Lesson 9－Part 4
I worked in my country /
for a while, /
but I couldn’t ignore my desire /
to travel again. //
I set off on a ship, /
but my crew betrayed me /
and left me on an island. //
I was surprised /
that it was a country /
ruled by intelligent horses. //
They had servants, /
called Yahoos, /
who looked like humans, /
but their heads and chests were covered in hair, /
and their terrible smell made me sick. //
I did not want to be treated /
as a Yahoo, /
so I learned the horse language, /
stayed close to them, /
and stayed away from the Yahoos. //
For a while, /
the horses treated me like a family member /
because I was intelligent. //
However, /
they began to see me /
as dangerous for horses. //
One day, /
my master returned home from a meeting /
and told me to leave the country. //
“You are better than a Yahoo /
because you can learn. /
But you cannot live with my family /
because you are not a horse,” /
he said. //
They seemed to be afraid of my ability /
to learn. //
That’s when I strongly wished /
I were a horse. //
I returned home /
after five years in the country of horses. //
My wife and children were most delighted to see me, /
because they had given me up for dead. //
To my horror, /
however, /
they looked and smelled like Yahoos. //
For a while, /
I couldn’t stand living among Yahoos. //
However, /
I am all right now, /
because I bought two horses /
and spend at least four hours a day /
talking to them. //
