內容簡介
作者蘿斯蒙‧楊在農場長大,她的父母親從她剛出生就開始畜牧業,楊家農場的經營方式是將每一隻牛都當成一個個體,牠們有自己名字、個性,蘿斯蒙甚至嘗一口現擠的牛奶就可以分辨出來自哪一頭乳牛。蘿斯蒙將自己和動物相處的經驗都寫在這本只有一百六十頁的書中,書雖薄,但卻塞滿蘿斯蒙和牛,有時候還有羊和雞,相處時的感情,她強調每一隻牛都有自己的個性,有些很友善,有些要花點時間去了解,有些催了半天還不回農舍睡覺,有些時間到了就會乖乖回家。
她也在書中分享一些牛的小知識,例如如果牛對你搖搖頭,表示牠在叫你走開,還有牛非常討厭香水味等。
這本書在二零零三年出版,因受到英國知名劇作家,也是經典書《非普通讀者》作者艾倫‧班奈的喜愛,他在日記中寫道,這本書改變了他看世界的方式,這個版本也特別收錄了班奈所撰寫的前言。
A Sunday Times bestseller
A Times Book of the Year 2017
WITH A FOREWORD BY ALAN BENNETT
'A lovely, thoughtful little book about the intelligence of cows.' James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd's Life
Cows are as varied as people. They can be highly intelligent or slow to understand, vain, considerate, proud, shy or inventive.
Although much of a cow's day is spent eating, they always find time for extra-curricular activities such as babysitting, playing hide and seek, blackberry-picking or fighting a tree.
This is an affectionate record of a hitherto secret world.