英语名篇诵读 狗的赞歌

Eulogy¹ for a Dog

狗的赞歌

George Graham Vest(乔治·格雷厄姆·维斯特)

The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son

or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful .

Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our

good name, may become traitors² to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies

away from him perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment

of ill-considered action.

The people who are prone³ to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us

may be the first to throw the stone of malice⁴ when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that

never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous⁵ is his dog.

A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness.

He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives

fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he

will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He

guards the sleep of his pauper⁶ master as if he were a prince.

When all other friends desert, he remains⁷. When riches take wings and reputation falls to

pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth⁸ an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the

faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to

fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its

embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their

way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad

but open in alert watchfulness⁹ , faithful and true, even to death.

人在这个世界上最好的朋友会反目成仇。他呕心沥血抚养的儿女也会忘恩。

那些我们最亲近的人，那些我们将幸福和声名相托付的人，会背信弃义。一个人的钱

财会散尽，最需要钱的时候也许会两手空空。一个人的名誉在欠考虑的行动中会荡然无

存。

我们飞黄腾达时，有人会跪下来对我们崇敬无比，我们落魄遭难时，他们会最先向我

们发起恶毒攻击。

在这个私欲横流的世界上，人能够得到的最无私的朋友，那个从不抛弃他、从不忘恩

负义、从不心怀鬼胎的朋友，就是他的狗。

无论是富贵腾达，还是贫困潦倒，无论是身强体壮，还是疾病缠身，一个人的狗总是

在身边守候。

只要能留在主人身旁，狗宁愿伏冰卧雪，一任寒风袭，雪劲吹。他会亲吻无法给他食

物的手，他会舔愈人生的艰难困苦留下的满身伤口。贫穷的主人睡眠时，他站岗放哨，就

像在保护一个王子那样。

当所有的朋友都弃主人而去，他留了下来。当财富烟消云散，当名誉扫地时，他对主

人的爱始终如一，就像太阳始终按路线穿行于宇宙间。

如果命运不济，主人成了世界的弃儿，举目无亲，孤苦无依，那忠实的狗不要求更好

的优待，只求能陪伴着主人，为他提防危险，为他和敌人搏斗；当主人大限临近，被死神

攫入怀抱，尸体埋入冰冷的地下，不论他所有别的朋友怎么做，在他的坟墓旁总能找到那

只高尚的狗，双爪抱着头，双眼含悲戚，但睁得大大的，异常警觉，忠诚，纯真，直到死

去。

1 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

2 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

3 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

4 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

5 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

6 pauper   

n.贫民，被救济者，穷人

参考例句：

• You lived like a pauper when you had plenty of money.你有大把钱的时候，也活得像个乞丐。
• If you work conscientiously you'll only die a pauper.你按部就班地干，做到老也是穷死。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 watchfulness   

警惕，留心； 警觉（性）

参考例句：

• The escort and the universal watchfulness had completely isolated him. 护送和普遍一致的监视曾经使他完全孤立。
• A due watchfulness on the movements of the enemy was maintained. 他们对敌人的行动还是相当警惕的。