Perhaps the happiest part of his early days at Alexandria was the time he spent in taking care of the horses. He learned to ride very well and followed the hunt for hours over the hills and valleys. So he came to love horses and to admire good riders. Long afterwards, when he had become a famous general, his love for his horse Traveller was known among all the soldiers. The horse—a handsome iron-gray, with black points and dark mane and tail—was as easily recognized as his master. In a letter to his daughter Agnes, General Lee once described this horse:
也許他在亞歷山大港早期最快樂的時光是照顧馬匹的時光。他學會了還騎得很好，并在山谷中跟隨獵人數小時。因此，他愛上了馬，并開始欣賞優秀的騎手。很久以后，當他成為一位著名的將軍時，他對騎馬旅行者的愛在所有的士兵中是眾所周知的。馬是漂亮的鐵灰色，有黑色的斑點、黑色的鬃毛和尾巴，和他的主人一樣容易認出來。在給女兒阿格尼斯的一封信中，李將軍曾這樣描述這匹馬：
“If I were an artist like you, I would draw a true picture of Traveller—representing his fine proportions, muscular figure, deep chest and short back, strong haunches, flat legs, small head, broad forehead, delicate ears, quick eye, small feet, and black mane and tail.”
“如果我是一個像你一樣的藝術家，我會畫一幅真實的旅行者的畫像，描繪他勻稱的比例、肌肉發達的身材、深胸短背、結實的臀部、扁平的腿、小腦袋、寬闊的前額、精致的耳朵、敏捷的眼睛、小腳、黑色的鬃毛和尾巴。”
Traveller was the great general’s “patient follower” through the war, and in the end the gallant horse outlived his master. When Lee was in his last illness, the doctor tried to cheer him by saying, “You must make haste and get well; Traveller has been standing so long in the stable that he needs exercise.”
旅行者是這位偉大將軍在戰爭中“耐心的追隨者”，最后這匹勇敢的馬比他的主人活得更長。當李最后一次生病時，醫生試圖安慰他說：“你一定要趕快好起來；旅行者在馬廄里站得太久了，他需要鍛煉?！?/div>
General Lee was both soldier and country gentleman. He had all the qualities of good leadership—devotion to duty, constant truthfulness, and a generous way of looking at every side of a question. He was the exact opposite of the city-bred boy who grows up to feel at home in crowds and lonely in the quiet country-side. Lee had learned at Stratford House that in the woods and the fields one can never be lonely. His own words, when he was a grown man, tell us this: “To be alone in a crowd is very solitary. In the woods I feel sympathy with the trees and birds, in whose company I take delight.”
李將軍既是軍人又是鄉村紳士。他具有良好的領導才能——忠于職守，始終誠實，對問題的每一個方面都很寬容。他完全不同于那個在城市長大的男孩，他在人群中感到自在，在寧靜的鄉村感到孤獨。李在斯特拉特福德的房子里學到，在樹林和田野里，一個人永遠不會感到孤獨。當他長大成人他用自己的話告訴我們：“在人群中獨處是很孤獨的。在樹林里，我對樹和鳥有共鳴，我喜歡和它們在一起?！?/p>
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