028 金妮的命运

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Winter turned to spring and the weather got much better, though the life of a London cab horse is always hard

冬去春来，天气好转了许多，但伦敦拉车马的生活总是艰辛的。

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Still I knew I had it better than many. I found out just how much better one day

不过我知道我比很多马都过得好。有一天我才真正明白好多少。

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Jerry's cab and several others were waiting at the edge of a park

杰瑞的马车和其他几辆在公园边等着。

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There was a concert in the park that day

那天公园里有音乐会。

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The cabbies knew that lots of people would be looking for a ride home after the music was over

车夫们知道音乐结束后会有很多人找车回家。

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While we were standing there, a shabby old cab stopped beside ours

我们站在那里时，一辆破旧的马车停在了我们旁边。

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The horse pulling it was an old, worn-out chestnut mare

拉车的是一匹年迈力衰的栗色母马。

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She had a dull coat, and you could count every rib on her thin sides

她的毛色暗淡，瘦削的两侧能数出每一根肋骨。

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Jerry had put out some hay for me to eat while we waited

杰瑞在我们等待时拿出些干草给我吃。

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The wind blew a few strands over toward the other horse, and she stretched out her long, thin neck to pick it up

风吹了几根草到那匹马那边，她伸长瘦长的脖子去捡。

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Then she turned and looked around for more with her hopeless eyes

然后她转过身，用绝望的眼神四处张望，想再找些吃的。

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I thought there was something familiar about her

我觉得她有些眼熟。

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Before I could figure it out, she looked at me and cried," Black Beauty! Is that you?"

我还没想明白，她就看着我喊道：“黑美人！是你吗？”

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It was Ginger! But it was no wonder I hadn't recognized her at first

是金格！难怪我一开始没认出她来。

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She looked like a different horse

她看起来完全是另一匹马。

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Her beautiful arched neck was now straight and thin

她那美丽的弓形脖颈如今又直又细。

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Her long, delicate legs were swollen from hard work

她修长纤细的腿因劳累而肿胀。

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And her face, which had once been so full of life and spirit, now showed only suffering

而她那曾经充满活力和精神的面孔，如今只显露出痛苦。

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She coughed, and I could tell her breathing problems were worse than ever

她咳嗽了起来，我能看出她的呼吸问题比以往更严重了。

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What had happened to her?

她到底经历了什么？

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Our drivers were standing together a short distance away, so I moved a step or two closer so Ginger and I could talk

我们的车夫在不远处站着聊天，所以我悄悄挪近了一两步，这样我和金格就能说上话了。

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" They rested me at Earlshall for a year or so," she began

"他们让我在厄尔歇尔休养了大概一年，"她开始说道。

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" By then I had recovered enough to be fit for work again

"到那时候，我已经恢复得差不多，能够再次工作了。

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The earl's son had lost interest in me, so I was sold to a gentleman in the area."

伯爵的儿子对我失去了兴趣，所以我就被卖给了当地的一位绅士。"

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" Was he a kind master?" I asked

"他是个和善的主人吗？" 我问道。

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" He was all right," Ginger replied." We got along pretty well at first

"他还行，" 金格回答。"起初我们相处得还挺好的。

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But one day he took me for a longer gallop than usual, and my breathing problems returned."

但是有一天，他带我跑了一次比平时更长的快步，我的呼吸问题就又犯了。"

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" Oh no!" I murmured

"哦不！" 我低声说道。

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" The gentleman had me rested and treated again, but then he sold me too," Ginger said

"那位绅士又让我休息和治疗，但之后他连我也给卖了。" 金格说。

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She went on to describe what had happened next

她接着描述了接下来发生的事情。

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She'd changed hands several times, always ending up in a worse situation than before

她几经转手，每次境况都比之前更糟。

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Each owner had quickly realized she couldn't work hard without her health problems returning

每位主人都很快意识到，她一旦过度劳累，旧病就会复发。

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" Finally I was sold to a man who keeps a number of cabs and horses

“最后，我被卖给了一个拥有许多马车和马匹的人。

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He leases them out to drivers who can't afford their own," Ginger said

他把它们租给那些买不起自己的马车的车夫。”金格说。

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" When he found out about my breathing problems, he decided to send me out with one of his cheapest cabs

“当他发现我有呼吸问题后，就决定把我派去拉他最便宜的马车。

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The driver doesn't care how hard he uses me

那个车夫根本不在乎他多狠地使唤我。

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All he cares about is making enough to pay his lease and have some profit left over

他只在乎赚够租金，还能剩下点利润。

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So I work all the time, never even getting a day's rest."

所以我整天干活，连一天休息都没有。”

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" How terrible!" I said

“太惨了！”我说。

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" But you used to stand up for yourself when you were mistreated, Ginger."

“但你以前受到虐待时会反抗的，金格。”

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" I know," she said with a heavy sigh." But what's the point?

“我知道，”她重重地叹了口气说，“但那有什么用呢？

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If humans decide to treat us badly, they're going to do it no matter what

如果人类决定虐待我们，他们无论如何都会这么做。

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All we can do is bear it as best we can until the end

我们能做的就是尽量忍受，直到最后。

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I'm glad you seem to have a kind master, Beauty

真高兴你似乎有一个善良的主人，黑美人。

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As for me, I look forward to the day when all this will end."

至于我，我盼望着这一切结束的那一天。”

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I felt very sad, especially when I remembered what a fine horse she'd once been

我感到非常难过，尤其是想起她曾经是一匹多么好的马。

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I could think of nothing to say that might make things better

我想不出任何能让事情好起来的话。

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So I put my nose close to hers, trying to comfort her

于是我把鼻子凑近她的鼻子，试图安慰她。

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" You're the only friend I ever had," she told me

“你是我有过的唯一的朋友，”她对我说。

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Just then her driver hurried over and hopped into the cab

就在这时，她的车夫匆匆赶来，跳上了马车。

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With a yank at the reins, he drove her away, leaving me feeling very troubled

他猛地一拉缰绳，驱车离开了，留下我心中非常不安。

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It was only a week or so later that a cart carrying a dead horse passed by the cab stand

大约一周后，一辆拉着一匹死马的马车经过出租车站。

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The horse's head hung lifelessly over the back edge

马头毫无生气地耷拉在后车沿上。

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It was such a dreadful sight that I couldn't look for long

那是如此可怕的景象，我无法久看。

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I saw enough, however, to know that the horse was a chestnut with a long neck and a white blaze

然而，我看清了那匹马是一匹栗色马，长脖子，额头有白斑。

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I believe it was my friend Ginger lying there in that cart

我相信那就是我的朋友金格，躺在那里，在那辆车上。

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I hope it was her anyway. That would mean her suffering is over at last

无论如何，我希望是她。那样就意味着，她的痛苦终于结束了。