Black Beauty 25, 26, 27

Enjoy this bedtime tale to help you drift off into a peaceful slumber. Tonight's reading is Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Through the eyes of a horse, chapters 25, 26, and 27 discuss the challenges Beauty and Ginger face. This audio is perfect for children or adults who want to relax, discover magic, or embark on an adventure before a great night's sleep.

Transcript

Chapter 25.

Ruben Smith Now I must say a little bit about Ruben Smith,

Who was left in charge of the stables when York went to London.

No one more thoroughly understood his business than he did,

And when he was all right there could not be a more faithful or valuable man.

He was gentle and very clever in his management of horses,

And could doctor them almost as well as a farrier,

For he had lived two years with a veterinary surgeon.

He was a first-rate driver.

He could take a foreign hand or a tandem as easily as a pair.

He was a handsome man,

A good scholar,

And had very pleasant manners.

I believe everybody liked him,

Certainly the horses did.

The only wonder was that he should be in under-situation and not in the place of the head coachmen like York.

But he had one great fault,

And that was the love of drink.

He was not like some men,

Always at it.

He used to keep steady for weeks or months together,

And then he would break out and have a bout of it,

As York called it,

And be a disgrace to himself,

A terror to his wife,

And a nuisance to all that had to do with him.

He was,

However,

So useful that two or three times York had hushed the matter up and kept it from the Earl's knowledge,

But one night,

When Reuben had to drive a party home from a ball,

He was so drunk that he could not hold the reins,

And a gentleman of the party had to mount the box and drive the ladies home.

Of course,

This could not be hidden,

And Reuben was at once dismissed.

His poor wife and little children had to turn out of the pretty cottage by the park gate and go where they could.

Old Max told me all this,

For it happened a good while ago,

But shortly before Ginger and I came,

Smith had been taken back again.

York had interceded for him with the Earl,

Who was very kind-hearted,

And the man had promised faithfully that he would never taste another drop as long as he lived there.

He had kept his promise so well that York thought he might be safely trusted to fill his place while he was away,

And he was so clever and honest that no one else seemed so well-fitted for the job.

It was now early in April,

And the family was expected home sometime in May.

The light program was to be fresh done up,

And as Colonel Blanner was obliged to return to his regiment,

It was arranged that Smith should drive him to the town in it and ride back.

For this purpose,

He took the saddle with him,

And I was chosen for the journey.

At the station,

The Colonel put some money into Smith's hand and bid him goodbye,

Saying,

Take care of your young mistress,

Reuben,

And don't let Black Oster be hacked about by any random young prig that wants to ride him.

Keep him for the lady.

We left the carriage at the Maker's,

And Smith rode me to the White Lion,

And ordered the hostler to feed me well and have me ready for him at four o'clock.

A nail in one of my front shoes had started as I came along,

But the hostler did not notice it till just about four o'clock.

Smith did not come into the yard till five,

And said he should not leave till six,

As he had to meet with some old friends.

The man then told him of the nail and asked if he should have the shoe looked at.

No,

Said Smith,

That will be all right till we get home.

He spoke in a very loud,

Offhand way,

And I thought it was very unlike him not to see about the shoe,

As he was generally wonderfully particular about loose nails in our shoes.

He did not come at six,

Nor seven,

Nor eight,

And it was nearly nine o'clock before he called for me,

And then it was with a loud,

Rough voice.

He seemed in a very bad temper,

And abused the hostler,

Though I could not tell what for.

The landlord stood at the door and said,

Have a care,

Mr.

Smith.

But he answered angrily with an oath,

And almost before he was out of the town he began to gallop,

Frequently giving me a sharp cut with the whip,

Though I was already going at full speed.

The moon had not yet risen,

And it was very dark.

The roads were stony,

Having been recently mended.

Going over them at this pace,

My shoe became looser,

And as we neared the turnpike gate,

It came off.

If Smith had been in his right senses,

He would have been sensible of something wrong in my pace,

But he was too drunk to notice.

Beyond the turnpike was a long piece of road,

Upon which fresh stones had been laid,

Large,

Sharp stones,

Over which no horse could be driven quickly without risk of danger.

Over this road,

With one shoe gone,

I was forced to gallop at my utmost speed,

My rider meanwhile cutting me with his whip,

And with his wild curses,

Urging me to go faster still.

Of course my shoeless foot suffered dreadfully,

The hoof was broken and split down to the very quick,

And the inside was terribly cut by the sharpness of the stones.

This could not go on,

No horse could keep his footing under such circumstances,

The pain was too great.

