Supplementary
When Instinct
Works
Anna Sewell
[Anna Sewell
was an English writer of children’s classic ‘Black Beauty’. Although it has to come
to be treated as a children’s book, it was originally meant for those who took care
of horses. She talks about kindness, sympathy and understanding in the treatment
of horses.]
One morning in the autumn, my master had to go on a long journey,
John harnessed me to the
new cart. I liked to pull as it was very light and the high wheels rolled along
so smoothly.
It was about to rain, the weather was very windy and dry leaves blew
across the road. Master, John and I went along merrily till we came to the toll
gate at the entrance to the low wooden bridge. The river banks were fairly high
so the bridge, instead of raising in the arc over the river, went across just level.
In the middle, if the river was full, the water would be nearly up to the foot of
the bridge. There were good sturdy rails on both sides so people
were not afraid.
The man at the toll gate said that the river was rising fast. He
feared it would be a bad night. Many of the fields were already under water. In
one low part of the road, the water was halfway up to my knees. But the cart was
so good and master drove gently, so it did not matter.
When we
got into the town, I had a good wait. Master’s business kept him for a long time,
so we could not start for home till late in the afternoon. By then, the wind was
much stronger and I heard Master say to John that he had never been out in such
a bad storm. We went through a wood where great branches were swaying about like
twigs and the wind made a terrible rushing sound.
“I wish
we were out of this wood,” said my master.
“Yes, sir,”
replied John. “I hope no branches fall down on us,” The words were hardly out of
his mouth when there was a groan and
a splitting sound. Then a Oak tree that had been torn up by the roots came crashing
down and fell right across the road in front of us.
I will
never say I was not frightened of, for I was. I stopped still trembling. Of course,
I did not turn around or run away. I was not brought up like that. John jumped out
and in a moment was standing by my head. He held my bridle and calmed my nerves.
“That was
close! What shall we do now?” asked my master.
“Well,
sir, we can’t drive over this big tree and we can’t get round it. We must go back
to four cross ways. Then it will be about six miles before we get to the wooden
bridge again. It will make us late, but black beauty is fresh.”
This happened
sometimes when the river was flooding, so Master did not stop. We were going along
at a good speed, but the moment my feet touched the ground the first part of the
bridge, I felt sure that something was wrong. I dared not go forward. I made a dead stop.
“Go on,
Beauty", said my master, and gave me a touch of the whip. But I dared not
move. He
gave me a sharp snap of the whip. I jumped, I jumped, but I dared not go forward.
“There
is something wrong sir”, said John. He got down from the cart and came to my head.
He took hold of my bridle and tried to
lead me forward. “Come on, Beauty. What’s the matter?” Just then, the other man
at the tollgate on the other side ran
out, flashing a torch like a madman.
“Hoy, Hoy,
Hoy, Stop!” he cried.
“What’s
the matter?” shouted my master.
“The bridge
is broken in the middle. Part of it has been carried away by the flood. If
you come
any further, you’ll be in the river!”
“Thank
God!” said my master.
"You
really are a Beauty!” said John, as he took hold of my bridle and gently turned me round. Of course, I could not tell him what
the problem was, but I knew very well that the bridge was not safe.
The wind
seemed to have settled down. It grew darker and darker stiller and stiller. I trotted softly along, the wheels hardly
making a sound on the soft, wet road.
Then Master
told John that God had given people brains by which they can find things for themselves.
He said, however, God had given animals a special knowledge which did not depend
on thinking things out and was much quicker to respond to danger. This instinct in animals, he said, had often
saved the lives of men.
John had
many stories to tell of dogs and horses, and the wonderful ways they had saved the
lives of people. He thought many people did not take very good care of their animals
or make friends with them as they should do.
At last,
we got back to Master’s house. We saw that all the lights were on. As we came up
to the door, Mistress ran out to greet Master.
“Are you
safe, my dear? Oh! I have been so worried about you. Did you have an accident?”
“No, my
dear, but if Black Beauty had not been wiser than we were, all three of us would
have been drowned at the wooden bridge.”
They went
into the house and I heard no more. John took me to the stable. Oh! What a good
supper he gave me that night. And then a really thick bed of straw. I was grateful
for everything for I was tired.
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