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It was an eighty-cow dairy, and the troop of milkers, regular andsupernumerary, were all at work; for, though the time of year was asyet but early April, the feed lay entirely1 in water-meadows, and thecows were 'in full pail.' The hour was about six in the evening,and three-fourths of the large, red, rectangular animals having beenfinished off, there was opportunity for a little conversation.
'He do bring home his bride to-morrow, I hear. They've come as faras Anglebury to-day.'
The voice seemed to proceed from the belly2 of the cow called Cherry,but the speaker was a milking-woman, whose face was buried in theflank of that motionless beast.
'Hav' anybody seen her?' said another.
There was a negative response from the first. 'Though they sayshe's a rosy-cheeked, tisty-tosty little body enough,' she added;and as the milkmaid spoke3 she turned her face so that she couldglance past her cow's tail to the other side of the barton, where athin, fading woman of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest.
'Years younger than he, they say,' continued the second, with also aglance of reflectiveness in the same direction.
'How old do you call him, then?'
'Thirty or so.'
'More like forty,' broke in an old milkman near, in a long whitepinafore or 'wropper,' and with the brim of his hat tied down, sothat he looked like a woman. ''A was born before our Great Weir4 wasbuilded, and I hadn't man's wages when I laved water there.'
The discussion waxed so warm that the purr of the milk-streamsbecame jerky, till a voice from another cow's belly cried withauthority, 'Now then, what the Turk do it matter to us about FarmerLodge's age, or Farmer Lodge's new mis'ess? I shall have to pay himnine pound a year for the rent of every one of these milchers,whatever his age or hers. Get on with your work, or 'twill be darkafore we have done. The evening is pinking in a'ready.' Thisspeaker was the dairyman himself; by whom the milkmaids and men wereemployed.
Nothing more was said publicly about Farmer Lodge's wedding, but thefirst woman murmured under her cow to her next neighbour, ''Tis hardfor SHE,' signifying the thin worn milkmaid aforesaid.
'O no,' said the second. 'He ha'n't spoke to Rhoda Brook
1
entirely
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
2
belly
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛
3
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
4
weir
n.堰堤,拦河坝
5
brook
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让
6
colossal
adj.异常的,庞大的
7
dispersed
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的
8
countenance
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同
9
twilight
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
10
thatch
vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部;n.茅草(屋)
11
protruding
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的现在分词 );凸
12
notch
n.(V字形)槽口,缺口,等级