美文赏析How could you? 一只狗狗的临终告白

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本文选自美国作家Jim Willis的畅销书《Pieces Of My Heart-----Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature》，该书以自述的形式讲述了一只家犬对昔日主人的真情告白。当年作者用七千美元以全版广告的形式在报纸上刊登了该文章，以一篇文章感动了所有的读者。

      When I was a puppy（幼犬）, I entertained you with my antics（滑稽动作） and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite（尽管） a number of chewed（被咬坏的） shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows（被弄坏的枕头）, I became your best friend. Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?"-but then you'd relent（温和）, and roll me over for a belly（腹部） rub（摩擦）.

      My housebreaking（侵入家宅，指自己进家门吗？） took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling（紧挨） you in bed and listening to your confidences（知心话） and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone（球果） because "ice cream is bad for dogs," you said), and I took long naps（小睡） in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate（伴侣）. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks（伤心） and disappointments（失望）, never chided（责骂） you about bad decisions, and romped（嬉笑玩闹） with glee（欢喜） at your homecomings, and when you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a "dog person"-still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection（爱）, and obeyed（听从） her. I was happy because you were happy.

Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated（着迷） by their pinkness（粉红色？）, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished（放逐） to another room, or to a dog crate（箱子）. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love." As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly（颤抖的） legs, poked（刺，戏弄） fingers in my eyes, investigated（研究） my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch-because your touch was now so infrequent（少的）-and I would have defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak（偷偷溜进） into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway（车道）.

There had been a time（曾经）, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced（出示） a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented（愤怒） every expenditure（花费） on my behalf. Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

 I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter（庇护所）. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear（恐惧）, of hopelessness（绝望）. You filled out（填写） the paperwork（文件） and said "I know you will find a good home for her". They shrugged（耸肩） and gave you a pained（难过） look. They understand the realities（现实） facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers". You had to pry（撬开） your son's fingers loose（松的） from my collar（项圈）, as he screamed "No, Daddy. Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty（忠诚）, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.

You gave me a good-bye pat（轻拍） on the head, avoided（避开） my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar（项圈） and leash（皮带） with you. You had a deadline（最后期限） to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming（即将出现的） move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive（体贴） to us here in the shelter（庇护所） as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite（没有胃口） days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen（围栏）, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you--that you had changed your mind--that this was all a bad dream…or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking（嬉戏） for attention of happy puppies, oblivious（未察觉） to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.（是因为年纪大了没人认领吗？）

 I heard her footsteps（脚步） as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along（慢慢地走） the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully（幸福的） quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed（摩挲） my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded（怦怦跳） in anticipation（预期） of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief（宽慰）. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood. She gently placed a tourniquet（止血带） around my foreleg（前腿） as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked（舔） her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid（滑） the hypodermic needle（皮下注射器针头） into my vein（静脉）. As I felt the sting（刺痛） and the cool liquid（冰凉的液体） coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured（低语） "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged（拥抱） me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored（忽视） or abused（虐待） or abandoned（遗弃）, or have to fend for myself（自己照顾）--a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place.

And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey（传达） to her with a thump（重击） of my tail（尾巴） that my "How could you?" was not directed at her. It was you, My Beloved Master（我深爱的主人）, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May（希望） everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

本文标签： 一只狗狗临终美文告白