Songs were often resorted to in dairies hereabout as an enticement to the cows when they showed signs of withholding their usual yield; and the band of milkers at this request burst into melody - in purely business-like tones, it is true, and with no great spontaneity; the result, according to their own belief, being a decided improvement during the song's continuance. When they had gone through fourteen or fifteen verses of a cheerful ballad about a murderer who was afraid to go to bed in the dark because he saw certain brimstone flames around him, one of the male milkers said--
當奶牛一出現(xiàn)出奶量比平常減少的跡象，人們往往就采取在牛奶場唱歌的辦法，想用這種辦法把牛奶引出來；老板要求唱歌，這群擠牛奶的工人們就放開喉嚨唱起來——唱的完全是一種應付公事的調(diào)子，老實說，一點也沒有自愿的意思；結果，就像他們相信的那樣，在他們不停地唱歌的時候，出奶的狀況的確有了改變。他們唱的是一首民歌，說是有一個殺人兇手不敢在黑暗里睡覺，因為他看見有某種硫磺火焰在圍繞著他燃燒，他們唱到第十四段還是第十五段的時候，擠牛奶的男工中有人說——

'I wish singing on the stoop didn't use up so much of a man's wind! You should get your harp, sir; not but what a fiddle is best.'
“但愿彎著腰唱歌不要這樣費氣力才好！你應該把你的豎琴拿來，先生；不拿豎琴，最好還是拿小提琴?！?/div>

Tess, who had given ear to this, thought the words were addressed to the dairyman, but she was wrong. A reply, in the shape of 'Why?'came as it were out of the belly of a dun cow in the stalls; it had been spoken by a milker behind the animal, whom she had not hitherto perceived.
一直在留神聽他們說話的苔絲，以為這些話是對牛奶場老板說的，不過她想錯了。有人接口說了句“為什么”，聲音似乎是從牛棚里一頭黃牛的肚子里發(fā)出來的；這句話是那頭牛后面的一個擠奶工人說的，苔絲直到這時才看見他。

'Oh yes; there's nothing like a fiddle,' said the dairyman. 'Though I do think that bulls are more moved by a tune than cows - at least that's my experience. Once there was a old aged man over at Mellstock - William Dewy by name - one of the family that used to do a good deal of business as tranters over there, Jonathan, do ye mind? - I knowed the man by sight as well as I know my own brother, in a manner of speaking. Well, this man was a coming home-along from a wedding where he had been playing his fiddle, one fine moonlight night, and for shortness' sake he took a cut across Forty-acres, a field lying that way, where a bull was out to grass. The bull seed William, and took after him, horns aground, begad; and though William runned his best, and hadn't much drink in him (considering 'twas a wedding, and the folks well off), he found he'd never reach the fence and get over in time to save himself. Well, as a last thought, he pulled out his fiddle as he runned, and struck up a jig, turning to the bull, and backing towards the corner. The bull softened down, and stood still, looking hard at William Dewy, who fiddled on and on; till a sort of a smile stole over the bull's face. But no sooner did William stop his playing and turn to get over hedge than the bull would stop his smiling and lower his horns towards the seat of William's breeches. Well, William had to turn about and play on, willy-nilly; and 'twas only three o'clock in the world, and 'a knowed that nobody would come that way for hours, and he so leery and tired that 'a didn't know what to do. When he had scraped till about four o'clock he felt that he verily would have to give over soon, and he said to himself, "There's only this last tune between me and eternal welfare! Heaven save me, or I'm a done man." Well, then he called to mind how he'd seen the cattle kneel o' Christmas Eves in the dead o' night. It was not Christmas Eve then, but it came into his head to play a trick upon the bull. So he broke into the 'Tivity Hymn, just as at Christmas carol-singing; when, lo and behold, down went the bull on his bended knees, in his ignorance, just as if 'twere the true 'Tivity night and hour. As soon as his horned friend were down, William turned, clinked off like a long-dog, and jumped safe over hedge, before the praying bull had got on his feet again to take after him. William used to say that he'd seen a man look a fool a good many times, but never such a fool as that bull looked when he found his pious feelings had been played upon, and 'twas not Christmas Eve... Yes, William Dewy, that was the man's name; and I can tell you to a foot where's he a-lying in Mellstock Churchyard at this very moment - just between the second yew-tree and the north aisle.'
“啊，是的；什么也比不上提琴，”奶牛場老板說?！氨M管我確實認為公牛比母牛更容易受到音樂的感動——至少這是我的經(jīng)驗。從前梅爾斯托克有一個老頭兒——名字叫威廉·杜伊——他家里從前是趕大車的，在那一帶做了不少的活兒，約納森，你不在意嗎？——也可以這么說，我見面就認識他，就像熟悉我的兄弟一樣。哦，有一次他在婚禮上拉提琴，那是一個月光明媚的晚上，他在回家的路上為了少走一些路，就走了一條穿過名叫四十畝地的近路，在橫在路中的那塊田野里，有一頭公牛跑出來吃草。公?？匆娡煅?，把頭上的角一晃就追了過去；盡管威廉拼命地跑，而且酒他也喝得不多（因為那是婚禮，辦婚事的人家也很有錢），但是他還是感到他沒法及時跑到樹籬跟前跳過去，救自己的命。唉，后來他急中生智，一邊跑，一邊把提琴拿出來，轉(zhuǎn)身對著公牛拉起一支跳舞的曲子，一邊倒著向角落里退去。那頭公牛安靜下來，站著不動了，使勁地看著威廉·杜伊，看著他把曲子拉了又拉；看到后來，公牛的臉上都悄悄露出一種笑容來了。可是就在威廉停下來剛要翻過樹籬的時候，那頭公牛就不再笑了，低下頭要向威廉的胯襠觸過去。啊，威廉不得不轉(zhuǎn)過身去繼續(xù)拉給它聽，拉呀拉呀，不停地拉；那時還只是凌晨三點鐘，他知道再有幾個小時那條路上也不會有人來，他又累又餓，簡直不知道怎么辦才好。當他拉到大約四點鐘的時候，他真不知道他是不是很快就要拉不下去了，就自言自語地說，“這是我剩下的最后一支曲子了！老天爺，救救我吧，莫讓我把命丟了。”哦，后來他突然想起來他看見圣誕節(jié)前夕的半夜里有頭牛下跪的事來。不過那時候不是圣誕節(jié)前夕，但是他突然想到要同那頭公牛開個玩笑。因此，他就轉(zhuǎn)而拉了一首“耶穌誕生頌”，就像圣誕節(jié)有人在唱圣誕頌歌一樣；啊哈，你瞧，那頭公牛不知道是開玩笑，就彎著雙腿跪了下去，似乎真的以為耶穌誕生的時刻到了。威廉等到他那長角的朋友一跪下去，就轉(zhuǎn)過身去像一條獵狗躥起來，祈禱的公牛還沒有站起來向他追過去，他已經(jīng)跳過樹籬平安無事了。威廉曾經(jīng)說過愚蠢的人他見得多了，但從沒有見過那頭公牛發(fā)現(xiàn)那天原來不是圣誕節(jié)而自己虔誠的感情受到欺騙時那種傻樣的……對了，威廉·杜伊，這就是那個人的名字；這陣兒他埋在梅爾斯托克教堂院子里，什么地方我都能說得一點兒不差——他就埋在教堂北邊的走道和第二棵紫杉中間那塊地方?！?/div>