In the midst of her dreaming she was suddenly disturbed by the entrance of two strange horses whose heavy feet beat the floor of the barn so hard that she felt every beat. The harness on these two huge horses was massy and bits of metal on it flashed with the reflection of the light of the doorway9. They were led into the stall next to Queen and with absolute indifference10 to her they began to rummage11 in the manger and the oats boxes, calling greedily for food. Queen watched them with no little interest. She was afraid of the men who had come in with them but in spite of the men she could not resist the desire to touch noses with the horse nearest to her. She pushed her nose anxiously through an opening in the partition and the big horse touched it with his nose a moment, but immediately returned to his voracious12 search for oats. But the touch of the big nose had only intensified13 the burning desire in her heart for companionship, and she called more loudly and with greater appeal.
Suddenly, she felt a slap upon her back and when she almost flounced into her manger in fright, she heard laughter behind her. The man who had slapped her then went round to the front of the manger and when Queen’s eyes fell upon him she recognised him. It was he who had helped the man of the place capture and brand her. The smell of him was most repellent and she backed away as far as she could go; but he untied15 her ropes and pulling their ends together, around a steading of the back wall of the manger, he pulled on them, dragging her forward till her knees struck the manger, and her head was over his shoulder as he stooped. He held on to the ropes keeping her head immovable; while her owner, coming from the other end of the barn with a bunch of straps16, threw them upon her head.
She struggled desperately18 to pull her head away but the ropes were relentless19. The evil-smelling hands of her owner moved all over her face and she was powerless even to show her resentment20. His big thumb forced its way between her teeth and while her jaws21 were apart a piece of iron slipped in between her teeth; and before she could dislodge it, the straps were forced over her ears and fastened around her neck.
With teeth and tongue she struggled to eject the annoying iron from her mouth but try as she would she could not move it to the edge of her teeth. They then loosened the ropes and her owner seized them all with one hand. Taking the reins22 which hung from the bridle23 bit in the other hand, he jumped over the manger. Seeing him she sprang back nervously24 and he followed her. She started for the doorway and when she got out into the open, she was going a little too fast for him. With a vicious jerk on the reins he halted her. The iron in her mouth was bent25 in the centre and the least jerk on the reins forced the bend to strike the tender palate with the force of a hammer.
The full light of day to which she was no longer accustomed hurt her eyes and her limbs seemed stiff, the joints26 paining her with the exertion27 of her first activity in so long a time. A wagon stood not far off with its tongue extended before it. On the seat was a fur robe. It appeared to her like some sort of animal and she was afraid of it. Against its wheel leaned the boy. He was pounding the earth with a stick and was looking at her. Under the wagon sat the dog on his haunches. As soon as he saw her he raised his muzzle28 and barked at her.
She tried to back into the barn but the man who stood in its doorway struck her with a stone which he threw at her. She dashed forward and reared. Her owner pulled down on the reins and once more the bend in the centre of the rider’s bit struck her tender palate. The pain terrified her. It seemed as if her enemies were able to strike her from within. She jumped involuntarily but she realised at once that every jump inflicted29 its own punishment. So she tried very hard to control herself, though her every nerve was on edge.
The man then walked forward and pulled on the ropes. She did not know what he wanted, so she braced30 herself against his pull. Again he jerked the reins and to avoid the force of his pull she moved hastily toward him. At once he moved off again and a few repetitions of this taught her to follow when led. Around and around the yard the man led her and with eyes aflame with fear, her skin quivering with nervousness, Queen hastily followed him, desiring to resist but anxiously afraid to do so.
She was beginning to think that that was all they wanted of her when the man in the doorway of the barn came forward with a heavy leather affair from which straps and things hung and dragged on the ground. She was standing31 quite still, breathing rapidly when this new apparition32 appeared. As the man swung it upon her she jumped to the side in fright. The man at the bridle immediately jerked the reins and with impatient force. Her palate by this time was sore and the pain was so excruciating Queen again lost her temper and for ten minutes both men were obliged to hang on the ropes and the reins as she reared and kicked and balked33. But in her enraged34 kicking one of her hind14 legs struck one of the rear wheels of the wagon and the pain that shot through her whole body had a quieting effect upon her. While they had her up against the wagon from which the boy and the dog had fled, they placed the saddle upon her.
The saddle securely fixed35, they led her off again, but walking was now difficult and painful. The cinch, the strap17 that keeps the saddle in place, was so tight that it was almost completely hidden by the skin which lopped over it from both sides. It cut her painfully every step she took. In two places on her back some hard parts of the saddle pressed against the backbone36.
