MY MISTRESS LEAVES HOME—ON HER RETURN I DO NOT KNOW HER—MY FIRST
LESSON, AND WHO WAS THE BEST MASTER.
My master’s family had been away from home for a long, long time,—so
long that I had almost given up hope of seeing them again, and was
getting very impatient; besides, my life in the field was very dull.
My mother had left it some time ago, and I never heard anything of her
now. Not that I regretted that very much. She had long since ceased to
think about me, and had centred all her affection upon a younger child.
Still, as long as she was in the field, she was some sort of companion
for me, and I was now growing to an age to be impatient of solitude,
and to wish for more stirring occupation than wandering around and
around the meadow by myself, and having nothing to do but to eat
and to drink. Occasionally, indeed, I still saw Old Thomas; but our
intercourse was not so frequent as it used to be, and, indeed, was of
quite a different kind. I no longer felt it consistent with my dignity
to frisk and gambol about; and even when kindnesses were offered to me,
I could, when I pleased, assume an air of such perfect indifference
that I think, if my mistress could have seen me, she would have
acknowledged I was rapidly acquiring that manner of society about which
she was always instructing me. In fact, my perfect self-possession and
entire indifference to the feelings or comforts of any one but myself
would not have disgraced the most well-bred exquisite in the land.
Matters were in this state, when one day, as I was standing all alone
under the oak-tree, thinking over my own perfections, and how unworthy
my position was of my deserts, I suddenly heard a well-remembered voice
call: “Neddy! Neddy!” Turning quickly around, I was on the point of
going to meet the speaker, when, instead of the little girl I knew as
my mistress, I beheld a tall, elegant-looking lady coming toward me.
So, putting on my most dignified air, I stayed quietly under the great
tree, lazily moving my ears, as much as to say: “Here am I; if you want
me, you must come to me.”
“What, Neddy! do you not remember me? Have you forgotten your mistress?
Oh, Neddy, you ungrateful donkey!”
She spoke so kindly, and yet so sorrowfully, that I felt pained to the
heart, not only at my stupidity in forgetting her, but at my folly in
having tried to play off my grand airs before her. Still, I did not
like to acknowledge myself to have been in the wrong; and so, instead
of doing what my heart dictated, and galloping instantly to meet her,
I contented myself with coming a few steps forward, and then standing
perfectly still. I was properly punished for my pride when I heard my
mistress say, as she turned to her father, who had just joined her:
“Oh, papa, would you believe it? Neddy has quite forgotten me. I have
always heard donkeys are stupid and incapable of feeling attachment;
but I thought Neddy would be an exception. Oh, papa, I am so sorry!”
“Neddy, Neddy,” she added, as she held out her hand, “you do not know
how you have grieved me.”
To hear myself so kindly spoken to, when I had deserved such different
treatment, completely broke down my obstinate pride, and, trotting
up to my mistress as fast as I could, I began to rub my head against
her hand, and to whinny out my sorrow for my past misconduct and my
promises of amendment for the future,—excuses which my kind mistress
was only too ready to receive; in a few minutes our reconciliation was
complete, and I felt happier than I had done for months past.
[Illustration: I was never tired of admiring my long soft ears.]
“Poor Neddy!” said my kind mistress, as she continued to caress me; “I
ought to have remembered that I am as much changed as you are yourself.
Is he not altered, papa? He is not nearly so pretty as he was when
he was little; but he is a very handsome donkey still. Do you not think
so, papa?”
Could there be a doubt upon such a subject? Why, the very idea put me
into an ill-humour, so completely had I brought myself to believe that
I was one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. Often and often
had I stood for the hour together in the clear water of the brook which
ran at the bottom of the field, and as I saw my image reflected in the
water, I was never tired of admiring my long soft ears and the bright
brown of my coat. Ah, well! when we live very much alone, we are apt to
get very false impressions. It is only by mixing with our fellows that
we learn to estimate our merits aright. Pushing through the world rubs
off the sharp angles wonderfully.
