Black Beauty 31, 32, 33

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 31, 32, and 33 discuss the challenges Beauty faces with different riders. 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

31.

A Humbug My master was not immediately suited,

But in a few days my new groom came.

He was a tall,

Good-looking fellow enough,

But if ever there was a humbug in the shape of a groom,

Alfred Smirk was the man.

He was very civil to me,

And never used me ill.

In fact,

He did a great deal of stroking and patting when his master was there to see it.

He always brushed my mane and tail with water,

And my hooves with oil before he brought me to the door,

To make me look smart.

But as to cleaning my feet,

Or looking to my shoes,

Or grooming me thoroughly,

He thought no more of it than if I had been a cow.

He left my bit rusty,

My saddle damp,

And my crupper stiff.

Alfred Smirk considered himself very handsome.

He spent a great deal of time about his hair,

Whiskers,

And necktie,

Before a little looking glass in the harness room.

When his master was speaking to him,

It was always,

Yes sir,

Yes sir,

Touching his hat at every word.

And everyone thought he was a very young,

Nice man,

And that Mr.

Berry was very fortunate to meet with him.

I should say he was the laziest,

Most conceited fellow I ever came near.

Of course,

It was a great thing not to be ill-used,

But then a horse wants more than that.

I had a loose box,

And might have been very comfortable if he had not been too indolent to clean it out.

He never took all the straw away,

And the smell from what lay underneath was very bad,

While the strong vapors that rose made my eyes smart and inflamed,

And I did not feel the same appetite for my food.

One day his master came in and said,

Alfred,

The stable smells rather strong.

Should not you give that stall a good scrub and throw down plenty of water?

Well,

Sir,

He said,

Touching his cap,

I'll do so if you please,

Sir,

But it is rather dangerous,

Sir,

Throwing down water in a horse's box.

They are very apt to take cold.

I should not like him to have an injury,

But I'll do it if it please you,

Sir.

Well,

Said his master,

I should not like him to take cold,

But I don't like the smell of the stable.

Do you think the drains are all right?

Well,

Sir,

Now that you mention it,

I think the drain does sometimes send back a smell.

There may be something wrong,

Sir.

Then send for the bricklayer and have it seen to,

Said the master.

Yes,

Sir,

I will.

The bricklayer came and pulled up a great many bricks,

But found nothing amiss,

So he put down some lime and charged the master five shillings,

And the smell in my box was as bad as ever.

But that was not all.

Standing as I did on a quantity of moist straw,

My feet grew unhealthy and tender.

And the master used to say,

I don't know what is the matter with this horse.

He goes very fumble-footed.

I am sometimes afraid he will stumble.

Yes,

Sir,

Said Alfred,

I have noticed the same myself when I have exercised him.

Now the fact was that he hardly ever did exercise me.

And when the master was busy,

I often stood for days together without stretching my legs at all,

And yet being fed just as high as if I were hard at work.

This often disordered my health and made me sometimes heavy and dull,

But more restless and feverish.

He never gave me a meal of green food or bran mash,

Which would have cooled me,

For he was altogether as ignorant as he was conceited.

And then instead of exercise or change of food,

I had to take horseballs and draughts,

Which beside the nuisance of having them poured down my throat,

Used to make me feel ill and uncomfortable.

One day my feet were so tender that trotting over some fresh stones with my master on my back,

I made two such serious stumbles that as he came down,

Lounging into the city,

He stopped at the farriers and asked them to see what the matter was with me.

The man took up my feet one by one and examined them.

Then standing up and dusting his hands one against the other,

He said,

Your horse has got the thrush,

And badly,

Too.

His feet are very tender.

It is fortunate that he has not been down.

I wonder your groom has not seen it before.

This is the sort of thing we find in foul stables,

Where the litter is never properly cleaned out.

If you will send him over here tomorrow,

I will attend to the hoof,

And I will direct your man how to apply the limonette which I will give him.

The next day I had my feet thoroughly cleansed and stuffed with toe,

Soaked in some strong lotion,

And an unpleasant business it was.

