他那天她赌了

一些三叶草，

肿得像这些他立刻派人

去找加布里埃尔，加布里埃尔救了他们的命，我不在乎，不要只是站在那里去找

人哭着

巴什谢巴，男人们跑了，没有任何明确的想法

他们要去的地方

芭丝谢芭和她垂死的羊只剩下一个人

我永远不会送他

拉班在门口等着，

骑着

马去找加布里埃尔，她吩咐

给他一个消息，告诉他他必须

马上回来，

巴舍巴和她的手下在田野里悲惨地等待着，又有

几只羊疯狂地

跳到空中，他们的肚子可怕地 肿胀

，肌肉僵硬，

然后死去

，终于可以看到穿过田野的骑手，

但不是加布里埃尔，而是

拉班，

他说除非你有礼貌地问他，否则他不会来

拉班报到浴场

赫巴 年轻人睁开眼睛说了什么

白

约瑟夫可怜的草躲在一棵树后面

以防她变得暴力

他怎么敢这样回答我

又一只羊死

了 男人们看起来很严肃

，没有发表意见

巴舍巴的眼睛里充满了泪水

和 她没有试图掩饰她的愤怒

和她受伤的自尊心

不要为此哭泣小姐同情地建议比利

为什么不以更温和的方式问加布里埃尔

我相信他会来的

哦他对我很残忍说巴什谢巴

擦干她的眼睛

但是 我求求他，

是的，我必须

她在一张纸上快速写了几句话

，最后在最后一刻

加布里埃尔

不要抛弃我

她写下这

封信时有点脸红，把信交给了拉班

当gabriel到达时，他再次骑马去寻找gabriel Bathsheba从

他的表情

中知道她的笔记中的哪些词让他

来了，

他直接去处理肿胀的

羊，并在完成bathshe后设法拯救了几乎所有的

羊 ba 来和

他说话

gabriel

你会和我在一起吗

她问

我

笑了

剪羊毛总是

在农场里矗立了四个世纪的大谷仓里进行，

今天阳光洒在

剪羊毛的人身上，

巴舍巴小心翼翼地看着他们，

确保羊没有

受伤，所有的羊毛都被

剪掉了。

最有经验的剪羊毛工，

他喜欢被芭丝谢芭看着，

当她

祝贺他的速度时

，他感到自豪，但他很不高兴，因为

农夫博尔伍德来到

谷仓门口，对芭丝谢芭说话，

他们走到外面，在明亮的

阳光下 继续他们的谈话，

加布里埃尔听不见他们在说什么，

但注意到芭丝谢巴脸红了，

他继续欢呼

突然感到非常难过

芭丝谢芭 回到房子，

过了一会儿，她穿着新的绿色骑马裙回来了，

她和博尔德伍德显然

是一起去兜风的，

因为加布里埃尔的注意力被打断

了一会儿，他的剪刀剪断了

羊皮，酒吧门口的巴什谢巴

注意到了 动物跳起来看到了

血

哦，加布里埃尔

她说

要多加小心，

加布里埃尔知道她知道她

自己间接造成了可怜的

绵羊的伤口，

但他勇敢地隐藏了自己受伤的感觉

，看着博尔伍德和巴什谢巴骑马

离开

，就像其他工人一样

确信 这对新人很快就要结婚了

第 9 章

芭丝谢芭遇到了一位英俊的士兵

农民

们今年干完活后总是给剪羊毛的人准备一顿特别的晚餐

芭丝谢芭命令她的

女仆在花园里放一张

长桌 就

在屋子

里，农场工人就座，

她坐在桌子的顶部，

这样她就和他们在一起，但

距离有点远。

这里是桌子底部的一个空位

，起初她让加布里埃尔坐在那里，

但就在这时，博尔德伍德先生来了，

为他的迟到道歉，加布里埃尔

说巴舍巴

，请你再搬家，让博尔德伍德先生

坐在那里，加布里埃尔

默默地走到另一个地方

他们都吃吃喝喝

，唱着

他们最喜欢的歌曲庆祝剪羊毛活动

的结束

客厅里天色渐暗，

但加布里埃尔和其他男人

不禁注意到了博尔德伍德的眼神

窗户

现在只有她和波德伍德独自

跪在她面前 他握住她的

手

告诉我你已经决定了什么 他求

我会努力爱你

她回答 颤抖的声音

，如果你认为我会成为一个好妻子，

我会同意嫁给你，

但博尔德伍德先生，

任何女人在

决定像结婚这样重要的事情之前都会犹豫不决，

你能等几个星期，

直到我确定

我会 反正出差五六个

星期

你真的认为到那时

你会

觉得我几乎可以

肯定当你在收获的时候回来

我可以答应嫁给你

但记住

我还不能保证

我 不要再要求什么了

我可以等

晚安 伊夫丁小姐

他离开了她的

芭丝谢芭 现在意识到

她对他的行为是多么轻率

明白他对她的爱有多深

她为自己的错误感到非常抱歉

并因此通过同意来惩罚自己

那天晚上嫁给他，她像往常一样绕着农场转了一圈，

必要时点亮她的灯，

以检查所有动物

在回来的路上是否安全。她

沿着通往她家的狭窄公共小路走，

那里很黑。 穿过树木

，她

听到一些脚步声向她走来，有点惊讶。

不幸的是，当她正要经过黑羊时，她会

在小路最黑暗的地方遇到旅行者，

似乎有什么东西把她的裙子粘在

了地上 她必须阻止

发生的事情 我伤害了你吗 朋友 一个

男人问

不

给

你点灯 灯的光突然照

在一个身穿鲜红色和金色军装的英俊青年身上，

他钦佩地看着芭丝谢芭，

谢谢你让我看到这么

漂亮的脸，他说

我不想给他看 你她

冷红着脸说

请你快点解开你的马刺

他弯下身子懒洋洋地拉

他的

靴子 这样做 在我

有幸向这么可爱的女人道歉时，

芭丝谢芭不知道该说什么，

她想知道是否要通过

拉走材料来逃脱，但

不想撕毁她最好的衣服

我见过很多女人在我的生活中

继续 年轻人盯着她的

脸，

但我从来

没有见过像你这么漂亮

的女人

叫 troy 中士

啊，

你现在看到你的裙子是自由的了，

我希望你和我永远绑在一起。

她迅速拉开她的裙子，从

他的马刺

上跑了上去，

第二天她从利迪那里发现了

troy 中士的所谓父亲 曾是

一名医生，

但人们说他的亲生父亲是一位

贵族，

他在韦瑟伯里长大，

作为一名年轻的士兵而广为人知，

对女孩子很感兴趣，

芭丝谢芭不能对

一个崇拜她的人保持长时间的愤怒。

不幸的是，他在

追求她时

甚至忘记

告诉她她是美丽的

特洛伊中士，这很不幸，特洛伊中士当然是一个不寻常的

人，

他只活在当下

，对过去或未来毫不关心，

