The Eyes of Tex 特克斯的眼睛
The Eyes of Tex 特克斯的眼睛
◎ Honzie L Rodgers
Eric Seal thought the scrawny puppy at his feet was perhaps five weeks old. Some time during the night, the little mixed-breed female had been dumped at the Seals’ front gate. “Before you ask,” he told Jeffrey, his wife, “the answer is an absolute no. We are not going to keep it. We don’t need another dog. When and if we do, we’ll get a purebred.” As though she hadn’t heard him, his wife sweetly asked, “What kind do you think it is?” Eric shook his head. “It’s hard to tell. From her color markings and the way she holds her ears in a half lop, I’d say she’s part German shepherd.” “We can’t just turn her away,” Jeffrey pleaded. “I’ll feed her and get her cleaned up. Then we’ll find a home for her.”
埃里克·西尔想，趴在他脚边的这只骨瘦如柴的小狗可能有5周大。这只杂种母狗被人丢在西尔夫妇的门口。“你不用问，”埃里克对他妻子杰弗里说，“答案是绝对‘不行’。我们不能养它。我们不需要再养一条狗。如果真要养的话，就养一只纯种的。”杰弗里似乎没听到他说什么，轻声细语地问道：“你认为这狗是什么品种？”埃里克摇摇头，“不大好说。从它的斑点颜色和半耷拉着的耳朵来看，我觉得是杂种德国牧羊狗。”“我们不能赶它走，”杰弗里央求道，“我来喂它，把它清洗干净，然后再给它找个家。”
Standing between them, the puppy seemed to sense that her fate was being decided. Her tail wagged tentatively as she looked from one to the other. Eric noticed that although her ribs showed through a dull coat, her eyes were bright and animated. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, if you want to fool with her, go ahead. But let’s get one thing straight: We don’t need a Heinz-57 mongrel.” The puppy nestled comfortably in Jeffrey’s arms as they walked toward the house. “One other thing,” Eric continued. “Let’s wait a few days to put her in the pen with Tex. We don’t want Tex exposed to anything. He has all the troubles he can handle.”
小狗站在他们两人中间，似乎感觉到自己的命运正处于抉择之际。它看看这个，又看看那个，尾巴试探性地摇晃着。埃里克发现，尽管它毫无光泽的皮毛下瘦骨伶仃，但是它的眼睛却异常明亮有神。最后，他耸耸肩膀，说道：“好吧，如果你想摆弄它，就随你便吧。但是有一件事情咱们要说清楚：我们不需要海因茨57杂种狗。”他们朝屋子走去，小狗舒服地躺在杰弗里的胳膊中间。“还有一件事情，”埃里克继续说道：“我们等些天再把它放到特克斯的窝里。我们不要给特克斯添任何麻烦，它的麻烦已经够多了。
Tex, the six-year-old cattle dog the Seals had raised from a puppy, was unusually amiable for a blue-heeler, a breed established by ranchers in Australia. So, although he already shared his doghouse with a yellow cat, soon Tex happily moved over and made room for the new puppy the Seals called Heinz.
特克斯，这条6岁大的牧羊狗，是西尔夫妇从刚出生时一直养大的，它是澳大利亚牧场主培育的狗种，特别和蔼可亲。尽管它已经和一只黄猫共用它的狗窝，但它还是高兴地让出些地方，给这只被西尔夫妇叫做海因茨的新来的小狗。
Not long before Heinz showed up, the Seals had noticed that Tex appeared to be losing his eyesight. Their veterinarian said he thought the dog had cataracts that might be surgically removed. But when they brought Tex to a specialist in Dallas, he determined that the dog’s poor eyesight was only partially due to cataracts. He made an appointment for Tex at the local college’s veterinary laboratory. Doctors there determined that Tex was already blind. They explained that no medical or surgical procedure could have halted or delayed Tex’s progressive loss of vision.
