Chapter 42 Horses in Lake Yamanaka

When I was studying in a music school, I once went on a day trip to Lake Yamanaka with my good friend Xiaoxin.That's autumn.I don't remember why the two girls wanted to go to the mountains, probably because they were girls who were reluctant to part because their graduation was approaching.We rode the rented horses there, sang songs, wandered around and had a great time.When we were about to go back, a young man leading a naked horse came across.By the lake in the mountains, the boy was wearing different clothes from those in the city, leading a big horse and walking slowly, looking very cute.The horse followed the boy obediently.I thought I was good at riding, but I had never ridden a "naked horse" without a saddle.The horse came gradually, and I took a closer look. There was a blanket on the horse's back, and the old stirrups were dangling on both sides.I suddenly had an idea that I really wanted to ride this naked horse, so when the boy passed me, I asked him:

"Hey, does this horse belong to your family?" The boy said "yes" in a low voice.I then asked: "Is the horse honest?" The boy didn't look at me, still lowered his head, and said "yes" again.I continued to ask: "Are you busy now?" The boy glanced at me quickly, turned his eyes to the lake, and said: "Not busy either." I thought to myself, I should find a way to borrow a horse from the boy to ride.Thinking about it afterwards, I should not only ask for the boy's permission, but also greet the horse, but at that time I only had the idea of ​​asking the boy's permission.

"I've never ridden a naked horse like this. Horses usually have saddles, don't they? But yours doesn't, so I'd love to. If you don't object, can I ride for a while? Just a little bit." A little while, okay?" Hearing what I said, the simple-looking boy said "Okay" and gave me the reins.I was a little embarrassed, wondering if this counted as deceiving children?But he comforted himself and said, it’s not a bad thing anyway, so be it, so he got on the horse.Because there is no saddle, the back of the horse directly touches my body, which feels soft and strange.Ordinarily this is also very natural, but I still feel a little uneasy.The horse was very quiet and I got on the horse without a hitch.Xiaoxin is a slow person. He clapped his hands clapping while asking me "Are you okay?"The young man saw that I rode up safely, with a look of joy on his face, and stood aside to watch.I planned to come down after a short run or two in the vicinity, but after the horse obediently let me ride on it, I walked directly to the lake, and I just let it go.The horse slapped into the water. I thought the horse must be thirsty and wanted to drink water, so I didn't say anything, thinking it could do whatever it wanted.The horse slapped into the water, but did not intend to drink water, but continued to walk into the lake.

"If you drink water, you will go too deep!" I thought so, and wanted the horse to stop, but for some reason, the horse refused to stop, and instead kept walking towards the deep water.The sound of the water changed from "slap" to "squeak".I turned around and asked the boy: "Hey, what does this horse want?" At this time, the horse was going deeper and deeper, and I desperately held the rein so as not to fall.What does the horse want to do?It just walked straight towards the center of the lake.I yelled desperately: "Don't go!" "Stop!" But it didn't listen to me at all, and kept walking in. To my shock, it finally started to swim.

If you want to say something that is surprising, let's take a look at what happened to me: the horse that was going to ride it for a run suddenly started to swim in the water!The horse's mouth has already blown bubbles, and it seems that it is swimming seriously.Maybe it's my psychology. I saw the horse's eyes were bloodshot. When a horse swims in the water, the most frightening thing is the "squeak, squeak, squeak" sound it makes when its four hooves paddle together.The sound was so loud that I couldn't help but think that the scene of Akechi Samasuke riding a horse across the lake was probably the same.The water had reached the horse's mouth, and I was submerged in the water from the waist down.It was autumn and the water was pretty cool, and I was wearing a flared skirt, silk stockings, and leather boots, all of which were already in the water.The horse splashed and splashed, and the splash drenched me from the top of my head down.

The horse had no intention of going back at all, but just kept swimming forward, and we finally came to the very center of the lake.When I looked back, Xiaoxin and the boy seemed to be only two centimeters taller, and there was no one in the twilight around them.If someone saw us from a distance, they would probably take us for monsters in the lake.The horse and I just rushed forward in a strange posture.At this time, I felt a burst of terror from the bottom of my heart.Although I can swim, it is impossible to swim from the middle of Lake Yamanaka to the other side.Moreover, I heard that the lake is very, very deep, and there are forests growing at the bottom of the lake. If a person falls into the wide and dark lake, he will definitely sink to the bottom.If the horse tried to throw me off, all it had to do was shake me, and I'd be in the water, and probably just sink and drown.Moreover, the only witnesses were the boy and Xiaoxin, so I must not be sure where I fell.Above all, neither of them knew that it was the horse who wanted to swim, and perhaps they would testify that I made it swim for my own pleasure.

But where does the horse want to go?The other side is almost completely dark, I can't see the situation there, is the horse going to swim all the way there? During this period, of course, I was not silent, but kept yelling, holding the rein for a while, releasing it for a while, patting the horse's belly, patting the horse's neck, and stroking the horse for a while, making all kinds of efforts.However, the horse was still swimming.I know that horses will "see people order dishes".It is often said that a horse can tell at a glance who is not good at riding, or what kind of person it does not like, so it will deliberately play tricks to make that person ride unsteadily.But this time, the horse let me ride it honestly at the beginning. What is going on?Even if it wants to play tricks on me, isn't it tired after swimming so far?

"Could it be that the horse wants to swim by itself?" For a while, I still had this idea, but I told him to "stop", the horse should know that I don't want to swim as much as he does. I don't know what to do.Finally, I took out the last trick, which was to plead with the horse.I can't think of any other way. Anyway, it's just me and the horse now, and we can only rely on each other.I leaned my body towards the horse's ear, and it was really not easy to speak next to the horse's ear amidst the loud "squeaking" sound. The horse's ears were far in front of me, so I lay my upper body on the horse's neck, so that my face was almost on the water, and my elbows and chest were already in the water.I didn't care much, grabbed the horse's mane, put my mouth as close to the horse's ear as possible, and said in a gentle voice:

"Sorry, I know why you're angry, but there's nothing I can do now. Go back to shore, please? I'll come down as soon as you go back, please!" People often say such proverbs as "recite the Buddha's name next to the horse's ear" and "the horse's ear is windy", which must have been thought up by someone who has no experience like me.Why do you say this way?Because, when I said this next to the horse's ear, the horse, which had been swimming crazily, obviously understood what I said.The evidence is that the horse stopped suddenly. What would happen if you were swimming in the water and suddenly stopped?That is, I sank with the horse whirring.

"what!" I yelled and the water was almost up my back.But the horse started to move immediately, and what was shocking was that it turned around here and swam back to the shore just now.It seems that the horse may be waiting for a step down.The horse swam to the edge of the lake in one breath, and started walking again, as if nothing had happened.I jumped off the horse, dripping wet, and apologized to the horse sincerely: "I'm very sorry, please forgive me. I should have asked your opinion from the beginning, should have asked if you would let me go up." Xiaoxin asked me "Is it fun?" in a relaxed tone, and the boy silently took the reins and left.I hurriedly shouted behind my back:

"Thank you! Please give the horse a wipe!" Because we were on a day trip, I didn't bring a change of clothes, so I had to drive home dripping wet.When I got home, my clothes were almost dry by my body temperature.Mom asked me "Did you have a good time" and I said "OK" without mentioning swimming with the horses.