因为他从未期待过任何事情

他从来不会对男人感到失望

，他通常会说真话，

但对女人从来没有失望过，

他很聪明，受过良好的教育，并

为自己

在剪羊毛的一两个星期后与女人的成功感到自豪

巴舍巴在她的

工人正在割草的干草场上。

惊讶地看到一个鲜红色的

人影从一辆推车后面出现，

特洛伊中士来帮助

农场

，当年轻的士兵

来找她的艾弗丁小姐说话时，她

脸红了，他说

我不知道这是

施法特桥市场的女王 那天晚上在和你说话，

我很抱歉向你表达了我的感情

，当然我在这里并不陌生，

我经常在农场帮助你叔叔

，n 哦，我在帮助你，

我想我必须感谢你的

回答，卡斯特布里奇市场的女王

相当不感激

你的十字架，因为

那天晚上我和你说话时我很诚实，

但我不能看着你说

你不漂亮

你在假装特洛伊中士

说，希巴不由自主地笑了起来

每个人都注意到

你有多漂亮，你不是

很好，不

，

我听说过丽迪说他们有，但

她停顿了一下，

她从未打算参与

与士兵的这种谈话，

但不知何故，他诱使她

回复

谢谢 为了帮男人

干草，她继续

说，但请不要再跟我说话

哦，芭丝谢芭小姐，这太难

了

来自 m 的一句话 你是不是

我真的很想念埃弗丁

也许你认为我只想要一个早上好是愚蠢的

但你从来没有

像我一样爱过一个像你这样的美丽女人

但你只是在前几天晚上才看到

我我不相信你会坠入爱河 爱

得太快

我不再听你的

我希望我知道现在几点了我和你在一起的

时间太多了

你有没有手表小姐我给

你

一个他递给她一块沉重的金表

那块表属于我父亲的一位贵族

，是我所有的遗产，

但

特洛伊中士，

我不能接受这是你父亲的，

如此珍贵 巴斯谢巴说 吓坏了，

我真的爱我父亲，

但我更爱你

年轻人现在没有假装

当他看着芭丝谢芭美丽而

兴奋的脸庞时

，你真的爱我

吗？你见过我这么少，

请把它收回来，

然后我会接受它他说，

因为这就是我必须证明我

来自好家庭的一切

但是我在韦瑟伯里的时候你能和我说话你会让我和我说话

吗 rk 在你的地里

是或否

我不知道

哦

你为什么要这样来打扰我

也许是在设置一个陷阱

我已经抓住了自己

这样的事情有时会发生

再见阿伯丁小姐

脸红几乎要哭

芭丝谢芭匆匆回家

对自己

耳语 我做了

什么这是什么意思

我希望我知道他说的话

有多少是真的

第10章

在接下来的几天里，芭丝谢芭恋爱了一两次，

芭丝谢芭看到特洛伊在她的干草田里工作

她开始不再

害怕他

割草 比

练剑还难 有一天他告诉她 一个

微笑照亮了他英俊的脸庞

是不是

我从来没见过练剑 她

回答

啊 你要不要

问 troy

Bathsheba 犹豫

她从那些看过士兵练习的人那里听说了一些很棒的

故事 闪亮的金属在空中闪烁的故事

我非常想看一看

我会告诉你

我可以得到一把剑 今晚

你会

和他弯下腰在她耳边低语

哦不

说 芭丝谢芭脸红了 我不敢

肯定 你不会知道

如果我来了

莉迪必须和我一起

我不明白你为什么要带她

特洛伊冷冷地说，

好吧，那

我就不带她了

，我会来，

但时间很短，

所以

那天晚上八点钟，芭丝谢芭

不顾自己的疑虑，发现自己

爬上了她家附近的小山，

然后下山。

现在她在一个看起来像

自然剧场的地方，

一个深圆形的坑洞，

完全隐藏在她的房子之外，

而这条

小路正是特洛伊让

她与他见面的地方，

而

身穿鲜红色制服的特洛伊

现在就在那里 他说，拿出他的剑，

在傍晚的阳光下闪烁，

让我给你看

一二

三四

这样一剑可以秒杀一个人

巴舍巴看到空中有一种彩虹

，喘着粗气，她哭得多么残忍和凶残，

是的，

现在我 会假装 与你战斗，

你是我的敌人，

但与真正的战斗的唯一区别

是，每次

站在我面前，

我都会想念你，别动，

巴什谢巴开始享受这一切，

我会先测试你，底特律到

看看你够不够勇敢

剑

从她的左到右在空中闪过

它似乎穿过了她的身体

但它又出现在了特洛伊的手中

完全干净 没有血

哦她哭了 害怕

你杀了我 哦不 你

你是怎么做到的

我没碰过你

特洛伊 悄悄说

现在你不怕你

我保证不会伤害你 甚至不会碰

你

我

觉得我不怕

是剑 锋利的

哦，不

只是

现在

一动不动，在第二次

巴斯谢巴再也看不到天空或

地面闪亮的武器

在她的头顶和周围闪烁，

从低矮的太阳中捕捉到光线，并在它

冲过空中时吹口哨

从来没有中士特洛伊 他的

剑比今天更好，

你的头发是 有点凌乱他说

让

我在她能动或说话之前

一个卷发掉到地上

你对一个女人很勇敢

他祝贺她

这是因为我没想到

现在我害怕你我真的

这次 我连你的头发都不碰

我要杀了你裙子上的那只虫子

站着

不动不敢颤抖

她看到他的剑尖

向她的心口射

来确定这一次她会死

闭上眼睛但是当她 打开它们，

她看到那只昆虫死

在剑尖上

，她哭了这是魔法

，你怎么能用

一把不锋利的剑切断我的一个卷发，

它比任何刀都锋利他说

我不得不对你撒谎 为了让

你有信心站稳，

芭丝谢芭的情绪

几乎无法控制

，她突然在草丛中坐下

我会保留这个来提醒我

他弯下腰捡起

他小心翼翼地放在口袋里的一卷头发贴在

他的

心脏旁边 没有力气说或做

任何事情

他靠得更近了 他

再次弯下腰 过了

一分钟他的红色外套

消失在草丛中

芭丝谢巴愧疚地涨红了脸 特洛伊亲吻她的嘴唇的那一刻，眼泪

从她的脸上滚落下来

，

坚定的独立女性

在坠入爱河时往往会表现出自己的软弱，

而芭丝谢芭

对这个世界或男人的经验很少

，她很难看出

特洛伊的坏

几天后的一天晚上，加布里埃尔

去找他的情妇，

他知道她正在坠入爱河，

并决定警告她这个错误。

她在做

他发现她正沿着一条穿过田野的小路走

我担心你一个人走路

小姐他说

现在已经很晚了

而且该地区有一些坏人

