003 新朋友与新名字

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One morning after breakfast, a young man came into the stable with Farmer Grey

一天早上，早餐后，一个年轻人随农场主格雷走进了马厩。

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" Here he is," my master said, stopping in front of my stall

“他在这儿，”主人说着，在我马厩前停下脚步。

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The stranger peered in at me." What a handsome horse

陌生人仔细打量着我。“真是一匹骏马。

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I'm not surprised the squire chose him."

我一点都不奇怪乡绅会选中他。”

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" Yes, I'm sure he'll enjoy this horse," Farmer Grey said

“是啊，我相信他会喜欢这匹马的，”农场主格雷说。

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" I will certainly miss him when he goes."

“他离开时，我肯定会想念他的。”

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The farmer led me out and gave me a pat

农场主把我牵出来，拍了拍我。

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I didn't understand what was going on, or why his eyes looked sad

我不明白发生了什么，也不懂为什么他的眼神显得悲伤。

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But I put my nose into his hand to try to make him feel better

但我把鼻子贴进他的手心，想让他感觉好受些。

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" Good-bye, boy," my master said." Be a good horse, and always do your best."

“再见，小伙子，”主人说，“做匹好马，永远尽力而为。”

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Then he handed my lead rope to the other man

然后他把缰绳递给了另一个人。

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The stranger and I walked out through the farm gates

陌生人和我一起走出了农场大门。

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My mother and some of the other horses neighed to me from the pasture

我的妈妈和其他一些马从牧场上向我嘶鸣。

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Soon we turned in through another gate, and I saw a fine estate

很快，我们拐进另一扇大门，我看到一座漂亮的庄园。

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This was my new home, Birtwick Park

这就是我的新家，伯特维克庄园。

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The man leading me was James, the head groom

牵着我的人是詹姆斯，他是马夫长。

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He put me into a large, airy stall and gave me a handful of grain

他把我牵进一个宽敞通风的马厩，给了我一捧谷物。

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" There you go," he said kindly." I'd better go tell the squire you're here."

“好啦，”他温和地说。“我最好去告诉乡绅你来了。”

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There were four stalls in this part of the stable, and mine was the largest

马厩的这个部分有四个马栏，我的最大。

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In a smaller stall stood a fat, gray pony

在一个小一些的马栏里，站着一匹胖胖的灰色小马。

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He had a thick mane and tail, and a pretty head

他有着浓密的鬃毛和尾巴，还有一颗漂亮的头。

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" Hello," I said." What's your name?"

“你好，”我说。“你叫什么名字？”

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" I'm Merrylegs," the pony said

“我叫欢蹄，”小马说道。

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" I am very handsome so the young ladies love to ride me or drive me in a cart

“我非常英俊，所以年轻女士们喜欢骑我或驾着马车带我。

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Are you going to live next door to me now?"

你现在要住在我隔壁吗？”

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" I think so," I answered

“我想是的，”我回答。

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" I hope you're a nice horse," Merrylegs said

“我希望你是匹好马，”欢蹄说。

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" I don't like living next door to anyone who bites."

“我不喜欢住在爱咬人的邻居旁边。”

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He looked over at the stall on his other side

他朝另一边的隔间看去。

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A chestnut mare with a long, graceful neck stood there

一匹栗色母马站在那里，脖子修长而优雅。

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" So you're the one who took my stall," she snapped

“原来就是你占了我的马厩，”她厉声说道。

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" How dare you put a lady out of her home!"

“你怎么敢把一位女士赶出她的家！”

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" Excuse me, but I did no such thing," I said politely

“抱歉，但我绝没有做这种事，”我礼貌地说。

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" The man who brought me here put me in this stall

“是带我来的人把我安置在这个马厩的。

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I truly had no choice in the matter."

这事我真的没有选择的余地。”

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" Don't worry about her," Merrylegs said quietly as the mare turned away

“别跟她计较，”等那匹母马转过身去，欢蹄便小声说道。

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" Ginger knows it's her own fault she was moved out of that stall

“金吉儿清楚，她被挪出那个马厩是她自己的错。

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She has a bad habit of biting, and the young ladies were becoming afraid to visit me."