I stumbled and fell with violence on both my knees.

Smith was flung off by my fall,

And owing to the speed I was going at,

He must have fallen with great force.

I soon recovered my feet and limped to the side of the road,

Where it was free from stones.

The moon had just risen above the hedge,

And by its light I could see Smith lying a few yards behind me.

He did not rise,

He made one slight effort to do so,

And then there was a heavy groan.

I could have groaned too,

For I was suffering intense pain from both my foot and knees,

But horses are used to bear their pain in silence.

I uttered no sound,

But I stood there and listened.

One more heavy groan from Smith,

But though he now lay in the full moonlight,

I could see no motion.

I could do nothing for him nor myself,

But oh,

How I listened for the sound of horse or wheels or footsteps.

The road was not much frequented,

And at this time of night we might stay for hours before help came to us.

I stood watching and listening.

It was a calm,

Sweet April night.

There were no sounds but a few low notes of a nightingale,

And nothing moved but the white clouds near the moon and a brown owl that flitted over the hedge.

It made me think of the summer nights long ago when I used to lie beside my mother in the green,

Pleasant meadow at Farmer Gray's.

Chapter 26.

How It Ended It must have been nearly midnight when I heard at a great distance the sound of horses' feet.

Sometimes the sound died away,

Then it grew clearer again and nearer.

The road to Earlshall led through woods that belonged to the Earl.

The sound came in that direction,

And I hoped it might be someone coming in search of us.

As the sound came nearer and nearer,

I was almost sure I could distinguish Ginger's step.

A little nearer still,

And I could tell she was in the dog cart.

I neighed loudly and was overjoyed to hear an answering neigh from Ginger and men's voices.

They came slowly over the stones and stopped at the dark figure that lay upon the ground.

One of the men jumped out and stooped down over it.

It is Reuben,

He said,

And he does not stir.

The other men followed and bent over him.

He's dead,

He said.

Feel how cold his hands are.

They raised him up,

But there was no life,

And his hair was soaked with blood.

They laid him down again and came and looked at me.

They soon saw my cut knees.

Why,

The horse has been down and thrown him.

Who would have thought the black horse would have done that?

Nobody thought he could fall.

Reuben must have been lying there for hours.

Odd,

Too,

That the horse has not moved from the place.

Robert then attempted to lead me forward.

I made a step but almost fell again.

Hello,

He's bad in his foot as well as his knees.

Look here,

His hoof is cut all to pieces.

He might well come down,

Poor fellow.

I tell you what,

Ned,

I'm afraid it hasn't been all right with Reuben.

Just think of his riding a horse over these stones without a shoe.

Why,

If he had been in his right senses,

He would just as soon have tried to ride him over the moon.

I'm afraid it has been the whole thing over again.

Poor Susan.

She looked awfully pale when she came to my house to ask if he had not come home.

She made believe she was not a bit anxious and talked of a lot of things that might have kept him.

But for all that she begged me to go and meet him.

But what must we do?

There's the horse to get home as well as the body and that will be no easy matter.

Then followed a conversation between them till it was agreed that Robert as the groom should lead me and that Ned must take the body.

It was a hard job to get into the dog cart for there was no one to hold Ginger but she knew as well as I did what was going on.

And stood as still as a stone.

I noticed that because if she had a fault it was that she was impatient and standing.

Ned started off very slowly with his sad load and Robert came and looked at my foot again.

Then he took his handkerchief and bound it closely round and so he led me home.

I shall never forget that night walk.

It was more than three miles.

Robert led me on very slowly and I limped and hobbled on as well as I could with great pain.

I'm sure he was sorry for me.

For he often patted and encouraged me talking to me in a pleasant voice.

At last I reached my own box and had some corn and after Robert had wrapped up my knees in wet cloths he tied up my foot in a bran poultice to draw out the heat and cleanse it before the horse doctor saw it in the morning.

And I managed to get myself down on the straw and slept in spite of the pain.

The next day after the farrier had examined my wounds he said he hoped the joint was not injured and if so I should not be spoiled for work but I should never lose the blemish.

I believe they did the best to make a good cure but it was a long and painful one.

Proud flesh as they called it came up in my knees and was burned out with the caustic and when it last was healed they put a blistering fluid over the front of both knees to bring off the hair again.

They had some reason for this and I suppose it was all right.

As Smith's death had been so sudden and no one was there to see it there was an inquest held.

The landlord and hustler at the White Lion with several other people gave evidence that he was intoxicated when he started from the inn.

