A Friend in Need　患難見真情

A Friend in Need　患難見真情

◎ Vicki

Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like pairs of dogs you can find in most any neighborhood, these two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses.

布朗尼和斯波奇是鄰居家的小狗，它們每天都在一起玩耍。就像你在很多鄰里之間看到的成對的小狗一樣，它們倆互相愛慕，常在一起玩耍嬉鬧，以至于已經(jīng)在兩棟房子之間的草坪上踩出了一條小路來。

One evening, Brownie’s family noticed that Brownie hadn’t returned home. They went looking for him with no success. Brownie didn’t show up the next day, and, despite their efforts to find him, by the next week he was still missing.

一天傍晚，布朗尼的主人發(fā)現(xiàn)它沒有回家，搜尋一遍也沒有找到。布朗尼第二天依然沒有回來，雖然主人努力在尋找，但一直到下個禮拜，還是沒有它的蹤影。

Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie’s house alone. Barking, whining and generally pestering Brownie’s human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.

奇怪的是，斯波奇獨自出現(xiàn)在布朗尼家門前。它不停地狂吠、哀叫，一直糾纏布朗尼的主人。因為忙于自己的事情，這家人都忽略了這只焦急的鄰家小狗。

Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take “no” for an answer. Ted, Brownie’s owner, was steadily harassed by the furious, adamant little dog. Spotty followed Ted about; barking insistently, then darting toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, “Follow me! It’s urgent!”

最終，一天早上，斯波奇不能再忍受布朗尼主人一家的拒絕態(tài)度了。布朗尼的主人特德一直被這只狂怒的、不依不饒的小狗騷擾。斯波奇一直圍著特德轉(zhuǎn)，汪汪地叫個不停，然后竄到附近的一塊空地上，又竄回來，像是在說：“跟我走！事情緊急！”

Eventually, Ted followed the frantic Spotty across the empty lot as Spotty paused to race back and bark encouragingly. The little dog led the man under a tree, past clumps of trees, to a desolate spot a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leg hold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he’d taken Spotty’s earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.

特德最后跟著幾近發(fā)狂的斯波奇穿過空地，斯波奇不時地停下并跑回來，用叫聲催促著他。小狗帶著特德從樹下走過，穿過小樹叢，直到一塊距離房子半英里的廢棄地停下。在那兒，特德發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己心愛的布朗尼，它還活著，只是一條后腿被夾在一個鋼制捕捉器里了。特德大為震驚，到現(xiàn)在他都希望，自己當初能認真對待斯波奇的求助。之后，特德注意到一件非同尋常的事情。

Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie’s human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week!

斯波奇不僅僅只是把布朗尼的主人帶到了被困朋友的身邊。在這只受傷的狗的周圍，特德發(fā)現(xiàn)了一堆狗糧和餐桌剩飯——后來被證實是斯波奇在那一周每一頓飯省下來的食物。

Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in a single minded quest to keep his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from predators, snuggling with him at night to keep him warm and nuzzling him to keep his spirits up.

斯波奇一直定期去看望布朗尼，一心想讓自己的朋友活下去，哪怕犧牲自己也不在乎。很明顯，斯波奇留在布朗尼的身邊，讓它免受其他掠食者的攻擊，夜里和它依偎在一起，幫它趕走寒冷，用鼻子蹭它，讓它振作起來。

Brownie’s leg was treated by a veterinarian and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends frolicking and chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses.

布朗尼的腿在獸醫(yī)的治療下得以痊愈。此后的很多年，在兩家之間那條幾乎被踩實的小路上，兩家鄰居看著這一對忠實的朋友一起嬉戲，彼此追逐。

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