他 我希望把特洛伊的名字介绍

为

我从未见过的坏人之一 轻轻地说 加布里埃尔

再次尝试

农民博尔德伍德 将来当然会照顾

你 当然

，

当你和他结婚时，加布里埃尔是什么意思

大家都期望

你

毕竟每个人都错了 加布里埃尔

我没有向他承诺任何事情

我尊重他但我不会嫁给他

我希望你从未见过那个年轻的中

士特洛伊小姐 他伤心地说

他配不上你

怎么 你敢说

他家境好 受过良好

教育 恐怕没人在教堂里见过他

我当然没有

看到 Gabriel 的心痛，因为他看到

巴舍巴完全信任这个士兵

，因为他从旧

塔门进入并坐在后面看不到他的地方

她急切地回答

你知道，女主人加布里埃尔用一种

充满悲伤的低沉声音

说，我爱你

，我会永远爱你

我接受我现在很穷，但我不能嫁给你，

但是巴舍巴

亲爱的女主人

想想你的立场，

小心你的行为 对这个

士兵，

博尔德伍德先生比你大 16 岁

，你离开我的农场后他会好好照顾他，加布里埃尔

说巴舍巴她

气得脸色发白，

你不能这样对我说话，你的

情妇

别傻了，

你已经 有一次把我

送走 没有我你怎么办 不

虽然我想拥有自己的农场

我会

和你在一起 你知道

为什么 我想你可以留下 如果你愿意

你现在可以离开我 请

我问不 作为你的情妇

，当然作为女人，加布里埃尔小姐

轻轻地说，

他对她的要求有点惊讶，

因为天色渐暗，他们在

离她家

不远的一座孤山上，因为她离开了

他，原因变得很清楚

了 一个士兵的形象 出现在

山坡上，来迎接

巴舍巴·加布里埃尔转身伤心地走

回家

的路上他经过教堂，在那里他

仔细观察了古老的塔门

，上面长满了攀缘植物，

半小时后显然已经多年没有使用了 芭丝谢芭回到家

，特洛伊的爱言犹在

耳边，

他第二次亲吻了她，

狂野而狂热，兴奋得

她马上坐下来给

博尔德伍德写信，告诉他她

不能嫁给他，

这封信将在他

出差时寄到

她迫不及待地想立刻寄出这封信，

所以她打电话给利迪寄信，

利迪告诉我，当她的女仆进屋时她急切地

说，答应我特洛伊中士不是

坏人，答应我他不会追

女孩子 人们说，

但是小姐

，我怎么能说他不会，如果他不

那么残忍，利迪

说你不相信他是坏人，

我

不知道该说什么小姐说利迪

开始哭了，

我会让你生气的 我说

哦如何 虚弱的

我多么希望我从未见过他

为了

看望住在几英里外的姐姐，

为了避免见到博德伍德·巴斯谢巴先生，

她自己安排

去她姐姐家看望莉迪亚一两天，

她让清洁工玛丽安

负责房子

，一天晚上她步行出发了。

只走了大约两英里，

她就看到一个她不希望看到他变了样的男人向她走来，向

她表明

他已经收到了她的信，

哦，

是你，博尔德伍德先生，她带着

愧疚的脸红说，

你知道我的感受 你

他慢慢地说

像死亡一样强烈的爱

一封信无法改变那种感觉

不要说出来

她低声说

然后我无话可说

你的信非常清楚

我们不会结婚

芭丝谢芭 说得糊里糊涂

很好 晚上

再往前走一点，

但博德伍德不能让她走，

巴舍巴

亲爱

的，这真的是最后的，

真的是

哦，巴舍巴可怜我，

我为爱而疯狂，你

不要拒绝我，现在

你转向我并鼓励

我 我曾经想过

你你所说的鼓励是一个

幼稚的笑话

我很抱歉我送了情人节

你必须继续提醒我

我爱你太多以至于责怪你

芭丝谢巴你是我曾经爱过的第一个女人

你几乎答应嫁给我

你对我的善意发生了什么事

芭丝谢芭平静而坦率地看着他

的脸说

博德伍德先生

我什么都没答应你

如果我知道这种

爱会是多么痛苦，你怎么会如此无情 本来会避开你，

对你充耳不闻，

我告诉你这一切，但你关心什么？

芭丝谢芭的控制力被打破了

她拼命摇头，

男人的愤怒话语如雨点般落在她身上，

原谅我先生，

我无法像你一样爱

这不是一个很好的理由 Misseverdeen

你不是你假装的冷酷女人 你在

隐瞒你和我一样有一颗

燃烧的心

你的爱是给了另一个男人

他知道她以为

他知道弗兰克

特洛伊为什么不让我的宝贝一个人呆着

他继续激烈地告诉我

如果你没有遇到他你会

接受我的提议

她推迟了她的回答但她太

诚实了不能保持沉默

是的

她

在我不在的时候低声说他偷了我的大部分

现在我失去了我的尊重和我的好

名声每个人都嘲笑我

嫁给他继续嫁给他

我会为你而死

但你把自己交给了一个

毫无价值的人

也许他甚至吻过你

告诉我他 她不是

被波德伍德的怒火吓坏了吗，

但她勇敢地回答了

他有

我不羞于说真话

我会付出一大笔钱来触摸

你的手波德伍德疯狂地哭泣

但是你让这样一个男人有一天吻了

你

他 会后悔

并意识到 他给我带来的痛苦

对他好 先生 她哭

得很伤心 因为我太爱他了

博尔伍德不再听她的话

我会惩罚他 亲爱的

巴斯谢巴 原谅我

我一直在责备你

但这是他的错

他偷走了你亲爱的心

当我找到他时，摆脱他的谎言，我要与他战斗，

让他远离我

，绝望的人巴谢巴站了

一会儿，

然后转身离开了她

的巴士谢巴，哭着自言自语地走来走去，

然后筋疲力尽地倒在路边

她知道特洛伊此刻不在洗澡，

但

如果他来看望她，他很快就会回到韦瑟伯里，而波德伍德看到

他会发生激烈的争吵

，特洛伊可能会受伤，

但也许加布里埃尔和波德伍德是

对的

，她

如果她现在只能看到特洛伊，就不应该再见到他，

他会帮助她

决定她跳起来，当晚

沿着马路匆匆回到

韦瑟伯里，玛丽安是唯一一个

睡在巴舍巴家的人 房子

被养马的田野里奇怪的声音吵醒

她从卧室的窗户向外看，

正好看到一个黑影正

领着芭丝谢芭的马和马车

走出田野

她立即跑到 jan coggins 家寻求帮助

jan 和 gabriel

在黑暗中骑了一段时间后骑在小偷后面

他们终于在收费站追上了推车

关上门 加布里埃尔

对看门人大喊 那个人偷了

马车 人问看门人 不解