The farrier ordered all the litter to be taken out of my box today,

And the floor kept very clean.

Then I was to have bran mashes,

A little green food,

And not so much corn,

Till my feet were well again.

With this treatment I soon regained my spirits,

But Mr.

Barry was so much disgusted at being twice deceived by his grooms that he determined to give up keeping a horse,

And to hire when he wanted one.

I was therefore kept till my feet were quite sound,

And then sold again.

Part Three Chapter Thirty-Two A Horse Fair No doubt a horse fair is a very amusing place to those who have nothing to lose.

At any rate,

There's plenty to see.

Long strings of young horses out of the country,

Fresh from the marshes,

And droves of shaggy little Welsh ponies no higher than merry legs,

And hundreds of cart horses,

And all sorts,

Some of them with their long tails braided up and tied with scarlet cord,

And a good many like myself,

Handsome and high-bred,

But fallen into the middle class through some accident or blemish,

Unsoundness of wind,

Or some other complaint.

There were some splendid animals quite in their prime,

And fit for anything.

They were throwing out their legs and showing off their paces and high style,

As they were trotted out with the leading rein,

The groom running by the side.

But round in the background there were a number of poor things,

Sadly broken down with hard work,

With their knees knuckling over and their hind legs swinging out at every step.

And there were some very dejected-looking old horses,

With the underlip hanging down and the ears lying back heavily,

As if there was no more pleasure in life and no more hope.

There were some so thin you might see all their ribs,

And some with old sores on their backs and hips.

These were sad sights for a horse to look upon.

Who knows not,

But he may come down to the same state.

There was a great deal of bargaining,

Of running up and beating down,

And if a horse may speak his mind as far as he understands,

I should say there were some lies told,

And more trickery at the horse fair than a clever man could give an account for.

I was put with two or three other strong,

Useful-looking horses,

And a good many people came to look at us.

The gentlemen always turned for me when they saw my broken knees,

Though the man who had me sort was only a slip in the stall.

The first thing was to pull my mouth open,

Then to look at my eyes,

Then feel all the way down my legs and give me a hard feel of the skin and flesh,

And then try my paces.

It was wonderful what a difference there was in the way these things were done.

Some did it with a rough off-hand way,

As if one was only a piece of wood,

While others would take their hands gently over one's body,

With a pat now and then,

As much as to say,

Buy or leave.

Of course,

I judged a good deal of the buyers by their manners to myself.

There was one man I thought,

If he would buy me,

I should be very happy.

He was not a gentleman,

Nor yet one of the loud,

Flashy sort that call themselves so.

He was rather a small man,

But well made and quick in all his motions.

I knew in a moment by the way he handled me that he was used to horses.

He spoke gently,

And his gray eye had a kindly,

Cheery look in it.

It may seem strange to say,

But it is true all the same,

That the clean,

Fresh smell there was about him made me take to him.

No smell of old beer and tobacco,

Which I hated,

But a fresh smell,

As if he had come off out of a hayloft.

He offered twenty-three pounds for me,

But that was refused,

And he walked away.

I looked after him,

But he was gone,

And a very hard-looking,

Loud-voiced man came.

I was dreadfully afraid he would have me,

But he walked off.

One or two more came,

Who did not mean business.

Then the hard-faced man came back and offered twenty-three pounds.

A very close bargain was being driven,

For my salesman began to think he should not get all that he asked,

And must come down.

But just then the gray-eyed man came back again.

I could not help reaching out my head toward him.

He stroked my face kindly.

"'Well,

Old chap,

' he said,

"'I think we should suit each other.

I'll give twenty-four for him.

' "'Say twenty-five,

And you shall have him.

' "'Twenty-four-ten,

' said my friend,

In a very decided tone,

"'and not another sixpence,

Yes or no.

' "'Done,

' said the salesman,

"'and you may depend upon it that there is a monstrous deal of quality in that horse,

And if you want him for a cab work,

He's a bargain.

