CHAPTER XXXVII
THE HORSE
“Would you like to hear some eloquent words written about the horse several thousand years ago? I take them from the book of Job, the just man, whose admirable history is related in the Bible.”
“It was Job wasn’t it,” asked Jules, “who was tried by the hand of God, lost his health, family, all his goods, and was reduced to such misery that, lying on a dung-hill, he scraped his boils and vermin with a potsherd? His faith in God gave him back his former prosperity.”
“Yes, my friend. The just man whose faith in God even the direst misfortunes could not shake has left us these beautiful words on the horse:
“ ‘Hast Thou given the horse strength? hast Thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst Thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with [[352]]fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.’
“Thus spake Job in the ancient days while around his camel’s-skin tent bounded mares and colts under the shade of the palm trees. Now let us listen to our great historian of animals, Buffon, who, in his turn, draws in a few splendid phrases the portrait of the horse.
“ ‘The noblest conquest man has ever made is that of this proud and spirited animal that shares with him the fatigues of war and the glory of battle. As intrepid as its master, the horse sees danger and shrinks not; it becomes accustomed to the clash of arms, loves it, seeks it, and is fired with the same ardor. It also shares his pleasure in the chase, in the tournament, and in racing. But, no less docile than courageous, it does not let its ardor run away with it; it knows how to control its impulses. Not only does it obey the hand that guides it, but it seems to consult that hand’s wishes; always responding to its touch, it quickens or slackens its pace, or stops altogether, compliant in its every act. It is a creature which renounces itself to exist only by the will of another; which by the promptness and precision of its movements expresses and executes that will; which feels as much as it is desired to and only renders what is asked; which surrenders itself unreservedly, refuses nothing, serves with all its strength, wears itself out, and even dies to obey the [[353]]better.’ Thus Buffon expresses himself in regard to the horse.”
“I like Job’s way of saying it a good deal better,” Jules declared.