加布里埃尔仔细地看着

推车司机

看到一个女人

巴什谢巴

当她听到他的声音时，她把脸转开，

但简·科根也认出了

她 她很快就掩饰了她的惊讶，但

没有掩饰她的

烦恼 加布里埃尔 她冷冷地问

你要去哪里

我们 还以为有人偷了马

和马车

哦，你太愚蠢了，

一些重要的事情让我改变了

我的计划

我正在去洗澡的路上

我可能会去她姐妹拉拜访莉迪亚

我晚上回到家，所以我

没有叫醒玛丽安我只是

自己骑马和推车

谢谢你解决了所有这些麻烦

但没有

必要看门人打开门，她

穿过科

根，加布里埃尔转过身来

骑着马慢慢地回家

加布里埃尔说

我想我们会继续她这次奇怪的旅行，

给一个秘密洗澡 简

和简同意了，

所以一开始韦瑟伯里的

人们不知道她去了哪里，

她离开了两个星期，

有报道 看到她

和 troy gabriel 中士一起洗澡，

他心里知道这一定

是真的，

他在她的农场上一如既往地努力工作，

但

他内心一直很痛苦

第 12 章

Bathsheba 在同一天做出了她的选择

巴舍巴

回家了，

博尔德伍德先生去向她道歉，因为

他上次见到她时说话如此粗暴，

他对她去洗澡的事一无所知，并

认为她只是去拜访利迪，

但在她家门口他被告知他

看不见她

，他意识到她在

穿过韦瑟伯里回家的路上并没有原谅他。他

看到马车从洗澡间停在

了通常的地方，一名身穿红色

和金色制服的士兵跳下，

特洛伊中士拿起他的包，

正要 走上通往巴舍巴家的路，

当波德伍德上前时，特洛伊

中士，

我是威廉·波德伍德，我

确实说特洛伊没有兴趣，

我想和你

谈谈关于两个女人的事

值得礼貌

我会很高兴地听，但说话要

安静，

然后

我听说你和范妮罗宾的关系

，我认为你应该嫁给她

正要立即回复，但

他停了下来，

我太穷了，

他说迅速看着博尔伍德，

看看农夫是否相信他，

博尔伍德没有注意到

我不想谈论的表情，对

我只是想和你谈生意

我订婚想念everdeen你

来的时候

没有订婚说特洛伊

或多或少订婚了

如果你不来她肯定

会接受我的提议

她现在在社会上的地位

比你的高太多了，你不能指望

娶她，

所以我只求你不要再打扰

她

，嫁给范妮

，我为什么要粗心地问特洛伊

，

如果你今天离开韦瑟伯里，

我会付钱给你的 给你 50 英镑，

范妮将有 50 英镑买婚纱

，我会在她嫁给你的那天给她 500 英镑，

博尔德伍德的举止表明他

有点羞于提供钱，

但他几乎准备做

任何事情来阻止特洛伊嫁给

巴舍巴

特洛伊似乎在考虑这个提议

这是真的 我最喜欢范妮虽然

她只是个

女仆 现在你说

这是钱

粗木递给士兵

一袋金币 别

听

特洛伊轻声说

从芭丝谢芭家传来

的脚步声 是芭丝谢芭

她在等我 我

不担心你会听到我对她说的每一个字

，当

我

站在树后面

听着

特洛伊上前

吹口哨时，这可能会帮助你求爱

你是巴什谢巴的声音

哦上帝

说树后没有听到

波德伍德是我回答特洛伊

你来得太晚了坦率她

继续说教练很久以前就到了

坦率真幸运今晚除了我之外没有人在我家

所以没有人会知道

特洛伊说，你的访问很好，

但我只需要收拾我的包，

你就跑回家，我保证

十分钟

后到那里是的，坦率地说，她跑回了她的房子，

特洛伊转向从树后走出的博尔德伍德，

他的脸 白色

和他的整个 身体

颤抖我要不要告诉她我不能嫁给她

笑士兵

不

不等待

我还有更多话要对你说低语

博尔特伍德他脸上的肌肉

奇怪地失控

现在

说特洛伊

你明白我的问题

我不能嫁给他们两个

但我 选择范妮的原因有两个，

首先我认为我最喜欢她

，其次

你在为它付钱

，那一刻博尔德伍德失去了控制，

他猛烈攻击特洛伊

，双手紧紧抓住他的脖子

等待喘着粗气的特洛伊谁没想到

这

让我

喘不过气来 你杀了我 你伤害了你爱的女人 你

是什么意思 农夫哭了 我

应该像杀狗一样杀了你

但他放开了特洛伊的脖子

听着

你听到巴舍巴有多爱我

期待我今晚尽快拜访她

整个村子都会 知道这一点

，唯一能挽救她的好名声和

她在韦瑟伯里的地位的方法

就是让我

在停顿后嫁给她真正同意的博尔德伍德

尝试

嫁给她可怜的软弱女人

她必须疯狂地爱你才能让自己

如此完整 对你很重要，

但是范妮怎么样

巧妙地问士兵

不要放弃她的特洛伊我求你

我不是说范妮

我说的是巴舍巴我

怎么能说服你

我知道

我会在你那天付给你 500 英镑

嫁给巴舍巴

特洛伊暗中对博尔德伍德的疯狂报价感到震惊

，我现在也会收到一些东西

他问

是的，

我随身携带的所有钱

他数了数口袋里的硬币

21英镑

这一切都是为了你

给我钱

，我们会 去她家，

我会求她嫁给我

，当然我不会说

他们在去农舍的路上花的钱，

而博尔德伍德在外面等着，而特洛伊

进来了，

他很快就回来了，手里拿着

一块从 浴报

在这里

读到这个

他说微笑

和博尔德伍德

在 17 日在

韦瑟伯里的巴斯弗兰克特洛伊军士到

巴什谢巴埃弗丁读婚姻当士兵开始大笑时，报纸从博德伍德的手中滑落

五十英镑要嫁给范妮

21 英镑不是嫁给范妮而是巴什谢布

现在你知道我已经是巴丝谢芭的

丈夫了，

你是个傻瓜，

虽然我可能是个坏人，但我永远不会

像你试图那样贿赂任何人结婚

，芬妮

她很久以前就离开了我，我没有

知道她在哪里我

到处找她

现在把你的钱拿回来我不要

它特洛伊把金币扔在

路上

你这条黑心狗

总有一天我会惩罚你

记住那个

哭泣的破碎的人

特洛伊 当他关上巴舍巴的前门时，他大声笑了起来

，在博尔德伍德之后的整个漫漫长夜中，

可以看到

在第二天早上五点钟敲响之前，可以看到像幽灵一样走过

韦瑟伯里的山丘，加布里埃尔和科金正走向

干草场过去

当他们看到令人惊讶的景象时，他们的情妇的房子

巴舍巴卧室的窗户是敞开的

，从窗外望去是一个英俊的男人

