Chapters 1—4

The first chapter of Far from the Madding Crowd introduces Gabriel Oak, a hardworking farmer. One day, tending his fields, he sees a wagon with a beautiful girl in it. When her driver goes to pick up something dropped on the road, the girl, thinking no one can see her, takes out a small mirror and examines her face. Oak later observes the same young woman and her aunt caring for a newborn calf through a cold night.

Oak finally talks to Bathsheba Everdene, returning a hat that she has lost. She is flirtatious. Oak, smitten, goes to call on her at her aunt's house to ask her to marry him. She refuses, explaining, "I want somebody to tame me; I am too independent; and you would never be able to, I know."

Chapters 5—10

One morning Oak hears that Bathsheba has left town. Not long...