牛津書蟲系列 遠離塵囂 2 Disaster for Gabriel Oak

2 Disaster for Gabriel Oak

2 蓋伯瑞爾·奧克遭遇災(zāi)難

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 Everdene，and that she lived with her aunt，Mrs Hurst. His head was so full of her that he could think of nothing else.

年輕的農(nóng)夫奧克陷入了愛河。他急切地等待著那個姑娘定期地去看病牛，就像他的狗等著喂食一樣。他發(fā)現(xiàn)她叫芭絲謝芭·伊芙丁，她與她的姑媽赫思特太太住在一起。他滿腦子想的都是她，別的什么也不想。

‘I'll make her my wife，’he declared to himself，‘or I'll never be able to concentrate on work again!’

“我要讓她做我的妻子，”他心想，“否則我將再也無法集中精力工作!”

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.

當她不再來喂病牛時，他只好找個理由去拜訪她。他帶了一只失去媽媽的小羊羔，把小羊羔裝在筐里，穿過田地來到赫思特太太的家。

‘I've brought a lamb for Miss Everdene，’he told Bathsheba's aunt. ‘Girls usually like looking after lambs. ’

“我給伊芙丁小姐帶來一只小羊羔，”他對芭絲謝芭的姑媽說，“姑娘們一般都喜歡照料羊羔。”

‘Thank you，Mr Oak，’replied Mrs Hurst，‘but Bathsheba is only a visitor here. I don't know if she'll keep it. ’

“謝謝你，奧克先生，”赫思特太太回答說，“可是芭絲謝芭在這兒只是個客人。我不知道她是否會留著這只羊羔。”

‘To tell you the truth，Mrs Hurst，the lamb isn't my real reason for coming. I want to ask Miss Everdene if she'd like to be married. ’

“不瞞您說，赫思特太太，這只羊羔并非我來這兒的真正原因。我想問問伊芙丁小姐她是否愿意結(jié)婚。”

‘Really?’asked Mrs Hurst，looking closely at him.

“是嗎?”赫思特太太問，認真地看著他。

‘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?’

“是的。如果她愿意，我想和她結(jié)婚。您知不知道目前是否有其他的年輕人在追求她?”

‘Oh yes，a lot of young men，’said Mrs Hurst. ‘You see，F(xiàn)armer 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 ten or twelve!’

“噢，有，有許多年輕人，”赫思特太太說。”你知道，農(nóng)夫奧克，她長得那么漂亮，又受過良好的教育。當然，追求她的年輕人我實際上一個也沒見過，不過，她至少有十多個追求者。”

‘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 Hurst. ’

“那可太糟糕了，”農(nóng)夫奧克說，沮喪地盯著地板。“我只是一個很普通的人，我唯一的機會在于是第一個向她求婚的人。好吧，這就是我來的目的。現(xiàn)在我該回家了，赫思特太太。”

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.

他在第一塊地里剛走了一半的路就聽到身后有人喊了一聲。他轉(zhuǎn)身看到一個姑娘向他跑來。正是芭絲謝芭。蓋伯瑞爾紅了臉。

‘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. ’

“農(nóng)夫奧克，”她上氣不接下氣地喊，”我姑媽說有許多年輕人在追求我，我想說她搞錯了。事實上，我一個也沒有，從來也沒有過。”

‘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. ’

“很高興聽到你這樣說!”蓋伯瑞爾說，開心地笑著，伸出手去握住她的手。但她很快就抽回了她的手。“我有一個收益不薄的小農(nóng)場，”他補充說，顯得有點不自信。“咱們結(jié)婚后，我一定會加倍工作，掙更多的錢。”

He stretched out his arm towards her. Bathsheba moved rapidly behind a tree to avoid him. ‘But，F(xiàn)armer Oak，’she said in surprise，‘I never said I was going to marry you. ’

他向她伸出胳膊。芭絲謝芭跑到樹后躲避他。“可是，農(nóng)夫奧克，”她吃驚地說，“我可從沒說要與你結(jié)婚。”

‘Well!’said Gabriel，disappointed. ‘To run after me like this， and then say you don't want me!’

“算了!”蓋伯瑞爾失望地說。“這么在后邊追我，然后又說你不需要我!”

‘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 whetherl wanted to marry or not. ’

“我只是想解釋我姑媽搞錯了，”她迫不及待地回答。“我得跑著追你，所以我沒有時間決定是否要與你結(jié)婚。”

‘Just think for a minute or two，’replied Gabriel hopefully. ‘I'll wait a while， Miss Everdene. Will you marry me? Do，Bathsheba. I love you very much!’

