however , despite the gloom of their lives , miners held farmers in extreme contempt , calling them names like rose trimmers or chicken fondlers , which implied at the same time that their work wasnt manly enough and that they lay with their animals , which accounted for their womens legendary promiscuity and the shamefully few children they bore though of course , even when she was a little girl , it was obvious to yenka that miners bred like rabbits because so many of their offspring were killed , and that life amidst meek beasts , fragrant flowers and an abundancy of good food ( since farmers kept their prime eggs , meat and produce for the castle , leaving the wives and daughters of miners to root through carts of half-rotten vegetables and barely edible meat ) would exceed her best and most tantalizing dreams .