河谷里的马

第四天早上，波莉被一阵像打雷似的声音吵醒。可天上一朵云也没有。那声音在峡谷里滚动，震得她栖息的树枝直晃。她往下一看，才发现这“雷声”长着腿, , 一群马正在平坦的沙地上奔跑。

On the fourth morning, Polly woke to a sound like thunder. But there were no clouds in the sky. The sound rolled along the canyon and shook her branch. She looked down. The thunder had legs. A group of horses was running on the flat sand.

波莉飞到队伍后面一匹年轻的棕色母马身边。你们要去哪儿呀，她问道。哪儿也不去，母马开心地说。我们就是在这儿跑着玩。马群在这个峡谷里生活很久了。有些马是住在这儿种地的人家养的，有些则属于峡谷本身。

Polly flew next to a young brown mare at the back. Where are you going, she asked. Nowhere, said the mare happily. We just run here. Horses have lived in this canyon for a long time. Some belong to the families who farm here. Some belong to the canyon.

波莉明白它们为什么喜欢在这儿奔跑。沙地又软又平，在两边石壁之间延伸好几英里远。而且那声音实在美妙, , 声音撞到一边石壁，又弹回另一边，二十匹马的蹄声听起来竟像两百匹马在跑。

Polly understood why they ran here. The sand was soft and flat, and it went on for miles between the walls. And the noise was wonderful. The sound hit one wall, came back off the other, and made twenty horses sound like two hundred.

马群终于慢了下来。在那片干燥的沙地中央，有一条细细的小溪流过。马儿们站在水里喝水。波莉落在它们旁边温暖的沙地上，一句话也没说。

At last the horses slowed down. A thin stream ran through the middle of all that dry sand. The horses stood in the water and drank. Polly landed on the warm sand next to them and said nothing at all.