她有个爱咬人的坏毛病，让年轻小姐们越来越不敢过来看我了。”

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" They won't have to worry about me," I said

“她们不必担心我，”我说。

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" The only things I bite are grass, hay, and grain. Why does Ginger bite?"

“我只会咬青草、干草和谷物。金吉儿为什么咬人呢？”

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" She says no one was ever nice to her before," Merrylegs said

“她说以前从来没有人对她好过。”欢蹄说。

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" John and James hope she'll be better tempered now that she's here."

“约翰和詹姆斯希望她来到这里后脾气能变好。”

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The next day John Manly led me out of my stall. John was the head coachman

第二天，约翰·曼利把我牵出马厩。约翰是马车夫的头儿。

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James and the other stable hands worked for him

詹姆斯和其他马夫都归他管。

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John had kind eyes and a calm manner

约翰眼神和善，性情沉稳。

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He groomed me from head to hoof, making my dark coat gleam

他从头到蹄将我全身刷了个遍，让我深色的毛皮闪闪发光。

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He was almost finished when the squire arrived

他快要刷完的时候，乡绅来了。

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" Hello, John," the squire said

“你好，约翰。”乡绅说。

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" I wanted to try out my new horse this morning, but I'm too busy

“我本想今早试试我的新马，但我太忙了。

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Would you ride him for me and let me know how he goes?"

你能替我骑骑他，然后告诉我他跑得怎么样吗？”

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" Of course, sir," John said

“当然，先生。”约翰说。

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He brought out a saddle along with a bridle

他拿出了一副马鞍和缰绳。

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When he set the saddle on my back, it pinched my shoulders

当他把马鞍放到我背上时，它夹得我肩膀疼。

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Luckily John immediately saw that it didn't fit

幸好约翰立刻看出它不合适。

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He took it away and brought out a different one

他把它拿走，又拿出了另一副。

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John was a very good rider, and I was happy to do exactly what he asked

约翰是位非常好的骑手，我很乐意完全照他的要求做。

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We walked for a while, and then we trotted

我们慢步走了一会儿，然后小跑起来。

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Finally he urged me into a fast gallop

最后，他催我快速飞奔起来。

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We were riding back toward the stable when we passed the squire walking with his wife

我们正骑马返回马厩，路上遇到了和夫人一起散步的乡绅。

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" How was your ride, John?" the squire asked

“骑得怎么样，约翰？”乡绅问道。

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" Very good, sir," John answered, sounding pleased

“非常好，先生。”约翰回答，听上去很高兴。

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" It's obvious the horse has been well-treated and well-trained."

“很明显，这匹马一直得到了善待和良好的训练。”

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" Excellent," the squire said." I'll try him myself tomorrow."

“棒极了，”乡绅说，“我明天亲自试试他。”

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The next day the squire took his turn on me

第二天，轮到乡绅骑我了。

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He was a good rider too, and we had a pleasant ride

他也是位好骑手，我们骑得很愉快。

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When we passed the house, his wife came out

当我们经过房子时，他的夫人走了出来。

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" How do you like him?" she asked

“你觉得他怎么样？”她问道。

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" I've never ridden a finer horse," the squire replied

“我从没骑过这么好的马。”乡绅回答。

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" Now all this fellow needs is a name."

“现在这家伙就缺个名字了。”

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" Should we call him Blackbird, like your uncle's old horse?" his wife asked

“我们该叫他‘黑鸟’吗？像你叔叔那匹老马一样？”他夫人问。

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The squire shook his head." He is handsomer than Blackbird ever was."

乡绅摇了摇头。“他比黑鸟那时可英俊多了。”

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" He really is a beauty," his wife agreed." We could call him Black Beauty."

“他确实是个美人，”他夫人赞同道，“我们可以叫他黑骏马。”

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" Black Beauty," the squire said thoughtfully." I like it."

“黑骏马，”乡绅若有所思地说，“我喜欢这个名字。”

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And so I had a new home and a new name

就这样，我有了一个新家和一个新名字。