They came downstairs yawning next morning; but skimming and milking were proceeded with as usual, and they went indoors to breakfast. Dairyman Crick was discovered stamping about the house. He had received a letter, in which a customer had complained that the butter had a twang.
第二天早晨，她們起床下樓時都打著呵欠；但是她們撇奶油和擠牛奶的工作依然照常進行，干完了就進屋吃早飯。她們看見奶牛場老板克里克先生在屋子里直跺腳，原來是他收到了一位顧客的來信，信中抱怨他生產(chǎn)的黃油帶有一股怪味。

'And begad, so 't have!' said the dairyman, who held in his left hand a wooden slice on which a lump of butter was stuck. 'Yes - taste for yourself!'
“哎呀，天啦，真有一股怪味呀！”老板說，左手拿著一塊木片，木片上沾了一塊黃油?！笆怯幸还晒治秲骸恍拍銈冏约簢L嘗吧！”

Several of them gathered round him; and Mr Clare tasted, Tess tasted, also the other indoor milkmaids, one or two of the milking-men, and last of all Mrs Crick, who came out from the waiting breakfast-table. There certainly was a twang.
有幾個人圍到他的身邊；克萊爾先生嘗了嘗，苔絲嘗了嘗，屋子里其他幾個擠奶的姑娘嘗了嘗，還有幾個擠奶的男工也嘗了嘗，克里克太太在屋子外面擺桌子，所以她是最后嘗的一個人。黃油里肯定有一股怪味兒。

The dairyman, who had thrown himself into abstraction to better realize the taste, and so divine the particular species of noxious weed to which it appertained, suddenly exclaimed--
奶牛場老板聚精會神地在那兒品味著黃油的味道，想分辨出造成這種怪異味道的是一種什么莠草，過了一會兒他突然大聲說——

''Tis garlic! and I thought there wasn't a blade left in that mead!'
“是大蒜！我原來以為那片草場里一片蒜葉也沒有了呢！”

Then all the old hands remembered that a certain dry mead, into which a few of the cows had been admitted of late, had, in years gone by, spoilt the butter in the same way. The dairyman had not recognized the taste at that time, and thought the butter bewitched.
于是所有的老工人也想起來了，近來有幾頭牛跑到了一塊干草地里，在好幾年前，也是因為一些牛跑進了那塊地里而弄壞了黃油。那一次老板沒有能夠把那股味道分辨出來，還以為是巫術(shù)弄壞了黃油。

'We must overhaul that mead,' he resumed; 'this mustn't continny!'
“我們一定要把那塊草場再徹底地搜一遍，”老板接著說；“這種事可不能再有了?！?/div>

All having armed themselves with old pointed knives they went out together. As the inimical plant could only be present in very microscopic dimensions to have escaped ordinary observation, to find it seemed rather a hopeless attempt in the stretch of rich grass before them. However, they formed themselves into line, all assisting, owing to the importance of the search; the dairyman at the upper end with Mr Clare, who had volunteered to help; then Tess, Marian, Izz Huett, and Retty; then Bill Lewell, Jonathan, and the married dairywomen - Beck Knibbs, with her woolly black hair and rolling eyes; and flaxen Frances, consumptive from the winter damps of the water-meads - who lived in their respective cottages.
所有的人手里都拿上了一把舊尖刀，把自己武裝起來，一起出了門。由于長在草場里的那種對黃油有害的植物平?？床灰?，那一定是非常細小的，因此要把它們從他們面前這片繁茂的草地里找出來，幾乎是沒有希望的。但是由于事關(guān)重大，他們就都過來幫忙，一起排成一排搜查；克萊爾先生也自動過來幫忙，奶牛場老板就和他站在上邊的開頭；排在他們后面的是苔絲、瑪麗安、伊茨·休特和萊蒂；再往后就是比爾·洛威爾、約納森，還有已經(jīng)結(jié)了婚住在各自房舍里的女工們——里面有貝克·尼布斯，她長了一頭黑色的鬈發(fā)和一雙滴溜溜直轉(zhuǎn)的大眼睛；還有一個長著亞麻色頭發(fā)的法蘭西斯，她因為水草場上冬季的濕氣而染上了肺病。