“那就考慮幾分鐘，”蓋伯瑞爾滿懷希望地回答。“我可以等一會兒，伊芙丁小姐。你愿意和我結(jié)婚嗎?和我結(jié)婚吧，芭絲謝芭。我非常愛你!”

‘I'll try to think，’she answered. ‘Give me time，’and she looked away from him at the distant hills.

“我會認真考慮的，”她回答說。“給我時間，”她把目光從他身上移向遠處的山巒。

‘I can make you happy，’he said to the back of her head ‘You shall have a piano，and I'll practise the flute to play with you in the evenings. ’

“我會使你幸福的，”他沖著她的后腦勺說。“你將會有一架鋼琴，我吹笛子，晚上可以與你一起演奏。”

‘Yes，I'd like that. ’

“是啊，能那樣我很高興。”

‘And at home by the fire，whenever you look up，there I'll be，and whenever I look up， there you'll be. ’

“在家中的爐火旁，無論你什么時候抬起頭，我都會在跟前，無論我什么時候抬起頭，你就在跟前。”

‘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. ’

“等等，讓我想想!”她沉默了一會兒，然后轉(zhuǎn)向他。“不，”她說，“我不想和你結(jié)婚。舉行婚禮固然不錯，但有一個丈夫——唉，他總在你的眼前。就如同你說的，無論什么時候我抬起頭來，他就在跟前。”

‘Of course he would——it would be me. ’

“當然他會在你的跟前——那就是我呀。”

‘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. ’

“問題就在這兒。如果能做新娘又不必有一個丈夫，我倒是不介意做新娘。但是既然一個女人獨自不可能成為新娘，我就不愿意結(jié)婚，至少現(xiàn)在還不愿意。”

‘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?’

“一個姑娘這樣說多傻呀!”蓋伯瑞爾大聲說。接著他柔聲說道，“親愛的，再想一想!”他繞到樹后去夠她。“你為什么不要我?”

‘Because I don't love you，’she replied， moving away.

“因為我不愛你，”她回答，躲開了。

‘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.

“可是我愛你——不過有人喜歡我，我也非常幸福，當然假如你喜歡我的話。”他比以往任何時候都更加嚴肅地說。“在我的一生中只有一件事是確定無疑的——我會愛你，需要你，終生需要你直到我死的那一天。”從他誠實的臉上可以明白無誤地看出他的感情，他黝黑的大手在顫抖。

‘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. ’

“在你感情這么強烈時，不接受你似乎是不合適的，”她悶悶不樂地說。“我真希望剛才沒有追你!不過，奧克先生，咱們在一起不會幸福的。我個性很要強。我需要一個能管得了我的丈夫，我肯定你做不到。”

Gabriel looked hopelessly away and did not reply.

蓋伯瑞爾失望地把目光移開，默不作聲。

‘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. ’

“奧克先生，”她用清晰的聲音繼續(xù)說，“我很窮，都得要我的姑媽給我提供住處。你的農(nóng)場剛剛起步，找一個有錢的女人對你來說更明智。那樣你就可以買更多的羊發(fā)展你的農(nóng)常”

‘That's just what I'd been thinking!’ answered Gabriel in surprise.

“這正是我一直在考慮的!”蓋伯瑞爾驚訝地回答。

What common sense she had，he thought admiringly.

她多明白事理啊，他不無稱贊地想。

‘Well then，why did you ask to marry me?’she said angrily.

“既然如此，你為什么還要我和你結(jié)婚?”她生氣地說。

‘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.

“我理智上覺得明智的事，我做不到。我只能做我的心要我去做的事情。”他沒有看出她給他設(shè)的圈套。

‘Now you've confessed that marrying me wouldn't be sensible， Mr Oak. Do you think I'll marry you after that?’

“奧克先生，既然你已承認和我結(jié)婚是不明智的，你認為我得知這個以后還會與你結(jié)婚嗎?”

‘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. ’

“別誤會我的意思，”他喊道，“因為我誠實地告訴了你實情!我知道對我來說你會是個好妻子。你說起話來像一個淑女，人們都這么說，我聽說過你的叔叔在威瑟伯里有一個大農(nóng)常我可以在晚上拜訪你嗎?要么星期天你出來和我一起散步?你不必立刻決定。”

‘No，no，I cannot. Don't insist，don't. I don't love you，so it would be foolish, ’she said with a laugh.