，他的红夹克解开

了，是特洛伊

中士，她嫁给了他低声说，科金·加布里埃尔

什么也没说，

但他觉得很不舒服。 帽子他不得不

在门口休息片刻，

他可怜地想着她的未来，

因为他知道她和特洛伊的婚姻

不会幸福长久

嫁给了情妇

早上好 特洛伊

中士 悲惨地说 加布里埃尔

既然我已经离开了军队 我很快就会

和你一起下

战场 特洛伊 轻描淡写地说 我的新职位不会

改变这

一点 我会对你们所有人都友好

就像之前

给我的保健员们喝的一样

，他向加布里埃尔扔了一枚硬币，他拒绝捡起硬币，

但把它放在了口袋里，

当他们

继续前行时，他们注意到博德伍德先生从他们身边经过，加布里埃尔

看到他忘记了自己的悲伤。

农夫脸上的苦涩和深深的绝望 第13章

暴风雨

农场工人总有一顿丰收的晚餐，在所有的干草和

小麦都被

割完之后，特洛伊中士

决定在一个晚上在

八月底，在大谷仓里，那天晚上天气温暖得令人不快，在去收获晚宴的路上，加布里埃尔停下来检查八个巨大的干草和

小麦架，

如果他怀疑有

暴风雨，所有未被覆盖的架子都会

被严重损坏

他继续前往农场

工人已经吃完饭并

开始跳舞的谷仓，

加布里埃尔不得不等到特洛伊中士

完成与巴舍巴的舞蹈

后才警告他可能会

损坏瑞克斯

特洛伊，但他玩得太开心了，

无法听 对加布里埃尔的消息

朋友他说

我已经订购了白兰地给你们

所有人这样我们就可以适当地庆祝我的婚礼

不坦率

不要给他们白兰地

乞求芭丝谢巴这只会

伤害

他们不要愚蠢地说特洛伊

朋友

让我们把女人送回家，

然后我们男人可以尽情喝酒和唱歌

他去检查

巴舍巴的羊是否安全

他注意到它们看起来很

害怕

他们挤在一个角落里

他们的尾巴指向牧羊人的同一方向

这意味着他们正在

等待暴风雨

如果整个 由于一个女人的虚弱，农场的

收成至少损失了 750 磅

，

如果我能阻止它，我永远不会想到，

加布里埃尔

他回到谷仓，请其他

农场工人帮他盖好砖瓦，

但他能听到的唯一声音

来自 谷仓里是男人们大声而有

规律的呼吸

，当他进入时，

他发现他们都睡着了，

包括

特洛伊白兰地，他们太

客气了，拒绝拒绝，让他们

在很短的时间内就喝醉了，因为他们

不习惯喝比啤酒更烈的

东西 试图叫醒他们是徒劳的

，加布里埃尔离开了谷仓，回到了

牛舍，他设法用农场里为此目的存放的沉重材料盖住了其中的两个。

盖住其他六根

稻草的唯一方法是用稻草给它们盖上茅草

，这是一项漫长而艰巨的工作

独自完成月亮消失了

，当加布里埃尔爬上梯子开始盖茅草时，有

一种像垂死之人的呼吸一样缓慢的微风

高高的第三立克顶上，

闪电在天空中闪过，

突然的明亮中发出一声巨响，加布里尔可以

看到他周围的每一棵树，

直到光线消失，就像

突然间把他留在他知道自己位置的最

黑暗的黑暗

中 危险，但

考虑到他的生命没有价值

，不必担心

另一道闪电让

他看到一个女人的身影

跑向瑞克，

是

巴谢巴是你吗？他向黑暗呼唤

谁在那儿说巴谢巴的声音

是加布里埃尔 我在茅草屋里

哦

，加布里埃尔 我很担心茅草屋 我们能

救他们吗 雷声把我吵醒了 我

找不到我的丈夫

他在吗 没有

在谷仓里，

他向我保证，堆垛会被

盖住，但他没有做到，

我能帮你吗？让我帮

你，

如果你不害怕

在黑暗中爬梯子，你可以把稻草抱起来给我 我会

做任何事情来帮助她说

她

在闪电的亮度下开始上下梯子

加布里埃尔看到他们的两个影子

在他面前的小山上疯狂放大

然后是迄今为止最响亮的撞击声

多么可怕 芭丝谢巴叫道，

抓住他的

胳膊，闪电在死亡的狂舞中闪烁

，雷声从

巨大的天空中的每一个地方传来，

当他们看着一棵高大的树时，加布里埃尔只能凝视和颤抖着风暴的奇异而危险的美丽。

他们的面前似乎燃烧着白色的

火焰

，最后一声猛烈的

雷声响起

，在明亮的灯光下，他们看到

那棵树被靠近我们的闪电撕成了两半，

加布里埃尔说，

我们最好下去

吨 嘿，爬下来，在黑暗中站在一起

芭丝谢芭似乎只想着

暴风雨

加布里埃尔 终于只想着

她 他

说暴风雨似乎已经过去了，

但很快就要下雨了

我要上去完成茅草

屋盖 加布里埃尔

你对我很好

为什么这里的其他人

不告诉我 我知道

他们都在谷仓里喝醉了 不是

他们

这是我丈夫的错

加布里埃尔

我想告诉你一些

垂死的闪电的柔和闪光

在黑色的天空下，她的脸很白

我在乎你对我的好感

所以我想解释一下为什么

那天晚上我

去洗澡不是为了嫁给特洛伊

而是为了和他断绝关系

也许你想知道为什么我 嫁给他

好了，我想我必须告诉你，

这是因为他告诉我他见过一个

比我更漂亮的女人，

并说如果我想要他做

丈夫，我必须立即嫁给他，

我充满了爱和嫉妒，所以我

嫁给他

gabriel 没有回复

我 我给你多拿些稻草好吗？

我会去说巴什谢巴，

但哦，如果你摔倒了，

你不是没用，但你累了，

你做得很好

，你做得更好她感激地说

了一千遍，谢谢你，加布里埃尔

晚安

她消失在黑暗中

他走了 在梦中的茅草屋上，

今晚她对他的谈话比以往任何时候都更加热情，那时她

还没有结婚，可以随心所欲地自由地说话。

风变了，变得

更强了，与此同时，

随着加布里埃尔的工作，大雨开始落下。

他突然想起，

八个月前，

他在

同一个地方与火搏斗，就像他

现在与水搏斗

一样，为了爱同一个

不爱他的女人，

直到七点钟。 ‘钟

早上，加布里埃尔从最后一排屋子里爬下来，

筋疲力尽，浑身湿透，

他注意到几个人从

谷仓里走出来，缓慢而痛苦地向

他们的

家走去

想在

回科金斯家的路上看看瑞克 加布里埃尔

遇到了

博尔德伍德先生，你好吗 先生 问加布里埃尔

是的，今天是潮湿的一天，

哦，我很好，谢谢

你看起来有点不同，先生，

你错了，橡木，我是 同样

没有什么伤害我，

但你看起来很累

