Man is a child of nature, but very ungrateful. After gaining strength, he has been trying for many centuries to destroy his creator and his smaller brothers. This issue is being trumpeted by media around the world. However, in the XIX century. few dared to raise this issue. Among such daredevils was the Canadian-American writer Ernest Seton-Thompson. In addition to his social activities aimed at preserving the wildlife, he wrote many interesting works about the animal world. Among them is the story "Mustang-pacer."
Ernest Seton-Thompson
The future writer was born in Great Britain in 1860. However, he spent most of his conscious life in Canada and the USA.
At the age of six, the Seton Thompsons moved to Canada. Due to the cruelty of his father, young Ernest avoided his company and spent all his free time in a forest not far from home. The young man studied nature, made sketches of wild animals and birds. His talent as an artist, manifested so early, helped him enter the Canadian College of Art, which he graduated at 19. Soon after, Ernest broke ties with his family and changed his name to Thompson Seaton.
To earn a living, he began to write stories about nature. His first work, The Life of the Meadow Grouse, was published in 1883. Other stories followed.
In the nineties of the XIX century. Ernest Seton-Thompson was able to publish several collections of works. These books enjoyed great success among readers in the USA and Canada, not only because of the simple but pleasant manner of writing, but also because of the amazing illustrations drawn by the author himself.
Having become a recognized and well-paid writer, Seton-Thompson began to write stories not only about animals, but also about the customs of the Indian tribes, as well as about the Eskimos.
This writer has become one of the pioneers of the literary genre of works on animals. In addition, his work influenced many animal writers who lived after him.
Ernest Seton-Thompson is also one of the founding ideologists. It was he who owned the idea of teaching schoolchildren survival in the wild. The detachment he created was named Forest Indians. Based on his experience, Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scout Society, which exists to this day. For a long time, Seton-Thompson collaborated with Baden-Powell, but when he saw that the scout movement was acquiring more and more features of a military organization, he retired.
The writer died peacefully at the age of 86 and was cremated, and his ashes scattered over the "Seaton Village" - a reserve organized on the writer's land.
Ernest Seton-Thompson Mustang Pacer: Summary
This story is one of the most famous works of the writer, translated into Russian.
The action takes place in the Wild West, where cowboys notice a wild black foal with an innate ability to move amble.
A year later, having returned to the same lands, they find out that the Mustang pacer grew up and became a real disaster for the shepherds: he took away the domestic mares after him and soon founded his own herd. They tried to catch him several times, but the black horse not only eluded the pursuers, but also led his herd away from them.
Soon, a solid reward was awarded for an unusual horse, moving only by amble, - $ 1,000. Experienced cattleman Joe Kalon equipped an entire expedition and began to purposefully pursue the Mustang pacer.
In the end, Joe drove the best horse, lost a lot of money and time, but could not catch a black horse. More than once he repeated attempts to catch the Mustang, but could not. The only thing he achieved was to beat off his herd from the horse and return it to the owners for a reward.
Despite Kalon's failure, many other cowboys wanted to tire out the legendary horse, because from him it was possible to bring unique offspring of horses. However, the Mustang pacer was not given to anyone. It seemed that he sensed all the traps and avoided them.
Cook Thomas Bats, who was a greedy and arrogant man, also wanted to catch the coveted stallion. Watching the attempts of others, he realized that the pacifier can be outwitted.
Having taken Solly's bay mare from a friend, Tom used it as a bait and managed to catch a mustang in a trap. To swear in front of the other cowboys who nicknamed him The Turkey Footprint (for the ridiculous stigma), Tom branded the bound mustang and tried to get it to the nearest farm.
However, the Mustang pacer resisted all the time. At the end of the story he managed to break free. However, there was nowhere to run, and the horse jumped off a two-hundred-foot cliff, crashed onto rocks, but retained its freedom.
"Mustang-pacer": the main characters
The main character of the work is, of course, a wild black stallion, able to move amble, never turning into a gallop.
While horses in the Wild West cost "$ 12 a dozen," they offer $ 1,000 to capture a mustang. It attracts all herders in the district not only with its unusual manner of movement, but also with its beauty and unbridledness. Despite the numerous harm that he does, no one risks killing him - after all, the beauty and courage of this horse are delighted even by experienced cowboys.
