读者文摘:狗的秘密生活(4)（在线收听）

He stayed until I was out of sight, then turned and trotted north along the river and into the woods.

一直待到我看不见为止，然后转身沿河向北小跑，进了树林。

If the rest of his life was a mystery, when we were together we became fast friends.

如果狗的余生是个谜，那么我们在一起的时候，就成了亲密的朋友。

I'd cook an extra egg sandwich for him, and when there were no ducks, we would talk.

我会给它多做一个鸡蛋三明治，当没有鸭子的时候，我们就会聊天。

That is, I would talk; Ike would sit, his enormous head resting on my knee,

我讲话，艾克坐在那里，硕大的脑袋靠在我的膝盖上，

his huge brown eyes looking up at me while I petted him and told him all my troubles.

当我抚摸它的时候，它那双棕色的大眼睛看着我，我把我所有的烦恼都告诉它。

On the weekends when I stayed out, I would construct a lean-to and make a fire.

外出的周末，我会建一个披屋，生一堆火。

Ike would curl up on the edge of my blanket.

艾克会蜷缩在我的毯子边上。

Many mornings I'd awaken to find him under the frost-covered blanket with me, sound asleep,

许多早晨，我醒来发现它躺在满是冰霜的毯子里，睡得很熟，

my arm thrown over him, his breath rumbling against my side.

我的手臂搭在它身上，它的呼吸声在我身侧隆隆作响。

It seemed Ike had always been in my life. Then one morning he wasn't there.

一直以来，似乎艾克成为我生活的一部分。有一天早上，它不见了。

I would wait in the mornings by the bridge, but he never showed again.

早上我在桥边等，但它再也没有出现过。

I thought he might have been hit by a car or his owners might have moved away.

我想它可能是被车撞了，或者它的主人可能已经搬走了。

But I could not learn more of him. I mourned him and missed him.

但关于它的其它事我一概不知。我哀悼它，想念它。

I grew up and went into the crazy parts of my life, the mistakes a young man could make.

我长大了，也做了些疯狂的事，这些错误年轻人都会犯。

Later I got back into dogs—sled dogs—and ran the Idita-rod race across Alaska.

后来狗又出现在我的生活中——雪橇犬——参加艾迪塔罗德比赛，穿越阿拉斯加洲。

After my first run, I came back home to Minnesota with slides of the race.

第一次跑完之后，我带着比赛的幻灯片回到了明尼苏达的家。