Chapter 30. A Thief

My new master was an unmarried man. He lived at Bath, and was much engaged in business. His doctor advised him to take horse exercise, and for this purpose he bought me. He hired a stable a short distance from his lodgings, and engaged a man named Filcher as groom. My master knew very little about horses, but he treated me well, and I should have had a good and easy place but for circumstances of which he was ignorant. He ordered the best hay with plenty of oats, crushed beans, and bran, with vetches, or rye grass, as the man might think needful. I heard the master give the order, so I knew there was plenty of good food, and I thought I was well off.

For a few days all went on well. I found that my groom understood his business. He kept the stable clean and airy, and he groomed me thoroughly; and was never otherwise than gentle. He had been an hostler in one of the great hotels in Bath. He had given that up, and now cultivated fruit and vegetables for the market, and his wife bred and fattened poultry and rabbits for sale. 他已经放弃了，现在为市场种植水果和蔬菜，而他的妻子饲养并养肥家禽和兔子以供出售。 After awhile it seemed to me that my oats came very short; I had the beans, but bran was mixed with them instead of oats, of which there were very few; certainly not more than a quarter of what there should have been. In two or three weeks this began to tell upon my strength and spirits. The grass food, though very good, was not the thing to keep up my condition without corn. However, I could not complain, nor make known my wants. So it went on for about two months; and I wondered that my master did not see that something was the matter. 就这样持续了大约两个月；我想知道我的主人没有发现问题所在。 However, one afternoon he rode out into the country to see a friend of his, a gentleman farmer, who lived on the road to Wells.

This gentleman had a very quick eye for horses; and after he had welcomed his friend he said, casting his eye over me:

"It seems to me, Barry, that your horse does not look so well as he did when you first had him; has he been well?" “在我看来，巴里，你的马看起来不像你第一次拥有它时那么好；它还好吗？” "Yes, I believe so," said my master; "but he is not nearly so lively as he was; my groom tells me that horses are always dull and weak in the autumn, and that I must expect it." "Autumn, fiddlesticks!" “秋天，提琴手！” said the farmer. "Why, this is only August; and with your light work and good food he ought not to go down like this, even if it was autumn. “哎呀，这才八月而已；有你的轻松工作和美食，他不应该这样下去，即使是秋天。 How do you feed him?" My master told him. The other shook his head slowly, and began to feel me over.

"I can't say who eats your corn, my dear fellow, but I am much mistaken if your horse gets it. “我不能说谁吃了你的玉米，我亲爱的朋友，但如果你的马吃了玉米，我就大错特错了。 Have you ridden very fast?" "No, very gently." "Then just put your hand here," said he, passing his hand over my neck and shoulder; "he is as warm and damp as a horse just come up from grass. I advise you to look into your stable a little more. I hate to be suspicious, and, thank heaven, I have no cause to be, for I can trust my men, present or absent; but there are mean scoundrels, wicked enough to rob a dumb beast of his food. 我讨厌多疑，谢天谢地，我没有理由怀疑，因为我可以信任我的手下，无论他们在场还是不在；但也有卑鄙的恶棍，他们邪恶到可以抢走一只不会说话的野兽的食物。 You must look into it." And turning to his man, who had come to take me, "Give this horse a right good feed of bruised oats, and don't stint him." 转身对来接我的人说：“给这匹马喂一些捣碎的燕麦，不要吝啬它。” "Dumb beasts!" “蠢货！” Yes, we are; but if I could have spoken I could have told my master where his oats went to. 是的我们是;但如果我会说话，我就能告诉我的主人他的燕麦去了哪里。 My groom used to come every morning about six o'clock, and with him a little boy, who always had a covered basket with him. 我的新郎过去常常每天早上六点左右来，带着一个小男孩，他总是带着一个有盖的篮子。 He used to go with his father into the harness-room, where the corn was kept, and I could see them, when the door stood ajar, fill a little bag with oats out of the bin, and then he used to be off. 他过去常常和他父亲一起去马具室，那里放着玉米，我可以看到他们，当门半开时，从垃圾箱里拿出燕麦装满一个小袋子，然后他就走了。

Five or six mornings after this, just as the boy had left the stable, the door was pushed open, and a policeman walked in, holding the child tight by the arm; another policeman followed, and locked the door on the inside, saying, "Show me the place where your father keeps his rabbits' food." 又过了五六个早晨，男孩刚离开马厩，门就被推开，一个警察走进来，紧紧抓住孩子的胳膊；另一个警察跟在后面，把门反锁在里面，说：“给我看看你爸爸放兔子食的地方。” The boy looked very frightened and began to cry; but there was no escape, and he led the way to the corn-bin. Here the policeman found another empty bag like that which was found full of oats in the boy's basket. Filcher was cleaning my feet at the time, but they soon saw him, and though he blustered a good deal they walked him off to the "lock-up", and his boy with him. I heard afterward that the boy was not held to be guilty, but the man was sentenced to prison for two months. 后来我听说男孩没有被判有罪，但那个人被判入狱两个月。