“不、不，不行。別堅持了，千萬別了。我不愛你，所以與你接觸是愚蠢的，”她大笑著說。

No man likes to see his feelings laughed at，so Gabriel Oak said，turning away，‘Very well，then I won't ask you again. ’

沒有哪個人愿意看到自己的感情被嘲笑，所以蓋伯瑞爾邊轉(zhuǎn)身準備走邊說道，“好吧，既然如此，我再不會向你提起此事。”

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 twenty miles away. Her departure did not stop Gabriel from loving her. In fact he loved her even more deeply now that they were apart.

蓋伯瑞爾沒有再見到芭絲謝芭，兩天后，他聽說她已離開了這個地方。她去了威瑟伯里，距這里20英里的一個村莊。她的離去并沒有使蓋伯瑞爾停止愛她。事實上，由于他們分開了，他對她愛得更深了。

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 sheep dog's duties. He did not worry about the dog's absence，but went to bed.

第二天夜里，睡覺前，蓋伯瑞爾把兩條狗喚到屋里過夜。那條年齡大的狗，喬治，聽從呼喚，而那條年齡小的則不見了蹤影。蓋伯瑞爾一直未能把這條小狗訓(xùn)練出來。它很有熱情，但不懂得一個牧羊犬的職責。狗雖然不在，但他并沒有多想，就上床睡覺了。

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 Norcombe Hill，to his fields near the chalk-pit.

一大早，他就被劇烈的羊鈴聲驚醒了。牧羊人懂得羊鈴所發(fā)出的每一聲聲響，蓋伯瑞爾立刻意識到他的羊群在飛快地奔跑。他從床上跳起來，匆忙穿上衣眼，向諾科姆山上白堊礦場旁自己的田地跑去。

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.

50只母羊和它們的小羊羔都安全地在一塊地里。另一塊地里，兩百只懷孕的羊卻蹤影全無。他注意到一個被弄壞的門，斷定羊是從那里跑走的。旁邊的一塊地里也沒有羊的影子，在他面前的山頂上，他看到了那只年齡小的狗，在晨光的映襯下像一個黑影子。它一動不動地站著，俯視著白堊礦常

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 two hundred 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.

蓋伯瑞爾意識到了可怕的事實，他感到一陣揪心。他跑到山上的白堊礦場旁，向下面望去。兩百只羊，死了的和快要死的，都躺在礦場底部。這兩百只羊再過幾個星期本來就可以生產(chǎn)兩百多只羊羔。一定是那只年幼的，不馴順的狗把它們追趕到礦場邊，它們從那里掉下去喪了命。

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.

他首先是為那些溫順的羊和它們尚未出世的羊羔感到惋惜。接著他又想到了自己。過去十年中他辛苦勞動積攢的積蓄都被用來租農(nóng)?，F(xiàn)在他想要成為一個獨立的農(nóng)場主的希望完全破滅了。他用雙手捂住了臉。

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!’

過了一會兒，他抬起頭來。“謝天謝地，我沒有和芭絲謝芭結(jié)婚，”他想。“嫁給一個像我這樣一貧如洗的丈夫，她該如何是好呢!”

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 he was wearing and nothing more. Now he had to find work where he could，on other men's farms.

第二天，那只年幼的狗被殺死了。蓋伯瑞爾賣掉了他所有的農(nóng)具，為的是付他買羊所欠的錢。他不再是個農(nóng)場主了，只是一個普通人。他擁有的只有身上穿的衣服，除此，別無所有。現(xiàn)在他得去別人的農(nóng)場去找工作。

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 Everdene，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 Everdene，’he told Bathshe-ba'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 Hurst，the lamb isn't my real reason for coming. I want to ask Miss Everdene 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，F(xiàn)armer 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 ten or twelve!’

‘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 Hurst. ’

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. ‘But，F(xiàn)armer 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 l wanted to marry or not. ’

‘Just think for a minute or two，’replied Gabriel hopefully. ‘I'll wait a while， Miss Everdene. 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 practise 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 sen-sible， 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 twenty 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 sheep dog'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 Norcombe 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 two hundred 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，mar-ried 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 he was wearing and nothing more. Now he had to find work where he could，on other men's farms.

2 蓋伯瑞爾·奧克遭遇災(zāi)難

年輕的農(nóng)夫奧克陷入了愛河。他急切地等待著那個姑娘定期地去看病牛，就像他的狗等著喂食一樣。他發(fā)現(xiàn)她叫芭絲謝芭·伊芙丁，她與她的姑媽赫思特太太住在一起。他滿腦子想的都是她，別的什么也不想。

“我要讓她做我的妻子，”他心想，“否則我將再也無法集中精力工作!”