' "'The money was paid on the spot,

And my new master took my halter,

And led me out of the fair to an inn,

Where he had a saddle and bridle ready.

He gave me good feed of oats,

And stood by while I ate it,

Talking to himself and talking to me.

Half an hour after,

We were on our way to London,

Through pleasant lanes and country roads,

Until we came into the great London thoroughfare.

On which we travelled steadily,

Till in the twilight we reached the great city.

The gas lamps were already lighted.

There were streets to the right,

And streets to the left,

And streets crossing each other from mile upon mile.

I thought we should never come to the end of them.

At last,

In passing through one,

We came to a long cab stand,

When my rider called out in a cheery voice,

"'Good night,

Governor.

' "'Hello,

' cried a voice,

"'have you got a good one?

' "'I think so,

' replied my owner.

"'I wish you luck with him.

' "'Thank you,

Governor,

' and he wrote on.

We soon turned up to one of the side streets,

And about halfway up we turned into a very narrow street,

With rather poor-looking houses on one side,

And what seemed to be coach houses and stables on the other.

My owner pulled up at one of the houses and whistled.

The door flew open,

And a young woman,

Followed by a little girl and boy ran out.

There was a very lively greeting as my rider dismounted.

"'Now then,

Harry,

My boy,

Open the gates,

And Mother will bring us the lantern.

' The next minute they were all standing round me in a small stable yard.

"'Is he gentle,

Father?

' "'Yes,

Dolly,

As gentle as your own kitten.

Come and pat him.

' At once the little hand was patting all over my shoulder without fear.

How good it felt!

"'Let me get him a brand mash while you rub him down,

' said the Mother.

"'Do,

Polly,

It's just what he wants.

And I know you've got a beautiful mash ready for me.

' Sausage,

Dumpling and an apple turnover shouted the boy,

Which set them all laughing.

I was led into a comfortable,

Clean-smelling stall with plenty of dry straw,

And after a capital supper I lay down,

Thinking I was going to be happy.

Chapter 33 A London Cab Horse Jeremiah Barker was my new master's name,

But as everyone called him Jerry,

I shall do the same.

Polly,

His wife,

Was just as good a match as a man could have.

She was plump,

Trim,

Tidy little woman with smooth dark hair,

Dark eyes,

And a merry little mouth.

The boy was twelve years old,

A tall,

Frank,

Good-tempered lad,

And little Dorothy,

Dolly they called her,

Was her mother over again at eight years old.

They were all wonderfully fond of each other.

I never knew such a happy,

Merry family before or since.

Jerry had a cab of his own and two horses,

Which he drove and attended to himself.

His other horse was tall,

White,

Rather large-boned,

Called Captain.

He was old now,

But when he was young he must have been splendid.

He had still a proud way of holding his head and arcing his neck.

In fact,

He was a high-bred,

Fine-mannered,

Noble old horse every inch of him.

He told me that in his early youth he went to the Crimean War.

He belonged to an officer in the cavalry and used to lead the regiment.

I will tell more of the hereafter.

The next morning,

When I was well-groomed,

Polly and Dolly came into the yard to see me and make friends.

Harry had been helping his father since the early morning and had stated his opinion that I should turn out all the regular brick.

Polly brought me a slice of apple and Dolly a piece of bread and made as much of me as I had been black beauty of olden time.

It was a great treat to be petted again and talked to in a gentle voice,

And I let him see as well as I could that I wished to be friendly.

Polly thought I was very handsome and a great deal too good for the cab if it was not for the broken knees.

Of course,

There's no one to tell us whose fault that was,

Said Jerry,

And as long as I don't know I shall give him the benefit of the doubt for a firmer,

Neater stepper I never rode.

We'll call him Jack after the old one,

Shall we,

Polly?

Do,

She said,

For I like to keep a good name going.

Captain went out in the cab all the morning.

Harry came in after school to feed me and give me water.

In the afternoon I was to pull the cab.

Jerry put as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably as if he'd been John Manley over again.

When the crupper was let out a hole or two,

It all fitted well.