Opponents of a beautiful horse are people who dream of using it for enrichment. In fact, they are carriers of all the negative that is in human nature in the story of a writer named Seton-Thompson. Mustang-pacifier - on the contrary, the embodiment of nobility and purity.
Among those who want to catch the treasured horse, two stand out. The first one is the experienced but poor shepherd Joe Kalon. The hero wants to get rich and start his ranch and cattle, but he only spends all the earned money on drinking and entertainment in the city. Seeing the potential in a mustang rover, even when he was a foal, Joe tries to catch him, and acts relatively honestly. But time after time, the crow leaves his pursuer and the herder surrenders.
The second hunter is the stingy cook Thomas Bats. He demands that people around him call him “Mr.”, and goes to the post office in anticipation of letters to just show off. He often boasts that he has branded many animals, but in reality it is a lie of pure water. When Joe invites him to participate in the capture of the pacer as a partner, Thomas refuses because of greed, preferring to work for hire.
Unlike Kalon, Bats decides to outwit the black man and, playing alone the mustang, catches him with the help of a bait mare. Immediately in place, Thomas puts the stigma on his horse. The man believes that he enslaved a proud animal, but the pacer prefers death.
Minor Characters
In addition to the above, other heroes appear in the story, although they are present more for the background.
This is fellow drinker Joe Scrat. He is not so perspicacious as Kalon, and apparently everything has long been reconciled to his position as an employee and does not dream of his job.
The author himself also takes part in the events of the story. He appears in one of the pursuits of the black horse, and when he has the opportunity to kill the animal, he not only refuses to do this, but also prevents other cowboys from shooting the mustang.
Issue
In addition to fierce criticism of the extermination of wildlife by man, Ernest Seton-Thompson raises other questions in this story.
"Mustang-pacer" shows the pettiness of the nature of a person who seeks to humiliate and trample on something that he cannot accept. When the stolen black mares were returned to the owners, in fact, the horse ceased to harm the herders of the area, and he could be left alone. All further hunting for a pacer is a tribute to passion, and not a necessity.
Of the two raven hunters, Joe Kalon certainly deserves more respect, because he is trying to realize his dream. But is it possible to imprison another creature in order to enrich itself? Indeed, in fact, Joe resembles slave traders selling their fellow humans for profit. And besides, if Kalon skips all the money earned, instead of saving for a ranch, most likely, having earned on a mustang, he would have drunk everything again.
Symbolism in the story
Ernest Seton-Thompson's work is quite symbolic. So the Mustang embodies the ideal of freedom and nobility. It is ideal both physically and mentally. Unlike Joe, who shot a horse that broke his leg, a pacifier takes care of his herd until the last.
At the same time, hunters symbolize the greed and gluttony of human nature, as well as envy. If the author, seeing a black man, admires him, then Joe and Thomas only count the profits.
The theme of freedom in the Mustang Pacer
For Americans, the topic of freedom is a pretty sore point. The fact is that this young society has had to fight for independence several times over a two hundred year history.
At first they fought with the British for freedom, and after a slave for a long time they sought the right to be recognized as full-fledged people. That is why the story of the wild mustang, who preferred death over captivity, is so close to the Americans.
Film adaptation
In the USSR, the story "Mustang-pacer" was very popular. The book was filmed in 1976. The director was Igor Negrescu.
The script of the movie was supplemented by a storyline about the friend of the black man - Mare Solly. In addition, a foal was born in the film, which became the subject of controversy of local pastoralists.
The rest of the picture retained the plot elements of the original Seton-Thompson story.
Entertaining facts
- Seton-Thompson was married twice. His daughter from her first marriage - Anya - also became a writer. However, her novels are about history.
- One of the reasons why the Mustang was so valuable was because it had an innate amble. This quality is very important for a riding horse, as a rider on such an animal is very convenient to move around. Here are just pacers not very maneuverable. They are inferior to ordinary horses in endurance.
- The amble in horses is a genetic mutation.
- The first horses with an innocent ambler appeared in Iceland and Britain in the region of 850-900. They later spread throughout the world.
- You can make amblers from ordinary horses, but such an animal is more tired and injures its legs.
Despite the sad ending, the story of Ernest Seton-Thompson's Mustang Pacer still captures many. The main idea of this work is that nature does not need to forcibly tame and make her a slave, but it is important to try to find a common language with her and interact. This idea was the life credo of Seton-Thompson, to whom he obeyed his whole life. It is hoped that at least some modern successful writers will follow suit.