當她不再來喂病牛時，他只好找個理由去拜訪她。他帶了一只失去媽媽的小羊羔，把小羊羔裝在筐里，穿過田地來到赫思特太太的家。

“我給伊芙丁小姐帶來一只小羊羔，”他對芭絲謝芭的姑媽說，“姑娘們一般都喜歡照料羊羔。”

“謝謝你，奧克先生，”赫思特太太回答說，“可是芭絲謝芭在這兒只是個客人。我不知道她是否會留著這只羊羔。”

“不瞞您說，赫思特太太，這只羊羔并非我來這兒的真正原因。我想問問伊芙丁小姐她是否愿意結(jié)婚。”

“是嗎?”赫思特太太問，認真地看著他。

“是的。如果她愿意，我想和她結(jié)婚。您知不知道目前是否有其他的年輕人在追求她?”

“噢，有，有許多年輕人，”赫思特太太說。”你知道，農(nóng)夫奧克，她長得那么漂亮，又受過良好的教育。當然，追求她的年輕人我實際上一個也沒見過，不過，她至少有十多個追求者。”

“那可太糟糕了，”農(nóng)夫奧克說，沮喪地盯著地板。“我只是一個很普通的人，我唯一的機會在于是第一個向她求婚的人。好吧，這就是我來的目的?，F(xiàn)在我該回家了，赫思特太太。”

他在第一塊地里剛走了一半的路就聽到身后有人喊了一聲。他轉(zhuǎn)身看到一個姑娘向他跑來。正是芭絲謝芭。蓋伯瑞爾紅了臉。

“農(nóng)夫奧克，”她上氣不接下氣地喊，”我姑媽說有許多年輕人在追求我，我想說她搞錯了。事實上，我一個也沒有，從來也沒有過。”

“很高興聽到你這樣說!”蓋伯瑞爾說，開心地笑著，伸出手去握住她的手。但她很快就抽回了她的手。“我有一個收益不薄的小農(nóng)場，”他補充說，顯得有點不自信。“咱們結(jié)婚后，我一定會加倍工作，掙更多的錢。”

他向她伸出胳膊。芭絲謝芭跑到樹后躲避他。“可是，農(nóng)夫奧克，”她吃驚地說，“我可從沒說要與你結(jié)婚。”

“算了!”蓋伯瑞爾失望地說。“這么在后邊追我，然后又說你不需要我!”

“我只是想解釋我姑媽搞錯了，”她迫不及待地回答。“我得跑著追你，所以我沒有時間決定是否要與你結(jié)婚。”

“那就考慮幾分鐘，”蓋伯瑞爾滿懷希望地回答。“我可以等一會兒，伊芙丁小姐。你愿意和我結(jié)婚嗎?和我結(jié)婚吧，芭絲謝芭。我非常愛你!”

“我會認真考慮的，”她回答說。“給我時間，”她把目光從他身上移向遠處的山巒。

“我會使你幸福的，”他沖著她的后腦勺說。“你將會有一架鋼琴，我吹笛子，晚上可以與你一起演奏。”

“是啊，能那樣我很高興。”

“在家中的爐火旁，無論你什么時候抬起頭，我都會在跟前，無論我什么時候抬起頭，你就在跟前。”

“等等，讓我想想!”她沉默了一會兒，然后轉(zhuǎn)向他。“不，”她說，“我不想和你結(jié)婚。舉行婚禮固然不錯，但有一個丈夫——唉，他總在你的眼前。就如同你說的，無論什么時候我抬起頭來，他就在跟前。”

“當然他會在你的跟前——那就是我呀。”

“問題就在這兒。如果能做新娘又不必有一個丈夫，我倒是不介意做新娘。但是既然一個女人獨自不可能成為新娘，我就不愿意結(jié)婚，至少現(xiàn)在還不愿意。”

“一個姑娘這樣說多傻呀!”蓋伯瑞爾大聲說。接著他柔聲說道，“親愛的，再想一想!”他繞到樹后去夠她。“你為什么不要我?”

