"New Language Storytelling" by British author Anna Hughell's "Black Horse"

Today's reading for you is Anna Hugher's Black Horse. The Chinese edition of the book is about 140,000 words, and I will explain the essence of the book: whether human beings and nature are in harmony cannot be judged only by human beings themselves. From an animal point of view, maybe the human civilization you see can sometimes seem silly.

I have read two black horses, one by Zhang Chengzhi in China and one by Anna. In Hughell's, both books have deep ideological content. Today we are talking about the British Anna Hugher's "Black Horse", which is a classic children's novel published in the second half of the nineteenth century that once caused a sensation in the European literary world, this novel has been sold in Europe and the United States, has been translated into many languages around the world, and has been put on the screen many times, also known as the originator of the first novel in Europe with a horse as the protagonist.

The author of this novel, Anna. Hughell is often referred to as the "world's classic animal writer", but in fact she has only written this work in her life, and has never published any other article before this, and strictly speaking, without this "Black Horse", she is not a writer at all, at best a rich lady with a leg disability.

But it was this esteemed lady, at the age of fifty, who, at the age of fifty, was inspired by an article written by a priest about the kindness of animals and the equality of all beings, and who, in the face of a serious illness, struggled to write this novel on the subject of horses. Later in the writing period, Anna Shuell's health deteriorated, unable to write, and with amazing perseverance, relying on dictation, and was recorded by her mother. Sadly, just a few months after the novel was published, Anna. Hugh er passed away.

anna. Hughell must not have imagined that after her death, the "Black Horse" she wrote would be a sensation in the European literary world and was widely acclaimed in the world, and has sold as many as 50 million copies so far. In addition, many directors have made films and serials based on this book, among which "Black Beauty" shot by Warner Bros. in 1994 is the closest and touching one to the original.

The Black Horse did not merely marvel at literary history, the novel even rewrote the politics and history of Europe in a sense. Anna Hughell's extensive knowledge of equestrianism in her book describes some common-sense misuse of horse riding by humans at the time, which resulted in serious injuries to horses. For example, for many nobles who use the "head reins" to pull the carriage and force the horse to raise its neck to show the noble status of the rider, the physical and psychological damage to the horse is caused, Anna Hughell expressed a strong condemnation of the tone of the protagonist of the book, "Black Horse".

In Europe in the 19th century, horses were widely used as the most important means of transport and means of transport at that time. In "Black Horse", the horses are displaced and ill-fated, which has attracted the attention of the general public and the government. Therefore, as soon as the novel was published, it was used as a textbook for the protection of horses by the animal love organization, and a local distribution was distributed to the owners of carriage shops, farmers and horse boys, and brought the issue of animal welfare to the public eye, accelerating the revision of animal protection laws in the Western world and promoting active discussion of animal welfare.

anna. Hugher was not a professional writer, but she received a good family education from an early age. She was born in Norfolk, England in 1820, the son of an investor and bank manager, and the mother of a children's book writer and poet. Under the influence of her mother, Anna. Hughell and his brother Philip have loved nature since childhood, and have a special affection for horses.

Anna was sent to London at the age of twelve, but her education came to an abrupt end two years later, as she fell in school, suffered a serious knee injury, and limited medical conditions left her with a lifelong disability, and had to rely regularly on crutches and a carriage as a means of transportation.

Years of experience with horses have allowed Anna Shuell to learn a lot about horse habits and driving methods. He also developed a deep affection for the animal horse. Anna in her later years. Thinking of the unfair treatment many horses have suffered, Hughell decided to write a novel with the horse as the protagonist, so that people could truly love this most important animal friend of mankind.

American woman writer Jane Smiley, winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, once said she loved Black Horse. Her evaluation of the novel best speaks to Anna Hugher's original intention in writing the book, saying, "' Black Horse helps people see animals in a whole new light. When people think that animals also have feelings, it is difficult to do cruel things to them. This book teaches the reader that there are so many lives in the world that you can't treat them as inanimate objects.

