Chapter 2 Disaster for Gabriel Oak

Young Farmer Oak¹ was in love. He waited for the girl's regular visits to the sick cow just as impatiently² 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 closely³ 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 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 halfway⁴ across the first field when he heard a cry behind him. He turned，and saw a girl running after him. It was Bathsheba. Gabriel blushed⁵.

‘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，Farmer 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 whetherl 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 flute⁶ 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 spoke⁷ 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 sensi-ble 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 confessed⁸ 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 departure⁹ 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 missing¹⁰. 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. Shepherds¹¹ 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-pit¹².

There were his fifty sheep with their lambs，all safe，in one field. But in the other field，the two hundred pregnant¹³ 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 standing¹⁴ 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 dying¹⁵ sheep，two hundred of them，which would have produced two hundred more in the next few weeks. The young，untrained dog must have chased¹⁶ 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.

1 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

2 impatiently   

adv.不耐烦地

参考例句：

• Impatiently he cut short what I was telling him. 他不耐烦地打断了我的话。
• The children wait impatiently for the vacation.孩子们焦急地等待着假期的来临。

3 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 Blushed   

n. 脸红，外观 vi. 泛红，羞愧

参考例句：

• She blushed at the mention of her lover's name. 她因说到她情人的名字而脸红。
• He blushed when the pretty girl gave him the eye. 那位漂亮的女孩向他抛媚眼时，他脸红了。

6 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

7 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。

8 confessed   

adj. 众所周知的，公认的 动词confess的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She confessed to the murder. 她供认犯了谋杀罪。
• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned. 他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。

9 departure   

n.离开，起程；背离，违反

参考例句：

• Do you know what lies behind her sudden departure for London?你知道她突然去伦敦的原因吗？
• She took over his work after his departure.他离开以后，她接替了他的工作。

10 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

11 shepherds   

n.牧羊人，羊倌( shepherd的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Shepherds penned their flocks. 牧羊人把他们的羊群关入栏中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was the first time the shepherds had seen the Corleone stare. 这两个牧民第一次看到考利昂家族传统的瞪眼。 来自教父部分

12 pit   

n.深坑，核，矿井，陷阱，英国剧场正厅后排，凹陷疤痕；vt.使...有伤痕，去...的核，与...较量

参考例句：

• A sheep fell into a pit,and I helped it out.一只羊掉进坑里，我把它弄了出来。
• They dug a pit to bury the rubbish.他们挖了一个坑把垃圾埋掉。

13 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

16 chased   

vt.追捕（chase的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》