05-04-远离尘嚣 [29]
到他们在说什么，但他注意到芭丝谢芭脸红了。他继续剪着羊毛，突然感到很沮丧。芭丝谢芭回到屋里，片刻又返身出来，穿着崭新的绿色骑马服。她显然要与伯德伍德一起去骑马。由于盖伯瑞尔注意力不集中，他的剪子剪到了羊的皮肉。在仓房门口的芭丝谢芭注意到那只牲畜跳了一下，也看到了血。
“喂，盖伯瑞尔！”她说。“当心点！”盖伯瑞尔知道芭丝谢芭意识到她自己是这只可怜的羊受伤的间接原因。盖伯瑞尔坚强地藏起自己受伤的感情，看着伯德伍德和芭丝谢芭一同骑马走了，像其他雇工一样确信这一对很快就会结婚。
■ 9 Bathsheba meets a handsome soldier
Farmers always gave a special supper to the sheep shearers 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 favourite 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 goodnight to her farm workers，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. Goodnight， Miss Everdene！’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 traveller at the darkest point of the path. As she was about to pass the dark shape，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
“喂，盖伯瑞尔！”她说。“当心点！”盖伯瑞尔知道芭丝谢芭意识到她自己是这只可怜的羊受伤的间接原因。盖伯瑞尔坚强地藏起自己受伤的感情，看着伯德伍德和芭丝谢芭一同骑马走了，像其他雇工一样确信这一对很快就会结婚。
■ 9 Bathsheba meets a handsome soldier
Farmers always gave a special supper to the sheep shearers 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 favourite 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 goodnight to her farm workers，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. Goodnight， Miss Everdene！’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 traveller at the darkest point of the path. As she was about to pass the dark shape，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