to get the works(to get beatings and abuse)

to be gentle and easy to approch(to have a way with one)

to have mixed feelings(mixed feelings of grief and joy)

to feel about in the dark

mourful but not distressing

Habits and customs

Shelter

to love as if it were a gem or a pearl

cherish his feather

to await one's doom(to resign oneself to death)

to be bullied and beaten(to suffer beating and insult)

to look immensely proud and complacent

Insolent

settle down

follow closely; rubbing the shoulder; go in a jostling crowd

the sort of place where one can live

to be unable to suppress

chunky

go through channels

to tower proudly into the skies