CHAPTER I

 An evident commotion¹ was agitating² the premises³, which jerked busy sounds across the front plot, resembling those of a disturbed hive.  If a member of the household appeared at the door it was with a countenance⁴ of abstraction and concern.

 

Evening began to bend over the scene; and the other inhabitants of the hamlet came out to draw water, their common well being in the public road opposite the garden and house of the Paddocks.  Having wound up their bucketsfull respectively they lingered, and spoke⁵ significantly together.  From their words any casual listener might have gathered information of what had occurred.

 

The woodman who lived nearest the site of the story told most of the tale.  Selina, the daughter of the Paddocks opposite, had been surprised that afternoon by receiving a letter from her once intended husband, then a corporal, but now a sergeant-major of dragoons, whom she had hitherto supposed to be one of the slain⁶ in the Battle of the Alma two or three years before.

 

‘She picked up wi’en against her father’s wish, as we know, and before he got his stripes,’ their informant continued.  ‘Not but that the man was as hearty⁷ a feller as you’d meet this side o’ London.  But Jacob, you see, wished her to do better, and one can understand it.  However, she was determined⁸ to stick to him at that time; and for what happened she was not much to blame, so near as they were to matrimony when the war broke out and spoiled all.’

 

‘Even the very pig had been killed for the wedding,’ said a woman, ‘and the barrel o’ beer ordered in.  O, the man meant honourable⁹ enough.  But to be off in two days to fight in a foreign country—’twas natural of her father to say they should wait till he got back.’

 

‘And he never came,’ murmured one in the shade.

 

‘The war ended but her man never turned up again.  She was not sure he was killed, but was too proud, or too timid, to go and hunt for him.’

 

‘One reason why her father forgave her when he found out how matters stood was, as he said plain at the time, that he liked the man, and could see that he meant to act straight.  So the old folks made the best of what they couldn’t mend, and kept her there with ’em, when some wouldn’t.  Time has proved seemingly that he did mean to act straight, now that he has writ¹⁰ to her that he’s coming.  She’d have stuck to him all through the time, ’tis my belief; if t’other hadn’t come along.’

 

‘At the time of the courtship,’ resumed the woodman, ‘the regiment¹¹ was quartered in Casterbridge Barracks, and he and she got acquainted by his calling to buy a penn’orth of rathe-ripes off that tree yonder in her father’s orchard—though ’twas said he seed her over hedge as well as the apples.  He declared ’twas a kind of apple he much fancied; and he called for a penn’orth every day till the tree was cleared.  It ended in his calling for her.’

 

‘’Twas a thousand pities they didn’t jine up at once and ha’ done wi’ it.

 

‘Well; better late than never, if so be he’ll have her now.  But, Lord, she’d that faith in ‘en that she’d no more belief that he was alive, when a’ didn’t come, than that the undermost man in our churchyard was alive.  She’d never have thought of another but for that—O no!’

 

‘’Tis awkward, altogether, for her now.’

 

‘Still she hadn’t married wi’ the new man.  Though to be sure she would have committed it next week, even the licence being got, they say, for she’d have no banns this time, the first being so unfortunate.’

 

‘Perhaps the sergeant-major will think he’s released, and go as he came.’

 

‘O, not as I reckon.  Soldiers bain’t particular, and she’s a tidy piece o’ furniture still.  What will happen is that she’ll have her soldier, and break off with the master-wheelwright, licence or no—daze me if she won’t.’

 

In the progress of these desultory¹² conjectures¹³ the form of another neighbour arose in the gloom.  She nodded to the people at the well, who replied ‘G’d night, Mrs. Stone,’ as she passed through Mr. Paddock’s gate towards his door.  She was an intimate friend of the latter’s household, and the group followed her with their eyes up the path and past the windows, which were now lighted up by candles inside.

1 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

2 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。

3 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

4 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

7 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

10 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

11 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

12 desultory   

adj.散漫的，无方法的

参考例句：

• Do not let the discussion fragment into a desultory conversation with no clear direction.不要让讨论变得支离破碎，成为没有明确方向的漫谈。
• The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn.警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。

13 conjectures   

推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That's weighing remote military conjectures against the certain deaths of innocent people. 那不过是牵强附会的军事假设，而现在的事实却是无辜者正在惨遭杀害，这怎能同日而语！
• I was right in my conjectures. 我所猜测的都应验了。