奇书网

奇书网>能言马与男孩里的好词好句 > CHAPTER ONE HOW SHASTA SET OUT ON HIS TRAVELS(第2页)

CHAPTER ONE HOW SHASTA SET OUT ON HIS TRAVELS(第2页)

“Yes,ifyou'lle,”aheHorse。“Thisistheceforbothofus。YouseeifIrunawaywithoutarider,everyonewhoseesmewillsay“Strayhorse”aermeasquickashe。WithariderI'veaceth。That'swhereyouhelpme。Oherhand,you'tgetveryfarowosillylegsofyours(whatabsurdlegshumahoutbeiaken。Butonmeyououtdistaherhorseinthistry。That'syou。Bytheoseyouknowhowtoride?”

“Ohyes,ofcourse,”saidShasta。“Atleast,I'veriddenthedonkey。”

“Ridde?”retortedtheHorsewithextremept。(Atleast,thatiswhathemeant。Actuallyitcameoutinash—“Riddenthewha-ha-ha-ha-ha。”Talkinghorsesalwaysbeorehorsyiheyareangry。)

“Inotherwords,”itued,“you'tride。That'sadrawback。I'llhavetoteachyouaswegoalong。Ifyou'tride,youfall?”

“Isupposeanyonefall,”saidShasta。

“1meanyoufallaupagainwithandmountagainandfallagaibeafraidoffalling?”

“I—I'lltry,”saidShasta。“Poorlittlebeast,”saidtheHeone。“Ifetyou'reonlyafoal。We'llmakeafineriderofyouintime。An'tstartuhebutareasleep。Meantimelans。MyTarkaanisonhiswayNorthtothegreatcity,toTashbaahecourtoftheTisroc—”

“Isay,”putinShastainratherashockedvoice,“oughtn'tyoutosay'Mayheliveforever'?”

“Why?”askedtheHorse。“I'mafreeNarnian。AndwhyshouldItalkslaves'andfools'talk?Idon'twanthimtoliveforever,andIknowthathe'snotgoingtoliveforeverwhetherIwanthimtoornot。AndIseeyou'refromthefreeNorthtoo。hisSoweenyouandme!Andnow,backtoourplans。AsIsaid,myhumanwasonhiswayNorthtoTashbaan。”

&meanwe'dbettergototheSouth?”

“Ithinknot,”saidtheHorse。“Yousee,hethinksI'mdumbandwitlesslikehisotherhorses。NowifIreallywere,themomentIgotlooseI'dgobaystableandpaddock;backtohispalacewhichistwodays'jourh。That'swherehe'lllookforme。He'dneverdreamofmygoingonNorthonmyown。Andanywayhewillprobablythinkthatsomeovillagewhosawhimridethroughhasfollowedustohereandstolenme。”

“Ohhurrah!”saidShasta。“Thenwe'llgoNorth。I'vebeenlongingtogototheNorthallmylife。”

“Ofcourseyouhave,”saidtheHorse。“That'sbecauseofthebloodthat'sinyou。I'msureyou'retrueoottooloud。Ishouldthinkthey'dbeasleepsoonnow。”

“I'dbettercreepbadsee,”suggestedShasta。

“That'sagoodidea,”saidtheHorse。“Buttakecareyou'renotcaught。”

Itwasagooddealdarkerexceptforthesoundofthewavesonthebeach,whichShastahardlynoticedbecausehehadbeedayandnightaslongasheber。Thecottage,asheapproachedit,showednolight。Whehefronttherewasnoroundtotheonlywindow,hecouldhear,afterasedortwo,thefamiliarheoldfisherman'ssqueakyswasfunnytothinkthatifallouldagain。Holdihandfeelingalittlebitsorry,butmuchlesssorrythanhewasglad,Shastaglidedawayrassahedonkey'sstable,gropedalongtoaplaewwherethekeywashiddehedoorandfoundtheHorse'ssaddleandbridlewhichhadbeeherefht。Hebentforwardahedonkey'snose。“I'msorrywe'ttakeyou,”hesaid。

“Thereyouareatlast,”saidtheHorsewhebacktoit。“Iwasbeginningtowohadbeeofyou。”

“Iwasgettingysoutofthestable,”repliedShasta。“Andnow,ehowtoputthemon?”

FortheesShastawasatwork,verycautiouslytoavoidjingliheHorsesaidthihatgirthabittighter,”or“You'llfindabucklelowerdown,”or“You'lloshorteirrupsagoodbit。”Whenallwasfisaid:

“Now;we'vegottohavereinsforthelookofthething,butyouwon'tbeusihemtothesaddle-bow:veryslacksothatIdowhatIlikewithmyhead。And,remember—youarenottotouchthem。”

“Whataretheyfor,thea。

“Ordinarilytheyarefme,”repliedtheHorse。“ButasIiodoallthedirethisjourney,you'llpleasekeepyourhandstoyourself。Andthere'sahing。I'mnotgoingtohaveymymane。”

“ButIsay,”pleadedShasta。“IfI'mnottoholdonbythereinsorbyyourmaamItoholdonby?”

“Youholdonwithyourknees,”saidtheHorse。“That'sthesecretripmybodybetweenyourkneesashardasyoulike;sitstraightup,straightasapoker;keepyourelbowsin。Andbytheway,whatdidyoudowiththespurs?”

“Putthemonmyheels,ofcourse,”saidShasta。“Idoknowthatmuch。”

“Thenyoutakethemoffahesaddlebag。Wemaybeabletosellthemwheashbaan。Ready?AndnowIthinkyougetup。”

“Ooh!You'readreadfulheight,”gaspedShastaafterhisfirst,atempt。

“I'mahorse,that'sall,”ly。“AhinkIwasahaystathewayytoclimbupme!There,that'sbetter。NowsitupaItoldyouaboutyourknees。Funnytothinkofmewhohasledcavalrydwonragapotato-sacklikeyouinthesaddle!However,offwego。”Itchuotunkindly。

Aaiheirnightjourhgreat。Firstofallitwentjustsouthofthefisherman'scottagetothelittleriverwhichthereraniookcaretoleaveinthemudsomeveryplainhoof-markspointingSouth。Butassoonastheywereinthemiddleoftheforditturreamaheywereaboutahundredyardsfartherinlandthaage。TheedaofbankwhichwouldtakenofootprintsaheNortherhen,stillataatNorthwardtillthecottage,theohedonkey'sstable,ahing,infact,thatShastahadeverknown—hadsunkoutofsightinthegraysummer-nightdarkheyhadbeengoinguphillahetope—thatridgewhichhadalwaysbeentheboundaryofShasta'sknownworld。Heotseewhattthatitenandgrassy。Itlookedendless:wildandlonelyandfree。

“Isay!”observedtheHorse。“lacefallop,eh!”

“Ohdon'tlet's,”saidShasta。“。Idon'tknowhowto—please,Horse。Idon'tkno>

“Breehy-hinny-brinny-hooky-hah,”saidtheHorse。

“I'llosaythat,”saidShasta。“IcallyouBree?”

&'sthebestyoudo,Isupposeyoumust,”saidtheHorse。“AndwhatshallIcallyou?”

“I'mcalledShasta。”

“H'm,”saidBree。“Well,now,there'sa'sreallyhardtopronowaboutthisgallop。It'sagooddealeasierthantrottingifyouonlyknew,becauseyoudon'thavetoriseandfall。Gripwithyourkneesandkeepyoureyesstraightaheadbetweenmyears。Don'tlookattheground。Ifyouthinkytofalljustgripharderandsitupstraighter。Ready?Now:forNarniaah。”

热门小说推荐

最新标签