{"product_id":"2940012635594","title":"BLACK BEAUTY: The Autobiography of a Horse","description":"01 My Early Home\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow\u003cbr\u003ewith a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it, and\u003cbr\u003erushes and water-lilies grew at the deep end. Over the hedge on one side\u003cbr\u003ewe looked into a plowed field, and on the other we looked over a gate\u003cbr\u003eat our master's house, which stood by the roadside; at the top of the\u003cbr\u003emeadow was a grove of fir trees, and at the bottom a running brook\u003cbr\u003eoverhung by a steep bank.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile I was young I lived upon my mother's milk, as I could not eat\u003cbr\u003egrass. In the daytime I ran by her side, and at night I lay down close\u003cbr\u003eby her. When it was hot we used to stand by the pond in the shade of the\u003cbr\u003etrees, and when it was cold we had a nice warm shed near the grove.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs soon as I was old enough to eat grass my mother used to go out to\u003cbr\u003ework in the daytime, and come back in the evening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere were six young colts in the meadow besides me; they were older\u003cbr\u003ethan I was; some were nearly as large as grown-up horses. I used to run\u003cbr\u003ewith them, and had great fun; we used to gallop all together round and\u003cbr\u003eround the field as hard as we could go. Sometimes we had rather rough\u003cbr\u003eplay, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne day, when there was a good deal of kicking, my mother whinnied to me\u003cbr\u003eto come to her, and then she said:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I wish you to pay attention to what I am going to say to you. The colts\u003cbr\u003ewho live here are very good colts, but they are cart-horse colts, and\u003cbr\u003eof course they have not learned manners. You have been well-bred\u003cbr\u003eand well-born; your father has a great name in these parts, and\u003cbr\u003eyour grandfather won the cup two years at the Newmarket races; your\u003cbr\u003egrandmother had the sweetest temper of any horse I ever knew, and I\u003cbr\u003ethink you have never seen me kick or bite. I hope you will grow up\u003cbr\u003egentle and good, and never learn bad ways; do your work with a good\u003cbr\u003ewill, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick even\u003cbr\u003ein play.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have never forgotten my mother's advice; I knew she was a wise old\u003cbr\u003ehorse, and our master thought a great deal of her. Her name was Duchess,\u003cbr\u003ebut he often called her Pet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOur master was a good, kind man. He gave us good food, good lodging, and\u003cbr\u003ekind words; he spoke as kindly to us as he did to his little children.\u003cbr\u003eWe were all fond of him, and my mother loved him very much. When she saw\u003cbr\u003ehim at the gate she would neigh with joy, and trot up to him. He would\u003cbr\u003epat and stroke her and say, \"Well, old Pet, and how is your little\u003cbr\u003eDarkie?\" I was a dull black, so he called me Darkie; then he would give\u003cbr\u003eme a piece of bread, which was very good, and sometimes he brought a\u003cbr\u003ecarrot for my mother. All the horses would come to him, but I think we\u003cbr\u003ewere his favorites. My mother always took him to the town on a market\u003cbr\u003eday in a light gig.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was a plowboy, Dick, who sometimes came into our field to pluck\u003cbr\u003eblackberries from the hedge. When he had eaten all he wanted he would\u003cbr\u003ehave what he called fun with the colts, throwing stones and sticks at\u003cbr\u003ethem to make them gallop. We did not much mind him, for we could gallop\u003cbr\u003eoff; but sometimes a stone would hit and hurt us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne day he was at this game, and did not know that the master was in the\u003cbr\u003enext field; but he was there, watching what was going on; over the hedge\u003cbr\u003ehe jumped in a snap, and catching Dick by the arm, he gave him such a\u003cbr\u003ebox on the ear as made him roar with the pain and surprise. As soon as\u003cbr\u003ewe saw the master we trotted up nearer to see what went on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bad boy!\" he said, \"bad boy! to chase the colts. This is not the first\u003cbr\u003etime, nor the second, but it shall be the last. There--take your money\u003cbr\u003eand go home; I shall not want you on my farm again.\" So we never saw\u003cbr\u003eDick any more. Old Daniel, the man who looked after the horses, was just\u003cbr\u003eas gentle as our master, so we were well off.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145352167664,"sku":"2940012635594","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012635594_p0.jpg?v=1763570814","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012635594","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}