[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 37 Learn to ride a horse

The two horses brought by Mr. Bennet are very beautiful. One is white and the other is black. When Mary sees the groom bringing the horse over, she immediately stares. This white horse is so beautiful. It has a tall head and a strong body. The limbs are strong, the neck is slender, and it looks very attractive. This is the horse that Prince Charming rides, right?

She immediately ran to the white horse and said loudly to Mr. Bennet, "I want this, I want this!"

Elizabeth has been frozen since she was called by her father to the racecourse. She remembered the experience of falling from the horse when she was a child. God bless, don’t let her make the same mistake this time. She still clearly remembers that her internal organs were shocked I feel like I'm going to spit it out of my mouth, and I feel sore all over after thinking about it for a while.

Mary called to her, "Licky, I want this white one, it's so pretty."

"This horse is not as docile as the black horse, Miss Mary, you are a beginner, it is better to choose black." The groom suggested.

When Elizabeth heard this, she nodded quickly: "Mary, you should choose the black horse. Falling off the horse is no joke. I'll ride the white horse."

Mr. Bennet said: "Although Mary is a novice, this horse will not pose a threat to her, but Li Qi, if you continue to be so afraid, no docile horse will be safe! Marco is more sensitive than people. Seeing that you are afraid of it, it will definitely bully you."

So Mary got the white horse, but Elizabeth still chose the black horse.

If you want to learn how to ride a horse, you must first learn how to get close to the horse. The groom handed Mary some carrots. Mary took one and was about to hand it to the white horse. Eat it, it will eat your fingers like carrots and hold them in your hands." Mary quickly held the carrots in her hands, and the white horse swallowed them in a few mouthfuls, and ate them all up with a roll of its tongue.

After feeding all the carrots, Mary wanted to pet the white elf, but the groom strictly prohibited touching its sensitive areas, so Mary avoided eyes and ears, and only stroked its neck back and forth a few times to give it scratched the itch.

Over there, Elizabeth has already had some emotional communication with the horse under the guidance of Mr. Bennet. After all, she has learned it before, so she got started quickly. When Mary is still pulling the horse around on the ground, Elizabeth can already sit on the horse. On horseback let Mr. Bennet lead the horse for a walk.

Women at this time rode horses on the side and needed a special saddle for side riding. This kind of saddle only had one stirrup, and the stirrup was opened to the outside, so that it was convenient for the toes to step on the stirrup when riding sideways. There were two horns on one side of the saddle. Like two back-to-back brackets ")(", they are placed obliquely on the saddle, one up and one down, stuck between the legs, one leg of the rider hangs on the upper horn, and the other leg is stepped on the stirrup to resist The lower horns, so that they will not slip off the horse. Usually this kind of side saddle is slanted to the left, so that people can just stand on the side of the road when dismounting, of course, there are also slanted to the right, it depends on the individual I like it, but the side saddles of the Bennets are all to the left.

This kind of saddle is also called "lady's saddle". As the name suggests, it is a saddle for ladies, but Elizabeth is indeed a lady when she sits sideways.Mrs. Bennet ordered beautiful riding suits for both of them. Elizabeth's skirt was so large that there was a lot of excess after it fell down to cover the feet. This kind of skirt would have been very inconvenient to walk on. , but when riding on horseback, when the breeze blows, the wide skirt will flutter and spread on the horse like a wave, covering the back of the horse. The beauty on horseback is like a fairy in ancient mythology The goddess is both heroic and charming.

But the real situation is that Elizabeth sitting on horseback is very frightened: "I think I should put a stirrup on my right foot, Dad, I always feel that my right leg will slip off."

Mr. Bennet found the idea amusing: "That's safe, honey. I'm sure if you slipped off and were dragged along by it on a horse, your right leg would still be hanging there." of."

Obviously, this statement made Elizabeth even more nervous. She held on to the reins tightly, her body straightened.

In contrast, Mary's situation is much better. Although she was very excited when she first got on the horse, she couldn't get on the horse. , or the horse finds out that you are a novice and will look down on you."

Well, not to be despised by horses!She was determined to learn how to ride a horse as soon as possible.

Mary sat upright on the horse, but she didn't dare to grab the rein with both hands. At first, let alone letting the horse carry her away, even if she was sitting on the saddle, she felt like she couldn't sit still. The saddle under her buttocks always slanted down, and she had to put her left foot on the stirrup vigorously to ensure that she would not fall off. Now she also thinks that a stirrup should be added under her right foot, otherwise she will be lost.