I was so engrossed with my own thoughts of mortified vanity that I did
not hear what passed between Mr. Morton and his daughter, till suddenly
my ears caught the sound:
“Thomas shall break him in, my love, and then you shall drive him in
the little chaise.”
“Oh, I shall like that!” replied my mistress. “Can it be done at once,
papa?”
“Yes, directly Thomas is at leisure.”
“Then good-bye, Neddy, for to-day,” continued my mistress, as she again
patted my forehead; “we shall soon be better acquainted. I wonder
whether you will like drawing me in the carriage as well as playing
with me in the field. Ah, Neddy! will you be a good little donkey, and
trot along as fast as I know you can trot when you like to?”
I rubbed my head against her by way of reply, and then, when she left
me, began to muse not overpleasantly on the words she had just spoken.
I had no very clear idea, certainly, of what they meant, but they
conveyed a sort of shadowy notion to my mind that my days of liberty
were over, and that now I was to be put to some such work as I had
often seen my mother doing. I used to remonstrate with her then, on
allowing herself to be so tamely yoked to the chaise, drawing it about
in all weathers, and tiring herself to death dragging it up steep hills
and over stony roads; and when she would gravely shake her head, and
say, with a gentle sigh: “It was her destiny; it was better to yield to
it with a good heart, and do her duty cheerfully, than to resist and be
beaten,” I used to jeer at her for a meek-spirited creature, who had
not pluck enough to stand up in her own defence, and tell her when my
turn came she would see a very different state of affairs.
“My son,” my mother would reply, “if you think you have come into the
world merely to amuse yourself, you make a very great mistake. We have
all our allotted tasks. They must be done. Happy those who can find
pleasure in doing them! Take my advice. You are placed here to be the
servant of those much stronger and wiser than yourself. If you resist
their will, you will smart for it with kicks and blows. If you try to
do your duty faithfully, you will find it will bring its own reward.”
My mother seldom made so long a speech; and, finding I paid but little
attention, she did not again trouble me with her advice; and, indeed, I
soon forgot her words, till they were brought back to my recollection
by those of my young mistress, and a very uncomfortable feeling they
gave me.
The following day I was busy eating my breakfast, when I saw Thomas
come into the field holding something in his hand. My suspicions being
aroused, I determined to have a good look at the enemy before allowing
his nearer approach. So, with a snort of defiance, I started back,
prepared, if necessary, to take to my heels and be off.
“So—whoo—gently, Neddy,” said Thomas. “Koop—koop, Neddy,” added Thomas,
putting his arm behind him that I might not see what he carried in his
hand.
But this action, instead of disarming my suspicions, only excited them
further. If no foul play was intended, what was there to conceal? and
so, determined to be on the safe side, with a defiant kick I started
off at a gallop, as much as to say, “Catch me who can.”
I soon found out that Old Thomas’s feeble legs were no match for my
young nimble ones; and, having the advantage, I kept it, and a pretty
chase I led my old friend. Now, for a moment, I would stand still and
look at him, as if I intended to give myself up his prisoner, and then,
in an instant, just as he thought I was within his reach, I would slip
from his touch, and be off with a gallop to the other end of the field.
How long this struggle might have continued, it is impossible for me to
say. Thomas was evidently losing both his breath and his temper, whilst
I was only getting my wind in the enjoyment of the game. But just at
this instant who should come into the field but my young mistress?
“What, Thomas!” she exclaimed, “cannot you catch Neddy?”
“Catch him!” repeated Thomas, standing still and wiping the
perspiration off his face; “you might as well try to catch the
will-o’-the-wisp. He wants a good flogging, that he does, to bring him
to order.”
“Oh, do not flog him!” said my mistress, in a tone of alarm. “You will
spoil his temper if you do, Thomas.”
“Spare the rod and spoil the child,” answered Thomas, in his dry,
peculiar way.
“Ah, we know better than that now, Thomas,” replied my mistress, with a
smile.