我整晚都在工作，以得到我们的

耙子

在我的生活中从未如此努力过

你的当然是安全的，先生，

哦，是的，

博尔德伍德在沉默后补充

说你问了什么

没有覆盖 没有

一个没有 我忘了告诉那些人给

他们盖上茅草

我希望我的大部分小麦会

在这场雨中被毁掉

忘记

重复的加布里埃尔对自己

很难相信

该地区最细心的农民 w 可能

会因为一时的健忘而失去他所有的收获

在博尔德伍德爱上芭丝谢芭之前绝对不会发生这种情况

明明想谈谈 尽管

雨还在下很大

橡木

你知道我想结婚

我以为我的情妇要嫁给

你 说 加布里埃尔表示同情，

但是

我们期望的事情永远不会发生

他以一个习惯于灾难的人的冷静说话

也许村民们嘲笑我

假装相似的说大胆伍德

哦不，

我不这么认为，

但事实

是我们从未

如此订婚 你看，她从来没有解除过婚约

，

但博尔德伍德不能保持冷静

哦，加布里埃尔，他疯狂地说我软弱和

愚蠢

，我觉得死去总比沉默后活着好

他继续更正常地继续

我已经接受了她的事实 现在拒绝

我当然很抱歉，

但没有女人能很好地控制我的生活

早安

第14章

芭丝谢芭发现真相

夏天变成了秋天

和一个 10 月的星期六晚上，

巴舍巴和她的丈夫

从卡斯特布里奇市场骑马回家

是的，如果没有下这么大的雨，我很

容易赢得 200 英镑 我爱的特洛伊

说

我把钱放在的那匹马掉进

了泥里，你看

真倒霉，

但弗兰克说巴什谢巴很惨

，你知道你在

这场糟糕的赛马中一个月减掉了一百多磅

吗？你这样花我的钱是愚蠢

的，

你保证星期一不参加下一场比赛

，赢了

是不是，我去不去都无所谓，

我已经

在周一的比赛中为一匹优秀的马投了钱，

如果我知道

你如此谨慎，我永远不会让他

没有完成。 就在

这时，他们注意到一个女人

向他们走来，

虽然天快黑了，但他们可以

看到她穿着很差，

先生

，您知道施法特桥

济贫院几点关门吗？

她用极度悲伤的声音问道，

特洛伊惊讶地跳了起来 但保留了他的

fa ce在回答之前转身离开她

我不知道

那个女人什么时候听到他说话并

抬头看着他的脸

她的表情既痛苦又

幸福

她哭了

一声倒在地上失去了知觉

哦可怜的东西哭了bathsheba我会帮忙的

她不

骑你的马 带上我的

命令 特洛伊跳下

把马带到山顶

芭丝谢芭服从并离开

你给我写信吗，芬妮，

我也害怕

你有钱

不，

这就是我所有的，不多

我现在不能向我妻子要更多的东西，

那女人什么也没说，

听着

继续，特洛伊，

我将不得不离开你 现在

你要去施法特桥

济贫院

，不管怎样，今晚和明天都留在那里，

但我会为你找到更好的地方，

我会在星期一早上 10

点在城外的桥上见到你，

我会带 你所有的钱，我可以

再见 山顶的芭丝谢芭

转身看到那个女人

慢慢地朝施法者桥

特洛伊走去 很快就追上了他的妻子

他看起来很沮丧

那个女人是谁 芭丝谢芭

仔细地看着他的脸

她对我们俩都不重要 他

冷冷的回答

我想 你知道她的

芭丝谢巴在继续

我不在乎你认为

他回答了什么

他们继续沉默地骑车

到卡斯特布里奇的两英里对

那个疲倦和生病的女人来说似乎很长的路

有时她走路有时她

在旁边休息一下 整夜的道路

她的眼睛一直

盯着卡斯特桥的灯光第二天早上六点

她的旅程结束了

她终于跌倒在济贫院的门前

，那里的人把她带到了

巴斯谢巴和她的丈夫

那天晚上或第二天没说多少话，

但在星期天晚上，特洛伊突然说

巴舍巴

你能不能让我有 20 磅，我需要

它

哦，她伤心地说

，因为比赛是明天

哦，弗兰克，就在几周前，你说

我比你其他所有的快乐都甜蜜得多，

现在你会不会停止在马匹上冒险，

这与其说是快乐还不如说是一种担心

对你的妻子说是的，坦率地说是的

大多数男人，包括特洛伊，如果他

没有嫁给她，

但他不再爱她到足以

同意她想要的任何事情

，钱无论如何都不是用来比赛的，

他

说不要让我缺钱，

你会的 对不起，

对不起，她已经回复了

对不起，我们的爱情已经结束，

爱情总是在结婚后结束

20 英镑

好吧，钱拿走，

谢谢你，

我希望我明天早餐前就离开，

你必须坦率地留在我

身边有一段时间你曾经叫

我亲爱的，

现在你不在乎我如何度过我的时间

我 必须去说特洛伊拿出他的

手表 看着表壳的背面

，刚好

看到的芭丝谢芭看到里面藏着一头卷发，

哦，坦率地说，她倒吸

了一口女人的头发。

忘了

我有它

你在撒谎

这是黄色的头发 我的头发颜色更深

好吧 如果我必须告诉你这

是一个年轻女人的头发

我在遇见之前就想结婚 你

告诉我她的

名字 她结婚了

我不能 告诉你她的名字，但她是

单身 她还

活着吗 她

对这两个

问题都很肯定

如果你

不信任我就不会嫁给我

这就是我如此爱你所得到的

一切 头发你会

不会 nk

为了取悦我，

特洛伊只回答说

我对某人有责任在我过去

犯的错误中我必须纠正

这比我

与你的关系更重要如果你很抱歉

你嫁给我很好所以我

坦率地说

我只是很抱歉 如果你

比我更爱另一个女人 巴谢巴

颤抖

着说 你喜欢那个头发

漂亮的女人 是的 很

漂亮 她是我们昨晚在路上遇到的那个女人

嗯 是的

现在你知道真相 我希望你

幸福 你还没有告诉我一切

告诉我全部真相她

勇敢地看着他的脸

我从没想过我会乞求一个男人做

任何事情但我的自尊心已经

荡然无存别那么绝望特洛伊克罗斯利说

他离开了房间

芭丝谢芭非常绝望，

她知道她已经失去了

作为一个女人的独立性，她

曾为此感到骄傲，

她恨自己如此

轻易地爱上了她英俊的丈夫

，她现在意识到

第二天早上特洛伊离开了她的丈夫是不值得信任的。

早期的

蝙蝠 希巴在她的花园里散步时，

她注意到加布里埃尔·奥克和博尔德伍德先生

在

他们打电话给正在摘苹果的约瑟夫可怜的草的路上正在交谈

