人狗之间——理解才有爱 忠诚一生伴

人狗之间——理解才有爱 忠诚一生伴
译者点评：普罗泰格拉说，人类胜过动物，全恃道德。如是，道德就成了衡量人与动物的一把尺子。其实，人与动物之间的关系不仅仅能反映人的道德观，也反映动物的道德观。人狗之间与人猫之间所反映的就是两种不同的动物的道德观：忠诚与奸诈。这决定了人对动物的不同态度：忠诚博得了宠爱，奸诈遭到了疏远。结果也导致了狗猫之间的频频战事。而事实上，人与人，人与动物，动物与动物，未必不能和睦相处：关键在于理解和爱。
The way I see it dogs had this big meeting． Oh maybe 20，000 years ago． A huge meeting—an international convention with delegates from everywhere． And that‘s when they decided¹ that humans were the up and coming species and dogs were going to throw their lot in with them． The decision was obviously not unanimous． The wolves and dingoes walked out in protest．
Cats had an even more negative reaction． When they heard the news they called their own meeting—in Paris of course—to denounce canine² subservience³ to the human hyperpower．Their manifesto—La Condition Féline—can still be found in provincial⁴ bookstores．
Cats，it must be said，have not done badly． Using guile⁵ and seduction they managed to get humans to feed them thus preserving their superciliousness⁶ without going hungry． A neat trick． Dogs being guileless signed and delivered． It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship．
I must admit that I‘ve been slow to warm to dogs．I grew up in a non－pet friendly home． Dogs do not figure prominently in Jewish immigrant households． My father was not very high on pets． He wasn’t hostile． He just saw them as superfluous⁷ an encumbrance⁸． When the Cossacks are chasing you around Europe you need to travel light．This by the way is why Europe produced far more Jewish violinists than pianists． Try packing a piano．
My parents did allow a hint of zoological indulgence． I had a pet turtle． My brother had a parakeet． Both came to unfortunate ends． My turtle fell behind a radiator⁹ and was not discovered until too late． And the parakeet God bless him flew out a window once never to be seen again． After such displays of stewardship¹⁰ we dared not ask for a dog．
My introduction to the wonder of dogs came from my wife Robyn． She‘s Australian． And Australia as lovingly recounted in Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country has the craziest wildest deadliest meanest animals on the planet． In a place where every spider and squid can take you down faster than a sucker punched boxer¹¹ you cherish niceness in the animal kingdom． And they don‘t come nicer than dogs．
Robyn started us off slowly． She got us a Border collie Hugo when our son was about 6． She knew that would appeal to me because the Border collie is the smartest species on the planet． Hugo could 1 play outfield in our backyard baseball games 2 do flawless front door sentry¹² duty and 3 play psychic¹³ weatherman announcing with a wail¹⁴ every coming thunderstorm．
When our son Daniel turned 10 he wanted a dog of his own． I was against it using arguments borrowed from seminars on nuclear nonproliferation． It was hopeless． One giant “Please Dad” and I caved completely． Robyn went out to Winchester Virginia found a litter of black Labs and brought home Chester．
Chester is what psychiatrists¹⁵ mean when they talk about unconditional¹⁶ love． Unbridled is more like it． Come into our houseand he was so happy to see you he would knock you over．Deliverymen learned to leave things at the front door．
In some respects—Ph．D． potential for example—I don‘t make any great claims for Chester． When I would arrive home I fully¹⁷ expected to find Hugo reading the newspaper． Not Chester． Chester would try to make his way through a narrow sliding door find himself stuck halfway¹⁸ and then look at me with total and quite genuine puzzlement．I don’t think he ever got to understand that the rear part of him was actually attached to the front．
But it was Chester who dispensed¹⁹ affection as unreflectively as he breathed who got me thinking about this long ago pact²⁰ between humans and dogs． Cat lovers and the pet averse²¹ will just roll their eyes at such dogophilia．I can‘t help it． Chester was always at your foot or your hand waiting to be petted and stroked played with and talked to． His beautiful blocky head his wonderful overgrown puppy’s body his baritone bark filled every corner of house and heart．
Then last month at the tender age of 8 he died quite suddenly． The long slobbering slothful decline we had been looking forward to was not to be． When told the news a young friend who was a regular victim of Chester‘s lunging love bombs said mournfully“He was the sweetest creature I ever saw． He’s the only dog I ever saw kiss a cat．”
Some will protest that in a world with so much human suffering it is something between eccentric and obscene to mourn a dog． I think not． After all it is perfectly²² normal indeed deeply human to be moved when nature presents us with a vision of great beauty． Should we not be moved when it produces a vision—a creature—of the purest sweetness﹖
根据我的观察，狗开了这次大会。噢，也许是在两万年以前开的。那是一次盛大聚会——有各地代表参加的一次国际会议。正是在那次会议上它们做出了决定：人是上进的物种，狗要与他们共命运。这个决定显然未取得一致见解。狼和野狗愤然离会表示抗议。
猫的反应更消极。它们听到这个消息后，也召开了会议——当然是在巴黎——痛斥狗屈服于人类强权的懦弱行径。（它们的声明——《猫的状况》——仍然可以在外省书店里看到。）
必须承认，猫干得不坏。利用欺骗和诱惑，它们设法让人类喂养它们，所以，既不挨饿又保持了目中无人的派头。一个绝招儿。老实厚道的狗签署并发表了那项声明。于是开始了人与狗的一段美好友谊。
我必须承认，我并不是一下子就对狗产生好感的。我生长在一个不喜欢宠物的家庭里。在犹太移民的家庭里，狗不是最重要的。父亲对宠物不感兴趣。他不是恨宠物，只是认为宠物是多余的，是累赘。当哥萨克人追着你满欧洲跑的时候，你需要轻装上路。（顺便说一句，欧洲犹太人小提琴家之所以大大多于犹太人钢琴家，原因就在这里。不信你就打包一架钢琴试试。）
我父母确实迁就过我们养宠物。我养过一只龟，弟弟养过一只长尾鹦鹉。两个的结局都很不幸。我的龟掉到一个散热器的后面，发现时已经没救了。而那只鹦鹉，愿上帝保佑它，有一次飞出窗外，就再也没见到影儿。在表现出如此糟糕的管理之后，我们还哪敢提养狗的事儿。
是我的妻子罗宾使我开始了解到狗的神奇的。她是澳大利亚人。而澳大利亚，正如比尔·布赖森在《太阳烧焦的乡村》中所热情洋溢地歌颂的那样，拥有这个星球上最狂的、最野的、最凶的、最丑的动物。每一只蜘蛛，每一条乌贼，都能比又快又猛的拳击手还快地打倒你，在这样一个地方，你所珍重的是动物王国里的文雅。而那些动物都不如狗文雅。
罗宾带我们慢慢地起步。儿子6岁时，她给我们弄了一只博德牧羊犬，叫雨果。她知道我会喜欢它，因为博德牧羊犬是这个星球上最聪明的狗。第一，雨果能在我们打后院垒球游戏时打外场；第二，无可挑剔地在前门把守；第三，它是通灵气象员，每当雷暴到来之前它都会长吠一声。
当我们的儿子丹尼尔10岁时，他想自己养条狗。我不同意，借用防核扩散研讨会上的论点来反对。但不奏效。只一声伟大的“求求你了，爸爸”，我就彻底屈服了。罗宾去了趟弗吉尼亚的温切斯特，发现了一窝黑色的拉布拉多小狗，于是，把切斯特带回了家。
切斯特就是精神病学家所说的那种无条件的爱。更确切地说是毫无顾忌。有谁一走进家门，它那么高兴地见到你，会把你撞倒。（送货人都学会了把东西放在我们门口。）
在某些方面——如博士学位什么的——我对切斯特并不抱什么太大的奢望。一到家，我总能看到雨果在读报纸。但不是切斯特。切斯特会使劲挤进一个很窄的拉门，半身卡在了那里，然后用毫不掺假的迷茫眼神看着我。我认为它从来不明白它的后半截身子实际上是和前半截连在一起的。
但正是切斯特像呼吸一样不假思索地施爱与人，正是它让我想起了这个很久以前就已订立了的人犬之间的契约。爱猫者和厌恶宠物者对这种亲狗症只能翻翻白眼而已。可我没有办法。切斯特不是在你的脚下，就是在你的手边，等着拍打抚摩，与它玩耍或与它说话。它那颗漂亮斑驳的脑袋，那奇妙肥大的身段，那男中音式的狗吠，遍及房间和心窝的各个角落。
而上个月，在刚刚8岁这幼小的年龄，它就突然死去了。我们曾经预料的那漫长的、流着口水的、懒散的衰老过程不会再有了。经常受切斯特发自肺腑的爱弹袭击的一个年轻朋友在听到它的死讯时悲伤地说，“它是我见过的最可爱的动物。它是我见过的惟一一只吻猫的狗。”
有些人会反驳说，在一个充满了人类痛苦的世界上，为一只狗悲伤，是近乎怪癖或可憎的表现。我以为不然。毕竟，深为自然界呈现给我们的伟大美景而感动完全是正常的、具有深刻人性的事。当它向我们呈现一个最可爱的景象——一个动物时，我们不应该为之所动吗？

