One day, Jerry sold me to a baker with the words, "The food is good there and the work is fair. But I often carried very heavy loads（负荷）. In the end they bought a younger horse, and sold me to a cab owner.
My new master, Nicholas Skinner, was horrible. He had black eyes and a large nose. His horses didn't have a rest on Sundays, even in summer in the city, when it was very hot.
Still, I did my best. But my life was now so bad that I wanted to die. And one day my wish nearly came true. We collected a family from the railway station. My driver put case after case on top of the cab. The load was very heavy, and I was hungry and exhausted（极其疲惫的）. I did my best, but I fell to the ground. I really thought that I was going to die.
The vet came to look at me. He checked me very carefully and said, "This horse is not ill. He is simply too exhausted from overwork. Give him a rest for six months and he'll be fine. "
Nicholas Skinner said, "If he can't work, I need to sell him. " And so twelve days after the accident they took me to the horse fair. I held my head high, and hoped for the best.
—Taken from Black Beauty
