老外在中國：忠犬相伴

The first time I saw Feifei she was chasing a motorcycle.

第一次見菲菲，她正在追一輛摩托車。

My China Daily colleague, Greg Fountain, was chasing her. And, his adult dog was looking on skeptically at the antics of the crazy three-month-old puppy.

我在《中國日報》的同事格雷格正在追她，他的大狗滿眼疑惑的看著這只3個月大的小奶狗撒歡耍瘋。

Feifei and her litter mates had been left in a trash box on a sidewalk in the Sanlitun area of Beijing. Some kind people rescued them, then Greg and his lovely bride, Maria, volunteered to be foster parents until they could find her a permanent family.

菲菲和同窩小崽被遺棄在北京三里屯路邊的一個垃圾箱里。他們被善良的人救助，格雷格和他美麗的妻子瑪利亞在找到收容他們的家庭前，自愿撫養(yǎng)他們。

 

 

I took Feifei home that afternoon and sent a Wechat message to my Chinese wife that I had a surprise waiting for her. She probably thought I meant good food, or flowers. She had never had a dog before and was a bit afraid of them.

把菲菲帶回家那天下午，我發(fā)了一條微信給我的中國媳婦兒，說有個驚喜給她。她覺得我可能準備了一頓豐盛的晚餐或是一捧玫瑰。她從沒養(yǎng)過狗，還有點害怕狗狗。

I’m sure that she initially agreed that we could keep Feifei just because I had been badly missing having a dog. I had to go on a four-day reporting trip the first week after Feifei moved in. My wife would call frequently and say, “She’s barking. What does she want?!!!” Now, a month later, I hear her whispering, “I love you, little girl.”

我確信，她一開始同意把菲菲留下來，只是因為我實在太想養(yǎng)狗了。菲菲搬來的第一周，我有個報道任務要出差四天。我老婆一開始總是抱怨，“她又在叫!她到底想干什么!”一個月過去了，我聽到她柔聲細語對著菲菲說：“我愛你，小寶貝。”

I’ve found that Chinese culture and American culture is usually not that different. In many aspects, I think Chinese culture is better. But, I have to say, with respect to dogs, Americans have it right. It saddens me to see small kids shying away in fear from a five-kilogram puppy. In the US, they would run up and give her a hug.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)，中美文化沒那么大差異。很多方面，我覺得中國文化更棒。但我必須要說，在尊重狗狗方面，美國人更勝一籌。中國小朋友看到10斤的小狗都嚇得直往后躲，這讓我挺難受的。在美國，孩子們會沖上去，給她一個大大的擁抱。

On the other hand, this attitude is changing. I walk Feifei every morning in the great park by the Yuan dynasty (1271-1378) walls, where many people walk dogs. Feifei craves her morning play-dates when she can romp with other dogs.

但是，這種態(tài)度正在改變。我每天早上都帶菲菲去元大都公園，好多人都在那兒遛狗。菲菲特別期待每天早上和小伙伴們打鬧的時光。

Growing up, my big collie named Lad was my best friend. I can’t imagine going through the difficult middle-school years without him.

牧羊犬Lad是我孩童時期最好的朋友。如果沒有它，我無法想象該怎么度過那艱苦的中學時代。

A 2017 paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded: “The review found evidence for a wide range of emotional health benefits from childhood pet ownership; particularly for self-esteem and loneliness.” It also concluded: “Studies also showed evidence of an association between pet ownership and educational and cognitive benefits; for example, in perspective-taking abilities and intellectual development.”

2017年《國際環(huán)境研究與公共衛(wèi)生雜志》的一篇文章稱，“研究證明，童年有寵物陪伴對情感健康有諸多好處，特別是對自負和孤獨。”還稱：“有證據(jù)表明，寵物對教育和認知也有好處;例如，有助于培養(yǎng)換位思考能力和智力發(fā)展。”

 

 

Young children with dogs were found to learn language faster, read better, and have larger vocabularies. Adolescents with dogs are more emotionally stable and self-confident.

幼兒有狗狗的陪伴，學語言會更快，閱讀能力更強，詞匯量更大。而有狗狗陪伴的青少年，感情會更穩(wěn)定，人也更自信。

In other words, if you want your child to do well on the gaokao, and in life, get a dog.

換句話說，如果想讓你的孩子高考取得好成績，成為人生贏家，那么趕快養(yǎng)只狗吧。

Dogs are not just for the kids. A report in the journal Psychology Today concluded that when a person petted a dog “blood pressure lowered, heart rate slowed, breathing became more regular and muscle tension relaxed--all of which are signs of reduced stress.” The American Journal of Cardiology found that pet owners have a significantly higher survival rate after having a heart attack than people who don’t own pets. For older people, “the likelihood that the non-pet owners would end up being diagnosed as clinically depressed was four times higher than that found in the pet-owning people of the same age.” Elderly dog owners “required fewer medical services and were much more satisfied with their lives.”

養(yǎng)狗不僅對孩子有好處?！督袢招睦韺W》的一篇報告指出，“當人撫摸狗狗時，血壓會降低，心率會減慢，呼吸變得更規(guī)則，肌肉也會放松下來——所有跡象都表明你處于減壓狀態(tài)。”《美國心臟病學雜志》發(fā)現(xiàn)，在得了心臟病后，養(yǎng)寵物的人比不養(yǎng)寵物的人存活率明顯高很多。對老年人來說，“不養(yǎng)寵物的人被診斷為臨床抑郁癥的可能性是同齡養(yǎng)寵物人的四倍”，養(yǎng)狗的老年人的醫(yī)療需求更少，對自己的生活更滿意。

My wife says I smile a lot more since we got Feifei. The scientific evidence says she’s right about that.

我媳婦兒說自從有了菲菲，我笑的都多了?？茖W證明她說的是對的。