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Richard Jefferies. The Life of the Fields
The Life of the Fields
Table of Contents
THE PAGEANT OF SUMMER
THE FIELD PLAY: I. UPTILL-A-THORN II. RURAL DYNAMITE. BITS OF OAK BARK: I. THE ACORN-GATHERER II. THE LEGEND OF A GATEWAY III. A ROMAN BROOK. MEADOW THOUGHTS. CLEMATIS LANE. NATURE NEAR BRIGHTON. SEA, SKY, AND DOWN. JANUARY IN THE SUSSEX WOODS. BY THE EXE. THE WATER-COLLEY. NOTES ON LANDSCAPE PAINTING. VILLAGE MINERS. MIND UNDER WATER. SPORT AND SCIENCE. NATURE AND THE GAMEKEEPER. THE SACRIFICE TO TROUT. THE HOVERING OF THE KESTREL. BIRDS CLIMBING THE AIR. COUNTRY LITERATURE: I. THE AWAKENING. II. SCARCITY OF BOOKS III. THE VILLAGER'S TASTE IN READING IV. PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION. SUNLIGHT IN A LONDON SQUARE. VENICE IN THE EAST END. THE PIGEONS AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM. THE PLAINEST CITY IN EUROPE. THE PAGEANT OF SUMMER
I
II
THE FIELD-PLAY
I. UPTILL-A-THORN
II. RURAL DYNAMITE
BITS OF OAK BARK
I. THE ACORN-GATHERER
II. THE LEGEND OF A GATEWAY
III
A ROMAN BROOK
MEADOW THOUGHTS
CLEMATIS LANE
NATURE NEAR BRIGHTON
SEA, SKY, AND DOWN
JANUARY IN THE SUSSEX WOODS
BY THE EXE
THE WATER-COLLEY
I
II
VILLAGE MINERS
MIND UNDER WATER
SPORT AND SCIENCE
NATURE AND THE GAMEKEEPER
THE SACRIFICE TO TROUT
THE HOVERING OF THE KESTREL
BIRDS CLIMBING THE AIR
COUNTRY LITERATURE
I. THE AWAKENING
II
SCARCITY OF BOOKS
III
THE VILLAGER'S TASTE IN READING
IV
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION
VENICE IN THE EAST END
THE PIGEONS AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM
THE PLAINEST CITY IN EUROPE
Отрывок из книги
Richard Jefferies
Published by Good Press, 2022
.....
The farmer and the sun are the leading actors, and the hay-makers are the chorus, who bear the burden of the play. Marching, each a step behind the other, and yet in a row, they presented a slanting front, and so crossed the field, turning the "wallows." At the hedge she took her place, the last in the row. There were five men and eight women; all flouted her. The men teased her for being late again at work; she said it was so far to come. The women jeered at her for tearing her dress—she couldn't get through a "thornin'" hedge right. There was only one thing she could do, and that was to "make a vool of zum veller" (make a fool of some fellow). Dolly did not take much notice, except that her nervous temperament showed slight excitement in the manner she used her rake, now turning the hay quickly, now missing altogether, then catching the teeth of the rake in the buttercup-runners. The women did not fail to tell her how awkward she was. By-and-by Dolly bounced forward, and, with a flush on her cheek, took the place next to the men. They teased her too, you see, but there was no spiteful malice in their tongues. There are some natures which, naturally meek, if much condemned, defy that condemnation, and willingly give it ground of justification by open guilt. The women accused her of too free a carriage with the men; she replied by seeking their company in the broad glare of the summer day. They laughed loudly, joked, but welcomed her; they chatted with her gaily; they compelled her to sip from their ale as they paused by the hedge. By noon there was a high colour on her cheeks; the sun, the exercise, the badinage had brought it up.
So fair a complexion could not brown even in summer, exposed to the utmost heat. The beams indeed did heighten the hue of her cheeks a little, but it did not shade to brown. Her chin and neck were wholly untanned, white and soft, and the blue veins roamed at their will. Lips red, a little full perhaps; teeth slightly prominent but white and gleamy as she smiled. Dark brown hair in no great abundance, always slipping out of its confinement and straggling, now on her forehead, and now on her shoulders, like wandering bines of bryony. The softest of brown eyes under long eyelashes; eyes that seemed to see everything in its gentlest aspect, that could see no harm anywhere. A ready smile on the face, and a smile in the form. Her shape yielded so easily at each movement that it seemed to smile as she walked. Her nose was the least pleasing feature—not delicate enough to fit with the complexion, and distinctly upturned, though not offensively. But it was not noticed; no one saw anything beyond the laughing lips, the laughing shape, the eyes that melted so near to tears. The torn dress, the straggling hair, the tattered shoes, the unmended stocking, the straw hat split, the mingled poverty and carelessness—perhaps rather dreaminess—disappeared when once you had met the full untroubled gaze of those beautiful eyes. Untroubled, that is, with any ulterior thought of evil or cunning; they were as open as the day, the day which you can make your own for evil or good. So, too, like the day, was she ready to the making.
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