"One pound of patience and gentleness, one pound of firmness and caressing, and then mixed with half-pint common sense." After making it, the horses need to be fed every day. ”
Book Introduction
Black Beauty
By Anna Sevier
Translated by Lili Yao
The protagonist of the novel, Darkie, is a good-looking dark horse, who has lived in an aristocratic family since childhood, is well trained, he is docile, intelligent and strong, his fur is dark and shiny, and the bright white fur on his forehead is like a beautiful white star. The black horse is deeply liked by the owner, but it has changed hands several times in the novel, and has experienced the cold and warm of the world.
Through the perspective of the black horse, the author brilliantly reveals the inner world of the horse for us, and also describes the human society as a horse.
The life of the black horse is a microcosm of the various horses of the Victorian period – as a mount, as a wagon in the countryside, and as a rental carriage in London. The black horse has met good people and people who have abused it. At the end of the story, the black horse finally found a home that treated him well and could spend his old age in peace.
"Black Horse" is Anna's only work, the whole book uses the horse as the narrator, recording all kinds of interesting and tragic animal worlds, so it can be called the first real animal novel.
About the author
Anna Sewell (1820–1878)
Born in Norfolk, England in 1820, his mother was a well-known best-selling writer of children's novels.
Anna moved to Stoke Newington, a suburb of London, at the age of 12 to start school. But the good times did not last long, and two years later, he broke his ankle on the way home from school, and after not getting effective diagnosis and treatment, he had to rely on crutches to walk. So the horse became Anna's intelligent car at that time, and it was always her loyal companion.
Out of strong dissatisfaction with human cruelty to animals, Anna spent six years completing Black Horse when she was seriously ill to persuade people to be kind to animals.
Shortly after the publication of Black Horse, Anna died of hepatitis and tuberculosis. Later, the book sold more than 30 million copies, causing a sensation in the European literary world, and also opening up new areas of animal fiction.
Wonderful trial reading
Chapter One: My Early Home
The first place I remember vividly is a wide and comfortable pasture. There was a small clear pond, shaded by a few trees, obliquely shaded from the water, and in the depths of the water grew cordyceps and water lilies. Over the hedge, to one side is a large area of cultivated land; to the other side, you can see the main door of the master's house and the house sitting on the side of the road. The high slopes of the pasture are fir forests, and the low-lying areas are a rushing river with steep banks.
When I was young, I couldn't eat grass and had to eat my mother's milk. During the day, I always snuggled up next to her, and at night, I lay next to her. When it's hot, we like to stand in the shade by the pond; when it's cold, we stay in the stables near the fir forest, which is both lovely and warm.
When I was older and able to eat grass, my mother went out to work during the day and came back at night. I was accompanied by six ponies on the ranch, all older than me, several of them almost as tall as adult horses. I always run with them and have a great time. We love to run around the grass in circles. Sometimes it's quite brutal, because these ponies will run and keep kicking and biting.
One day, we were playing a lot, and my mother hissed and called me over and said, "I want to talk to you a few words, I hope you listen carefully." The ponies who live here are all good kids, but their parents are truck pullers, so they don't know what politeness is. You are well born and well-educated. Your father had a good reputation, and your grandfather had a horse racing trophy and won twice. Your grandmother is the most gentle and amiable of all the horses I know. You haven't seen who I kick and bite anyone, have you? I hope that when you grow up, you will be kind to people and temperament, and don't have those problems. Whatever you do, be kind. When running, just lift the hooves appropriately, even if you are playing a game, you will never kick and bite. ”
I always remember these tips from my mother. She is a smart and mature horse and our owner values her very much. Her name is "Duchess", but the owner will call her "Bao'er".
The host was kind and kind, he gave us good food, good housing, always spoke nicely to us, and was so kind that it was like talking to his own children. We all loved him, and my mom loved him very much. As soon as he appeared at the door, his mother would scream and run to him with joy, and he would also slap her and say, "Ah, Bao'er, how is your little sunspot?" "I look pitch black, so he calls me "Little Sunspot." Then he would hand me a delicious slice of bread and sometimes a carrot to my mother. All the horses were willing to be close to him, but I thought that the owner's favorite should be mom and me. When he was in the market, his mother would always pull a light carriage and take him to the city.
A small farmer named Dick sometimes went into our field from the hedges to pick blackberries in the absence of his master. When he had eaten enough to eat, he took pleasure in the ponies, threw stones at us, poked us with branches, and forced us to run. We don't really mind, just run away, but sometimes it does hurt to be stoned.
One day, he was playing this game, and he didn't notice that his master was in the field next door. But he was there and saw what was happening. He jumped over the hedge, grabbed Dick's arm, and punched him in the ear. Dick was in pain and surprise and screamed. As soon as we saw the owner, we all ran over to see what was going on.
"Bad boy!" The master shouted, "Bad boy! Have fun with the ponies. It's not the first time, it's not the second time, but it's time for the last. Give – take your money home and don't let me see you on the farm again! ”
As a 10-year-old British reader put it after reading the story: "I feel like a black horse... I really couldn't help but cry... But I prefer the beautiful ending of the black horse..."
Through Black Horse, the resilient and kind Anna Sevier is destined to deliver an eternal message to generations of children around the world: as long as you care for and treat animals with great tenderness.
The book "Black Horse" is included in the fourth grade of the Chinese Graded Reading Library, which is specially selected for children aged 9-11.
Children at this stage are an important stage of self-establishment, learning ability and analysis and comprehensive ability, self-development desire has increased, so at this stage we have added more popular science books, biographies and other richer themes.
Teach children to start from learning to read to use reading to learn, so that children can obtain different levels of nutrition, and help them grow together rationally and emotionally.
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