“Just like all you young ones. You always think you know better than
your elders,” said Thomas, rather gruffly. “A taste of the whip is a
very good thing sometimes; and, to my thinking, it is a pity some folks
do not get it a little oftener.”
“The whip is a good executioner, Thomas, but it is a very bad
schoolmaster. It is much easier to whip a child into a bad humour than
a good one. Of that I am sure, and I think animals are much the same.”
“Sure, Miss Annie, you do not mean to tell me that you think it
right that that little beast there should tire me to bits and get no
punishment? He knows fast enough that he ought to come, only he won’t;
he is sly enough for that.”
I felt quite flattered by the compliment, and inwardly rejoiced that I
had managed to outwit Old Thomas so skilfully.
“But you forget, Thomas, he cannot tell how much he is tiring you; very
likely he is only frightened. If you will promise me not to whip him, I
will promise to catch him for you.”
“You catch him?” said Thomas.
“Yes, I am sure I could. Will you promise?”
“A bargain is a bargain, Miss Annie. If you can catch him, he is safe
from me.”
Without another word, Annie came toward me.
“Here, Neddy, good Neddy, come here; come to me, Neddy.”
Should I give myself up? I eyed Thomas, and I thought: “No, no; soft
words are not enough for me. I will be off while there is time.”
But then I looked at my mistress, and I remembered how kind she had
always been to me, and how grieved I had felt when I had pained her,
and how I had promised myself I would never do so again; and so I
thought to myself, “Here is the time now to show you are sorry. Give
yourself up, Neddy, without more ado;” and I came a few steps on to
meet my mistress; but then my heart misgave me, and I stood snorting
and uncertain.
“What is it, Neddy? What are you afraid of?” said my mistress, kindly.
“No one will hurt you. Come, then.”
“She would not surely promise that,” thought I, “if she could not
perform it. She has never deceived me yet in all these years. I can
trust her;” and so, summoning up my courage, I walked right up to
Annie, and stood rubbing my head against her hand. Nothing could exceed
Annie’s delight at this proof of my confidence. She caressed and
fondled me, calling me by every kind name she could think of, until
at last even Old Thomas seemed somewhat appeased; for he said, in his
pleasant old voice:
“To be sure, miss, you have a wonderful way of your own. The poor beast
knows who is his best friend, sure enough. He need not be afraid of me
now, though; my word is my word, and you have saved him from a flogging
for this once.”
“Suppose you give me the bridle, Thomas; I will put it over his neck,
and then you can put the bit in his mouth;” and in another moment I
felt some tight thing passing over my forehead, and a hard substance
pressing against my teeth, which made me open my mouth, and then, try
as I would, I could not get rid of the thing. This was too much for
endurance. I was for springing back instantly, indignant at what I
thought was a trick to deprive me of my liberty; but it was too late; I
was caught in a trap, and a firm hand held me tightly.
“Gently, Neddy, gently,” said my mistress; “you will only hurt yourself
by pulling;” and she patted me in such a caressing way that, angry as I
was, I could not help listening. “Ah, Neddy! we must all take the bits
in our mouths. You do not know, Neddy, what I mean; I only wish you
did. But you will soon learn for yourself that it is much better to
obey the rein than to pull away from it.”
And going back a few steps, and then coaxing me to follow her, I found
for myself the truth of what she said. It was not pleasant to have that
great iron thing in my mouth, of course not; but still, as long as I
did not pull against it, it did not actually hurt me; and so, sulky as
I was, I could not but acknowledge that the wisest course that remained
for me was to obey, and I did my best to understand what Thomas said to
me, and to do what I was bid; as usual, my efforts to do right brought
their own reward. Thomas was very fairly patient with any little
blunders that I made; and as to my mistress, her praise of my conduct
knew no bounds; and when my first day’s lesson was over, and I stood
by her side, munching carrots and sugar, and feeling her soft hand
constantly patting my forehead, I thought, why, if this is learning,
it is not so very unpleasant, after all; and I promised myself I would
soon make such progress as would astonish my kind teacher.