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

3 subservience   

n.有利，有益；从属（地位），附属性；屈从，恭顺；媚态

参考例句：

• I could not make subservience an automatic part of my behavior. 我不能把阿谀奉承化为我自动奉行的处世之道。 来自辞典例句
• All his actions were in subservience to the general plan. 他的所有行为对整体计划有帮助。 来自互联网

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 guile   

n.诈术

参考例句：

• He is full of guile.他非常狡诈。
• A swindler uses guile;a robber uses force.骗子用诈术；强盗用武力。

6 superciliousness   

n.高傲，傲慢

参考例句：

• Life had not taught her domination--superciliousness of grace, which is the lordly power of some women. 她的生活经历使她和那些威风凛凛的夫人们不同，她身上没有专横和傲气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Eyes looking sideways can show one's coldness and superciliousness. 眼睛旁顾，态度冷淡，目空一切的眼神。 来自互联网

7 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

8 encumbrance   

n.妨碍物，累赘

参考例句：

• Only by overcoming our weaknesses can we advance without any encumbrance;only by uniting ourselves in our struggle can we be invincible.克服缺点才能轻装前进，团结战斗才能无往不胜。
• Now I should be an encumbrance.现在我成为累赘了。

9 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。

10 stewardship   

n. n. 管理工作；管事人的职位及职责

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Last, but certainly not least, are the issues of stewardship and ethics. 最后，但当然不是微不足道的，是工作和道德规范的问题。

11 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

12 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

13 psychic   

n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的

参考例句：

• Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
• She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能，能预知未来。

14 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

15 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

16 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

19 dispensed   

v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药）

参考例句：

• Not a single one of these conditions can be dispensed with. 这些条件缺一不可。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage. 他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

21 averse   

adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的

参考例句：

• I don't smoke cigarettes,but I'm not averse to the occasional cigar.我不吸烟，但我不反对偶尔抽一支雪茄。
• We are averse to such noisy surroundings.我们不喜欢这么吵闹的环境。

22 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。