，很快他就

沿着小路来到了巴丝希巴的房子，

好吧

，约瑟夫问了什么信息

？ 恐怕范妮·罗宾斯的死人

死在施法特桥济贫院

不

为什么她死了

我不知道女士

但她从来都不是很强壮

不要让波德伍德先生那样做，范妮

是我叔叔的女仆，我的也是我叔叔的女仆

哦，死在济贫

院里很难过告诉波德伍德先生

，你今天下午将把我的新推车开

到卡斯特布里奇去取她的

尸体

，约瑟夫

把花放在推车上 可怜的范妮

，她在济贫院

只待了一天，妈妈

，星期天早上，她病倒了，筋疲力尽，

她步行穿过韦瑟伯里

，从韦瑟伯里到卡斯特布里奇的路上，芭丝谢芭的脸立刻染上了颜色

她急切地问

她

上个星期六晚上什么时候经过韦瑟伯里，是

夫人，谢谢约瑟夫，

你

可以下午晚些时候去巴舍巴问

利迪

可怜的罗宾头发是什么颜色的，

我只见过她一两天，

她过去一直留着 它被遮住了，

但它是可爱的金色头发，女士，

她的年轻人是一名士兵，不是

吗？

特洛伊先生很了解他吗？

了解他就如他了解他自己

，这就够了，莉迪说巴舍巴她的

焦虑让她异常地穿越了

第 15 章范妮的复仇

那天下午约瑟夫可怜的草正在

把范妮的棺材从卡斯特布里奇运回来，

他对推车里身后的尸体感到有点害怕

和沮丧 在秋天的大雾中，

他在一家酒吧停下来喝啤酒，在那里

他遇到了 jan coggin 和 laban tall

，两个小时后，加布里埃尔奥克发现这三个人

完全喝醉了，

因为约瑟夫显然无法

开车 g 推车

gabriel 在进村的路上开着它自己去weatherbury

牧师

拦住了

他 恐怕现在埋葬他说的已经太晚了

但我可以安排

明天埋葬尸体

我可以把棺材带到

教堂过夜 先生让加布里埃尔希望

能阻止芭丝谢芭看到它，

但就在这时，芭丝谢芭本人没有出现，

加布里埃尔

她说

可怜的范妮必须在她的老房子里休息，因为

她昨晚

把棺材带进

屋里，棺材被抬到一个小

座位上 房间里，加布里埃尔一个人呆着

，尽管他很小心，

最坏的事情发生了

，芭丝谢芭即将做出一个

可怕的发现，

但他突然想到，

他看着棺材盖上简单写的字

芬妮罗宾和孩子

布加布里尔小心翼翼地去掉最后两个字

他悄悄离开了房间

芭丝谢芭心情很奇怪，她感到

孤独和痛苦，

但她并没有停止爱她的

丈夫

，尽管她 担心他的过去

她在等他

回家 莉迪敲门进来时 玛丽安

妈妈

刚刚听到一些事

她有点犹豫

不是关于你或我们女士

关于范妮

韦瑟伯里有个故事，

莉迪在情妇耳边低语

芭丝谢芭 从头到脚都在颤抖

我不相信 她哭

了 棺材上只有一个名字 点燃

但我想这可能是

真的 和特洛伊，

但她想确定

她走进了

躺着棺材的客厅，

她的手握着她的前额，

她哭着

告诉我你的秘密范妮，

我希望这不是真的，

如果我只能看着你，你们两个

停顿后我就知道了，

她慢慢地补充说

，

过了一会儿我就知道了。她站在

裸露的棺材旁边

凝视着她说

最好知道最坏的情况

，我现在知道了

为芬妮

和她自己在棺材里流泪

虽然巴丝谢巴不是芬妮死后嫁给了

特洛伊

，但芬妮是赢家

她现在正在向

巴丝谢巴报仇，因为

她在生活中所经历的困难

巴丝谢巴忘记了时间的流逝，因为

她看着 范妮冰冷的白脸

和黄头发

，并没有意识到特洛伊已经

到家了

他推开门进来了

他没有猜到棺材里是谁

我坚持要

他挽着她的胳膊

，他们一起看着棺材，

当他看到母亲和婴儿一点一点的时候，特洛伊完全站住

了，

他的肩膀向前弯曲

，脸上流露出深深的悲伤，

巴谢巴密切注视着他的表情

，她从来没有 更惨

特洛伊慢慢跪下来给罗宾一个

温柔的吻

芭丝谢芭双手搂住他的脖子

从心底疯狂地哭泣

不要

做 不要吻他们

哦，坦率 不，

我爱你胜过她

吻我 太坦率

你会吻我太坦率

特洛伊一脸疑惑

没想到他骄傲的妻子会发出这种孩子气的哭声，

但随后他推开她

我不会吻 你他说

你能给我一个理由

让芭丝谢芭努力控制

自己

也许很不幸她

问

我一直是一个坏心肠的男人

但是这个

死去的女人

对我来说比你曾经或现在

或

如果我从未见过你美丽的脸庞

，我会嫁给她吗？我希望我嫁给她

他变成了范妮，

但没关系，亲爱的，

他

在上帝面前说，你是我的妻子

，听到这些话，一声长长的低呼 绝望

和愤怒从芭丝谢芭的嘴里

发出 如果她就是

我

你

对我来说

什么都不是

特洛伊无情地说

牧师面前的仪式

不会结婚

我不认为自己 你的丈夫

芭丝谢芭只想摆脱

他和他的话

她跑了 刚走出家门，

她就裹着斗篷在外面呆了一夜，

等着棺材被

带走，第二天早上，当男人把棺材拿走时，

她非常小心地重新进入房子，

以避免特洛伊，

但她的丈夫已经 很早就出去了

，没有回来

第 16 章

troy 中士离开

了

前一天晚上

troy 先把棺材盖放回原处，

然后上楼躺在床上，

痛苦地等待

前一天的早晨。

按照安排在

铸桥外的桥上等了范妮一个多小时，

他有芭丝谢芭的 20 英镑和

他自己的 7 英镑给范妮，

当她没有来时，他生气了，

想起上次她没

能参加她的婚礼

事实上，那天她当时正被

放在济贫院的棺材里，但他

不知道

他直接骑马去布德茅斯的比赛，

并在那里呆了一下午，

但他仍在思考 芬妮

和他没有冒险在

马匹

上冒险，只是在回家的路上，他突然

意识到疾病可能会

阻止她与他见面

，直到那天晚上他进入农舍时

，他才发现她

在星期二早上特洛伊死了 芭丝谢巴起身

，

想都没想就直奔

教堂墓地寻找范妮墓的位置，

他继续步行铸造一座桥，

以 27 英镑的价格订购最好的墓碑，

这是

他安排的所有钱

那天下午他把坟墓放好，晚上

他

带着一篮开花

植物回到

韦瑟伯里 下雨了，但是他

决定

在教堂的庇护所度过余下的晚上，

早上完成他的种植

