05-04-远离尘嚣 [6]
she had set for him.
‘Now you've confessed 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 departure 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 missing. 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. Shepherds 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-pit.
There were his fifty sheep with their lambs，all safe，in one field. But in the other field，the two hundred pregnant 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 standing 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 dying sheep，two hundred of them，which would have produced two hundred more in the next few weeks. The young，untrained dog must have chased 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.
■ 2 盖伯瑞尔·奥克遭遇灾难
年轻的农夫奥克陷入了爱河。他急切地等待着那个姑娘定期地去看病牛，就像他的狗等着喂食一样。他发现她叫芭丝谢芭·伊芙丁，她与她的姑妈赫思特太太住在一起。他满脑子想的都是她，别的什么也不想。
“我要让她做我的妻子，”他心想，“否则我将再也无法集中精力工作！”
当她不再来喂病牛时，他只好找个理由去拜访她。他带了一只失去妈妈的小羊羔，把小羊羔装在筐里，穿过田地来到赫思特太太的家。
“我给伊芙丁小姐带来一只小羊羔，”他对芭丝谢芭的姑妈说，“姑娘们一般都喜欢
‘Now you've confessed 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 departure 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 missing. 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. Shepherds 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-pit.
There were his fifty sheep with their lambs，all safe，in one field. But in the other field，the two hundred pregnant 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 standing 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 dying sheep，two hundred of them，which would have produced two hundred more in the next few weeks. The young，untrained dog must have chased 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.
■ 2 盖伯瑞尔·奥克遭遇灾难
年轻的农夫奥克陷入了爱河。他急切地等待着那个姑娘定期地去看病牛，就像他的狗等着喂食一样。他发现她叫芭丝谢芭·伊芙丁，她与她的姑妈赫思特太太住在一起。他满脑子想的都是她，别的什么也不想。
“我要让她做我的妻子，”他心想，“否则我将再也无法集中精力工作！”
当她不再来喂病牛时，他只好找个理由去拜访她。他带了一只失去妈妈的小羊羔，把小羊羔装在筐里，穿过田地来到赫思特太太的家。
“我给伊芙丁小姐带来一只小羊羔，”他对芭丝谢芭的姑妈说，“姑娘们一般都喜欢