Black Beauty by Anna Sewell | Chapter 1

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Chapter 1. My mother.

   I don't remember everything about the first months of my life. I remember a big field of green grass with one or two trees in it. On hot days my mother stood under a tree and I drank her milk. That was before I got bigger. Then I started to eat the grass.

  There were other young horses in the field. We ran and jumped round and round the field. We fell on our backs in the grass and kicked our legs happily.

  When I stopped drinking her milk, my mother went to work every day. Then in the evening, I told her about my day. "I'm happy because you are happy", she said "But remember - you aren't the same as these other young horses. They are going to be farm horses. They're good horses, but we are different. People know your father, and my father was Lord Westland's best horse. When you're older, you'll learn to carry people on your back. Or you'll take them from place to place in their carriages. "

"Is that your work, Mother?" I asked. "Do you do that for Farmer Grey?"

"Yes", said my mother. "Farmer Grey sometimes rides me, and sometimes I pull his carriage. Here he is now."

 Farmer Grey came into the filed. He was a good, kind man, and he liked my mother.

  "Well, my dear," he said to her, "here's something for you." He gave her some sugar. "And how is your little son?" He put a hand on my back and gave me some bread. He was very nice.

 We couldn't answer him. He put his hand on my mother's back, then he went away.

   "He's very kind," my mother said. "Always do your work happily. Never bite or kick. Then he'll always be nice to you."

After you read:

1. Who says these words? Who or what are they talking about?

a "Always do your work happily. Never bite or kick. Then he'll always be nice to you."

2. Why was the little horse and his mother different from the other horses?

3. Who was Mr. Grey? Was he a good person?

Vocabulary :

 

Grass : a common wild plant with narrow green leaves and stems that are eaten by cows, horses, sheep, etc.

Carriage : a road vehicle, usually with four wheels, that is pulled by one or more horses and was used in the past to carry people.

Read also :  >> Chapter 2