First Yokel: It's that Thomas Hardy's birthday then.
Second Yokel: Aye. That it be.
First Yokel: Him'd be 184 if he were still alive then.
Second Yokel: Aye. That a' would.
First Yokel: Hast finished "Jude the Obscure" yet?
Second Yokel: No, too depressing.
First Yokel: Hast finished "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" yet?
Second Yokel: No, too depressing.
First Yokel: Hast finished "The Woodlanders" yet?
Second Yokel: No, too depressing.
First Yokel: Hast finished "The Return of the Native" yet?
Second Yokel: No, too depressing.
First Yokel: Shall us along to the Peter's Finger in Mixen Lane for a pretty drop o' tipple?
Second Yokel: W' all my heart.
First Yokel: Happy heavenly birthday, Thomas Hardy.
Second Yokel: If he's up there he's gonna be feeling a bit stupid.
We "did" The (S)Trumpet Major for School Certificate. I was a great reader and tried hard to read the book out of interest. Always failed, and have no idea what it was about to this day. But, somehow, I passed the exam !
ReplyDeleteIt's a sweet little love story about a pretty woman and her three suitors, set just outside Weymouth ("Budmouth") at the time of the Napoleonic wars. I say "sweet". Being Hardy, one of the suitors appears to want to rape her, while one of the others is killed on the battlefields of Europe. Still, it worked out well otherwise.
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