Praise Your Mistress's Table

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 earthy wit of farm folks.  It also reflected an old rural idea: A household's reputation was judged partly by the condition of its servants.


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