\'Good,\'said Mr Gordon.\'I\'ll ride him tomorrow.\'
I remembered my mother\'s advice, and the next day I tried to do exactly what my master wanted me to do.He was a very good rider,and when he came home his wife was waiting for him at the door.
\'How do you like him, my dear?\'she asked.
\'I have never ridden a more pleasant horse,\'answered Mr Gordon.\'What shall we call him?\'
\'What about Blackbird,like your uncle\'s old horse?\'said his wife.
\'He\'s far handsomer than Blackbird,\'said Mr Gordon.
\'Yes,\'she said,\'he\'s quite a beauty, and he has a kind, in-telligent face.Shall we call him Black Beauty?\'
\'Black Beauty—why,yes,I think that\'s a very good name,\'said Mr Gordon.
John went into the stable and told James.
\'I\'d call him Rob Roy,\'said James,\'if it did not remind ev-eryone of the past.I never saw two horses more alike.\'
\'That\'s not surprising,\'said John.\'Didn\'t you know that Farmer Grey\'s old Duchess was the mother of them both?\'
So poor Rob Roy who was killed at the hunt was my brother! Now I understood why my mother was so unhappy when he died.
John was very proud of me,and seemed to know just how a horse feels.And James was kind,too.
A day or two later,I went out in the carriage with Ginger.I wondered how we would get on together, but I found it easy to trot along beside her.
Merrylegs was a happy little pony and was everyone\'s favourite.We were soon great friends and I became quite happy in my new home.
2 伯特威克庄园
我开始长得英俊了。我的毛细腻柔软,油黑油黑的,有一只脚是白色的,前额上还有一颗漂亮的白星。在我4岁时,高顿先生来看我。他仔细地看了我的眼睛、嘴巴和腿,然后我为他表演了走步、小跑和奔驰。
“把他训练一下,”高顿先生对我的主人说,“他会做得很好。”
我的主人喜欢在卖马前亲自驯马,于是第二天我的训练开始了。
训练一匹马,要教他学会配戴马鞍,驮男人、女人和小孩。这匹马还得学会戴轭具,在套轭具时,得站稳了不能移动;然后还得学会在身后套上一辆马车,按赶车人的意思快走或慢走。他永远不得踢、咬或者和其他马闲聊,而且不管多累多饿,都必须永远服从主人。
和所有成年的马一样,我得戴上嚼口和笼头。马嚼口是一大片又冷又硬的金属,像人的手指那么厚,塞进马嘴,卡在上下两排牙齿之间,舌头之上,末端从嘴角伸出来。勒住嚼口的绳子绕着马头,经过脖子下面,围着鼻子和下巴颏儿。马夫手里的缰绳紧紧系住嚼口的两端。慢慢地,在我主人的好言好语和温柔的动作引导下,我学会了戴嚼口和笼头。
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