Chapter-3
After travelling for about three miles, we came to a long building made of timber stuck in the ground; the roof was low and covered with straw. Outside the house, I saw several of those ugly animals which I had seen in the fields. They were tied up to the side of the house. ‘The horse’s master must live here,’ I thought, ‘He must be an important man. His house is very big. Those ugly animals must be his pets.’
The horse walked inside the house and I followed. Inside the house, there were several horses. Some were sitting down and some were cleaning the house. I once again thought, ‘Why does this man have horses as his servants?’ However, this confirmed my first opinion that people who could civilize these animals must surely be more intelligent than the people of all the nations of the world. The horse came in just after and thereby prevented an ill treatment which the others might have given me. He neighed to them several times in a style of authority and received some answers.
Beyond the room, there were three others. I was asked to wait in the second room. In the meantime, I got ready with the presents for the master and the mistress of the house. The presents included two knives, three bracelets of false pearls, a small looking-glass and a bead necklace. The horse neighed three or four times, and I waited to hear some answers in a human voice, but I did not hear any returns of human voice. The only voice I heard was similar to that of the horse, only a little shriller than his. Just then, the horse made me a sign to follow him into the third room. To my surprise, I saw a mare, together with a colt and foal, sitting on their haunches upon the mats of straw. The mare soon after my entrance rose from her mat, came up close to me and observed my hands and face. I heard the word ‘yahoo’ repeated quite often.
Then the two horses went outside. They showed me that they wanted me to follow them. There were several of these ugly creatures all tied by the neck with strong ropes fastened to a beam. They held their food between the claws of their forefeet and tore it apart with their teeth. The master horse ordered one of his servants to untie the largest of these animals. He was made to stand close to me. Then they began to compare both of us. They even repeated several times the word ‘yahoo’.
But I was astonished when I observed that the animal had a perfect human figure. Its face was flat and broad. It had a small nose, large lips and a wide mouth. The forefeet differed from my hands in nothing else but the length of the nails, the coarseness and brownness of the palms, and the hairiness on the back. I was happy they couldn’t see my feet because I had shoes on. They were the same as the animal’s. The horse couldn’t see that they were the same. I was happy I had clothes on too. They couldn’t see that my body was the same. I heard the word ‘yahoo’ repeated many times. Then I understood that ‘yahoo’ was the name of that ugly animal. They wanted to know if I too was ‘yahoo’.
One of the servants offered me a root which he held between his hoofs. I took it in my hand and smelt it and returned it to him again as courteously as I could. Then he went into the yahoo’s kennel and brought me a piece of donkey’s flesh. It smelt so bad that I turned away from it. Thereafter, he showed me a wisp of hay and a bag full of oats. I shook my head to signify that neither of these foods was meant for me. I was feeling quite uneasy standing with that yahoo. The master horse observed my behaviour and, therefore, sent the yahoo back to his kennel. He then put his forehoof to his mouth. I understood that he wanted to know what I would eat. But I could not return him such an answer as he was able to understand. Just then, I observed a cow passing by. I pointed to her and expressed a desire to drink milk. They understood and he ordered a mare-servant to open a room where a good store of milk lay in earthen and wooden vessels. She gave me a large bowlful of milk which I drank very heartily. At last, I felt refreshed.
In the evening, the horse had a visitor. The visitor horse was old and he had some problem is his leg, so he came in a cart. The cart was pulled by several yahoos. After the horses had eaten their food of hay and oats mixed with milk, they began to teach me some more words. I learnt words for oats, milk, fire, water and some other words. My host then asked me with signs and words what I could eat. I had learnt that oats in their language were called hlunnh. I pronounced the word two or three times because an idea came to my mind. I thought that I could make a kind of bread with oats and have it with milk. The horse immediately ordered a white mare servants of his family to bring me a good quantity of oats. Instantly, I had a sort of wooden tray full of oats. I heated them before the fire as well as I could and rubbed them till the husks came off. Then I made a sort of sift so that I might separate the husks from the grain. Afterwards, I ground and beat them between two stones, took water and made them into a paste or cake. I toasted it over the fire and ate them warm with milk.
Sometimes I often gathered wholesome herbs which I boiled and ate as salads with my bread. I even caught a rabbit or a bird and cooked. But most of the time, I had bread and milk. That food was better than our English food. Not even once did I fall sick in the course of three years that I stayed with the horses. That night, I slept in a hut near the horses’ house but quite away from the horrible yahoos. Here I got some straw and covered myself with my own clothes and had a sound sleep.
