《小馬俱樂部歷險記》中英譯文

今天真是個多事的日子！

首先，爸爸打電話問吉姆，什麼時候把凱米和格蕾絲的馬兒送到我們的圍場來。好久以前，爸爸就買好了修補柵欄所需的一切，而且吉姆也過來花了一天時間幫着我們把柵欄修補好。可今天，他卻告訴我爸説，要把那些馬兒放養在阿里家的圍場。爸爸很不高興，因為花了一大筆錢才修好柵欄，吉姆反倒要把馬兒搬出去了！我也不開心，因為我盼望有其他女孩把她們的馬兒寄養在我家，我才有玩伴。

然後是湯姆開着拖車過來，把凱特的馬兒露露拉走了。湯姆説，他找到了一個很棒的馬場來寄養露露，決定把露露搬過去。這個消息更可怕！因為我不想要凱特或露露到其他地方去；我好擔心雪莉也會搬走，那就只剩下一個孤零零的我了！

除了這些，我更擔心的是湯姆的拖車——我們還可以用嗎？沒有拖車，我就去不了俱樂部，可爸媽已經給我買好俱樂部的`全套制服了呀！

不過幸好湯姆這人還算是大方，他説我們依然可以借用拖車。我們只需在俱樂部訓練的日子開車去他家把拖車掛上就行。我非常高興！否則那真的是不堪設想。現在，雪莉和她的馬兒依然和我們在一起——太令人高興了。

最後，正當我以為今天將順利度過的時候，阿里的媽媽和我爸卻差點兒引起了一場大火！！！

起因是，阿里的媽媽説，我們應該把我家的小圍場外面的一圈雜草燒掉，形成一個隔離帶——她就是這樣做的。我們的場地以前是放養牛兒的，地上長滿了狗尾草，很適合喂牛但並不適合餵馬。狗尾草頂部常常出現白色的草尖，馬兒吃了這樣的草尖，就會得“大頭病”，腦袋發腫，病得很嚴重。所以我們以前常用一台像拖拉機那樣的割草機割掉狗尾草的上半截，這樣就除去了那些白色的草葉。然而這一次，阿里的媽媽説，用火燒更省事，她會教我們火燒隔離帶的最佳方法。

於是，她沿着圍場潑了一路的汽油，老爸就開始點火。只聽“轟”的一聲，還沒等我們反應過來，火勢已經橫穿小小的圍場。再加上突然起風，吹得火苗四處亂竄！我當時真的傻眼了。後來爸媽説他們也非常擔心。我們正要通知消防隊的時候，不知怎麼的，爸爸卻控制住了火勢。

好倒黴的一天！圍場遭火災；馬兒也少了一匹——露露走了；不僅如此，我家前面的圍場雖然柵欄修補一新，裏面卻沒有馬兒了。

不過，至少還有一點兒令人欣慰的是，我們依然能用湯姆的拖車，依然能去小馬俱樂部。要不然，才真的慘了！

Saturday 16 March

So much happened today!

First of all, Dad rang Jim to find out when he’s going to put Cammie and Grace’s horses in our front paddock. It’s been so long now since Dad bought everything for the fencing and Jim even spent a day helping to put it all up. But then today, he told Dad that he’s going to keep their horses at Ali’s. Dad wasn’t happy because it cost him a lot of money and he only put the fence up to help Jim out. And I wasn’t happy, because I was looking forward to the girls keeping their horses at my place.

Then Tom arrived with their float to pick up Kate’s horse Lulu. He said that he’s found a great horse property to keep her on and has decided to move her. This was more terrible news, because I didn’t want Kate or Lulu to go anywhere else. And I was worried that Shelley might move as well. Then I’d be left with no one.

On top of that, I was really worried because I didn’t know what would happen with Tom’s float. Would I still be able to use it? Without his float, I can’t get to pony club and Mom and Dad have already bought all my uniforms.

But luckily, Tom is kind and generous. He said that we can still borrow it. All we have to do is drive to his house to pick it up on pony club days. I was very glad! It would have been terrible otherwise. So now, Shelley and I will take our horses together – this will be heaps of fun!

Then just when I thought everything was going to be okay…’s mom and my Dad nearly started a huge bushfire!!!

Ali’s mom has told us that we should burn off our small paddock – she’s done this before and it can help get rid of any bad grass and weeds that are growing. Our property used to be used for cattle and our paddocks are full of a type of grass called setaria. This is good for cows but not horses. If they eat the white husks off the top, they can end up with a disease called “big head.” This makes their heads get all swollen and makes them really sick. So we have to slash the grass with a big tractor type mower to keep the setaria really short and get rid of the white husks. Anyway, she suggested that burning off would really help and said that she would show us the best way to do it.

So she poured petrol in rows down the paddock and Dad set it alight. Before we knew it, there were rows of fire across our small paddock. But then all of a sudden the wind came up. It started blowing flames everywhere and I got really scared. Mom and Dad said that they were really worried as well. We were just about to call the fire brigade, but somehow, Dad managed to get it all under control.

What a day! Now we have a burnt paddock and one less horse because Lulu is gone. And as well as that, we have brand new fencing around our front paddock but no horses to keep in it.

But at least, we can still use Tom’s float and we can still get to pony club. It would be terrible if we couldn’t do that!