Well, after introducing the basic content of the book and the author's profile, I will next interpret the details of the book for you from three aspects:

1. The fate of the horse depends on its owner, and this can only depend on luck

2. Horses in miserable situations are met with ignorant people

3. The tribulations of the horse come from man, and the tribulations of man come from class oppression

Let's look at the first important point: the fate of the horse depends on its owner, and this can only be done by luck

The protagonist, "Black Horse", was born in a beautiful manor house in the town of Suffolk in the east of England, where the author was born and raised. It has been horse racing for over 300 years and is the most famous thoroughbred horse racing centre in the UK. The grandfather of the "Black Horse" won two championships in Newmarket Horse Racing. In the account of its mother " Duchess " , it is learned that the "black horse" is of pure blood, in addition to its grandfather, its grandmother is also gentle, its father is also famous in the local area, and from the name "Duchess" alone, its mother is also very popular with its master, because the title of "Duke" is already one of the most noble titles in European countries.

The "Black Horse" has a docile personality, thanks entirely to its clever and wise mother, the Duchess. In the process of its growth, because of the mother's earnest teachings and the love of its kind-hearted master, it has always lived carefreely and branded a kind and tame personality in its heart. Later, when it encountered countless setbacks and wounds, it was able to survive those difficult years because it had always adhered to this kind and gentle character.

However, not all people genuinely love and use their horses, they just do whatever they like, wait until they are at fault and angrily blame them for their mistakes. In his childhood, the "black horse" witnessed such a tragic scene, a few well-dressed young gentlemen, galloping in the wheat field, they were happily directing the hounds to round up a hare they had just seen, and the newly grown wheat was trampled by them.

When the hounds tore the hapless hare to pieces and the gentleman riders cheered loudly, a horse named "Rob Roy" lost its front hoof on the side of the ditch, and unfortunately, the young man riding on its back broke his neck, the only son of the squire Gordon's family, a good handsome young man. When everyone panicked and informed him of the unfortunate news, the "Rob. Roy "was shot dead on the spot." The mother of the "black horse" was very sad and never went to the meadow again, and she did not tell the "black horse" that the horse that was shot was its brother, because after the horse was sold, its life could only belong to its owner.

An innocent disaster, which originated from the whim of a few young people, could have been done in other very simple ways, but it turned into an unnecessary tragedy, and all this was only because of a small hare. This casual pastime of people has made mankind lose an excellent young man, and also let the animals lose a brave and loyal horse.

People are always wishful thinking about things in their own way. When the "black horse" is four years old, it will officially take on the work of serving mankind, and before that, it needs to be carefully "tuned" by people. Human tuning is actually to make a free horse adapt to wearing a saddle and a horse's head, but also to learn to wear a yoke (è), a rear tweezer (qīu) and a hip belt, so that it can be ridden and put on the carriage. Once the harness is put on, the horse can not jump no matter how happy it is, and it cannot lie down no matter how tired it is, even if it is hungry and tired, it must obey the master's instructions.

This kind of tuning is for people to put on all kinds of tools they can think of for the convenience of driving the horse. But they never thought that, from a horse's point of view, it might be a different taste to bear these tools. The "armature" is a finger-thick steel bar, and no matter what it is like to stuff this cold and hard tool into the horse's mouth, press the tongue, and hold the teeth, no matter what it is like. This is to pull the reins for humans to facilitate the direction of the horse, but for the horse to have a steel bar in its mouth, it is unimaginably uncomfortable.

As for horseshoes and horse yokes, because of the heaviness and habitual process, but the horse eye mask is blocked on both sides of the horse's eye in order to only let the horse look ahead, which is completely beyond the imagination of human beings. They believe that horses invented the blindfold because they were frightened by passing vehicles or cars on both sides. In fact, for horses, it is the most insecure to not be able to see the surrounding situation in all directions. Human self-righteous inventions actually increase the likelihood that horses are vulnerable to fright.

When the Black Horse was up to the task of man, it was sold to another owner, gordon, the squire who had lost his son. After losing his child, Gordon's owner desperately needed a docile horse to use as his mount. Before leaving, the mother "Duchess" warned the "black horse" in a serious voice, saying that the better you behave in the future, the better you will be treated, and the wisest thing for a horse to do is to make the owner satisfied with all her heart.

However, man is different, some will be as kind and considerate as the current master, and all the horses will take pride in his service, but they will also encounter people who are vicious and cruel and unworthy of being the masters of the horses. There are also many stupid people, who are vain and ignorant, who have a cold temperament, who never bother to use their brains, and who destroy the most horses in this kind of confusion. Although they did not intend it, it turned out that many good horses were destroyed in their hands.

