Perhaps the happiest part of his early days at Alexandria was the time he spent in taking care of the horses. He learned to ride very well and followed the hunt for hours over the hills and valleys. So he came to love horses and to admire good riders. Long afterwards, when he had become a famous general, his love for his horse Traveller was known among all the soldiers. The horse—a handsome iron-gray, with black points and dark mane and tail—was as easily recognized as his master. In a letter to his daughter Agnes, General Lee once described this horse:
也许他在亚历山大港早期最快乐的时光是照顾马匹的时光。他学会了还骑得很好，并在山谷中跟随猎人数小时。因此，他爱上了马，并开始欣赏优秀的骑手。很久以后，当他成为一位著名的将军时，他对骑马旅行者的爱在所有的士兵中是众所周知的。马是漂亮的铁灰色，有黑色的斑点、黑色的鬃毛和尾巴，和他的主人一样容易认出来。在给女儿阿格尼斯的一封信中，李将军曾这样描述这匹马：
“If I were an artist like you, I would draw a true picture of Traveller—representing his fine proportions, muscular figure, deep chest and short back, strong haunches, flat legs, small head, broad forehead, delicate ears, quick eye, small feet, and black mane and tail.”
“如果我是一个像你一样的艺术家，我会画一幅真实的旅行者的画像，描绘他匀称的比例、肌肉发达的身材、深胸短背、结实的臀部、扁平的腿、小脑袋、宽阔的前额、精致的耳朵、敏捷的眼睛、小脚、黑色的鬃毛和尾巴。”
Traveller was the great general’s “patient follower” through the war, and in the end the gallant horse outlived his master. When Lee was in his last illness, the doctor tried to cheer him by saying, “You must make haste and get well; Traveller has been standing so long in the stable that he needs exercise.”
旅行者是这位伟大将军在战争中“耐心的追随者”，最后这匹勇敢的马比他的主人活得更长。当李最后一次生病时，医生试图安慰他说：“你一定要赶快好起来；旅行者在马厩里站得太久了，他需要锻炼。”
General Lee was both soldier and country gentleman. He had all the qualities of good leadership—devotion to duty, constant truthfulness, and a generous way of looking at every side of a question. He was the exact opposite of the city-bred boy who grows up to feel at home in crowds and lonely in the quiet country-side. Lee had learned at Stratford House that in the woods and the fields one can never be lonely. His own words, when he was a grown man, tell us this: “To be alone in a crowd is very solitary. In the woods I feel sympathy with the trees and birds, in whose company I take delight.”
李将军既是军人又是乡村绅士。他具有良好的领导才能——忠于职守，始终诚实，对问题的每一个方面都很宽容。他完全不同于那个在城市长大的男孩，他在人群中感到自在，在宁静的乡村感到孤独。李在斯特拉特福德的房子里学到，在树林和田野里，一个人永远不会感到孤独。当他长大成人他用自己的话告诉我们：“在人群中独处是很孤独的。在树林里，我对树和鸟有共鸣，我喜欢和它们在一起。”
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