那天晚上的雨是你 通常很重

，水开始从

教堂屋顶上的一根破管子直接倾泻到

范妮的坟墓上，

因为那里的土地最近

才被挖掘出来

，坟墓变成了一种泥潭，

很快植物就漂浮

在坟墓上

，然后 被流过墓地的水流冲走了

当特洛伊僵硬地醒来时仍然很累

他走出教堂去完成

坟墓

的工作 雨已经停了

阳光透过红色和金色的秋叶照耀着

特洛伊沿着小路走着温暖而清澈，

他注意到它很泥泞，长满

了植物，

这些肯定不是

他种的。

他转过拐角

，看到大雨

对新墓碑造成的破坏，新墓碑上沾满了泥土

， 坟墓上有一个浅洞，

水倒进了

几乎所有的植物都被冲出

坟墓 即使在范妮的死之前，

他也试图表达对她的爱，但他

知道在她还活着的时候他没有这样做

，种花也是一种

减轻他对她死后的悲伤和

内疚感的方式，

现在他的工作已经 毁坏

他太沮丧了，无法再次开始在坟墓上工作

他将坟墓保持原样，

一分钟后默默地走出了

墓地 在她的房子里，

除了当liddy给她带来食物或

消息时，她一直锁着卧室的门，

这样她的丈夫就不能

进来

[音乐]

liddy知道夫妻之间有麻烦，

但不知道

周三早上她带来

早餐的原因 对巴舍巴

说，我们晚上下了多大的雨，

女士，她

说是的，教堂墓地传来奇怪的声音，

加布里埃尔认为是

教堂屋顶上的一根破管子流出的水

，他去了那里

看看你去教堂墓地

看芬妮的坟墓

吗 特洛伊先生昨晚有

没有

进来

十三英里外

，芭丝谢芭的心一下子轻松了起来，

是的，莉蒂，

我需要呼吸新鲜空气。

她说

，早餐后，她几乎

兴高采烈地走到墓地，

她看到了坟墓上的洞和

昂贵的新墓碑，

但确实 没想到这可能是范妮的

她四处寻找一个普通的坟墓，

然后她注意到加布里埃尔正在读

墓碑上的文字，她的眼睛

跟着他的

这块石头是弗朗西斯·特洛伊竖起来的，

以纪念 1866 年 10 月 9 日去世的范妮·罗宾，

享年 20 岁 .

gabriel 焦急地看着她，想

看看她是否心烦意乱，

但她保持镇定，

她让他把洞填上，最后

把坏掉的水管修好，

以表明她并不讨厌这个女人。

何让她如此痛苦，她

自己重新种植了花，

并清理了泥泞的墓碑，

以便可以清楚地阅读文字

然后她回家

特洛伊同时向南走

他无法决定下一步该做什么

他只知道他有 为了逃离

山顶上的韦瑟伯里，他看到大海

在他面前绵延数英里，

现在他感觉更开心了，决定

游泳，

所以他在海滩上脱光衣服爬下悬崖

跳进

海里，水是如此 顺利地

自信地游到这里

很深的

地方 他惊讶又有点

害怕 发现自己被

抬到更远的海里

他突然想起布德茅斯海

岸以

每年淹死的游泳者数量而闻名， 他

开始害怕自己很快就会

成为他们

中的一

员了

就在这时，他看到

一艘小船驶向大海

，他右臂游泳，

左臂疯狂地挥舞着，尽可能大声地喊叫，

水手们立刻看到了他，骑着马

过来救他

第17章

农民博尔德伍德

当特洛伊没有回来时开始希望

芭丝谢芭既不快乐也不

悲伤

她对未来没有希望

她确信有一天他会

回来并花掉她剩下的钱

然后他们将不得不卖掉

她无能为力的农场 阻止它

一个星期六在 casterbridge 市场 一个

陌生人向她走来

我必须告诉你 女士 他说

你丈夫死了

不

这不可能是真的

一直站在

角落里看着她跑上前去抓

她

告诉我更多 他对陌生人说，

他将昏迷的女孩轻轻地抱在

怀里 警察在海滩上发现了她丈夫的衣服

，他一定是在

游泳 d在布德茅斯海岸淹死了

，boldwood的脸上流露出一种奇怪的兴奋，

但他什么也没说，

他把她带到酒店的一个私人房间里，在

那里她可以休息，直到她感觉

好可以骑车回家。

当她回到家时仍然感到虚弱

和

困惑 已经听说了这个

消息，我们要不要给你做些黑衣服

？女士

说，女仆

有点犹豫不知道没必要

你看，我想他可能还活着

我觉得

我想我确定他还活着，

但是 下周一

，当地报纸报道了特洛伊的死讯，

一名目击者看到他在深水中

大喊大叫，挥手求救

，当他在海滩上发现的衣服和手表

被送到

农舍时，

芭丝谢巴开始怀疑他是否

还活着，

她打开 他从表壳的背面

取出一头卷曲的金色头发

他是范妮

，她是他的

她对自己说

他们应该在一起

我对他们俩都没有任何意义

我为什么要保留她的头发

她 把卷发放在火上

不，

我不会烧掉它，

我会用它来纪念她

整个秋冬的可怜

巴舍巴的生活更加平静，

她不再对农场如此感兴趣，

并且非常明智地任命加布里埃尔橡木

她的农场经理

他已经在非正式地从事这项工作

，现在终于可以得到报酬了

他的好品质得到了

认可

加布里埃尔的运气确实改变了 博尔伍德

这些天不能专心耕种，要么

他的小麦和干草都被

损坏了 下雨了，

韦瑟伯里的人们对

他们最近注意到的

农民博尔德伍德的变化感到震惊

很快他自己就意识到必须做点什么，

并安排加布里埃尔也管理他的

农场，

所以加布里埃尔负责

该地区的两个重要农场

一段时间后，他们的主人独自坐在他们

孤独的农舍里

，开始

希望如果巴舍巴再婚

，她会 嫁给他

他试图与她保持友好的

商业

关系 在他的余生中

，

直到

第二年夏天，韦瑟伯里的大多数

人都参加了

在青山举行的大型绵羊集市，

加布里埃尔和巴舍巴的羊和粗木羊在那里，他的

雇主也是

如此，今年一个巡回马戏团放了

搭起帐篷，向公众提供

骑马表演

芭丝谢芭的大部分农场工人

已经

在帐篷里了

特洛伊获救后曾是特洛伊

中士 打算回到芭丝谢芭，

在农场过上舒适的生活，

或许芭丝谢芭在务农上会失败

，然后他会为她负责

，无论如何，也许她不会欢迎

他回来

，因为他在马戏团担任演员

和骑马者

所以

当特洛伊

从

窗帘上的一个

洞

看观众时，他发现自己在绿山

集市上发现自己对未来没有任何计划 一个