Every horse hopes to be a good man in the future. But the horse does not know who will buy it and who will control it, and the horse can only rely on luck. It is the words of a long-standing mother, just like our human mother, a kind of exhortation to the child who is about to leave, with a long heart and full of sorrow, because she knows that the departed child no longer belongs to her, but to its future owner, just like its dead brother.

The "Black Horse" left its original home and also left its childhood, fortunately its second owner liked it very much and attached great importance to it, and for this reason found a very experienced groom John to take care of it, it also met many friends with different fates, and heard more stories belonging to horses. Let's talk about the second point: horses in miserable situations are met with ignorant people

The "Black Horse" leaves its mother and goes to the new stables (jiù), where it meets new friends, "Happy Hoof Merry" and "Spicy Ginger Ginger". We can see from the name that "Happy Hoof" carries a kind of festivity, and some translators translate it as "fast walk", in short, this is a horse that has not yet been abused, it often carries ladies in and out of the manor, if you still have an impression of the previous text, "Happy Hoof" was once the author Anna. The prototype of Hughell's pony.

However, "Spicy Ginger Ginger" is different, it is a tribulationd mare, very grumpy, often kicking and biting grooms and naughty children. Because the unfortunate "Spicy Ginger Ginger" was sold to others many times, the first owner it met was a grumpy drunkard who used a whip and a stick to tame the new horses, and the first "tuning" of the "Spicy Ginger Ginger" was treated extremely roughly, and the strong character made it suffer a lot. Subsequently, it was resold to the vain owner, where it was often taken with the "reins of the head", and had to hold its neck high for several hours of the owner's entertainment, and the slightest bow of its head would be whipped by a gloomy groom, after which the "Spicy Ginger Ginger" became more and more irritable, and began to bite and kick any human near it, becoming an inferior horse that was incomprehensible and did not trust humans.

The "Spicy Ginger Ginger" encounter was not a special case, at that time, the horse was only a tool for most humans, and only a few people really treated the animal as a life. As the mother of the "black horse", the Duchess, said: After the horse is resold, it no longer belongs to itself, but only to its owner. Fate determines the future of a horse, and no matter what kind of grumpy or stupid master it encounters, it can only choose to endure silently.

"Spicy Ginger Ginger" unfortunately encounters a grumpy master, which makes it full of anger inside. The essence of the horse is a free-spirited animal, because friendliness can be tamed by humans, and if humans violate the animal characteristics of horses, it will be very painful for horses, even if it is a small negligence. And this negligence is often fatal to horses.

When the "black horse" was later resold to a foolish owner, because the master let it run a road full of gravel, so that a small gravel was caught in its horse's paw, but the owner was negligent and still ran wildly, and this small gravel almost destroyed one of the legs of the "black horse".

Horses, like people, have physical limits and are sensitive to heat and cold. The "black horse" ran all the way to find a doctor for the sick hostess, sweating profusely. But back at the stables, the horse boy "Joe" neglected for a moment not to cover it with cotton felt for warmth, and gave it cold water. As a result, the "black horse" suffered from a serious lung infection like a human, almost losing its life.

When the horse boy "Joe" justified his ignorance, a dutiful groom John yelled: Don't you know that the worst thing in the world besides evil is ignorance? This sentence is said in the book to an apologetic and forgiven ma tong. In fact, it is more of angry accusations of human ignorance. Putting a "rein in the reins" of a horse is just one kind of act, and even with other animals, even themselves, humans do ignorant things according to their own preferences, but they are never ashamed of their actions.

anna. In his book, Hughell gives many examples of condemning the harm of ignorance. She said that human behavior towards animals is often bizarre, and when dogs are born, people cut off their tails and cut their ears into triangles for the sake of human fashion and preference. At that time, many English gentlemen would also lose the horse's tail, for them only to the tide, but they did not know how important the horse's tail was to the horse, the tail for them not only repelled mosquitoes and flies, but also an important balancing tool for the horse, when this organ was missing, in addition to increasing the pain of the horse, at the same time increasing the number of accidents that endangered themselves. Human beings always use the "innocent of the ignorant" to comfort and release themselves, but they have no apologies and repentance for the harm they have caused.

Animals have many intuitions that humans do not have, and the ability that nature gives animals is the perception of nature, which human beings do not have. When a rainstorm came, the "black horse" refused to move forward in front of a small bridge, it was whipped by its owner, and when the owner learned that the bridge had broken several bridge plates due to the rainstorm, he could not help but be silent. Only then did they begin to reflect that they had never really believed in them.

