Black Beauty - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The first place I can well remember was a large pleasant field with a small lake in it.

Large trees stood around the lake, and water-lilies grew at the deep end.

Over the trees on one side, we looked towards a farm.

On the other side, we would see a gate that led to our master’s house.

While I was young, I lived upon my mother’s milk, as I could not eat grass.

I ran by her side in the morning and afternoon, and at night I lay down close by her.

When it was hot, we would stand in the shade of the large trees.

When it was cold, we would stay in a small wooden building by the small trees.

As soon as I was old enough to eat grass, my mother used to go out to work as soon as it was daylight and come back in the evening.

There were six young male horses on the field besides me.

We used to run together round and round the field as fast as we could go.

Sometimes we played rather roughly.

They would often bite and kick as well as run.

One day, when there was a good deal of kicking, my mother called me to come to her, and then she said:

“Pay attention to what I am going to say to you.

The male horses are very good horses, but they are young working horses and have not learned the rules.

You have been well-born and well-raised.

I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never learn bad ways.

Do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you walk, and never bite or kick, even in play.”

I have never forgotten my mother’s advice.

I knew she was a wise old horse, and our master thought a great deal of her.

Our master was a good, kind man.

He gave us oats and a good place to live.

He spoke as kindly to us as he did to his little children.

We were all fond of him, and my mother loved him very much.

When she saw him at the gate, she would cry with joy, and walk up to him.

He would pat and stroke her and say, “Well, old Pet, and how is your little Darkie?” I was black, so he called me Darkie.

Then he would give me a piece of very good bread.

Also, Old Daniel looked after the horses, and was just as gentle as our master, so we were well off.

When I was four years old, Squire Gordon came to look at me.

He examined my eyes, my mouth, and my legs, and I had to walk and run before him.

He seemed to like me, and said, “When he has been well trained, he will do very well.”

My master said he would train me himself because he did not like me to be scared or hurt.

Horse training means to teach a horse to learn to wear a saddle and bridle (马笼头) , to carry a person on his back, and to go quietly just the way the rider wishes.

Besides, he has to learn to wear a collar and harness, and stand still while people put them on him.

He then has to walk with a cart put behind him.

He must go fast or slow as his driver wishes.

He must never be startled (受惊的) by what he sees, nor speak to other horses, nor bite, nor kick, nor have any will of his own.

I was already used to being led about the fields and lanes with reins (缰绳) and a head harness.

Now, like all grown-up horses, I was going to have a bit and bridle (马笼头) .

My master gave me some oats as usual.

He talked to me gently, and finally put the bit into my mouth and fixed the bridle (马笼头) .

It was a smelly thing! But I knew that my mother and all other grown-up horses always wore one when they went out.

My master treated me very well, with nice oats and kind words, so I got to wear my bit and bridle (马笼头) .

Next came the saddle, but that was not nearly so bad.

My master put it on my back very gently, while old Daniel held my head.

He then tightened the strap under my body, touching and talking to me all the time.

After that I was given some oats and led out for a walk.

He did this every day till I began to look for oats and the saddle.

My master continued to ride me a little every day, so I soon became used to it.

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

I did not like the next step either: putting on the iron shoes.

The blacksmith (铁匠) took my feet in his hand, one after the other, and cut away some of the hard parts of my foot.

It did not hurt me, so I stood still on three legs till he had done them all.

He then took a piece of iron the shape of my foot, and suddenly put it on my foot.

Next, he drove some nails through the shoe quite into my foot so that the shoe was firmly on.

My feet felt very stiff and heavy, but in time I would get used to it.

There were more new things to wear.

First, I needed to wear a stiff heavy strap just on my neck.

Second, I wore a bridle (马笼头) with great side-pieces against my eyes, so I could only see straight in front of me.

Third, I had a small saddle with a smelly stiff strap put right under my tail.

I hated the strap.

I never felt more like kicking, but of course I could not kick such a good master.

I got used to everything in time, and could do my work as well as my mother.

