04-02-01-黑骏马 [5]
．“It's wrong for a fine horse to go bad like that，”he said．And I was brought here，not long before you came．Of course，it's very different here．But who knows how long it will last？ I've decided that all men are my natural enemies．'
I was sorry for Ginger， but as the weeks went on， she be-came happier and more gentle．
'I do believe Ginger is getting quite fond of me，'James said one day．
'She'll be as good as Black Eeauty one day，'replied John．'Kindness is all she needs，poor thing！'
■ 3 金儿的故事
我还想要什么呢？自由！在我生命的头4年，我曾拥有那么广阔的田野，我可以在那儿全速奔驰——没有缰绳，没有嚼口，也没有眼罩。现在，除了有活干的时候，我得日夜呆在马厩里，有时约翰带我出去的时候，我觉得自己是那么强壮有力，充满生机，我按捺不住地想跳跃，想舞蹈。
“静一点儿，伙计！”他会说。
我们一出村，他就会让我撒开了跑上几里。有的马夫会惩罚过度兴奋的马，约翰不。他知道怎么能只用声音来控制我，我真喜欢他。
有时在田野里，我们可以尽情享受一两小时自由。这时往往是在夏天的周日，因为马车在周日不外出。那真叫妙不可言。青草踏上去凉爽而柔软，连空气都是甜的。我们可以或飞跑或卧倒或是滚来滚去，随心所欲。
一天金儿问起我的老家和我受的训练。我讲完后，她说：“过去我的生活可不是这样。我小时候就被人从我妈妈身边带走，可没有像你的主人那么好的人照顾我。训练时我可受了罪了。几个人在草场的一角捉住我，一个人紧紧地抓住我的鼻子，我都快透不过气来了。另一个掰开我的嘴，塞进嚼子，我一路被拖着，屁股被抽打着。他们不给我时间弄明白他们到底想要我干什么。
“老主人莱德先生倒是懂得马匹，但他已把绝大部分工作转给了他的儿子，那是个又高又壮、又不和气的家伙。他们叫他萨姆森，他说没有哪匹马能把他甩下马鞍。一天，他用长鞭子赶着我绕着田野跑啊跑，直到我精疲力尽。第二天他又这样来了一遍，还给我备上马鞍，绑上笼头，而且还给我嘴里塞进了一种新式嚼口。
“新嚼口让我的嘴很疼，我挣脱开去，用后腿直立起来，这可惹恼了他。他仍坐在马鞍上，用鞭子抽我，经过一番长时间的激烈较量，我终于把他甩了下来，跑到田野的另一边去了。
“我看着他走进马厩，但是没人来把我领回去。时间一分一秒地过着，太阳变得火热。我好饿，还渴得要命。最后，到太阳快落山的时候，老主人带着一些燕麦出来了。他对我和气地讲话，又捧出燕麦来喂我，还轻轻地拍着我，察看了我身上被萨姆森抽打出的鲜血。
“'可怜的姑娘！'他说着，牵我回了马厩。萨姆森也在那儿。'滚出去，'老主人说。'你的臭脾气让这匹马受了一天的罪。一个坏脾气的人永远训练不出好脾气的马。'他带我进了我的圆栏，卸下了我的马鞍和笼头。然后他叫人送来了温水，轻轻地为我擦拭身上的血。
“从那以后，他常来看我，一个叫乔的人继续训练我。他又安静又周到，我很快就能领会他的意图。
“训练之后，”金儿继续道，“我被一个商人买去配他的另一匹颜色和我相仿的马。随后我们被卖到伦敦。新主人用缰绳把我们的头勒得老是不自然地高昂着，一连好几个小时，直到我们痛得受不了。我们得戴两副嚼子，而不是一副，我的嚼口锋利得把我的嘴都划出血了。有时我们的男主人或女主人参加舞会或去剧院，我们得等上好多个小时，如有一点不耐烦，马夫就抽我们。”
“你们的主人就一点也不关心你们？”我说。
“他只在乎我们的外貌。”金儿说。“他对马懂得很少。马夫告诉他说我的脾气很坏，但很快就会适应缰绳。我愿意干活和学新本领，但他们太冷酷了，我就生气了。于是一天我从那辆车上挣脱开逃走了，从此告别了那个地方。
“我被卖给了另一个人，他有一个脾气和萨姆森一样坏的马夫。如果我走得慢一点，他就用马刷打我的腿。我恨他，一天他惹恼了我，我就咬了他！他后来再也没进过我的马厩。很快我又被卖掉了。
“一个商人听说了我，说他知道有一个地方适合我。'一匹好马不应该就这样一天天变坏，'他说。我就被带到这里，就在你来之前不久。当然，这里倒真是不一样。可谁知道这能维持多久呢？我认定所有人类都是我的天敌。”
我真为金儿难过，不过时间一星期一星期地过去，她变得高兴起来，而且温和起来。
“我确信金儿喜欢我了，”一天詹姆斯说。
“有一天她会变得和黑骏马一样出色的，”约翰说。“可怜的小家伙，她要的不过是善意罢了。”
■ 4 Kindness and cruelty
Aneighbour of the Gordons'，Mr Blomefield，had a large family of boys and girls who often came to play with Miss Jessie and Miss Flora．One of the girls was the same age as Miss Jessie，two of the boys were older，and there were sev-eral little ones．Whenever they came， the children loved to ride Merrylegs．
One afternoon when they were visiting，James brought Merrylegs in and said，'Now，behave yourself．'
'What did you do，Merrylegs？'I asked him．