In the book "Black Horse" meets a different owner. Most of the masters here are grumpy and stupid, and only a few masters truly possess the goodest nature of mankind, and Marv John is one of them. In John's mind, there was a cure for bad horses, and he said that one course of "Bertwick Pills" would cure all horses. The ingredients of this pill have patience, tenderness, perseverance and care, and each pound is mixed together, plus the common sense of half a pint, and it can be given to the horse every day.

The grumpy "Spicy Ginger Ginger" gradually returns to his tame nature under the action of John's medicine. However, it is not lucky enough, in its constant resale with the "black horse", it encounters more grumpy and stupid masters, so its ending is tragic. And the "black horse" has also suffered hardships in more encounters, and has died nine times. All of this it encounters comes from human beings, from the distorted humanity of society.

Anna Hugher's original intention in creating "The Black Horse" was to arouse people's kindness and compassion for animals, so that they knew how to treat animals. This was because she saw too much mistreatment of animals, and this mistreatment was not only caused by the treatment of animals, but also by the oppression of the commoners at the bottom by the aristocratic class. Let's talk about the third point: the tribulation of the horse comes from man, and the tribulation of man comes from class oppression

In the process of being resold several times, the "Black Horse" suffered countless pains, and it tasted all the encounters that "Spicy Ginger Ginger" and his friends said. It finally understood that the people who used horses were not all stupid, and some of them were well aware that this kind of behavior was a kind of abuse of horses, but they took this kind of thing for granted and could not be avoided, and they did not take any action to alleviate the suffering of the horse for a good price or a breadwinner job, and they followed a different kind of rule.

This rule is the oppression of class society. The behavior of the commoners was decided by the nobles, who, although they did not know how to make animals obey orders, had the right to decide. If they want the "horse" to raise its head with the "reins of the head" or to lose its pony tail to show their nobility, then they will not listen to the groom's explanation and advice, because they will not only determine the life and death of the "horse", but also determine the groom's life and death. The nobles are dominating the world with their ignorance.

The life of the "black horse" is the epitome of the various horses of the Victorian period in England, which served as people's mounts, pulled wagons in the countryside, and pulled rental carriages in London. It had heard stories of horses that had been battered, that of military horses that had gone through war, that there was a serious inequality between men and horses, and that many civilians were living miserable lives in order to survive.

In Anna. In Hughell's description, she not only sympathizes with the abused animals, but also cares for the people at the bottom, full of compassion and love for the miserable people.

Feng Gong said in his sketch "Road Angel": Is it easy for us taxi drivers? Every day when I open my eyes, I owe two hundred dollars for the car... This kind of taxi rental contract is not only Beijing or China's unique, nor is it unique now, in the United Kingdom in "Black Horse", there are also car rental houses, and the drivers of the car rental cars also have to pay a certain rent every day, which is the predecessor of the current taxi line.

"Rags Sam" is an obnoxious coachman who every evening he brings back an exhausted horse and is reprimanded by people who think he doesn't know how to care for horses. Such excessive use will sooner or later bring the horse to its knees. At this time, "Rags Sam" said almost desperately: the owners of the rental carriage set the rent so high, they set the fare particularly low in order to win more guests. If I hadn't run so hard with the horse, I wouldn't have earned money for the family to eat.

The grief of "Ragdgy Sam" indicted the coldness of British society at that time, the bosses deliberately squeezed the labor of the rental car drivers for money, without mercy, and they did not cherish the lives of horses. The coachman is not willing to deliberately waste the horse, the coachman wants to pay a large amount of money to the owner of the car dealership, and then if he wants to make money, he can only enslave the horse mercilessly, and the result is that both sides are defeated, and only the owner of the car dealership benefits. The people at the bottom like "Broken Sam" cannot resist the general environment and change their fate, in this industry, people's lives are bitter, and horses are also suffering. Who can change this reality? anna. With a compassionate narrative, Hughell truly recreates a real event in her life.

A few days later, "Rags Sam" died, talking nonsense all day before he died, scolding his boss for killing him and not giving him a rest. His last words on his deathbed were: I have not had a day off. It was a tragedy of that Dark Age.