背景知识

1. 安娜·塞维尔

作者安娜·塞维尔（Anna Sewell，1820–1878)，出生在一个虔诚的贵格会（Quaker，基督教新教中的一个派别）家庭。其母亲Mary Wright Sewell是当时有名的畅销儿童小说作家。这强大遗传基因啊~

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

Anna Sewell在英国东南部的诺福克郡 (Norfolk)长大。12岁时搬家到伦敦市郊的Stoke Newington开始了上学时光。可好景不长，两年后一次放学回家路上摔伤了脚踝，由于没有得到有效的诊断和治疗，从此不得不依靠拐杖行走。于是马儿也就成为了那时Anna的智能座驾，更是时刻陪伴她的忠实伙伴。

《黑骏马（Black Beauty）》是安娜·塞维尔一生中写的唯一一本书，1877年一经出版就获得了巨大成功，被誉为“第一部真正的动物小说”。那时她的肝炎和肺结核已经非常严重，一年之后就去世了。虽然现在这本书如今被划分为青少年经典书籍，安娜·塞维尔的初衷却是写给长期与马儿打交道的人们，希望马儿能得到他们的理解以及友善的对待。安娜曾经说：“My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”

如果我们看到我们有力量去制止的残忍之行和不义之事，而没有制止，我们也就参与了共同犯罪。（可见她是十分反感人类对动物的虐待行为的）

本书的主人公“我”名叫Darkie，是一匹颇具颜值的优种黑马，从小生活在贵族人家，受过良好的训练，性格温顺，聪明机智，深得主人喜欢。后来几经易主，历经世间冷暖。作品揭示了马的内心世界，也有作为马冷眼旁观人类社会的描写。黑骏马通过自己的眼睛，用惟妙惟肖的语言，讲述了一个个娓娓动听的故事，让我们每个读故事的人都感到：动物通人性，我们怎样对待动物，动物就会怎样对待我们……

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

（Anna Sewell故居，Old Catton, Norfolk, England）

2. Water-lily V.S. Lotus 你分得清吗？

今天文中出现了一种植物：water-lily（睡莲）。睡莲看起来和荷花（lotus）差不多，但二者还是有区别的~ 最大的区别就是：成年荷花的叶子和花是挺出水面的，而睡莲的叶子和花浮在水面上的。我们来看看：

睡莲

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

荷花

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

3. 主人为什么要给马儿们吃燕麦（oat）呢？

其实早在公元476年，人们就已经用燕麦来喂马了，而日耳曼军队还率先用燕麦做军粮，挥师南下灭了西罗马帝国。在其他文学作品里面，也有对马吃燕麦的描述。1735年出版的小说《格列佛游记》中，格列佛在一个叫慧骃国（Houyhnhnms）的地方遇到了一群会说话的马，它们就以燕麦为待客的高级食品。在《包法利夫人》中，卡尼韦博士去病人家做手术，第一件事就是去亲自走进马棚，看看病人家喂马有没有用燕麦，因为不想让自己的坐骑饿着。可见，燕麦在过去一直是喂马的上乘之选~

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

4. 来呀，上装备

人类为了驯化马儿，发明了一系列马具，这里先给大家铺垫一些专有名词帮助理解：

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

bit是马嚼子，金属的，是马笼头bridle的一部分。马儿把它含在嘴里，在骑手勒紧缰绳时起到良好的“刹车”作用。飞来细节图：

Black Beauty - Chapter 1

主人公Darkie吐槽：it is a smelly thing! 不得不说，这马嚼子确实是臭臭的（毕竟上面都是马口水），驯马师每次和马儿练习完，都会把它们头上的马笼头取下来，清洗一下马嚼子。