But all this, miserable37 as it made her, was as nothing compared with the horror that swept over her when the man suddenly seized the horn of the saddle and threw himself upon her back like a beast of prey38. She sprang forward to get away from the farmyard; then on the open prairie she began in real earnest the attempt to throw him. He pulled on the reins till she felt the bend in the bit boring into her tongue. He dug his spurs into her sides. He lashed8 her savagely39 with the knotted ends of the ropes. But in her desire to rid herself of the frightful40 weight she seemed to have lost her sensitiveness to pain. She shook her body as a horse will shake water from him. She reared. She kicked backward. She shook the rear of her body while she braced her front legs against the earth. Then failing in all these attempts, she threw herself to the ground.
He jumped in time to avoid a broken leg. Thinking that she had conquered she struggled to her feet intending to fly, but to her consternation41, she was no sooner on her feet than he jumped back upon the saddle. She was determined42 to get rid of him and was about to throw herself again when she received a blow upon one ear that almost stunned43 her. The man had leaned forward and struck her with his hand in which he held his hat; but she thought it was some ferocious44 bird come out of the air to assist him. She turned in the opposite direction and dashed away. When he wanted her to turn back he struck her on the other ear and this time when his wing-like hat reached her ear, he sent forth45 a most fiendish shriek46.
Away she leaped over the plains as if some awful monster were at her heels. She seemed to get relief in the running. Her rider ceased pulling on the reins and ceased poking47 her sides with his spurs. He showed no displeasure in any way and Queen began to realise that that was what he wanted. When with his reins he pulled her head sideways she involuntarily turned in that direction and as soon as she turned he stopped pulling.
She was finally so worn out running, that she dropped back into a weary walk and as she looked up she was surprised to find herself but a few rods from the barn. Rebellion was futile48. All her failures proved it to her, yet when the man near the barn-door came forward to take hold of her, she tossed her head wildly, gripped the bit between her teeth and reared. Then when he ran off to the side to get away from her hoofs, she fell back and rushed for the barn-door.
But while her rider drew her head back till her ears touched him, the man on the ground hurried over to the barn-door and seized her by the bridle, holding her till the man jumped from the saddle. She was glad to get back into her stall and allowed them to tie her without a protest. The saddle was removed from her wet back and sides and the bit was removed from her blood-stained mouth.
She was dizzy and her heart pounded at her sides. From her wet distended49 nostrils50 the breath came like the roar of the ocean. Two sores on her back itched51 almost unendurably. Both sides were pierced by the cruel spurs and blood-stained. An aching pain gnawed52 in her palate and she could not throw off the painful sensation of grating iron from her teeth. Her body throbbed53 as a steamer throbs54 with the pounding of its engines.
They threw hay into her manger but she only sprang back and looked at them with moist, glowing eyes. They stopped in front of her manger and talked. While they talked she held her terrified eyes upon them, watching for what they might show evidence of wanting to do next. In the next stall, the two big horses, apparently55 unconcerned about the weight of harness still on their backs and indifferent to her troubles, stood with their greedy heads right over the hay in their manger and noisily and rapidly ground the hay in their mouths as if they were afraid that they would be taken out before they could devour56 all that lay before them. When the men walked into their stall and untying57 them started out with them, each one eagerly stretched his head backward to take a last large mouthful.
Queen looked after them as they went and experienced a sense of relief at their departure, worried only by the fear that they would be coming back again. When a few minutes passed and the doorway remained unobstructed, she turned her head back again and sank into a doze58 which was constantly disturbed. What troubled Queen most was the shattered condition of her nerves. The slightest sound sent her into paroxysms of fear, making her heart beat with a sense of impending59 calamity60 and sending chills and waves of heat, by turn, over her body. The voices she heard coming from the yard oppressed her with a constant threatening suggestion of the men’s return.
Then, some time later, she became aware of the fact that the noises were withdrawing. She heard the wagon rumbling away and even the barking of the dog grew fainter in the distance. A sweet silence, as refreshing61 as the cold water she longed for, fell upon the little farmyard; and the feeling of being alone was like an opiate.
But she was suddenly alarmed by the sensation as of some one present and turning hastily about, discovered a woman in the doorway of the barn. Queen was badly frightened. This creature was different from man but it was only a different sort of man. She gazed at the apparition which was talking in a voice that was softer than that of the men. The woman was carrying a pail full of water and came with it to the front of the manger. When she lifted it to set it down into the manger, Queen sprang back, frightened.
“Drink, Dora, you poor little wild thing,” said the woman, backing away a bit and looking at her commiseratingly, “you’re taking it so hard, you poor little Dora.”
Despite her fears, Queen’s ears went up straight and the glow of fear in her eyes dulled slightly. The woman went on talking to her in the same low tones, so different from the harsh, staccato sounds of the men and the boy. When the woman went out of the barn Queen turned her head and looked after her till she had disappeared. Then she turned to the pail of water and sticking her burning lips into the cool liquid she drank without a stop until there wasn’t a drop of water left.
