美国故事 SENEWS-2005-1112-Feature

One day, our neighbor Keno Carter 1 rode his horse over to our house. He had another horse with him. He rode to me and said: "You have helped me a lot during the year. You've been a good boy. Now, here is the horse I promised. It is yours."
At first, I just stood with my mouth open and looked. The horse was a white female 2. A mare 3 with brown spots. I have never seen anything so beautiful and she was mine, all mine.
"What's wrong?" asked Keno Carter, "Don't you like her. She is as fast and brave as a wild horse. And she has a sense of fun."

I did not hear a word he said. The only thing I could say was, "Gee 4! Thanks, thanks." Keno Carter got down from his horse. My new horse jumped and lifted her front feet high in the air. Then she put her nose into his coat pocket and took a piece of sugar.
"She knows me," Said Keno Carter with a wide smile, "I am the only person who has touched her. She is a kind animal. Remember this, boy. You can lose her love easily. If you become angry, if you hurt her, she will never obey or love you. You should teach her very gently. It is your job to feed her, clean her and give her water. Put her at the end of a long rope and let her play. Call her name and gently pull on the rope. She will soon learn to come to you when she wants water or food." He talked for half an hour telling me how to train my horse.
When he finished, I said: "Can I have her now? I want to begin right away."
He left me and went to town with my father. I walked away with my horse. The first thing I did was to give her a name. She was so proud and carried her head so high. I named her Queen. She liked me, I knew it because she obeyed me and seemed to enjoy it.

Later, when Keno Carter came home with my father, he asked me about Queen. "You should not train her hard today," He warned 5, "She has walked all the way from my farm and (/she) is tired. You must think for her. Be kind to her as kind as you are to your sisters."
Sisters, I thought, and felt guilty 6. I never tried to be especially kind to my sisters. I did not like girls very much. I did not say that. But Keno Carter laughed as if he knew what I was thinking. He told me that the horse and I had to be like one animal. I was the brains and the horse was the body. I liked that. Queen and me together.

From then on, I was with my horse every day. I taught her to run around in a circle, to go one way then turn around and go another. I broke a piece of wood from a tree and used it as my training stick. My small sisters wanted to help me. I let them do some little things but I gave the orders. One sister put the rope around Queen's neck and led her around and around. When I lifted the stick, Queen turned and went the other way. She was a quick horse and learned 7 fast.

A week later, I started to teach her to carry me. This was slow work. I began by gently putting my arm on her back. If she did not like it, I slowly moved my arm away. When she let me leave my arm there, I placed the cloth on her back. I slowly got up and sat on the cloth, then got down again. I did this hundreds of times. I wanted to hurry and ride her, but I remembered what Keno Carter said about being slow and gentle. I learned how to wait. At last, she let me ride her, just for a few minutes at first, then for a longer time. When she got tired and started to jump, I got off. One thing about Queen, she was my horse and she did not let my sisters or anyone else ride her. It was always like that, just Queen and me.

One day, the circus came to town. Day and night, we could hear the happy circus music. There were many things to see: elephants, lions, men who flew through the air on swinging bars and funny men called clowns 9. I wanted to see only one thing, the horses. I went to the tent where the trainer lived. I talked to him. He let me watch him train the circus horses. I learned a lot. I trained Queen until she was better than all of them. She could soon stand up on her back legs, go down on her front legs and even lie down and roll over.

The big day came at last when I rode Queen into town. The circus man told me that horses liked to look pretty. So I put a colored blanket on Queen's back and a red flower behind her ear. She loved it. She did not walk. She danced to the circus music. Everyone stopped to look and smile at us. We were happy, my horse and me. It was a day we would never forget.

I started to teach Queen another trick, a difficult and dangerous trick. But I was sure I could do it. I saw the circus horse do it first. He stepped over a clown 8 who lay on the ground. He ran back and forth 10 and did not touch the clown with his feet. The trainer told me how to teach Queen. First, I got pieces of wood and put them on the ground. I led Queen over them. If she touched one of them, I told her it was wrong and did not give her any sugar. When she learned how to do this, I was ready to let her step over a clown. I did not have a clown. But I did have two sisters. They were happy to be part of my circus act. They lay down on the ground and let Queen step over them. My Queen did it like the circus horses.

This act was our secret. We did not tell anyone about it, not even my mother. It would be a surprise. We decided 11 to show my parents that Saturday night. I cleaned Queen until she shone. I fixed 12 her hair like they do in the circus with the bright blanket across her back and a flower behind her ear. Queen was ready. My sisters put on their best dresses. We were all ready.

Saturday evening, when dad came home from work, we showed him our trick. A soft summer wind blew the circus music over to our farm. When dad saw the act, he stopped and looked. His eyes grew wide, his face turned white. My mare was running back and forth, her head high jumping over the bodies of my two sisters lying on the ground. I was standing 13 proudly, nearby was the trainer stick in my hand. I thought the look on my father's face was surprise, but it was not. It was fear and anger.
"Stop," he shouted, "stop that."
He ran to me and pulled the stick from my hand. He hit me on the seat of my pants. The girls got up and brushed the dirt from their dresses. We tried to tell him how we had trained the horse. But dad was too angry to listen.
"Don't you know that is dangerous?" He said breathing fast, "You might have killed your sisters." And he hit my bottom good and hard.

I learned something useful from the punishment I got for that horse trick. I learned about the pain in my heart when people did not understand me. I learned that some mothers and fathers do not train their boys as carefully as I trained my horse. Perhaps, they do not have the time. Perhaps, they do not have any reasons.

When dad finished hitting me, he explained to mother why he had punished me. Then, I told my story. I told both of them how long and carefully I had taught my horse to walk over the girls. I showed my father that I could really control Queen. Then, I said something that hurt him very much.
"I taught my mare that trick," I said, "I have taught her all she knows and I never hit her, not once."
Mother gave dad one of her special looks. There was a long silence. I stood there in the middle of the yard gently touching 14 the seat of my pants. I wondered why my dad suddenly looked like a small boy.

You have just heard "Lessons from a pony 15" written by Lincoln Steffens. The story is from the book "My favorite stories" published by * and Company in 1957. It was read for you in Special English by Shep O'Neal. The Voice Of America will bring you another American story next week. This is Susan Clark.



林肯·斯蒂芬斯（Lincoln Steffens，1866－1936）美国作家, 黑幕揭发运动的代表人物。曾经担任《麦可卢尔》、《美国》、《人人》等杂志的记者与编辑，他系统地揭露市、州一级政府的腐败行为，其代表作为《城市的耻辱》(Shame of the Cities）。