The groom led the horse all morning, and Mary could only make sure that she would not fall off the horse.After half a day, her back was sore and her legs were sore. When she got up the next day, she could feel her bones and muscles creaking. When she opened the door and met Elizabeth, the two saw each other's stiff posture when walking, and couldn't help but express the same fate. He smiled wryly.

However, this situation improved rapidly in the next few days. After the body got used to it, the coordination with the horse could be quickly established. After a few days, Mary was able to sit on the horse and control the horse to make it walk slowly.

Impatient Mary immediately tried to drive the horse to a canter, only then did she realize why the horse seemed to be a bit disobedient!Riding on the horse always felt that it was deliberately against her. Every time the buttocks dropped, the horse's back just went up, and then slammed into her fiercely.After getting on the horse and learning to run for more than two hours, Mary found that she could not walk anymore, her waist was sore and her buttocks hurt, and her whole body was extremely stiff.

She complained to Elizabeth: "That horse is always against me!"

Elizabeth laughed at her: "You are against the horse, don't worry, practice slowly, just practice more."

In fact, Elizabeth was also pale. Because she was thrown off by a horse when she was a child, she was always afraid of riding a horse. This time, she forced herself to continue studying, and she has endured it for several days. She is exhausted physically and mentally, and has no extra mood to comfort Mary.

However, Mary’s condition improved a lot in the following days, and the little white horse became familiar to her very quickly. Now Mary has learned to relax herself and adjust her rhythm with the horse’s movements. After two weeks, she will be able to Let the pony run slowly, she quickly fell in love with the sport of horse riding, and asked herself to ride a horse for a walk every day.

Mr. Bennet didn't agree at first, but after seeing that Mary was riding really well, he finally agreed. Since then, Mary has had one more activity every day, which is to go for a walk on horseback, which has expanded her range of activities by two times compared to before. Three times, there were many small woods, meadows, and small hills nearby, and Mary rode almost all of them.

It was a great feeling!Mary loves the feeling of the breeze blowing across her face when the horses under her are speeding forward, and the scenery around her backing away quickly!

No wonder those rich young people in modern times like to go for a drive. This feeling is about the same, Mary thought.

Kitty and Lydia were very envious, and they also quarreled with Mr. Bennet to learn how to ride a horse. Mr. Bennet did not agree. Mary promised to take turns to take the two younger sisters for a walk every day when riding a horse, and she could lead the horse below, so the emotional temperature between Mary and the two younger sisters rose sharply in a short period of time.

But at this moment, Elizabeth had an accident—she fell off her horse again!

When the accident happened, Mary was in Meriton. She and Mrs. Bennet took Kitty, who had behaved better recently, to visit Aunt Philip. She and Mr. Philip invited the officers stationed in Meriton to have afternoon tea. After circling for a while, I went to the food store.

Alice has managed the food store very well. Now that the store has hired three more people, it is still busy, and the annual profit is fixed at about 400 pounds.Alice's family is already very wealthy by running a food store. She used to have two younger brothers and sisters who helped out in the store. Now the youngest brother is studying in a public school, and her two younger sisters were cheated by her father and sold to London. , After being depressed at home for a while, he also came to work in the grocery store.

Especially the older Lily, this girl learned to cook food and became an excellent chef. She and the other two chefs completely took over the work of the kitchen, and Alice was liberated from the kitchen to concentrate on managing the store.

Mary talked to Lily for a while when she was not busy. She was very sympathetic to what happened to this girl, but she gradually discovered that this peasant girl is very strong. With an indomitable spirit, no matter what kind of suffering life gives them, they always have hope and will never be knocked down. They will get up again and again and laugh at the injustice of fate with their perseverance.

Now the girl was talking to Mary, bright and fresh, and she could not see any effect of those unfortunate events on her, and she was talking to Mary about improving the recipe: "I tried it, This kind of chili powder is easier to use than the previous one, and the coloring is also very good, and it tastes very good when mixed with imported Indian cardamom.”

Mary tasted the food marinated in the two flavors of the sauce, and it was obvious that Lily's improved formula was indeed better, but the cost was slightly increased, but it was still within the expected range. Mary was very happy: "Well done, Lily , I will give you a bonus of thirty pounds, keep working hard, I hope to see more improved formulas."