The woman came back again driving a cow. Behind her, pushing its little muzzle into her hand, came a little calf62. The cow walked into the stall next to Queen and there, like the horses, she rummaged63 about for food. For some reason known only to the cow, she did not like the hay that the horses had left, but cast her cowy eyes upon the hay that was heaped much higher in Queen’s manger. She thrust her peculiar64 wide muzzle between two beams into Queen’s manger and with her long tongue gathered some of the hay and pulled it into her own stall where she chewed it with apparent great relish65. Queen took a mouthful and chewed it as if the cow had reminded her of what she ought to do.
“Some more water, Dora?” said the woman coming around to the front again, and as Queen jumped back frightened, she went on, “Don’t be afraid of me, Dora. I won’t hurt you.”
She took the empty pail and went out with it, coming back a few minutes later with the pail refilled and setting it once more into the manger. She talked to her a few minutes, then went away. Queen saw her sit down beside the cow and soon heard the peculiar sound of milk streams beating against the walls of a tin pail. She watched her and listened for a while but since the cow who was most concerned in the matter seemed not the least worried, she turned to her water.
When the woman was through milking, she drove out the cow and fed the calf and then sending it out too, she came back to Queen. She stood leaning forward against the manger and talked to her for a long time. There was something about that voice that made Queen think of ducks paddling on the surface of a pond at night, or the songs with which they sang themselves to sleep. It was a sound as of birds on branches of trees overhead pushing into each other and expressing the desire for warmth or the comfort of having it. The words followed each other slowly and softly and there was neither threat nor authority in them. Queen studied the strange face with the light playing upon it. She was still slightly uncertain about the eyes that she was afraid of and that strangely fascinated her. She was afraid to look into them, yet there was something in them that was in a way overcoming her. Was it the wetness about those eyes that in some way, perhaps never to be known, affected66 Queen? Was it the sympathy that the suffering have for the suffering that Queen recognised and that made her blindly place her hope in this new and mysteriously different human being?
When the woman went out Queen felt as she had felt on many a winter night in the wilds when some warm body next to her suddenly got up and left one side of her disagreeably cold. For the rest of the afternoon she kept turning her head toward the doorway and pricking67 her ears with more hope than expectation, and throughout the long disappointing hours the voice of the woman poured through her mind like a stream, like a long persistent68 melody, and its even flow was rhythmically69 measured by the one word that she remembered most clearly. “Dora!” What it meant she did not know, but she felt in a vague way, when she heard it, that it applied70 to her.
Next morning her owner put the saddle on her again, and though she was very nervous and afraid and would have fled at the first real opportunity, the lesson went by without much of the pain and agony of the first lesson. She began to understand what every pull of the reins meant and even the differences she heard in the man’s voice helped her to avoid trouble, as for instance, when by the sound of his voice she knew that he was impatient with her going too slowly and she sprang forward into a more rapid gait before the man felt it necessary to apply the spurs.
In the afternoon the woman came into the barn to give her water and to talk to her. When she patted her forehead, Queen did not resist and in time began to crave71 the touch of that hand, as she craved72 the sound of that voice.
Day after day she had her little run over the fields and as her fear of the farmer lessened73 slightly, she began to enjoy the exercise. It broke the crushing monotony of standing in the barn and gave her a chance to look at the plains she loved. So too it gave her a chance to see the other horses, none of whom were kept in the barn any longer. She found that the group in the corral had been very greatly reduced and the mysterious reduction worried her. The brown stallion was gone and with him all the horses she had known, except the little bay mare74, who did not seem to be on friendly terms with the other two horses in the corral. She was always off by herself and at the call of Queen would come rushing to the wire fence and beg her to join her.
One day the boy jumped upon her back. The man stood by and watched. The boy annoyed her by the way he sat and by the way he held the reins and she could hear the man angrily instructing him. She could feel him changing his ways and realised that the man was taking her part, somehow; but when they got away off on the fields, he tormented75 her. He kept digging his spurs into her sides even while she was running her best and he pulled steadily77 on the reins, hurting her palate and her lips and making it difficult for her to see the stone or holes in her path. But much as she hated and feared this boy, he was as yet afraid to mistreat her. What he really was capable of doing to torment76 her, she was yet to learn.
The old touch of melancholy78 just barely perceptible on Queen’s beautiful head deepened rapidly as submission79 took possession of her soul. She learned her lessons hastily and learned them well for fear of the pain that inevitably80 followed mistakes; yet somewhere in the very heart of that submission crouched81 an indestructible hope that sometime, somehow, she would break the chains of her bondage82 and go galloping83 back to her wilds.
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1
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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rummage
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| v./n.翻寻，仔细检查 | |
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voracious
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| adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的 | |
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intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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46
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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47
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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48
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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49
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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51
itched
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| v.发痒( itch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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53
throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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throbs
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| 体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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56
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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untying
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| untie的现在分词 | |
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doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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61
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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62
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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rummaged
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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rhythmically
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| adv.有节奏地 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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81
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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