人们需要骑马或是让马儿拉车的时候，会在马厩里为马儿开始一系列“穿衣”流程：首先，给马刷毛（brush the loose hair and dirt off the horse's back）。这一步非常重要，因为如果不刷掉马代谢掉的毛发，一旦马的汗水将毛打湿，马会想要抖落它，骑手会很酸爽。然后，在马的头上套上马笼头（briddle），再安装马鞍（saddle），如果马蹄没有钉铁片（iron shoes），要检查是否有泥巴、杂草之类的塞在马蹄缝（hoof care）。在整个过程中，马儿可能会觉得不舒服，所以要温柔的抚摸它们，和它们交流来calm them down。

一词多义/熟词生义

1.「stroke」：常见的意思是“打、击、中风”等，在这里的意思是“轻抚”。

原句：He would pat and stroke her and say, “Well, old Pet, and how is your little Darkie?”

2.「still」：此处still做副词，但不是表示“仍然”，而是表示“静止不动地”。

原句：...he has to learn to wear...and stand still while people put them on him.

3.「drive」：此处drive做动词，不是“驾驶、推动”，而是表示一种“打、敲、拧、戳”的动作，在文中是指钉钉子。

原句：Next, he drove some nails through the shoe quite into my foot so that the shoe was firmly on.

句子解析

1. Sometimes we played rather roughly. They would often bite and kick as well as run.

「roughly」：use too much force and not enough care or gentleness. 这里的「roughly」是「gently」的反义词，意为“粗野地，（举止）粗俗地”。

联系下文可知，妈妈觉得Darkie玩得太野了，一边狂奔还彼此又踢又咬的，于是教育他要做一头绅士马。

2. I have never forgotten my mother’s advice. I knew she was a wise old horse, and our master thought a great deal of her.

「think a great deal of」: think highly of; value/regard…as important 对……有很高的评价，反义词可以说「think poorly of」~

Darkie发现主人都对她妈妈颇为器重。所以妈妈的教诲要听呀！

3. I was already used to being led about the fields and lanes with reins and a head harness.

「be/get/become used to sth/doing sth」习惯于……（做）某事；我们来举两个栗子：

After I moved to UK for a couple of years, I have been used to the rainy weather. 我搬去英国几年后，习惯了那里的天气。

The colleagues are all very kind, making me get used to working with them very quickly. 同事们人都很好，让我很快就习惯了和他们一起工作。

注意：「be/get used to doing sth」与「used to do sth」的区别，后者表示“过去经常做某事”。前文中的My mother used to go out to work after the sun came out and come back in the evening. 就是说Darkie的妈妈过去常常日出而作，日落而息。再举个例子：We used to be good friends, but fell apart about a year ago. 我们过去曾经是好朋友，但一年前关系破裂了。

4. Next came the saddle, but that was not nearly so bad.

「not nearly」: far from远非，根本不；来个栗子：He has not nearly enough time to buy a flat in downtown London. 他远没有足够的钱在伦敦市中心买一套公寓。

……有同学可能要问了，为什么这个Next要放在句首呢？因为这里是由Next引起的倒装句，还原语序为：The saddle came next… 同理，here，there，now，then也能放在句首引起倒装，比如：Here/Now comes the special guest of this party. 下面这位是本次聚会的特别来宾。

这句话就是说，下一步就是上马鞍，不过那个根本不痛苦。为什么呀？因为后文说啦，主人对“我”很温柔~

5. He then took a piece of iron the shape of my foot, and suddenly put it on my foot.

「the shape of my foot」修饰前面的「iron」，意思是“和我的蹄子同样形状的马蹄铁”。这里就是说，主人拿出一块和我的蹄子同样形状的马蹄铁，快速给我套上。

6. I never felt more like kicking, but of course I could not kick such a good master.

「feel like doing sth」想做某事，这里加上never和more，就是：我从来没有（never）这么想（feel more like）踢人，当然我不能踢我可爱的主人。

今日短语

live upon sth. 依靠……生活

well off 处境好的

stand still 一动不动

in time 迟早

think a great deal of 对……评价很高

be/get/become used to sth/doing sth 习惯于……

used to do sth 过去常常

not nearly 远非

feel like doing sth 想做某事