阅读理解
A horse fair is an
interesting place. There were young horses from the country, little Welsh
ponies and many beautiful horses too. But there were also a lot of poor, thin
horses, tired from hard work. I was very sad to see them.
At the horse fair there was
a man with a gentle voice and kind grey eyes. He offered 23 pounds for me, but
they refused. Then a man with a very loud voice came. I was afraid he was going
to buy me, but he walked off. Then the grey-eyed man came back again and said:
"I'll give 24 for him."
"Done," said the salesman. "He's a quality horse and if
you want him for cab (出租马车) work, he's a bargain."
Half an hour later we set off for London, along country roads,
until we came to that great city. There were streets to the right, and streets
to the left. We went into one of the small streets, and then into a very narrow
street, with small, old houses.
My owner stopped at a
house. The door opened, and a woman, a little girl and boy, came out.
"Is he gentle, father?"
"Yes, Dolly, as gentle as a
kitten; you can pat him."
Dolly, the little girl,
patted my shoulder without fear. It felt so good! They led me into a
comfortable, clean stable, and after a delicious meal I lay down to sleep,
thinking "I'm going to very happy here".
My new owner's name was Jerry. His wife
was called Polly and they had two children, Harry and Dolly. The next morning
they came to see me. I loved it when they patted me and spoke in gentle voices.
"Let's call him 'Jack', after the old horse,
shall we, Harry?" said Dolly.
"Yes, let's," said Harry.
The first week of my life
as Jack, the London cab horse was very hard. The noise and the people and the
traffic on the streets scared me. But Jerry was a very good driver, and that
helped a lot Jerry soon found that I was ready to work hard and do my best, and
he didn't whip (鞭打) me.
He kept us very clean, and
gave us as much food as we wanted. But the best thing was that we had Sundays
off.
