《黑骏马》第4章善意和冷酷(3)

I often wondered why Sir Oliver，the oldest horse in the stable，had so short a tall,only about twenty centimetres¹ long,and one day I asked him，Did you have an accident？

我经常奇怪为什么奥立佛爵士，就是厩里最老的那匹马，有一条这么短的尾巴—只有约二十厘米长一天我问他：你遇上什么事故了吗？

It was no accident！he said，angrily．My long and beautiful tail was cut off when I was a young horse.At that time，some owners thought it was fashionable²！

哪有什么事故！他气愤地说。我的又长又美的尾巴在我小时候就被剪掉了。当时的一些马主人认为那样时髦！

How terrible！I said．

多可怕！我说。

Yes，terrible and cruel³，said Sir Oliver．Now I can never brush the flies off my sides or back legs，and all because of fashion．

可怕而残忍，奥立佛爵士说。现在我再也不能把身体一侧或是后腿上的苍蝇扫下去了，这都是为了时髦。

Some owners cut off the tails of their dogs to make them look brave，or cut their pretty little ears to make them look fashionable．

有些主人剪短狗的尾巴，让狗看上去勇猛，或把他们美丽的小耳朵剪成他们认为时髦的样子。

They dont cut off the ends of their childrens ears，do they？Why do they think its all right to do these things to their animals？

他们倒并不剪他们自己孩子的耳垂，是不是？为什么他们觉得对动物做这些事儿就没关系呢？

Mr Gordon was never cruel，and he would not stand by and watch others be cruel to animals．

高顿先生从不冷酷，而且他也决不对其他人对动物的残酷行为坐视不管。

We were riding home one morning when we saw a big man driving towards us in a small carriage，pulled by a beautiful little pony⁴．

一天早上我们回家，看见一个大个儿男人驾着一辆小马车向我们这边驶来，车子被一匹美丽的小马驹拉着。

1 centimetres   

n.厘米( centimetre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is a ruler graduated in both inches and centimetres. 这是一把刻有英寸和厘米的尺子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This ruler has one scale in centimetres and another in inches. 这把尺子上有厘米和英寸二种刻度。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 fashionable   

adj.时髦的，上流社会的，流行的

参考例句：

• She is moving in fashionable circles in New York.她活动于纽约上流社会之中。
• We lunched in a fashionable restaurant.我们在一家上等的饭店吃午餐。

3 cruel   

adj.残酷的，残忍的；痛苦的，引起痛苦的

参考例句：

• Tigers are cruel by nature.老虎生性残忍。
• The cruel man abandoned his wife and child.那个狠心的男人舍弃了妻小。

4 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。