The chickens for which Tess was responsible lived in an old cottage on Mrs d’Urberville's land．On her first day Tess had to take some of the chickens to show to their owner．She immediately realized the old lady was blind．Mrs d’Urberville held each bird and felt it carefully to see that it was in good health．At the end she suddenly asked Tess a question．
苔絲要養(yǎng)的雞關(guān)在德伯夫人莊園的一間舊茅舍里。第一天她就要帶著幾只雞去見(jiàn)它們的主人。她馬上就意識(shí)到這個(gè)老婦人已經(jīng)雙目失明。德伯夫人一只只地抱過(guò)她的雞，仔細(xì)地?fù)崮χ?，以便確認(rèn)它們?nèi)己芎谩Ｖ?，她突然向苔絲問(wèn)道：

解析：cottage 小屋、村舍
eg: A friend of mine bought a cottage last year.
我的一個(gè)朋友去年買了一座小屋。

‘Can you whistle？’
“你會(huì)吹口哨嗎？”

解析：whistle 可作名詞意為口哨、汽笛；作動(dòng)詞意為吹口哨、鳴汽笛? 文中的“whistle”是動(dòng)詞
eg: The boy whistled happily when he walked along.
男孩邊走邊高興地吹口哨。

‘Whistle，Ma’am？’
“吹口哨，夫人？”

‘Yes，whistle tunes．I want you to practise and whistle to my birds every day．’
“對(duì)，吹點(diǎn)兒曲調(diào)。我要你練習(xí)每天給我的雞兒們吹口哨?！?/div>

解析：tune 曲調(diào)；和諧；心情；作動(dòng)詞還有使一致的意思
eg: The violinist tuned the violin.
小提琴手給小提琴調(diào)弦。

‘Yes，Ma’am．’
“是，夫人?！?/div>

Tess was not surprised at Mrs d’Urberville's cold manner，and did not expect any more of such a great lady．However，she did not realize that the old lady had never even heard about the family connection．
苔絲對(duì)德伯夫人的冷漠并不感到驚訝，她本來(lái)就沒(méi)對(duì)這樣一位貴婦人抱更多的期望。然而她并不了解，這個(gè)老婦人根本就沒(méi)聽(tīng)人說(shuō)起過(guò)她們的親戚關(guān)系。

解析：be surprised at 對(duì)……感到驚訝
eg: I am surprised at the news.
聽(tīng)到這消息我感到非常吃驚。

connection 關(guān)聯(lián)、關(guān)系
動(dòng)詞原形是connect 連接、聯(lián)合
eg: His illness had some connection with his diet.
他的病與他減肥有點(diǎn)關(guān)系。