“因為我不愛你，”她回答，躲開了。

“可是我愛你——不過有人喜歡我，我也非常幸福，當然假如你喜歡我的話。”他比以往任何時候都更加嚴肅地說。“在我的一生中只有一件事是確定無疑的——我會愛你，需要你，終生需要你直到我死的那一天。”從他誠實的臉上可以明白無誤地看出他的感情，他黝黑的大手在顫抖。

“在你感情這么強烈時，不接受你似乎是不合適的，”她悶悶不樂地說。“我真希望剛才沒有追你!不過，奧克先生，咱們在一起不會幸福的。我個性很要強。我需要一個能管得了我的丈夫，我肯定你做不到。”

蓋伯瑞爾失望地把目光移開，默不作聲。

“奧克先生，”她用清晰的聲音繼續(xù)說，“我很窮，都得要我的姑媽給我提供住處。你的農(nóng)場剛剛起步，找一個有錢的女人對你來說更明智。那樣你就可以買更多的羊發(fā)展你的農(nóng)常”

“這正是我一直在考慮的!”蓋伯瑞爾驚訝地回答。

她多明白事理啊，他不無稱贊地想。

“既然如此，你為什么還要我和你結(jié)婚?”她生氣地說。

“我理智上覺得明智的事，我做不到。我只能做我的心要我去做的事情。”他沒有看出她給他設(shè)的圈套。

“奧克先生，既然你已承認和我結(jié)婚是不明智的，你認為我得知這個以后還會與你結(jié)婚嗎?”

“別誤會我的意思，”他喊道，“因為我誠實地告訴了你實情!我知道對我來說你會是個好妻子。你說起話來像一個淑女，人們都這么說，我聽說過你的叔叔在威瑟伯里有一個大農(nóng)常我可以在晚上拜訪你嗎?要么星期天你出來和我一起散步?你不必立刻決定。”

“不、不，不行。別堅持了，千萬別了。我不愛你，所以與你接觸是愚蠢的，”她大笑著說。

沒有哪個人愿意看到自己的感情被嘲笑，所以蓋伯瑞爾邊轉(zhuǎn)身準備走邊說道，“好吧，既然如此，我再不會向你提起此事。”

蓋伯瑞爾沒有再見到芭絲謝芭，兩天后，他聽說她已離開了這個地方。她去了威瑟伯里，距這里20英里的一個村莊。她的離去并沒有使蓋伯瑞爾停止愛她。事實上，由于他們分開了，他對她愛得更深了。

第二天夜里，睡覺前，蓋伯瑞爾把兩條狗喚到屋里過夜。那條年齡大的狗，喬治，聽從呼喚，而那條年齡小的則不見了蹤影。蓋伯瑞爾一直未能把這條小狗訓(xùn)練出來。它很有熱情，但不懂得一個牧羊犬的職責。狗雖然不在，但他并沒有多想，就上床睡覺了。

一大早，他就被劇烈的羊鈴聲驚醒了。牧羊人懂得羊鈴所發(fā)出的每一聲聲響，蓋伯瑞爾立刻意識到他的羊群在飛快地奔跑。他從床上跳起來，匆忙穿上衣眼，向諾科姆山上白堊礦場旁自己的田地跑去。

50只母羊和它們的小羊羔都安全地在一塊地里。另一塊地里，兩百只懷孕的羊卻蹤影全無。他注意到一個被弄壞的門，斷定羊是從那里跑走的。旁邊的一塊地里也沒有羊的影子，在他面前的山頂上，他看到了那只年齡小的狗，在晨光的映襯下像一個黑影子。它一動不動地站著，俯視著白堊礦常

蓋伯瑞爾意識到了可怕的事實，他感到一陣揪心。他跑到山上的白堊礦場旁，向下面望去。兩百只羊，死了的和快要死的，都躺在礦場底部。這兩百只羊再過幾個星期本來就可以生產(chǎn)兩百多只羊羔。一定是那只年幼的，不馴順的狗把它們追趕到礦場邊，它們從那里掉下去喪了命。

他首先是為那些溫順的羊和它們尚未出世的羊羔感到惋惜。接著他又想到了自己。過去十年中他辛苦勞動積攢的積蓄都被用來租農(nóng)?，F(xiàn)在他想要成為一個獨立的農(nóng)場主的希望完全破滅了。他用雙手捂住了臉。

過了一會兒，他抬起頭來。“謝天謝地，我沒有和芭絲謝芭結(jié)婚，”他想。“嫁給一個像我這樣一貧如洗的丈夫，她該如何是好呢!”

第二天，那只年幼的狗被殺死了。蓋伯瑞爾賣掉了他所有的農(nóng)具，為的是付他買羊所欠的錢。他不再是個農(nóng)場主了，只是一個普通人。他擁有的只有身上穿的衣服，除此，別無所有?，F(xiàn)在他得去別人的農(nóng)場去找工作。