'Those young people didn't seem to know whell I was tired，'he said，'so I just threw them off backwards．It was the only thing they could understand．'
'You threw the children off！'I sald．'Oh，no！Did you throw Miss Flora or Miss Jessie？'
'No，of course not！ I'm quiet and careful with them， and with the little ones．I'm the best friend and riding teacher those children have．It's not them，it's the boys，'he said．'The other children rode me for nearly two hours， then the boys rode me，one after the other，for an hour，hitting me with a stick．I didn't get annoyed but I did get tired， so I stopped once or twice to let them know．But boys think a horse is like a machine and can go on as long and as fast as they want it to．They never think that we get tired．As one was whipping me，I stood up on my back legs and he fell off．He got on again and I did the same．Then the other boy tried and I put him down on the grass．They're not bad boys，and don't mean to be cruel， but they have to learn．
'When they told James，he was angry to see those big sticks and told the boys not to use them again．'
'I would give those boys a good kick，'said Ginger．
'I know you would，'said Merrylegs．'But they expect me to look after those children， and they expect me to be good-tempered，and I will be．You never had a place where they were kind to you，Ginger，and I'm sorry for you． But good places make good horses，and I wouldn't make our people angry for anything！If I started kicking people，they would very quickly sell me
I was sorry for Ginger， but as the weeks went on， she be-came happier and more gentle．
'I do believe Ginger is getting quite fond of me，'James said one day．
'She'll be as good as Black Eeauty one day，'replied John．'Kindness is all she needs，poor thing！'
■ 3 金儿的故事
我还想要什么呢？自由！在我生命的头4年，我曾拥有那么广阔的田野，我可以在那儿全速奔驰——没有缰绳，没有嚼口，也没有眼罩。现在，除了有活干的时候，我得日夜呆在马厩里，有时约翰带我出去的时候，我觉得自己是那么强壮有力，充满生机，我按捺不住地想跳跃，想舞蹈。
“静一点儿，伙计！”他会说。
我们一出村，他就会让我撒开了跑上几里。有的马夫会惩罚过度兴奋的马，约翰不。他知道怎么能只用声音来控制我，我真喜欢他。
有时在田野里，我们可以尽情享受一两小时自由。这时往往是在夏天的周日，因为马车在周日不外出。那真叫妙不可言。青草踏上去凉爽而柔软，连空气都是甜的。我们可以或飞跑或卧倒或是滚来滚去，随心所欲。
一天金儿问起我的老家和我受的训练。我讲完后，她说：“过去我的生活可不是这样。我小时候就被人从我妈妈身边带走，可没有像你的主人那么好的人照顾我。训练时我可受了罪了。几个人在草场的一角捉住我，一个人紧紧地抓住我的鼻子，我都快透不过气来了。另一个掰开我的嘴，塞进嚼子，我一路被拖着，屁股被抽打着。他们不给我时间弄明白他们到底想要我干什么。
“老主人莱德先生倒是懂得马匹，但他已把绝大部分工作转给了他的儿子，那是个又高又壮、又不和气的家伙。他们叫他萨姆森，他说没有哪匹马能把他甩下马鞍。一天，他用长鞭子赶着我绕着田野跑啊跑，直到我精疲力尽。第二天他又这样来了一遍，还给我备上马鞍，绑上笼头，而且还给我嘴里塞进了一种新式嚼口。
“新嚼口让我的嘴很疼，我挣脱开去，用后腿直立起来，这可惹恼了他。他仍坐在马鞍上，用鞭子抽我，经过一番长时间的激烈较量，我终于把他甩了下来，跑到田野的另一边去了。
“我看着他走进马厩，但是没人来把我领回去。时间一分一秒地过着，太阳变得火热。我好饿，还渴得要命。最后，到太阳快落山的时候，老主人带着一些燕麦出来了。他对我和气地讲话，又捧出燕麦来喂我，还轻轻地拍着我，察看了我身上被萨姆森抽打出的鲜血。
“'可怜的姑娘！'他说着，牵我回了马厩。萨姆森也在那儿。'滚出去，'老主人说。'你的臭脾气让这匹马受了一天的罪。一个坏脾气的人永远训练不出好脾气的马。'他带我进了我的圆栏，卸下了我的马鞍和笼头。然后他叫人送来了温水，轻轻地为我擦拭身上的血。
