《小马俱乐部历险记》中英译文
今天真是个多事的日子！
首先，爸爸打电话问吉姆，什么时候把凯米和格蕾丝的马儿送到我们的围场来。好久以前，爸爸就买好了修补栅栏所需的一切，而且吉姆也过来花了一天时间帮着我们把栅栏修补好。可今天，他却告诉我爸说，要把那些马儿放养在阿里家的围场。爸爸很不高兴，因为花了一大笔钱才修好栅栏，吉姆反倒要把马儿搬出去了！我也不开心，因为我盼望有其他女孩把她们的马儿寄养在我家，我才有玩伴。
然后是汤姆开着拖车过来，把凯特的马儿露露拉走了。汤姆说，他找到了一个很棒的马场来寄养露露，决定把露露搬过去。这个消息更可怕！因为我不想要凯特或露露到其他地方去；我好担心雪莉也会搬走，那就只剩下一个孤零零的我了！
除了这些，我更担心的是汤姆的拖车——我们还可以用吗？没有拖车，我就去不了俱乐部，可爸妈已经给我买好俱乐部的全套制服了呀！
不过幸好汤姆这人还算是大方，他说我们依然可以借用拖车。我们只需在俱乐部训练的日子开车去他家把拖车挂上就行。我非常高兴！否则那真的是不堪设想。现在，雪莉和她的马儿依然和我们在一起——太令人高兴了。
最后，正当我以为今天将顺利度过的时候，阿里的妈妈和我爸却差点儿引起了一场大火！！！
起因是，阿里的妈妈说，我们应该把我家的小围场外面的一圈杂草烧掉，形成一个隔离带——她就是这样做的。我们的场地以前是放养牛儿的，地上长满了狗尾草，很适合喂牛但并不适合喂马。狗尾草顶部常常出现白色的草尖，马儿吃了这样的草尖，就会得“大头病”，脑袋发肿，病得很严重。所以我们以前常用一台像拖拉机那样的割草机割掉狗尾草的上半截，这样就除去了那些白色的草叶。然而这一次，阿里的妈妈说，用火烧更省事，她会教我们火烧隔离带的最佳方法。
于是，她沿着围场泼了一路的汽油，老爸就开始点火。只听“轰”的一声，还没等我们反应过来，火势已经横穿小小的围场。再加上突然起风，吹得火苗四处乱窜！我当时真的傻眼了。后来爸妈说他们也非常担心。我们正要通知消防队的时候，不知怎么的，爸爸却控制住了火势。
好倒霉的一天！围场遭火灾；马儿也少了一匹——露露走了；不仅如此，我家前面的围场虽然栅栏修补一新，里面却没有马儿了。
不过，至少还有一点儿令人欣慰的是，我们依然能用汤姆的拖车，依然能去小马俱乐部。要不然，才真的惨了！
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!
