大自然的禮物 Natural Gift

埃德加·霍爾/Edgar Hall

March 18，1925.Though only five years of age, I well remember the day the great tornado swept over“Little Egypt”，as the southern tip of Illinois is called. The little coal-mining town in which we lived lay directly in its path. The howling wind sounded as if a dozen locomotives were roaring past. We huddled in the kitchen as the roaring filled our ears and seemed to shake our very bones.

Suddenly it was over. The quietness felt unnatural and an eerie, uneasy feeling gripped us. Opening the door, my mother stood transfixed as she gazed upon the awful scene. Debris lay everywhere. The street was impassable. People, some obviously in shock, milled around like cattle, unsure of what to do. The strange silence was suddenly broken by a subdued, pitiful whining at Mother’s feet.

Trembling violently, a wet and frightened little poodle lay wedged between the door and the screen.

“My stars,”my mother said, bending over,“Wherever did you come from?”

The bedraggled little dog timidly wagged his tail and began licking Mother’s hand.

Jacky, as we named him, accepted our large family without reservation. We in turn lavished our love upon the displaced but lucky little poodle.

Almost immediately we realized Jacky was an exceptional dog-a very smart one. Surrounded by masses of curly hair, his dark inquisitive eyes sparkled with life.

The little dog had been a part of our family for about two years when a hobo knocked at the back door and asked if we could give him something to eat. The request wasn’t at all unusual. In those days, many hobos stopped at our corner. Mother brought a plate of food to the porch where he waited. As he sat down to eat, we boys gathered around him. He began telling us all the places he’d been and the many things he’d seen. We were spellbound by his tales.

All of a sudden he stopped. We looked in the direction he was staring, and there stood Jacky. For several moments they looked at one another. Then a huge smile came across the old hobo’s face.

“You little rascal,”he said, calling him by some strange-sounding name.“What are you doing here?”

The little dog became hysterical with joy. He was all over the hobo, barking and jumping as if he would never stop. There was no doubt he knew the hobo and knew him well. After caressing and talking to Jacky, the old hobo uttered a brief command. Immediately, Jacky controlled his enthusiasm and lay down obediently at he old man’s feet.

“Boys, where did you get this dog?”asked the hobo.

“We found him lodged between the door and the screen during the big tornado of 25.”said my brother.

“Yes, sir. It adds up.”said the hobo.“I was with a circus in Missouri in March of 25.That was sure some blow. The big tent was ripped to shreds. Everything was demolished.”

“This poodle was the number-one top show dog. He’s so valuable he was insured for hundreds of dollars. Lucky dog, he is blown all that distance and not getting hurt.”

Suddenly the hobo asked,“Do you have a barrel hoop, boy?”

“Sure, I’ll get you one.”said my brother. Running quickly to an old barrel, he lifted off one of the steel bands. He dashed back and handed it to the hobo.

From beneath his old battered hat the hobo’s blue eyes sparkled. A smile broke through his heavy gray beard.

“Watch this,”he said.“Less you boys been to a circus you ain’t never seen anything like this.”

He walked out into the yard and held the loop a couple of feet above the ground.

“Get ready.”he said to Jacky, again using that strange-sounding name. Jacky trembled with excitement. On command he sprang forward and leaped through the loop-forward, then backward. As commands continued, he hurled through the hoop, turning end over end. He danced on his hind legs, then on his front legs. My brothers and I stared in awe as the knowledgeable old hobo put Jacky through his circus tricks.“He’s a little rusty on some of’em, but he sure ain’t forgettin’any of it.”said the hobo.“Sure is great bein’together again. Brings back memories, don’t it little friend?”he said fondly as he patted Jack’s head.

Then with a forlorn look about him, he straightened up.“I guess I best be goin’。”he mumbled and headed slowly towards the gate. Without hesitation, Jacky followed at his heels.

“Jacky, come back!”all three of us called. But it did no good. Tears trickled’down our cheeks. We knew we had lost him.

Then the hobo paused. Looking down at Jacky, he said,“Our circus days is over, friend. Over and done. And the tramping life’s no life for you. You best stay here.”Jacky stood, watching the hobo walk away, still poised to follow.

Reaching the gate the man stood motionless for several seconds, then slowly turned around.“Boys, a circus dog never forgets the big top,”he said.“You’d better lock him in the house till morning. I’d hate to see you lose him.”

So we did. Jacky lived with us for many years, and although he was the smartest dog we ever had, we could never persuade him to perform circus tricks again. We figured he’d taken the hobo’s words to heart and put his circus days behind him once and for all.

1925年3月18日，盡管當時的我只有5歲，但我仍然清楚地記得那一天席卷伊利諾伊州南部地區、被稱做“小埃及”的龍卷風，而我們所居住的小煤城正巧就在龍卷風的必經之路上。狂風大作，那聲音聽起來像是十幾輛機車呼嘯而過。我們在廚房里擠成一團，聲響震耳欲聾，好像要搖散我們的骨頭似的。

突然，一切都結束了。那種寂靜令人感到很不自然，心里充滿了恐懼和不安。打開房門，母親凝視著眼前那令人驚恐的景象，束手無措。瓦礫殘骸遍地都是，道路被堵塞。受到驚嚇的人們就像牛似的漫無目的地在街道上走著，不知道還能做什么。突然，一聲低沉的、痛苦的嗚嗚聲從母親的腳下傳來，打破了這陌生的寂靜。

一只渾身濕漉漉的、驚恐萬分的、劇烈顫抖的卷毛狗躺在門與屏風中間。

“哎呀，”母親說著便彎下身去，“你從哪里來啊？”

