Chapter 6 The little girl becomes a donkey and a horse

Telfina and Marinette were lying on their respective beds, and the little sisters could not fall asleep for a while because of the bright moonlight shining in the room. "You don't know what I want to be, do you?" said Marinette, whose hair was more blond than her sister's. "I want to be a horse. Really, I really want to be a horse. Then I'll have four really nice hooves, and a mane, and a long tail, and I'll run faster than anyone else .Needless to say, I will become a white horse." "Me," Delfina said too, "I didn't dare to think so well. I would be satisfied if I could be a gray donkey with a white spot on my head. I could have four hooves too, and two hooves." Long ears, you can swing them around, it’s fun, and your eyes should be very gentle.”

They chatted for a while, and expressed their wish for the last time, that Marinette would turn into a horse, and Telfina would turn into a gray donkey with a white shift on her head, and the two fell into a deep sleep.After about an hour, the moon set.Then came the darkest night ever.The next day, several people in the village said that they heard chains rattling in the dark, music boxes and howling winds, even though there had been no wind last night.The cat at home knew many things. At that time, it came down to the window of the little sisters several times and shouted at the top of their voices, but they were too sleepy to hear them at all.The cat let the dog bark, but also did not wake them up.

When Marinette opened her eyes early in the morning, she saw through the gaps in her eyelashes that her sister's big fluffy ears were flapping on the pillow.She felt that she was sleeping very uncomfortable, as if her whole body was tightly wrapped by sheets and quilts.But sleepiness overcame curiosity, and her eyelids closed again.Delfina glanced at her sister's bed with sleepy eyes, and thought it was strange that the bed looked so big and bulged, but she fell asleep again without thinking about it.After a while, the two of them really woke up, looked at their chins, their faces seemed to have elongated a lot, and their appearance had changed.Telfina turned her head towards Marinette's bed and couldn't help screaming.She had expected to see the golden hair on the pillow, but instead it was a horse's head.Facing the face of a donkey, Marinette was also startled and screamed out loud.The poor little sisters rolled their big eyes, stretched their necks out of the bed, and looked at each other carefully, unable to understand what had happened to them, each wondering where his sister or sister had gone, and why an animal had taken her place. bed.Marinette was about to cry, but when she looked at herself, she saw the big breasts, the furry limbs with hooves, and it dawned on her that last night's wish had come true.Seeing her gray fur, hooves, and the shadows of her long ears on the white bed sheet, Telfina also woke up from a dream.She sighed, but her soft lips made a loud noise.

"Is that you, Marinette?" she asked her sister, in a trembling voice she could not recognize herself. "Yes," replied Marinette, "so it was you, Telfina?" The two of them got out of bed with some difficulty, and stood on the ground with eight hooves.Telfina was transformed into a beautiful little donkey, much smaller than her sister, who was transformed into a strong Percheron, a neck taller than her sister. "Your fur is beautiful," Delfina said to her sister. "You will be happy to see your mane..." But poor Da Ma didn't want to run.She stared at the little girl's dress on a chair by the bed, thinking that she might never wear it again, and felt sad, her limbs trembling.The gray donkey tried his best to persuade her, but seeing that his words had no effect, he stroked her neck with his big soft ears.When the mother came into the house, the two of them were close together, the horse's head hung on the donkey's head, and neither of them dared to lift their eyes.The mother thought it was a strange idea for the two daughters to bring into the house two animals that were not her own, and she cried out that she was very dissatisfied with the matter.