Lily was greatly encouraged. Thirty pounds was more than her wages in two years. She kept thanking Mary and said that she would make persistent efforts.The other two chefs were very envious when they saw this situation.

Mary was very satisfied with the expressions of the chefs. This is exactly the effect she wanted. To develop new products for a food store, it is impossible to rely solely on one person, and it is necessary to stimulate the enthusiasm of all employees.She announced on the spot that if other people improved the formula or invented a new food, as long as they could get her approval, they could get a bonus.

The atmosphere in the grocery store was very lively. At this time, Mrs. Bennet hurried in from the outside. She shouted to Mary: "The big thing is bad. Elizabeth fell off her horse. Let's go home!"

Mary was shocked: "What's going on? Is she okay?"

"I heard that I broke my leg. Dr. Jones has already rushed over, and we will go back immediately."

The two of them went outside while talking. The Bennet family’s carriage had already picked up Dr. Jones and went ahead. Mrs. Bennet was afraid that Mary would be in danger if she rode home again, so she asked Aunt Philip to send them back to Longbourn in a carriage. Auntie and Aunt Philip were already sitting in the carriage and beckoning to her.But Mary didn't care about the carriage anymore, and the horse she brought was tied around the corner of the grocery store. She ran to untie the horse rope, and shouted to Mrs. Bennet, "You and Lydia take the carriage, I'll catch up first." Go back and have a look."

"No! What if you fall too?" Mrs. Bennet yelled angrily.

But she couldn't stop Mary anymore, and Mary rode away quickly, leaving her shouts far behind.

A fast white horse galloped into the gate of Bennet's house like lightning. Mary jumped off the horse and ran into the house in a hurry. She happened to meet Dr. Jones, and Mary hurriedly pulled him: "How is Elizabeth?"

Dr. Jones said helplessly, "I just came here too, Miss Mary, I haven't seen a patient yet."

Dr. Jones came in just one step ahead of Mary, and Mary asked Hill, "Is Elizabeth in her room? Is she still awake?"

Xi'er quickly replied: "In the room, she just woke up, she probably just broke her leg."

Mary hurriedly brought Dr. Jones upstairs to Elizabeth's room. The room was full of people. Jane was sitting on the edge of the bed wiping the dust from Elizabeth's hair and the sweat from her face. Lydia stood beside her and blushed. Eyes, Mr. Bennet is also pacing back and forth anxiously, several maids are in a mess, some are holding hot water, some are holding towels and clothes, and some are waiting to dry with their hands tied up. staring.

Mary and Dr. Jones immediately attracted people's attention as soon as they entered the door. Lydia rushed to Mary's side and cried, "It's terrible. Elizabeth just didn't move. I thought she was dead!"

Mary didn't care to comfort her frightened sister, and hurriedly asked Dr. Jones to examine the patient.Dr. Jones quickly drove everyone out, leaving only Jane, Mary, and the assistant he brought in the room.

Elizabeth was lying on the bed, her face was pale without a trace of blood. Although she had changed her clothes, she was still very embarrassed. Jane kept wiping her sweat, and she tried to comfort her sister with a smile: "I probably don't have any serious problems. , you know, it’s not the first time I’ve fallen, I think I’ve gotten a little more proficient, and I can write an article called: How to Fall from a Horse Correctly.”

Jane was very nervous. Elizabeth was still unconscious and closed her eyes tightly when she was hugged by Mr. Bennet, but she was frightened: "Don't ride a horse in the future. We don't need to learn that, we have a carriage , that's safe."

Elizabeth nodded, with a pale face and forced a smile: "I hope that I can ride in a carriage at any time for the rest of my life."

Dr. Jones' examination was very quick. After a detailed examination of the injury, he asked Elizabeth a few questions. He found that she only had a broken leg and a slight concussion, and the rest was fine.

While fixing Elizabeth, he also joked with Elizabeth: "You should really fall harder, so that we can try the plaster fixation method proposed by your sister. It's a pity to miss it this time."

Elizabeth smiled at him: "Maybe next time."

Jane didn't think the joke was funny at all: "There will be no next time, you are not suitable for riding a horse at all, and it is safer for you to walk besides taking a car in the future."

The author has something to say:

Recently, either a power outage or a network disconnection, so the update time is not fixed, but it should be guaranteed to be updated every day, everyone forgive me.