Читать книгу Caesar & Hussein - Patrick O’Brian - Страница 20

A few days later my master took me into the garden again, where I saw his two young children, which were quite like him, only very small. They smelt the same. I was very proud that he should trust me so much and determined not to hurt them, for evidently he liked them, though they would have made a tender and juicy meal.

My mistress stood guard over them and appeared very anxious, very like my mother was over me. They were not in the least afraid of me, to my surprise, and made rather pleasant gurgling noises.

Then my master took one of them in his arms and held it quite near to my face, and it chuckled, putting one of its podgy hands on my head, and I realised that these were quite pleasant little creatures. Very soon, however, they were removed and my master and I went through the garden gate. We emerged on an open courtyard in which there were several stables in the walls, all of which were empty except one, and from this I caught the scent of some animal that I did not know.

Then my master attached the end of my chain to a ring in the wall, and said very slowly and impressively: ‘Stay there, Cæsar’; and I knew from long weeks of training what he meant.

He had taught me to obey him absolutely, and I would have as soon thought of flying as of disobeying. Then he went to the occupied stable and led out a great beast like a buffalo, but taller and less thick. Its tail was composed of long hairs and its head was bent at right angles to the neck and it had no horns. This extraordinary animal was evidently tame.

On seeing me it reared up and made a loud noise, and I growled, but my master said: ‘Be quiet, Cæsar.’ The animal would not be calmed, so he got it back with difficulty to the stables. Then he came to me, and after he had unfastened the chain, he said:

‘Well, Cæsar, and what do you think of my horse?’

I did not understand what he said, but afterwards he said ‘horse’ a great many times, so I concluded that the creature was called a horse, and I wondered what it was for.

When we reached the cage I went in as usual after he had removed the chain, and he remained a little while outside talking to me. I did not understand what he said, but I liked the sound of his voice. The word horse kept re-occurring, and I thought he was trying to make me understand something about it. Although I went over all my ideas of his words I could not get his meaning. Soon he went away and left me to puzzle over this animal.

Before nightfall I came to these conclusions:

First, the beast was tame;

Second, my master had shown signs of liking it;

Third, he had stopped me from hurting it by chaining me up.

On the following morning after cleaning the cage he took me to the courtyard, and after fastening my chain to the ring in the wall he brought out the horse, and after a while he took it back again, and then we went back to my cage. This happened on the next day and on the one after that, and so on until I lost count.

At the end of all this time the horse and I got quite used to each other, and at last I comprehended that my master wanted me to like the horse, and he also wanted the horse not to be afraid of me. Then after a month had passed the horse didn’t fear me any longer, and I no longer wanted to kill and eat it.

Then one day my master brought out a kind of seat made to fit the horse’s back, and after strapping this on he brought from the stable a piece of metal and some leather thongs. The piece of metal he passed under the horse’s tongue, and the horse, who seemed quite used to it, stood still. Then to my amazement he jumped on the horse’s back, which by means of the leather straps was entirely under his control. Then they went out of the gate, and he said to me:

‘Stay there, Cæsar.’

Soon he returned, and after he had put the horse back we went back to my cage.

One day in the next week we went out through the garden to the horse’s stable, and when my master had put on the harness as he called it, he took a longer chain and fastened it to my original one; then he mounted the horse, and taking my chain in his hand he rode out of the gate and I followed. At first the horse was very excited and tried to get away from me, but he soon calmed down, as my master spoke to him soothingly. We emerged on to a grassy plain, extending in short bushy folds as far as the eye could see.

How good it was to have the crisp grass under my feet and to see an uninterrupted horizon all round. As we went I reflected on the remarkable conditions under which I was existing, and observed to myself how strange it was that anyone like myself should be found fastened by a chain to an animal of which he should be making a good meal, and obeying every word of a man seated on the back of this horse.

My reverie, however, was cut short by a hole in the ground, in which I half tripped. My master laughed, and saying ‘Come on, old boy — keep up,’ made the horse gallop, and we tore along at top speed for a while, which was very pleasant because for a whole year I had not really exerted myself. Having covered three-quarters of a mile we stopped, and I looked at the horse with new respect for it did not appear in the least fatigued, whilst I was panting and sweating a little.

Meanwhile my master had climbed a tree, very clumsily I thought, and was looking round and round as if searching for something, and he came down looking as if he had not found it. Just then the wind changed a little, and I smelt game. My master must have seen it, for he looked pleased and pointed in its direction.

Then an antelope came into sight, feeding on the short grass, and my master crouched down at once so as not to be seen. Then he unfastened my chain and said to me: ‘Fetch it, Cæsar.’ I understood what he meant and determined to show him what I could do. I was off in a moment, wriggling through the bushes in my most skilful fashion. At first I was so clumsy that I was afraid the creature would see me, but soon all my old cunning returned and I got within killing range.

The antelope saw me and I charged. Though the beast was very fleet, and I had to exert myself to my utmost speed, I soon secured him. Having broken its neck, I began to lap up the warm blood; but in a few moments I was checked by hearing my master’s voice calling: ‘Leave it, Cæsar.’