Under the oppression of the bourgeoisie, the common people are still like this, let alone horses! At this time, the "Black Horse" encounters the miserable "Spicy Ginger Ginger", who is pulling a heavy truck because it is abused and injured, and the boss desperately uses it to earn back the last bit of money for himself. It has now become described as withered, always looking forward to death to end its suffering, and a few days later, the wish of "Spicy Ginger Ginger" has come true, it has been exhausted, and it has been completely liberated from this cruel world.

anna. The people or horses that Hughell tells of lived a miserable life under the hands of nobles or bosses, and they lived in a dark and miserable world at all times. However, some poor people or old horses can live happily and peacefully, "Black Horse" after several tribulations, met a good master "Jerry", Jerry is an honest and trustworthy groom, he saw the "Black Horse" kind, tame nature at a glance, did not care about its suffering leg injuries, under his careful care, "Black Horse" regained its vitality.

Jerry was a poor man of rare wisdom in this society, and he never contributed to the elections of any party robber, nor did he believe in the hypocrisy of the aristocrats. In his own life, he has always maintained a kind character, taking care of the family, children and his own horses. Jerry wouldn't force himself and the Black Horse to accept any business on Sundays, and no matter how the nobles paid him expensive fares, they wouldn't make him waver.

But such an idyllic person is full of passion in life. Jerry would refuse a lease from a rude politician during his lunch break, but would go out of his way to send a woman who was in a hurry to take the child to the doctor for free. It will also be for a guest who is eager to catch up with the train, quickly use all his skills and gallop through the crowded streets. The "Black Horse" always feels Jerry's kindness and is willingly driven by him, even if he is tired and sweating, without complaint.

Unfortunately, the good days of the "black horse" soon came to an end, and several dishonest nobles rented carriages and refused to attend the appointment at midnight in the cold winter, in order to play cards for fun. The sick Jerry waited two more hours in the snow, and even so, the two nobles shamelessly cursed the high cost of the fare. This encounter made Jerry seriously ill and unable to work, so he had to transfer his beloved "black horse". Unbeknownst to him, the "black horse" had unfortunately fallen into the hands of skinner, the owner of the car dealership, who was cursed by the "Broken Sam" before his death.

There is no doubt that the "black horse" once again experienced inhuman torture, dying and waiting for death. In the ruthless resale of the owner of the car dealership, the "black horse" waited for the final turnaround, a kind gentleman bought him, and when his groom "Joe", the horse boy who almost killed the "black horse", recognized the characteristics of the "black horse", he could not help but cry bitterly for this old horse that had suffered a lot and was full of scales.

The "Black Horse" is happy in its old age, and the owner who loves it promises never to sell it again, so there is nothing to worry about to disturb the comfortable life of the "Black Horse". anna. Hughell stopped writing about it, and the ending in her mind made her happy to see the horses, enjoying their old age in the paradise she had built. This was her lifelong expectation, and in that expectation, seeing this painstaking work published, Anna. Hugh Earl closed his eyes in relief. In heaven, with the "black horse", "happy hooves", "spicy ginger ginger ginger" joyfully galloping on the boundless grass.

anna. The ill-fated life of The Black Horse in Hughell's book has touched millions of people and led the British government to consider a policy to protect animals. This is a lamentable but perfect ending, both from the book and outside the book. However, human beings have not really reflected on their own problems, and decades later, the First World War began, and we do not know whether we should be glad that "Anna Hughell" did not see that day, so that she will always keep that innocent angelic heart, which will be passed down forever in this "Black Horse".

Well, this book is almost over here, and now, let's review what we said today:

First of all, in the first part, we tell the story of the "black horse" in the period of birth, from which we have a preliminary glimpse of the discordant use relationship between humans and horses in that era, and some stupid inventions of human beings, causing innocent harm to horses, describing the tragic experience of horses in that era.

Then, in the second part, "The miserable horse encounters ignorant people", from the horse's encounter depending on the treatment of human beings, it is suggested that human beings act arbitrarily in their own ignorance, in fact, they are harming their loyal animal friends, and human beings should awaken the goodwill and conscience in their hearts, and truly achieve the concept of treating animals well and the equality of all beings.

Finally, from the perspective of "the tribulation of the horse comes from man, and the tribulation of man comes from class oppression", it is pointed out that whether it is the horse or the poor, the root of their suffering arises in the contradiction of the serious division between the rich and the poor. The extravagance and lavishness of the nobility, the struggle of the commoners for survival, in the process of showing one by one in the eyes of the "black horse", denounced the darkness of class society. Therefore, this book is not only about an animal-loving admonition, but also a sword that stabs at the exploitative society of the bourgeoisie.