那只濕漉漉的小狗膽怯地搖著他的尾巴，伸著舌頭舔著母親的手。

杰基，是我們給他起的名字。他毫無保留地接受了我們這個大家庭，而我們也慷慨地將愛施予給這只無家可歸但又很幸運的小獅子狗。

幾乎是立刻，我們意識到杰基是一只很獨特的狗——一只非常聰明的狗。他那被濃密卷毛包圍的、充滿好奇的黑眼睛閃爍著生命的活力。

在小狗成為我們家中一員的兩年后，一個流浪漢敲我們家的后門，乞討一些食物，這種請求并沒有什么特別的。因為在那些日子里，有好多流浪漢停在我們家的門前。他在門廊處等著，母親給他拿出一碟子食物。當他坐下來吃飯的時候，我們幾個男孩子就圍著他。于是，他開始給我們講他所到過的地方以及見過的東西。我們都被他的故事深深地迷住了。

突然，他停了下來。我們朝他凝視的地方看過去，杰基站在那里。他們互相看了很長時間。接著，那個流浪漢的臉上露出了笑意。“你這個小淘氣鬼，”他說著，并用一個聽上去怪怪的名字叫著杰基。“你在這里做什么呢？”

這只小狗也異常興奮，圍著那個流浪漢又叫又跳，似乎沒有停下來的意思。毫無疑問，他一定認識那個流浪漢，而且很熟悉。經過一番愛撫和交談，那個老流浪漢發出一聲簡短的命令。馬上，杰基就控制住了自己的情緒，然后溫馴地躺在那個老人的腳邊。

“孩子們，你們是從哪里撿到這只狗的？”那個流浪漢問道。

“1925年的那場大颶風過后，我們發現他就夾在門與屏風之間。”我的哥哥說道。

“是啊，這樣就說得通了，”那個流浪漢說，“1925年，我和一個馬戲團正在密蘇里州。那場颶風的威力很大，整個大帳篷都被扯成了碎條，一切東西都被毀了。”

“當時，這只小獅子狗是一只一流的表演狗。他非常值錢，保險金就高達幾百美元。他真是一只幸運的小狗啊，被刮了這么遠，還沒有受傷。”

突然，那個流浪漢問道：“孩子們，你們有沒有一個鐵環？”

“當然有了，我給你拿一個。”我的哥哥說著，便很快跑回家拿了一個鐵桶，將其中的一個鐵圈摘下來，又迅速跑了回來，遞給那個流浪漢。

流浪漢的那雙被破舊帽子遮掩的藍色眼睛閃爍著光芒，他那長滿濃密灰色胡須的臉上露出了微笑。“看好了，”他說著，“除非你們這些孩子去過馬戲團，否則，你們肯定沒有看過這些。”

他走到院子里，舉著那個鐵環，離地面大概有2英尺高。

“準備好！”他沖著杰基說道，仍然用著那個聽起來很怪的名字。杰基興奮地顫抖著。隨著命令，他一躍而起，穿過了那個鐵環——向前，然后向后。流浪漢繼續發出命令，他猛地穿過那個鐵環，來回跑著。他先是用后面的兩條腿跳著舞，然后是前腿。那個見多識廣的老流浪漢讓杰基表演馬戲團中的絕技，我和哥哥們看得都發愣了。

“他的反應在一些表演上有些遲鈍了，但是他肯定還沒有忘記。”那個流浪漢說著。“又能夠在一起了，這真是太棒了。又回想起了以前，是不是啊，小朋友？”他一邊深情地說著，一邊拍著杰基的頭。

于是流浪漢站了以來，臉上露出一種被遺棄的表情。“我想我最好還是離開吧。”他喃喃自語道，頭慢慢地轉向大門。杰基毫不猶豫地跟在他的腳后。

“杰基，回來！”我們三個齊聲喊道，然而我們的話沒起一點兒作用。眼淚滑下我們的臉頰。我們知道，我們已經失去了他。

那個流浪漢停下來，低著頭看著杰基說道：“我們在馬戲團的日子結束了，朋友，再也不會回來了。而且這種居無定所的生活不適合你，你最好還是留在這里。”杰基站在那里，看著那個流浪漢離開，但仍準備隨他而去。

到了門口，那個人靜靜地站了幾秒鐘，然后慢慢地轉過身。“孩子們，馬戲團的狗是永遠不會忘記那頂大帳篷的，”他說著，“你們最好把他鎖在屋子里，直至明天早晨，我不希望看到你們失去他。”

我們依照他的話做了。杰基和我們在一起生活了很多年，盡管他是我們曾經養過的小狗中最聰明的一只，但我們再也沒有勸說他表演馬戲團的絕技了。我們認為最好還是將那個流浪漢的話記在心里，讓他永遠忘卻在馬戲團的日子。

詞匯筆記

request[ri'kw?st]n.要求；請求；所請求的事物

例 You should get your request.

你會得到你所要的東西。

yard[jɑrd]n.院子；場地；碼

例 The children are playing in the yard.

孩子們正在院子里玩耍。

pause[p?z]n.暫停；延長記號；暫停鍵

例 He came to a pause in reading and then went on reading.他在閱讀中停頓了一下，又繼續念下去。

小試身手

那種寂靜令人感到很不自然，心里充滿了恐懼和不安。

譯________________________________________

我的哥哥說著，便很快跑回家拿了一個鐵桶。

譯________________________________________

我們認為最好還是將那個流浪漢的話記在心里，讓他永遠忘卻在馬戲團的日子。

譯________________________________________

短語家族

The howling wind sounded as if a dozen locomotives were roaring past.

as if：好像；似乎；仿佛

造________________________________________

Then slowly turned around.

turn around：（使）轉身；（使）轉換方向；（使）好轉；曲解

造________________________________________