"Hey, where are my two crazy daughters? They must be hiding in this room, no, the clothes are still on the chair. Now, don't hide, come out! I don't want to play with you ..." Seeing that no one was coming out, mother walked over to touch the two beds, then bent down to look under the beds, when she suddenly heard someone calling softly: "Mommy mommy……" "Ah, ah, I hear your voices... Come on, come out. I'm going to tell you that I'm not satisfied at all..." "Mom... Mom..." She heard someone call again. This poor hoarse voice, she couldn't even recognize who it was.The daughter could not be found in the room, so she turned to ask the donkey and the horse, but when she saw the sad eyes of the donkey and the horse, she was stunned.The donkey spoke first, and she said:

"Mom, don't look for Marinette, and don't look for Telfina... Have you seen this big horse? She is Marinette, and I am Delfina." "What are you talking nonsense with me? I still can't see that you are not my daughter!" "No, mother," said Marinette, "we are your two daughters..." It was important for poor mother to recognize Marinette and Delfina's voices.The heads of the two daughters rested on her shoulders, and the mother and daughter cried for a long time. "You stay here for a while," their mother said to them, "and I'll go find your father."

Dad also came. After he had cried enough, he began to think about how his daughter changed her body and how to arrange a new life.First of all, they couldn't live in the original house, the room was too narrow to fit the two big animals.Better to settle the two into the barn with new hay and more hay in the troughs.Pa followed the two of them into the yard, looked at the horse, and said in a nonchalant whisper: "Not to mention, what a good animal." When the weather was nice, the donkey and the horse didn't stay in the barn much, but they went to the pastures to graze and talk about how they used to be when they were little girls.

"You still remember," said the horse, "one day, when we were playing in this meadow, a big gander came and snatched our ball..." "He bit our calf..." The two animals cried bitterly after talking about it.During meal time, when Mom and Dad ate, the two of them came to the kitchen, sat down next to the dog, and watched their movements with affectionate eyes.But after a few days, Mom and Dad complained that they were too big and in the way, and they shouldn't stay in the kitchen.The two of them had to stand in the yard, poking their heads in through the window.The parents were always very sad when this strange thing happened to Delfina and Marinette, but after a month they didn't think much about it, and they got used to the donkey and the horse.All in all, they cared less about them both.Take my mother for example, she no longer braids the horse's mane with the ribbon that Marinette used in the past few days, and doesn't put the watch on the donkey's leg.And one day, at lunchtime, papa looked very bad, and he yelled at the two animals poking their heads through the window:

"Hey, get the hell out of here, you two! Animals are animals, you can't always poke your head into the kitchen... Besides, you are always wandering in the yard at any time, what is this house like? Yesterday, I saw you enter It's a disgrace to get out of the garden! Tell you, from now on, you'll either be on the pasture or in the barn." The two of them walked away with their heads down, never feeling so miserable in their hearts.From that day on, the two of them paid special attention to avoiding their father, and only saw each other when he came to make bedding.They feel that their parents are more terrible than ever, and they always feel that they are guilty, but they don't know what they have committed.

One Sunday afternoon, the two of them were grazing in the pasture when they saw Uncle Alfred coming.He shouted at the child's parents from afar: "Hello! It's me, Uncle Alfred! I'm here to say hello to you, and to kiss the two little ones... Hey, why didn't you see them?" "You have come at a bad time," replied the parents of the children, "they just happened to be at Aunt Jeanne's!" The donkey and the horse wanted very much to tell Uncle Alfred that the little sisters had not left home, but stood before him as two unfortunate beasts.Of course, he can never change their situation, but he can cry with them, which is also good.But they dare not speak out, for fear of offending their parents.

"Honestly," said Uncle Alfred, "I'm really sorry I didn't see my two little fair-haired girls... Well, look, you've got a fine horse and a fine donkey. I But I’ve never seen it, and you didn’t tell me when I wrote to you last time.” "It's been less than a month since the new one was added." Uncle Alfred stroked the two animals. He was surprised to find that the eyes of the two animals were particularly gentle, and they stretched their necks for him to stroke.He was still more amazed when the horse bent its forelegs before him and began to speak.Just listen to the horse say: "You must be tired, Uncle Alfred. Ride on my back, and I'll carry you to the kitchen." "Give me your umbrella," said the Donkey. "You don't have to hold it, it's in the way. Hang it over one of my ears." "It's very kind of you," replied the uncle, "but since the road is so short, I don't need to bother you." "No trouble, we are happier." The donkey said with a sigh. "Hey," Mom and Dad cut in, "don't bother your uncle, go, go to the ranch. Uncle has seen enough of you." It seemed strange to his visitor that he should be referred to as "your uncle" in reference to a donkey and a horse; but he liked the donkey and the horse quite a bit, so he was not at all offended by the reference.He walked towards the house, turned back several times when he was far away, and waved his umbrella at them. Soon, their feed is not so rich.The stock of fodder has dropped sharply, so we need to feed more to the farm cattle and dairy cows, because the farm cattle work and the milk produced by the dairy cows is of high quality.As for the oats, the donkey and the horse have not been seen for a long time.Parents don't even allow them to go to pastures so the grass can grow and be harvested.They can only graze on the side of the ditch and road. Mom and Dad couldn't afford so many animals, so they decided to sell the cattle and let donkeys and horses work.One morning, my father set up a cart for the horse, and my mother let the donkey carry two large bags of vegetables to the city for the market.On the first day, the parents showed great patience, but on the second day, they only said a few words to them; later, they severely reprimanded them, and sometimes they even lost their temper and scolded them sharply.The horse was terrified and didn't know whether to go left or right, or whether to go or stop.So, Dad pulled the rein so hard that the bit cut the horse's lip, and the horse neighed in pain. One day, the horse pulled the cart up a steep slope, out of breath, and stopped and walked.The cart she pulled was heavy, and she had never been trained to do such a heavy job before.Dad was sitting on the car, pulling the reins. Seeing that she was walking too slowly, stopping every step, and starting again took more effort, he became impatient, but he still only used his tongue to beat her, to encourage her. Seeing that it didn't work, he He started cursing, and even said a word, he had never seen such a nasty horse.The horse was shocked and stopped abruptly, his legs were weak. "Hey, woo!" Pa yelled, "Who! woo! Damn beast. Wait, see how I let you go!" He was furious and threatened several times with a whip, which was whipped on the horse's ribs.The horse didn't complain, but looked back at Papa with very sad eyes; Papa's face turned red to the ears when he saw him, and the whip dropped from his hand.He jumped out of the cart, went up and put his arms around the horse's neck, and begged her that he was so fierce just now. "I've forgotten your relationship with me. Well, I'm driving an ordinary horse." "Anyway," replied the horse, "anyway, even an ordinary horse should not be whipped so hard." Pa promised to be more mindful and not to lose his temper; and he did what he said, and he gave up the whip for a long time.But one day, time was running out, he couldn't control it, and he whipped the horse's leg again. Habits became natural, and before long he was whipping his horse almost without thinking.Sometimes, he also felt a little guilty in his heart, but he shrugged his shoulders and said: "Whether a horse is mine or not? If it is mine, it must be obeyed." The donkey's situation is also not good.Every morning, with a heavy load on her back, she went to the city to go to the market, regardless of the weather.When it rained, her mother opened the umbrella and didn't care whether her hair was wet or not. "When I was a little girl," said the Donkey, "you wouldn't let me do this." "Treat the donkey like a child," replied the mother, "but you are of no use, and I don't know what we should do with you." Donkeys, like horses, are not immune to beatings.Now that she has become a donkey, she is also very stubborn sometimes. She might stop suddenly at a crossroads for no reason and refuse to go any further.Mom still tried to persuade her with nice words. "Hey," said mother, stroking her, "be good, my little Telfina, you have always been a good girl, and you are an obedient child..." "Little Telfina doesn't exist anymore," she retorted without being angry, "I'm just a donkey, and I don't want to touch a local donkey." "Okay, stop messing around, and you know that you can't get any good from this. I'm going to count to ten, think about it." "Thought it all out!" "one two three four……" "I'm not moving a step." "...five, six, seven..." "Cut off my ears and I won't leave." "...Eight, nine, ten! Damn you bastard, you asked for it!" The donkey got a stick on its back and had to leave at last.But the most unbearable thing in this new life of the donkey and the horse was to separate them.In the past, Delfina and Marinette never left for an hour, whether at school or at home.But now, the donkey and the horse had to work separately, and when they returned to the barn at night, they were exhausted, and before going to bed, they could only complain about how cruel their parents were.In this way, they look forward to Sunday off.On Sundays they both did nothing, went out together, or stayed in the barn.The two have the consent of their parents to play with dolls.Put a grass bed in the trough and let the doll lie on it.They had no hands, they could only look at her and talk to her, they couldn't hold her, shake her, dress her or comb her hair, and they couldn't give her any of the care that a doll usually requires. "I'm your mother, Marinette," Dama said. "Oh! I can tell you think I've changed." "I am your mother Telfina," said the donkey, "don't pay too much attention to my ears." In the afternoon the two of them went out to graze along the side of the road and talked at length about their misery.The horse is more violent than his partner, and speaks some angry words to scold the master. "I'm so surprised," said the horse, "that the other animals are treated so badly, and they just accept it. We're in the family, so it's not bad! I know very well that if they weren't my parents, I would have run away." As Da Ma spoke, he couldn't help weeping bitterly, and the donkey sniffed vigorously. One Sunday morning, the parents took a man into the barn.The man with a rough voice, wearing a blue coat, stopped behind the horse, and said to his master behind him: "That's the horse. I saw it running along the road that day. Well! I have a good memory, and I can recognize a horse out of a thousand if I've seen it once. It should be said that this It's my profession." He laughed, patted the horse affectionately, and added: "It's no more naughty than other horses. I can even say it's kind of on my mind." "You see, it's a favor for you," said the child's parents. "If you want to talk about anything else, don't think about it." "That's what people say," said the man, "and change your mind later." As he spoke, he turned around the horse, looked at it carefully, and touched its abdomen and limbs. "Aren't you done yet?" the horse said to him. "I don't like patting like that!" The man laughed it off, then parted the horse's lips to look at its teeth.Then he turned to his master and said: "How about I give two hundred?" "No, no," the master shook his head and said, "Two hundred won't work, three hundred won't work...don't bother!" "What if I give five hundred?" The owner hesitated for a while before replying, their faces were flushed and they dared not look at the customers. "No," Mom whispered, barely audibly. "Oh! No way." "What about a thousand?" cried the man in the blue coat, and his hoarse voice, like an ogre, frightened the horse and the donkey. "Huh? What if I add another thousand?" Dad wanted to answer something, but couldn't speak. He coughed twice and waved to the man, indicating that it would be better to discuss it outside.They went out into the yard and the deal was done immediately. "I agree with the price," the man said, "but before I buy it, I have to take a look and let it walk and run in front of me." The cat was dozing off on the well platform, and when it heard this, it ran to the barn and said to the horse's ear: "When the master lets you into the yard, as long as that person looks at you, you'd better pretend to be lame." The horse obeyed the cat's advice, and as soon as he got out of the barn, he pretended to have a sore leg and began to limp. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" said the man to his master. "You didn't tell me he had a bad leg. That would make all the difference." "Maybe it's a little bit of temper," the owner said affirmatively, "Its four legs were fine this morning." However, the man didn't listen any more, and walked away without looking at the horse again.The owner was unhappy and took the horse back to the barn. "I reckon you mean it!" Pa yelled. "Huh! Damn you bastard, I'm sure he meant it!" "Damn you poor horse?" said the donkey. "I think that's a very nice way to call a little girl who honors her parents!" "I don't need to ask a stupid ass's opinion," retorted pa, "except this time, because it's Sunday, and I don't bother answering your insolence. Make it sound like we were a real horse." Parents of a horse and a donkey. If you think we tolerate such a stupid lie, you are completely wrong. Tell me, what person in his right mind would not listen to the story of two little girls who turned into a horse and a donkey? Shrugging your shoulders? Actually, you're two animals, that's all. I can't even say you're model animals, not even close!" The donkey was dumbfounded when she heard this. Seeing that she was denied by her parents, she felt extremely sad.She went and rubbed her head against the horse's head, and told him that even if her parents forgot her, she was always reliable as a barn mate. "Let them talk, don't look at me with these four hooves and two big ears, anyway, I am your sister Telfina!" "Mom," Ma asked, "do you not believe that we are your daughter Ma?" "You two are good animals," said the mother, a little embarrassed, "but I know you can't be my daughter." "You're nothing like them," said papa clearly. "Well, that's all! Let's go, old woman!" Before the parents walked out of the barn, the donkey rushed to them again and said: "Since you are so sure that we are not your daughter, and you are not in a hurry when the daughter is gone, I think you are too hasty. What a strange pair of parents. They didn't care much when they found out that their daughter was gone one morning! Even if you look at Well, look for them in the swamps and woods, have you done? Have you gone to the gypsies' camp?" The parents didn't respond, but when they got to the yard, the mother sighed and said: "Don't say it... what if it's those two children!" "Impossible!" roared the father. "What nonsense are you talking about? This stupid thing should be over. I have never seen a child, nor a grown-up man turned into a donkey, or any other animal. At the beginning, we You are too simple-minded to believe all the nonsense these two animals told us; but it would be ridiculous to believe it now!" The parents pretended to have no doubts about the matter, and perhaps they did.Anyway, they didn't ask anywhere to find out if anyone had seen Delfina and Marinette, and they didn't mention their disappearance to anyone.When anyone asked about the little sisters, they replied that they were at Aunt Jeanne's.When Mom and Dad went to the barn, the donkey and the horse often sang a nursery rhyme that Dad had taught the two children. "Can't you recognize that this is the nursery rhyme you taught us?" they asked. "Yes, I know the song," replied Dad, "but you can learn it anywhere." After several months of hard work, the donkey and the horse finally forgot what had happened before.Sometimes when they think about it by chance, they are dubious and feel like a fairy tale.Besides, their memories were out of tune, and they both said they had been Marinette, and one day they had an argument and decided not to talk about it anymore.They are more and more interested in their own work and in the living conditions of the livestock, and they feel that it is natural for them to be beaten by their masters. "This morning," said the horse, "the master whipped my leg, and I deserve it: I never worked so dazedly." "I'm still the same," said the donkey. "I was clubbed for being too stubborn. I must change." They don't play with dolls anymore, and they can't figure out how to play with such things.Now, until Sunday, they were hardly interested; there was not much to talk to each other, and the days of rest seemed to pass more slowly.Their best pastime was arguing whether it was better to bray as a donkey or as a horse.At the end of the fight, the two scolded each other. You said I was a donkey, and I said you were a bad horse. The master found the horse and donkey very agreeable, and was very satisfied with their work, saying that he had never seen such docile animals.Indeed, they began to make a fortune working the two animals, and bought a pair of shoes each. Early one morning, my father went into the barn to feed the horses, and was amazed.On the bedding where the two cattle were, there were two little girls sleeping, it was Telfina and Marinette.The poor man could hardly believe his eyes, and thought he would never see his fine horse again.He went to tell the children's mother, and they came to the barn and carried the sleeping daughters back to their bed. When Telfina and Marinette woke up, they had to hurry to school.The two of them looked so stupid that they could hardly use their hands anymore.In class, the two of them talked nonsense and answered irrelevant questions.The female professor said in public that she had never seen such a stupid child, and all of them failed.The two of them had a very boring day.When the parents saw that their daughter got bad grades in studies, they were furious, and they only asked them to drink cold water and eat dry bread. Fortunately, not long after, the little sisters returned to their original habits.They study hard in class and bring back good marks every day.At home, too, they were impeccable; they were blamed for nothing unless it was unfair.Now that the two daughters are back, the parents are very happy and love them deeply, because after all, they are still good parents.