Black Beauty

Informationen zum Autor Anna Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, on March 30, 1820. Brought up in a strict Quaker family, Anna developed a strong interest in horses as a young girl. But a crippling bone disease and a fall in 1834 left her an invalid for most of her life. By her mid-thirties she was severely lame and could only get around in a pony cart, and characteristically she would never use a whip on the animal. In 1871, she was told she had eighteen months to live, and by the end of that year, she had begun her book, Black Beauty , hoping it might make people a little kinder to their faithful horses. Although she was seriously ill, she lived long enough to finish her book and see it published in 1877. On April 25, 1878, she died at her home in Old Catton near Norwich, England. Black Beauty , an enormous success from its first appearance, was soon adopted by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and used to improve the conditions of horses everywhere. Klappentext Discover the classic story of a beautiful horse with an unbreakable spirit. One of the best loved animal stories ever written, the dramatic and heartwarming Black Beauty is told by the magnificent horse himself, from his idyllic days on a country squire's estate to his harsh fate as a London cab horse. No one can ever forget the gallant Black Beauty, a horse with a white star on his forehead and a heart of unyielding courage. Filled with vivid anecdotes about animal intelligence, the novel derives a special magic from the author's love for all creatures, apparent on every page. But the book's lasting impact comes from its moving depiction of a human society struggling to find the goodness within itself, and its pleas for kindness to all creatures, great and small-a message so powerful that this favorite classic began a crusade for animal rights that continues today. Leseprobe My Early Home The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it, and rushes and water lilies grew at the deep end. Over the hedge on one side we looked into a plowed field, and on the other we looked over a gate at our master's house, which stood by the roadside. At the top of the meadow was a plantation of fir trees, and at the bottom a running brook overhung by a steep bank. While I was young I lived upon my mother's milk, as I could not eat grass. In the daytime I ran by her side, and at night I lay down close by her. When it was hot we used to stand by the pond in the shade of the trees, and when it was cold we had a nice warm shed near the plantation. As soon as I was old enough to eat grass, my mother used to go out to work in the daytime and come back in the evening. There were six young colts in the meadow besides me. They were older than I was; some were nearly as large as grown-up horses. I used to run with them, and had great fun; we used to gallop all together round and round the field, as hard as we could go. Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop. One day, when there was a good deal of kicking, my mother whinnied to me to come to her, and then she said: "I wish you to pay attention to what I am going to say to you. The colts who live here are very good colts, but they are carthorse colts and, of course, they have not learned manners. You have been well bred and well born; your father has a great name in these parts, and your grandfather won the cup two years at the Newmarket races. Your grandmother had the sweetest temper of any horse I ever knew, and I think you have never seen me kick or bite. I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never learn bad ways; do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick even in play." I have never forgotten my mother's ...

Product details

• Authors: Lucy Grealy, Monty Roberts, Anna Sewell, Anna/ Grealy Sewell
• Assisted by: Monty Roberts (Introduction), Lucy Grealy (Afterword)
• Publisher: Signet USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 04.01.2011
• EAN: 9780451531742
• ISBN: 978-0-451-53174-2
• No. of pages: 240
• Dimensions: 105 mm x 170 mm x 15 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature