《黑駿馬》(節選)

Anna Sewell

One day in the autumn, my master had to go to a distant town on business. John harnessed me to the carriage and the three of us went off. There had been a lot of rain, and the wind was very strong. When we came to the river, the water was so high that it nearly reached the wooden bridge, and many of the fields were under water.In one low part of the road,the water was half-way up to my knees.

We got to the town and the master's business took a long time.It was late in the afternoon when we started to go back home. The wind was much stronger, and as we drove through a wood, I heard my master say,“I've never been out in a storm as bad as this, John.”Indeed, I thought so too, hearing the terrible noise of that wild wind in the trees.“I wish we were out of this wood,”said my master.“Yes, sir,”agreed John.“We don't want one of those branches coming down on top of us.”

But just as he finished speaking,there was a great noise of wood breaking,and a big tree came crashing down through the other smaller trees and fell across the road right in front of us! I was very frightened and I stopped immediately, but I didn't turn round or try to run away. John jumped out and quickly ran to my side.“What can we do now, John?”said my master.

“We can't drive over the tree or get round it, sir,”said John.“We'll have to go back to the crossroads, and take the longer road round to the wooden bridge. It will make us late, but the horse isn't tired.”It was nearly dark when we got to the wooden bridge.We could see water over the middle of it, but this often happened when the river was high. But the moment my feet touched the first part of the bridge, I was sure something was wrong, and I stopped suddenly.

“Go on, Beauty,”said my master, and he touched me with the whip. I did not move,so he hit me sharply,but I would not go forward.“There's something wrong,”said John,and he jumped from the carriage and began to look round. He tried to lead me forward.“Come on, Beauty, what's the matter?”Of course, I could not tell him,but I knew the bridge was not safe. Just then, a man ran out of the house on the other side of the bridge.“Stop! Stop!”he cried.“What's the matter?”shouted my master.“The bridge is broken in the middle,”said the man,“and part of it was carried away. If you cross it, you'll fall into the river!”

“Thank you, Beauty!”John said to me, and turned me gently round to the right-hand road by the riverside. It got darker and the wind got quieter as I trotted towards home by another, much longer road. The two men were quiet for some time,but then my master spoke.

“We were very close to drowning in that river, John,”he said.“Men may be clever enough to think of things for themselves, but animals know things without thinking, and that's often saved a man's life, as it has ours tonight. People don't realize how wonderful their animals are,nor do they make friends with them as they should.”

When we arrived back at Birtwick Park, the mistress ran out to meet us.“I've been so worried!”she said.“Are you all right?Did you have an accident?”

“We nearly did,”said my master.“But Black Beauty was cleverer than we were,and saved us all from drowning!”

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