【赫临译笔】患难朋友 - 心云驛站

布朗尼和斯波蒂相邻人家的两只狗，它们每天见面，一起玩耍。像多数邻里都能发现的成双成对的狗一样，它俩彼此相爱，经常在一起玩耍，通向两家的草地上被踩出了一条小路。

一天晚上，布朗尼的主人发现小狗没有回家。一家人到处寻找，但没有结果。第二天布朗尼也没露面。尽管大家在尽力寻找，可一周过去了，还是踪迹皆无。

很奇怪，斯波蒂独自来到了布朗尼家。它吠叫，哀鸣，总是纠缠布朗尼的主人。一家人忙于自己的生活，没人在意这只神经质的小狗。

终于，一天早上斯波蒂拒绝接受“不”这个答复。不停地骚扰着布朗尼的主人泰德，这只愤怒而固执的小狗到处跟着泰德，不停地叫唤，然后冲向附近一个空旷的地方，再回来，好象在说：“跟我走，情况很紧急！”

最后，泰德跟着这只发疯的小狗，穿过了这块空地，因为它走一段，就停下来，跑回来，汪汪叫着，像是鼓励。小狗带着泰德走过一棵大树，穿过几丛灌木，到了离家半英里远的一个荒凉地方。在那里泰德见到了爱犬布朗尼，它还活着，一条后腿被钢夹夹碎。泰德感到惊骇，真希望自己能够早点重视斯波蒂的求助。随后他注意到一件非同寻常的事情。

斯波蒂所做的不仅仅是把布朗尼的主人带到了它被困的朋友身边。在这只受伤的小狗周围，有一圈狗粮和餐桌剩饭，后来确认这是斯波蒂给布朗尼送来的每一餐吃剩的残余。

斯波蒂一直定期来看望布朗尼，一心一意盼着它朋友能够活下来，不惜牺牲自己的舒适。很明显，斯波蒂和布朗尼呆在一起，保护它不受野兽袭击，晚上和它依偎在一起，给它温暖，用鼻子爱抚它，使它心情舒畅。

兽医治好了布朗尼的腿，使它恢复了健康。多年后，在两家之间被踏出的深深的小路上，两家人依然能够看到这对忠贞不渝的朋友在互相追逐，嬉戏玩耍。

A Friend in Need

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 grassof the field between their respective houses.

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

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 littleneighbor dog.

Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take "no" for an answer. Ted,Brownie's owner, was steadily harassed bythe 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!"

Eventually, Ted followed the frantic Spotty across the empty lot asSpotty 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 fromthe house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind leg scrushed in a steel leg hold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he'd takenSpotty's earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.

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.
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 everymeal Spotty had been fed that week!

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.