Classics Retold

Joseph Poorgrass had been carrying the coffin of Fanny Robin. On the way he entered an inn (Buck's Head) for a mug of ale. His neighbours Mark Clark and Jan Coggan were there, already enjoying drinks at a round table. Mark Clark aired the dialogue, "your face don't praise your mistress's table."  It means this:  Joseph Poorgrass looked thin, miserable or underfed, and his presence did not advertise Bathsheba's hospitality very well.  If a servant's face appeared pale hungry and unhappy, people might think the mistress of the house did not feed or treat her workers properly.  The phrase "praise your mistress's table" means: • To show by one's healthy appearance, that the employer used to keep a good table. • That food and drinks are plentiful and generous. Mark Clark was teasing Joseph, "You don't look like a man well fed."  Poorgrass was often anxious, timid, and self pitying. Hardy uses such a rustic dialogue to show the ea...

A classic literary metaphor for Death.  It describes an indiscriminate, ultimate equaliser that spares no one -- regardless of wealth, social class or power -- making everyone equal in the end.  The phrase gained immense popularity in Victorian English literature, most notably in Thomas Hardy's classic novel Far From The Madding Crowd to describe the approaching spectre of death during a funeral procession in a rainy autumnal forest. 

Located just east of Dorchester in Dorset, in England. In Under The Greenwood Tree it appears as Yalbury Wood. The forest is primarily known as Yellowham wood. In Hardy's fictional Wessex, this woodland is often described as the village of Mellstock's  backyard.  It even inspired his well-known poem Yell'ham Wood's story.  It is located near the hamlet of Lower  Bockhampton where Hardy was born.

Atmospheric fungi are microscopic spores and cellular fragments suspended in the air.  Emitted from soil, decaying vegetation, and agricultural operations they act as massive organic aerosols.  They influence regional weather by triggering cloud formation, but can pose significant respiratory and allergic problems to human health. Ecological and atmospheric roles:- • Cloud Nucleation: Fungal spores act as highly efficient condensation and ice nuclie.  Water vapour in the atmosphere freezes or condenses around them, driving the hydrological cycle and precipitation patterns. • Organic Aerosols:  Fungi comprises a staggering around 23 percent of total organic Aerosols emitted into the earth's atmosphere. Environmental and climate impact: Fungi spores act as highly effective cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclie (IN).  They actively trigger water droplets and ice crystals to form, significantly influencing precipitation patterns. Fungi spores are released i...

Both Bathsheba and her husband remained silent after their return from the market. Troy was restless too.  The next day, which was a Sunday the silence continued.  Bathsheba went to church in the morning and afternoon.  This was the day before the Budmouth races.  In the evening Troy said suddenly, "Bathsheba, could you let me have twenty pounds?"  Her countenance instantly sank.  "Twenty pounds? "The fact is I want it badly," said Troy, his face marked his unusual anxiety. He had been living with the anxiety, all the day. "Ah! for those races tomorrow." Troy, for the moment made no reply. "Well, suppose I do want it for races?" he said at last. "Oh, Frank!" Bathsheba replied, and there was such an entreaty in her words.  "Only a few days ago you said that I was far sweeter than all your other pleasures put together, and you would give them all up for me, and now won't you give up this one, which is more a worry than a ple...

Pantomime, often called panto in UK is a theatrical performance based on fairy tale, featuring music, comedy, and audience participation.  It also refers to the art of acting through physical gestures and body movements without words. It is a form of family theatre, especially during Christmas season based on familiar tales like Cinderella, Aladdin or Jack and the Beanstalk.  The audience is expected to cheer the hero, boo the villian, and shout out comments.  The leading male is often played by a woman, while an older comedian figure (the dame ) is played by a man. It is a kind of dumb show. The word is often used to describe any confusing, ridiculous or exaggerated situation.  In Chapter 41 of Far From The Madding Crowd, Bathsheba Everdene sees Boldwood meeting Gabriel at long distance, and Joseph Poorgrass joining them. Nothing could be heard by Bathsheba of the conversation among them, it was a pantomime.  Moreover Bathsheba is disturbed by her married life ...