The keeper of the toll gate said he rode at a hard gallop through the gate and my shoe was picked up among the stones so that the case was quite plain to them and I was cleared of all blame.

Everyone pitied Susan.

She was nearly out of her mind.

She kept saying over and over.

Oh he was so good so good.

It was all that cursed drink.

Why will they sell that cursed drink?

Oh Reuben Reuben.

So she went on till after he was buried and then as she had no home or relations she with her six little children was obliged once more to leave the pleasant home by the tall oak trees and go into the great gloomy union house.

Chapter 27 Ruined and Going Downhill As soon as my knees were sufficiently healed I was turned into a small meadow for a month or two.

No other creature was there and though I enjoyed the liberty in the sweet grass yet I had been so long used to society that I felt very lonely.

Ginger and I had become fast friends and now I missed her company extremely.

I often neighed when I heard horses' feet passing in the road but I seldom got an answer till one morning the gate was open and who should come in but dear old Ginger.

The man slipped off her halter and left her there.

With a joyful whinny I trotted up to her.

We were both glad to meet but I soon found that it was not for our pleasure that she was brought to be with me.

Her story would be too long to tell but the end of it was that she'd been ruined by hard riding and was now turned off to see what rest would do.

Lord George was young and would take no warning.

He was a hard rider and would hunt whenever he could get the chance quite careless of his horse.

Soon after I left the stable there was a steeplechase and he determined to ride.

Though the groom told him she was little strained and was not fit for the race he did not believe it and on the day of the race urged Ginger to keep up with the foremost riders.

With her high spirit she strained herself to the utmost.

She came in with the first three horses but her wind was touched.

Besides which she was too heavy for her and her back was strained.

And so she said here we are ruined in the prime of our youth and strength.

You by a drunkard and I by a fool.

It is very hard.

We both felt in ourselves that we were not what we had been.

However that did not spoil the pleasure we had in each other's company.

We did not gallop as we used to but we used to feed and lie down together and stand for hours under one of the shady lime trees with our heads close to each other.

And so we passed our time till the family returned from town.

One day we saw the Earl come from the meadow and York was with him.

Seeing who it was we stood still under our lime tree and let them come up to us.

They examined us carefully.

The Earl seemed much annoyed.

There is 300 pounds flung away for no earthly use said he.

But what I care most for is that the horses of my old friend who thought they would find a good home with me are ruined.

The mare shall have a 12-month run and we shall see what we do with her.

But the black one,

He must be sold.

Tis a great pity.

But I cannot have knees like these in my stables.

No,

My lord,

Of course not said York.

But he must get a place where appearance is not as much of a consequence and still be well treated.

I know a man in Bath,

The master of some livery stables,

And often wants a good horse at a low figure.

I know he looks well after his horses.

The inquest cleared the horse's character and your lordship's recommendation or mine would be sufficient warrant for him.

You had better write to him,

York.

I should be much more particular about the place than the money he would fetch.

After this they left us.

They'll soon take you away,

Said Ginger,

And I shall lose the only friend I have and most likely we shall never see each other again.

Tis a hard world.

About a week after this,

Robert came into the field with a halter,

Which he slipped over my head and led me away.

There was no leave-taking of Ginger.

We neighed to each other as I was let off.

And she trotted anxiously along by the hedge,

Calling to me as long as she could hear the sound of my feet.

Through the recommendation of York,

I was bought by the master of the livery stables.

I had to go by train,

Which was new to me and required a good deal of courage the first time,

As I found the puffing,

Rushing,

Whistling,

More than all the trembling of the horse box in which I stood,

Did me no real harm.

I soon took it quietly.

When I reached the end of my journey,

I found myself in a tolerably comfortable stable and well attended to.

These stables were not so airy and pleasant as those I'd been used to.

The stalls were laid on a slope instead of being level,

And my head was kept tied to the manger.

I was obliged always to stand on the slope,

Which was very fatiguing.

Men do not seem to know yet that horses can do more work if they can stand comfortably and can turn about.

However,

I was well fed and well cleaned,

And on the whole,

I think our master took as much care of us as he could.

He kept a good many horses and carriages of different kinds for hire.

Sometimes his own men drove them.

At others,

The horse and chase were led to gentlemen or ladies who drove themselves.

And that is the end of our story this evening.

Until next time,

Sweet dreams.

Reviews

So sad… so much suffering humans cause 😔 thank you ✨🙏🏼✨

A little bit sad tonight. But still enjoyable, thank you.

These lovely horses, thank you for telling their story so well 💩🐴