The chickens for which Tess was responsible lived in an old cottage on Mrs d’Urberville's land．On her first day Tess had to take some of the chickens to show to their owner．She immediately realized the old lady was blind．Mrs d’Urberville held each bird and felt it carefully to see that it was in good health．At the end she suddenly asked Tess a question．
苔絲要養(yǎng)的雞關(guān)在德伯夫人莊園的一間舊茅舍里。第一天她就要帶著幾只雞去見它們的主人。她馬上就意識到這個老婦人已經(jīng)雙目失明。德伯夫人一只只地抱過她的雞，仔細地撫摩著，以便確認它們?nèi)己芎谩Ｖ?，她突然向苔絲問道：

解析：cottage 小屋、村舍
eg: A friend of mine bought a cottage last year.
我的一個朋友去年買了一座小屋。

‘Can you whistle？’
“你會吹口哨嗎？”

解析：whistle 可作名詞意為口哨、汽笛；作動詞意為吹口哨、鳴汽笛? 文中的“whistle”是動詞
eg: The boy whistled happily when he walked along.
男孩邊走邊高興地吹口哨。

‘Whistle，Ma’am？’
“吹口哨，夫人？”

‘Yes，whistle tunes．I want you to practise and whistle to my birds every day．’
“對，吹點兒曲調(diào)。我要你練習每天給我的雞兒們吹口哨。”

解析：tune 曲調(diào)；和諧；心情；作動詞還有使一致的意思
eg: The violinist tuned the violin.
小提琴手給小提琴調(diào)弦。

‘Yes，Ma’am．’
“是，夫人?！?/div>

Tess was not surprised at Mrs d’Urberville's cold manner，and did not expect any more of such a great lady．However，she did not realize that the old lady had never even heard about the family connection．
苔絲對德伯夫人的冷漠并不感到驚訝，她本來就沒對這樣一位貴婦人抱更多的期望。然而她并不了解，這個老婦人根本就沒聽人說起過她們的親戚關(guān)系。

解析：be surprised at 對……感到驚訝
eg: I am surprised at the news.
聽到這消息我感到非常吃驚。

connection 關(guān)聯(lián)、關(guān)系
動詞原形是connect 連接、聯(lián)合
eg: His illness had some connection with his diet.
他的病與他減肥有點關(guān)系。