海因茨出现之前不久，西尔夫妇就已经发现特克斯的视力有所下降。兽医认为特克斯有白内障，也许可以通过手术治愈。但是，当他们把特克斯带到专家达拉斯那儿检查时，专家认为，白内障只是造成视力衰弱的部分原因。专家为特克斯在当地大学的兽医学实验室预约了门诊。医生们断定特克斯已经失明了，并解释说，任何医药或手术措施都无法终止或延缓它的视力衰弱。
As they talked on their way home, the Seals realized that over the last few months, they had watched Tex cope with his blindness. Now they understood why Tex sometimes missed a gate opening or bumped his nose on the chain link fence. And why he usually stayed on the gravel walkways traveling to and from the house. If he wandered off, he quartered back and forth until he was on the gravel again.
在回家的路上，西尔夫妇想起来在这过去的几个月里，他们实际上见到过特克斯是怎样生活在失明状态中的，现在他们终于明白了，为什么特克斯有时候会撞上正在开着的门，或把鼻子撞在铁丝围栏上，为什么它出门和回家总是沿着石子路走；一旦走偏，它就前后摸索着直至再回到石子路上。
While the couple had been preoccupied with Tex’s troubles, Heinz had grown plump and frisky, and her dark brown-and-black coat glowed with health.
西尔夫妇一直忙着特克斯失明的事，不知不觉，海因茨已长得肥肥胖胖，活蹦乱跳的，深棕黑色的毛呈现出健康的光泽。
It was soon obvious that the little German shepherd crossbreed would be a large dog—too large to continue sharing a doghouse with Tex and the yellow cat. One weekend, the Seals built another doghouse next to the one the dogs had shared.
很快就能感觉到，这只德国杂种牧羊犬将会长成一只大狗——大到无法再继续与特克斯和那只黄猫共享一个狗窝。于是在一个周末，西尔夫妇在原来那个狗窝旁边新建了另一个窝。
It was then they recognized that what they had assumed was puppy playfulness—Heinz’s pushing and tugging at Tex while romping with him—actually had a purpose. Without any training or coaching, Heinz had become Tex’s “seeing eye” dog.
也就是这个时候，他们才明白，原先认为海因茨跟特克斯玩的时候又推又拽，只是小狗爱玩闹，实际上是有目的的。海因茨没有受过任何训练和培训，却成了特克斯的导盲犬。
Each evening when the dogs settled in for the night, Heinz gently took Tex’s nose in her mouth and led him into his house. In the morning, she got him up and guided him out of the house again. When the two dogs approached a gate, Heinz used her shoulder to guide Tex through. When they ran along the fence surrounding their pen, Heinz placed herself between Tex and the wire.
每天晚上当两只狗准备就寝的时候，海因茨就用它的嘴轻轻咬住特克斯的鼻子，领着它进屋。早上再叫它起床，把它带出屋子。当它们来到门前的时候，海因茨会用肩膀引着特克斯。当它们围着围栏跑的时候，海因茨就跑在特克斯和围栏之间。
“On sunny days, Tex sleeps stretched out on the driveway asphalt,” says Jeffrey. “If a car approaches, Heinz will nudge him awake and guide him out of danger. Any number of times we’ve seen Heinz push Tex aside to get him out of the horses’ way. What we didn’t understand at first was how the two could run side by side, dashing full speed across the pasture. Then one day, the dogs accompanied me while I exercised my horse, and I heard Heinz ‘talking’, she was making a series of soft grunts to keep Tex on course beside her.”
“阳光普照的日子，特克斯全身伸展开来，睡在柏油车道上，”杰弗里说道，“如果有车靠近，海因茨就把它捅醒，引导它脱离危险。很多次，我们看见海因茨把特克斯从马腿边推开。刚开始我们不明白为什么它们俩能在牧场上并排奔跑。后来有一天，我遛马的时候，两只狗跟着我。我听见海因茨在‘说话’，它不断地发出轻轻的咕噜声，让特克斯一直跟在它旁边。”
The Seals were awed. Without any training, the young dog had devised whatever means were necessary to help, guide and protect her blind companion. It was clear that Heinz shared more than her eyes with Tex; she shared her heart.
西尔夫妇的敬畏感油然而生。没有经过任何训练，小狗竟想出各种必要的方法来帮助、指引和保护它失明的同伴。显然，海因茨与特克斯分享的不仅仅是眼睛，还有它的心。
