05-04-远离尘嚣 [44]
盖伯瑞尔什么也没有说，可心里直堵，只得靠在大门上歇一会儿。他为她的将来感到惋惜，因为他知道，她与托伊的婚姻会好景不长。
“早上好啊，朋友们！”托伊兴高采烈地向他们喊道。
“咱们得对他礼貌一点，”考根悄声说道。“他不是娶了咱们女主人欧。”
“早上好，托伊中士，”盖伯瑞尔痛苦地说。
“我退了伍，就很快会再和你们到地里干活的，”托伊轻快地说。“我的新身份也不会改变这一点的，我还会对你们友好如初。为我的健康喝一杯去吧，伙计们。”他向盖伯瑞尔扔出一个硬币，盖伯瑞尔没捡，但考根把硬币捡起来放到了衣兜里。
他们走在路上，看到伯德伍德先生骑马走过他们身边。盖伯瑞尔看到农场主脸上的苦楚与深深的绝望，自己的悲伤心情便忘记了。
■ 13 The storm
There was always a harvest supper for the farm workers after all the hay and wheat had been cut. On behalf of his wife，Sergeant Troy decided to have it one evening at the end of August，in the great barn. The weather was unpleas-antly warm that night. On his way to the harvest supper Gabriel stopped to check the eight huge hay－and wheat－ricks. If，as he suspected，there was a storm，the ricks，which were all uncovered，would be badly damaged.
He went on to the barn，where the farm workers had already finished eating and started dancing. Gabriel had to wait until Sergeant Troy had finished his dance with Bathshe-ba before he could warn him about possible damage to the ricks. Troy，however，was enjoying himself too much to listen to Gabriel's message.
‘Friends，’he was saying，‘I've ordered brandy to be served to you all，so that we can celebrate my wedding properly. ’
‘No，Frank，don't give them brandy，’begged Bathsheba，‘it will only do them harm！’
‘Don't be silly！’said Troy. ‘Friends，let's send the women home！Then we men can drink and sing as much as we like！’Angrily，Bathsheba left the barn，followed by the other women.
Gabriel left soon afterwards Later，when he went to check that Bathsheba's sheep were safe，he noticed that they looked very frightened. They were crowded together in a corner，their tails pointing the same way. To the shepherd this meant they were expecting a storm. He went to look at the ricks again. Should the whole harvest of the farm，worth at least seven hundred and fifty pounds，be lost because of a woman's weakness？Never，if I can prevent it！thought Gabriel.
He returned to the barn to ask the other farm workers to help him cover the ricks. But the only noise he could hear coming from the barn was the men's loud and regular breathing，and when he entered，he found them all asleep，in-cluding Troy. The brandy，which they had been too polite to refuse，had made them drunk in a very short time，as they were not used to drinking anything stronger than beer. It was useless trying to wake them.
Gabriel left the barn，and returned to the ricks，two of which he managed to cover with the heavy material kept on the farm for this purpose. The only way to cover the other six ricks was by thatching them with straw，and this was a long and difficult job to do alone.
The moon disappeared，and there was a slow，light wind，like the breath of a dying man，as Gabriel climbed the ladder and started thatching high up on top of the third rick. Light－ning flashed in the sky，and there was a loud crash of thunder. In the sudden brightness Gabriel could see every tree around him，until the light disappeared just as suddenly，leaving him in the blackest darkness. He knew his position was dangerous，but considered his life was not valuable enough to worry about.
Another flash of lightning allowed him to see the figure of a woman running towards the rick. Was it Bathsheba？
‘Is that you，ma'am？’he called to
“早上好啊，朋友们！”托伊兴高采烈地向他们喊道。
“咱们得对他礼貌一点，”考根悄声说道。“他不是娶了咱们女主人欧。”
“早上好，托伊中士，”盖伯瑞尔痛苦地说。
“我退了伍，就很快会再和你们到地里干活的，”托伊轻快地说。“我的新身份也不会改变这一点的，我还会对你们友好如初。为我的健康喝一杯去吧，伙计们。”他向盖伯瑞尔扔出一个硬币，盖伯瑞尔没捡，但考根把硬币捡起来放到了衣兜里。
他们走在路上，看到伯德伍德先生骑马走过他们身边。盖伯瑞尔看到农场主脸上的苦楚与深深的绝望，自己的悲伤心情便忘记了。
■ 13 The storm
There was always a harvest supper for the farm workers after all the hay and wheat had been cut. On behalf of his wife，Sergeant Troy decided to have it one evening at the end of August，in the great barn. The weather was unpleas-antly warm that night. On his way to the harvest supper Gabriel stopped to check the eight huge hay－and wheat－ricks. If，as he suspected，there was a storm，the ricks，which were all uncovered，would be badly damaged.
He went on to the barn，where the farm workers had already finished eating and started dancing. Gabriel had to wait until Sergeant Troy had finished his dance with Bathshe-ba before he could warn him about possible damage to the ricks. Troy，however，was enjoying himself too much to listen to Gabriel's message.
‘Friends，’he was saying，‘I've ordered brandy to be served to you all，so that we can celebrate my wedding properly. ’
‘No，Frank，don't give them brandy，’begged Bathsheba，‘it will only do them harm！’
‘Don't be silly！’said Troy. ‘Friends，let's send the women home！Then we men can drink and sing as much as we like！’Angrily，Bathsheba left the barn，followed by the other women.
Gabriel left soon afterwards Later，when he went to check that Bathsheba's sheep were safe，he noticed that they looked very frightened. They were crowded together in a corner，their tails pointing the same way. To the shepherd this meant they were expecting a storm. He went to look at the ricks again. Should the whole harvest of the farm，worth at least seven hundred and fifty pounds，be lost because of a woman's weakness？Never，if I can prevent it！thought Gabriel.
He returned to the barn to ask the other farm workers to help him cover the ricks. But the only noise he could hear coming from the barn was the men's loud and regular breathing，and when he entered，he found them all asleep，in-cluding Troy. The brandy，which they had been too polite to refuse，had made them drunk in a very short time，as they were not used to drinking anything stronger than beer. It was useless trying to wake them.
Gabriel left the barn，and returned to the ricks，two of which he managed to cover with the heavy material kept on the farm for this purpose. The only way to cover the other six ricks was by thatching them with straw，and this was a long and difficult job to do alone.
The moon disappeared，and there was a slow，light wind，like the breath of a dying man，as Gabriel climbed the ladder and started thatching high up on top of the third rick. Light－ning flashed in the sky，and there was a loud crash of thunder. In the sudden brightness Gabriel could see every tree around him，until the light disappeared just as suddenly，leaving him in the blackest darkness. He knew his position was dangerous，but considered his life was not valuable enough to worry about.
Another flash of lightning allowed him to see the figure of a woman running towards the rick. Was it Bathsheba？
‘Is that you，ma'am？’he called to