There was no check rein,

No curb,

Nothing but a plain ring snaffle.

What a blessing that was.

After driving through the side street we came to a large cab stand where Jerry had said good night.

On one side of the white street were high houses with wonderful shop fronts and on the other was an old church and churchyard surrounded by iron palisades.

Alongside these iron rails a number of cabs were drawn up,

Waiting for passengers.

Bits of hay were lying around on the ground.

Some of the men were standing together talking,

Some were sitting on their boxes reading the newspaper,

And one or two were feeding the horses with bits of hay and giving them a drink of water.

We pulled up in the rank at the back of the last cab.

Two or three men came round and began to look at me.

And passed their remarks.

Very good for a funeral,

Said one.

Too smart looking,

Said another,

Shaking his head in a very wise way.

You'll find out something wrong one of these fine mornings or my name isn't Jones.

Well,

Said Jerry pleasantly.

I suppose I need not find out till it finds me out,

Eh?

And if so,

I'll keep up my spirits a little longer.

Then,

They came a broad-faced man dressed in a neat grey coat with great grey cape and a great white button,

And a high hat,

And a blue comforter loosely tied around his neck.

His hair was grey too,

But he was a jolly looking fellow,

And the other men made way for him.

He looked me all over as if he'd been going to buy me.

And then straightening himself up with a grunt,

He said,

He's the right sort for you,

Jerry.

I don't care what you gave for him,

He'll be worth it.

Thus,

My character was established on the stand.

This man's name was Grant,

But he was called Grey Grant or Governor Grant.

He had been the longest on the stand of any of the men.

And he took it upon himself to settle matters and stop disputes.

He was generally a good-humoured,

Sensible man,

But if his temper was a little out,

As it was sometimes when he had drunk too much,

Nobody liked to come too near his fist,

For he could deal a very heavy blow.

The first week of my life as a cab horse was very trying.

I had never been used to London,

And the noise,

The hurry,

The crowds of horses,

Carts and carriages that I had to make my way through made me feel anxious and harassed.

But I soon found that I could perfectly trust my driver,

And then I made myself easy and got used to it.

Jerry was as good a driver as I'd ever known,

And what was better,

He took as much thought for his horses as he did for himself.

He soon found out that I was willing to work and do my best,

And he never laid the whip on me unless it was gently drawing the end of it over my back when I was to go on.

But generally I knew this quite well by the way in which he took up the reins,

And I believe his whip was more frequently stuck by his side than in his hand.

In a short time,

I and my master understood each other very well,

As well as a horse and a man can do.

In the stable,

Too,

He did all that he could for our comfort.

The stalls were the old-fashioned style,

Too much on the slope,

But he had two movable bars fixed across the back of the stalls so that at night and when we were resting,

He just took off our halters and put up the bars,

And thus we could turn about and stand whichever way we pleased,

Which is a great comfort.

Jerry kept us very clean,

And gave us as much change of food as he could,

And always plenty of it,

And not only that,

But he always gave us plenty of clean,

Fresh water,

Which he allowed to stand by us both night and day,

Except of course when we came in warm.

Some people say that a horse ought not drink all he likes,

But I know if we're allowed to drink when we want,

And if we drink only a little at a time,

And it does us a great deal more good than swallowing down half a bucketful at a time,

Because we've been left without it till we're thirsty and miserable.

Some grooms will go home to their beer,

And leave us for hours with our dry hay and oats,

And nothing to moisten them.

Then of course we gulp down too much at once,

Which helps to spoil our breathing,

And sometimes chills our stomachs.

But the best thing we had here was our Sundays for rest.

We worked so hard in the week that I do not think we could have kept it up but for that day.

Besides,

We had then time to enjoy each other's company.

It was on these days that I learned my companion's history.

And that is the end of our story this evening.

Until next time,

Sweet dreams.

Reviews

So many things to learn about horses— thank goodness for a good home ✨🙏🏼✨

So beautiful that the Black Beauty has come to a good owner again, finally 🙏🐴🤩