“从那以后，他常来看我，一个叫乔的人继续训练我。他又安静又周到，我很快就能领会他的意图。
“训练之后，”金儿继续道，“我被一个商人买去配他的另一匹颜色和我相仿的马。随后我们被卖到伦敦。新主人用缰绳把我们的头勒得老是不自然地高昂着，一连好几个小时，直到我们痛得受不了。我们得戴两副嚼子，而不是一副，我的嚼口锋利得把我的嘴都划出血了。有时我们的男主人或女主人参加舞会或去剧院，我们得等上好多个小时，如有一点不耐烦，马夫就抽我们。”
“你们的主人就一点也不关心你们？”我说。
“他只在乎我们的外貌。”金儿说。“他对马懂得很少。马夫告诉他说我的脾气很坏，但很快就会适应缰绳。我愿意干活和学新本领，但他们太冷酷了，我就生气了。于是一天我从那辆车上挣脱开逃走了，从此告别了那个地方。
“我被卖给了另一个人，他有一个脾气和萨姆森一样坏的马夫。如果我走得慢一点，他就用马刷打我的腿。我恨他，一天他惹恼了我，我就咬了他！他后来再也没进过我的马厩。很快我又被卖掉了。
“一个商人听说了我，说他知道有一个地方适合我。'一匹好马不应该就这样一天天变坏，'他说。我就被带到这里，就在你来之前不久。当然，这里倒真是不一样。可谁知道这能维持多久呢？我认定所有人类都是我的天敌。”
我真为金儿难过，不过时间一星期一星期地过去，她变得高兴起来，而且温和起来。
“我确信金儿喜欢我了，”一天詹姆斯说。
“有一天她会变得和黑骏马一样出色的，”约翰说。“可怜的小家伙，她要的不过是善意罢了。”
■ 4 Kindness and cruelty
Aneighbour of the Gordons'，Mr Blomefield，had a large family of boys and girls who often came to play with Miss Jessie and Miss Flora．One of the girls was the same age as Miss Jessie，two of the boys were older，and there were sev-eral little ones．Whenever they came， the children loved to ride Merrylegs．
One afternoon when they were visiting，James brought Merrylegs in and said，'Now，behave yourself．'
'What did you do，Merrylegs？'I asked him．
'Those young people didn't seem to know whell I was tired，'he said，'so I just threw them off backwards．It was the only thing they could understand．'
'You threw the children off！'I sald．'Oh，no！Did you throw Miss Flora or Miss Jessie？'
'No，of course not！ I'm quiet and careful with them， and with the little ones．I'm the best friend and riding teacher those children have．It's not them，it's the boys，'he said．'The other children rode me for nearly two hours， then the boys rode me，one after the other，for an hour，hitting me with a stick．I didn't get annoyed but I did get tired， so I stopped once or twice to let them know．But boys think a horse is like a machine and can go on as long and as fast as they want it to．They never think that we get tired．As one was whipping me，I stood up on my back legs and he fell off．He got on again and I did the same．Then the other boy tried and I put him down on the grass．They're not bad boys，and don't mean to be cruel， but they have to learn．
'When they told James，he was angry to see those big sticks and told the boys not to use them again．'
'I would give those boys a good kick，'said Ginger．
'I know you would，'said Merrylegs．'But they expect me to look after those children， and they expect me to be good-tempered，and I will be．You never had a place where they were kind to you，Ginger，and I'm sorry for you． But good places make good horses，and I wouldn't make our people angry for anything！If I started kicking people，they would very quickly sell me