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Lesson 38 Our Helper, The Horse
第38課 人類的幫手——馬
The horse is an animal which seems to have been made for helping us in our daily work. we ride on its back, and we get it to pull heavy loads in carts.
馬這種動物, 似乎生來就是為人類的日常工作服務的。人們騎在馬背上, 還用馬來拉沉重的車。
Each of the horse's four legs ends in a single toe, which is covered by a thick nail, called the hoof. On the under side of the hoof there is a soft cushion, called the frog.
馬的四條腿, 每條腿的盡頭都只有一個腳趾, 覆蓋著厚厚的指甲, 叫做“馬蹄”。馬蹄側面的下面有一個軟墊子, 學名叫“蹄叉”。
A long time ago all horses lived in wild herds on the broad grassy plains of Asia. Then their hoofs were enough to protect their feet. But our tame horses have to walk and run so much over stony roads, that we get the blacksmith to protect their hoofs by nailing to them the bent pieces of iron which we call horse-shoes.
很久很久以前, 所有的馬都成群地生活在廣闊的亞洲草原上。后來, 它們的蹄子變得足夠堅硬, 可以保護腳不受傷害了。可是, 我們馴化的馬, 要在石頭路上走或者跑很多的路, 所以, 我們就讓鐵匠給馬蹄釘上彎曲的鐵片, 來保護蹄子。這種鐵片, 叫做“馬掌”。
The horse's hoofs are made of the same kind of horny stuff as our finger-nails. We feel no pain when our finger-nails are cut. Nor does the horse feel pain when its hoofs are pared, and when iron shoes are nailed to them.
構成馬蹄的物質, 也跟我們的指甲一樣, 是一種角質。我們剪指甲的時候感覺不到疼痛；馬在修剪蹄子, 給蹄子釘上馬掌的時候, 同樣也感覺不到疼痛。
The horse's skin or hide is covered with hair, which grows very long on its neck, and forms what we call a mane. The hair also grows very long on the tail.
馬的皮膚。覆蓋著毛, 頸部的毛長得特別長, 形成了“馬鬃”。尾巴上的毛也很長。
