How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Gabriel had skinned the dead lamb, and was tying the skin over the body of the live lamb in the customary manner. (18.15)
Gabriel might love his lambs, but he's not exactly sentimental about it. If one of his lambs dies, for example, he's got no problem skinning the thing and tying its skin around another lamb that needs to get warm.
Quote #5
Every drop of moisture not in the men's bottles and flagons in the form of cider or ale was raining as perspiration from their foreheads and cheeks. Drought was everywhere else. (33.3)
When a long drought threatens to ruin the crops on the farms, the workmen feel it very deeply. It's almost as if they can feel the thirst of the crops for water, because they go to the pub to drink some cider themselves, almost as a sign of sympathy.
Quote #6
Oak's eyes followed the serpentine sheen to the other side, where it led up to a huge brown garden slug, which had come indoors to-night for reasons of its own. It was Nature's second way of hinting to him that he was to prepare for foul weather. (36.24)
When Oak thinks about covering up Bathsheba's crops, the most important thing he can do is determine whether it's going to rain. And a guy who's as skilled and experienced as Oak can quickly look to nature to find out what's going to happen. In this case, he sees that a garden slug has gone from outdoors to indoors, meaning that it's probably going to rain.