兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第十冊 Ghost Town at Sundown 04

4 Hands Up!

“It’s the colt!” said Annie. “He’s looking for his mother!”

She ran toward the wild-eyed little horse.

“Wait!” called Jack. “Oh， brother.” He pulled the book out of his pack.

He found a chapter titled “Horses of the Wild West.” He started reading.

At the end of the 1800s，over a millionwild horses， called mustangs， wandered the West.These tough， fast horses were descendants of runaway Spanish horses. Mustang herders captured them and sold them to ranchers.Breaking a wild mustang took great skill.

Jack turned the page. There was a picture of a herd of horses. Two of them even looked like the beautiful mare and her colt.

“Hey， Annie，” Jack called. “You should see this picture.”

Annie didn’t answer.

Jack looked up.

Annie was trying to get close to the young mustang， but he kept darting away.

“Watch it!He’s wild!” said Jack.

Annie was speaking softly to the colt.

She slowly reached out and grabbed the end of his rope. Still talking to him， she led him to a broad wooden post.

“Stop!Don’t do anything!” said Jack.

He flipped the pages of his book. He found a section called “How to Treat a Horse.”

The basic rules on how to treat a horse are simple：a soft hand， a firm voice， a sunny attitude， praise， and reward.

“I’ve got the rules!” shouted Jack. “Don’t do anything before I write them down!”

Jack pulled out his notebook and pencil.He wrote：

Horse Rules

1.soft hand

2.firm voice

3.sunny attitude

4.praise

5.reward

“Okay， listen—” Jack looked up.

But Annie was already sitting on the colt’s back!

Jack froze. He held his breath.

The mustang whinnied and pawed the ground.He snorted and tossed his head.

Annie kept patting his neck and talking softly.

Finally the young horse grew still.

Annie smiled at Jack. “I named him Sunset，” she said.

Jack let out his breath.

“Let’s go，” said Annie. “We have to take him to his mom.”

“Are you nuts?” said Jack. “We have to solve our riddle. It’ll be dark soon. And those guys were real bad guys， I could tell.”

“We don’t have any choice，” said Annie.

“Oh， brother.” Jack knew she wouldn’t change her mind. “Let’s see what the book says.” He read more about mustangs：

Wild mustangs live together in families.The bond between a mare and her young is very strong. His sounds of distress or hunger will always bring her to him. A mustang cannot bear to wander alone.

Jack groaned. He looked at Sunset. The young mustang did have a sad look in his eyes.

“Okay， we’ll make a plan，” he said. “But first I have to get out of these boots.”

Jack grabbed one of his boots and pulled.

“Hurry!” said Annie.

“I can’t even think in these things!” said Jack.

He huffed and puffed and pulled. Then a deep voice stopped him cold：“Hands up—or I’ll shoot!”

Jack let go of his boot. He raised his hands in the air. So did Annie.

A cowboy rode out of an alley. His face was bony and tanned. He was riding a gray horse and pointing a six-shooter.

“I reckon you’re the smallest horse thieves I’ve ever come across，” he said.

4舉起手來

“是小馬!”安妮說，“它在找它媽媽!”

她說著便跑向那匹眼神中充滿野性的小馬。

“等等!”杰克喊道，隨即從背包里又拿出了那本書。

他翻到了題為“狂野西部的馬匹”那一章，讀了起來：

在19世紀末，有超過100萬匹“野馬”在西部游蕩。這些暴烈而速度極快的馬匹是逃跑的西班牙馬匹的后代。野馬捕獵者把它們捉住后賣給牧場主。而要馴服一匹野馬是需要極高技巧的。

杰克翻過一頁，書頁上畫著一群馬，其中的兩匹看起來很像那匹漂亮的母馬和它的孩子。

“嘿，安妮。”杰克喊著，“你過來看看這幅畫!”

安妮沒有回答。

杰克抬起頭。

安妮正試圖接近那匹小野馬，但小馬卻總是想躲開。

“小心啊!這馬可烈呢!”杰克說。

安妮正輕柔地和小馬說著什么。

安妮慢慢地伸出手去，抓住了馬脖上繩索的一端。她一面和馬兒說話，一面把它帶到了一個大木樁前。

“停!什么也別做!”杰克說。

他翻著手上的那本書，找到了“如何對待馬匹”的那一節(jié)，上面寫著：

對待馬匹的基本原則很簡單：手要輕柔，聲音要堅定，態(tài)度要熱情，要贊揚和獎勵它。

“我這里有方法!”杰克喊道，“在我把它們寫下來之前你什么也別做哦!”

杰克掏出筆記本和鉛筆，寫道：

馴馬方法

1.手要輕柔

2.聲音要堅定

3.態(tài)度要熱情

4.贊揚

5.獎勵

“好了，聽著——”杰克抬起頭一看。

可這時安妮早已經(jīng)坐在小馬背上了。

杰克愣住了，不禁屏住了呼吸。

小野馬一面叫著，一面用蹄子蹬踏著地面，它的鼻子里發(fā)出呼哧的聲音，頭扭來扭去。

安妮不斷地輕拍著小馬的脖子，和它輕聲地說著話。

終于，小馬安靜下來了。

安妮沖杰克笑了笑，說：“我給它起了個名叫‘日落’。”

杰克舒了口氣。

安妮說：“咱們走吧，我們還要帶它去找媽媽呢。”

“你糊涂了吧?”杰克說，“我們還得解開謎語呢。天就要黑了。而那些人肯定是壞人，我一看就知道。”

“我們沒有選擇啊。”安妮說。

“哦，天啊!”杰克明白安妮是不會改變主意的了。“咱們看看書里寫了些什么。”他又繼續(xù)讀起了關(guān)于野馬的敘述。

野馬以家庭為單位生活在一起。母馬與小馬之間的聯(lián)系相當緊密。一旦小馬發(fā)出表達沮喪或饑餓的聲音，母馬就會來到它的身邊。野馬往往無法忍受獨自流浪。

杰克嘟囔著，看了看“日落”。那匹小馬的眸子里真的帶著一種憂傷的神氣。

“好，咱們來做個計劃。”杰克說，“不過我首先得把這靴子脫了。”

杰克抓住其中一只靴子使勁地拽著。

“快點啊!”安妮說。

“穿著這鬼東西我的腦子都不轉(zhuǎn)了!”杰克說。

他鼓著腮幫子往外呼著氣，一面使勁拽著。突然一個深沉的聲音冷冷地止住了他手上的動作：“舉起手來——要不我就開槍了!”

杰克松開了靴子。他把手舉了起來，安妮也舉起了手。

一個牛仔從小巷里飛奔而出，那人臉型瘦削，曬得黑黑的，騎著一匹灰馬，手里的六彈手槍正指著他們。

“看來，你們是我見過的最小的盜馬賊了。”他說。