They disputed and disputed, and _I_ was the very center of subject of it all, and I wished my mother could know that this grand honor had come to me; it would have made her proud.

他們翻來覆去地爭論，我就是爭論的中心和主題，我希望我母親能夠知道我已經得到了這種了不起的榮譽；那一定會使她很得意的。

Then they discussed optics, as they called it, and whether a certain injury to the brain would produce blindness or not, but they could not agree about it, and said they must test it by experiment by and by; and next they discussed plants, and that interested me, because in the summer Sadie and I had planted seeds -- I helped her dig the holes, you know -- and after days and days a little shrub or a flower came up there, and it was a wonder how that could happen; but it did, and I wished I could talk -- I would have told those people about it and shown then how much I knew, and been all alive with the subject; but I didn't care for the optics; it was dull, and when the came back to it again it bored me, and I went to sleep.

然后他們又討論光學，這也是他們取的名詞，他們討論到腦子受了某種傷是不是會把眼睛弄睹這個問題，可是大家的意見不一致，他們就說一定要用實驗來證明才行；其次他們又談到植物，這使我很感興趣，因為莎第和我在夏天種過一些種子——你要知道，我還幫她挖了些坑哩——過了許多大，就有一棵小樹或是一朵花長出來，真不知怎么會有這種事情；可是竟有這么回事，我很希望我能說話——那我就要把這個告訴那些人，讓他們看看我懂得多少事情，我對這個問題一定會興頭很大；可是我對于光學并不感興趣；這玩意兒怪沒有意思，后來他們又談到這上面的時候，我就覺得很討厭，所以就睡著了。

Pretty soon it was spring, and sunny and pleasant and lovely, and the sweet mother and the children patted me and the puppy good-by, and went away on a journey and a visit to their kin, and the master wasn't any company for us, but we played together and had good times, and the servants were kind and friendly, so we got along quite happily and counted the days and waited for the family.

不久就到了春天，天氣很晴朗，又爽快，又可愛，那位漂亮的母親和她的孩子們拍拍我和小狗娃，給我們告別，他們出遠門到親戚家去了。男主人沒有工夫陪我們，可是我們倆在一起玩，日子還是過得很痛快，仆人們都很和氣，和我們很要好，所以我們一直都很快活，老是計算著日子，等著女主人和孩子們回來。

And one day those men came again, and said, now for the test, and they took the puppy to the laboratory, and I limped three-leggedly along, too, feeling proud, for any attention shown to the puppy was a pleasure to me, of course. They discussed and experimented, and then suddenly the puppy shrieked, and they set him on the floor, and he went staggering around, with his head all bloody, and the master clapped his hands and shouted:

后來有一天，那些人又來了，他們說，現在要實驗，于是他們就把狗娃帶到實驗室里去，我也就用三只腿瘸著走過去，心里覺得很得意，因為人家看得起小狗娃當然是使我高興的事。他們討論一陣之后就實驗，后來小狗娃忽然慘叫了一聲，他們把它放在地下，它就一歪一倒地亂轉，滿頭都是血，主人拍著手大聲嚷道：

"There, I've won -- confess it! He's a blind as a bat!"

“你看，我贏啦——果然不錯吧！他簡直瞎得什么也看不見啦！”

And they all said:

他們大家都說：

"It's so -- you've proved your theory, and suffering humanity owes you a great debt from henceforth," and they crowded around him, and wrung his hand cordially and thankfully, and praised him.

“果然是這樣——你證明你的理論了，從今以后，受苦的人類應該感謝你的大功勞，”他們把他包圍起來，熱烈地和他握手，表示感謝，并且還稱贊他。

But I hardly saw or heard these things, for I ran at once to my little darling, and snuggled close to it where it lay, and licked the blood, and it put its head against mine, whimpering softly, and I knew in my heart it was a comfort to it in its pain and trouble to feel its mother's touch, though it could not see me. Then it dropped down, presently, and its little velvet nose rested upon the floor, and it was still, and did not move any more.

可是這些話我差不多都沒有聽見，因為我馬上就往我的小寶貝那兒跑過去，到它所在的地方和它挨得緊緊的，舐著它的血，它把它的頭靠著我的頭，小聲地哀叫著，我心里很明白，它雖然看不見我，可是在它那一陣痛苦和煩惱之中，能夠感覺到它的母親在挨著它，那對它也還是一種安慰。隨后不久它就倒下去了，它那柔軟的鼻子放在地板上，它安安靜靜的，再也不動了。

Soon the master stopped discussing a moment, and rang in the footman, and said, "Bury it in the far corner of the garden," and then went on with the discussion, and I trotted after the footman, very happy and grateful, for I knew the puppy was out of its pain now, because it was asleep. We went far down the garden to the farthest end, where the children and the nurse and the puppy and I used to play in the summer in the shade of a great elm, and there the footman dug a hole, and I saw he was going to plant the puppy, and I was glad, because it would grow and come up a fine handsome dog, like Robin Adair, and be a beautiful surprise for the family when they came home; so I tried to help him dig, but my lame leg was no good, being stiff, you know, and you have to have two, or it is no use. When the footman had finished and covered little Robin up, he patted my head, and there were tears in his eyes, and he said: "Poor little doggie, you saved HIS child!"

一會兒主人停止了討論，按按鈴把仆人叫進來，吩咐他說，“把它埋在花園里遠遠的那個犄角里，”說罷又繼續討論，我就跟在仆人后面趕快走，心里很痛快、很輕松，因為我知道小狗娃這時候已經睡著了，所以就不痛了。我們一直走到花園里最遠的那一頭，那是孩子們和保姆跟小狗娃和我夏天常在大榆樹的樹蔭底下玩的地方，仆人就在那兒挖了一個坑，我看見他打算把小狗娃栽在地下，心里很高興，因為它會長出來，長成一個很好玩、很漂亮的狗，就像羅賓·阿代爾那樣，等女主人和孩子們回家來的時候，還要妙不可言地叫他們喜出望外；所以我就幫他挖，可是我那只瘸腿是僵的，不中用，您知道吧，您得使兩條腿才行，要不然就沒有用。仆人挖好了坑，把小羅賓埋起來之后，就拍拍我的頭，他眼睛里含著淚，說道：“可憐的小狗兒，你可救過他的娃娃的命哪。”

I have watched two whole weeks, and he doesn't come up! This last week a fright has been stealing upon me. I think there is something terrible about this. I do not know what it is, but the fear makes me sick, and I cannot eat, though the servants bring me the best of food; and they pet me so, and even come in the night, and cry, and say, "Poor doggie -- do give it up and come home; DON't break our hearts!" and all this terrifies me the more, and makes me sure something has happened. And I am so weak; since yesterday I cannot stand on my feet anymore. And within this hour the servants, looking toward the sun where it was sinking out of sight and the night chill coming on, said things I could not understand, but they carried something cold to my heart.

我已經守了整整兩個星期，可是他并沒有長出來！后一個星期里，有一種恐怖不知不覺地鉆到我心里來了。我覺得這事情有些可怕。我也不知道究竟是怎么回事，可是這種恐懼叫我心里發煩，仆人們盡管拿些最好的東西給我吃，可是我吃不下；他們很心疼地撫愛我，甚至晚上還過來，哭著說：“可憐的小狗兒——千萬不要再守在這兒，回家去吧；可別叫我們心都碎啦！”這些話更把我嚇壞了，我準知道是出了什么毛病。我簡直沒有勁了；從昨天起，我再也站不起來了。最后這個鐘頭里，仆人們望著正在落山的太陽，夜里的寒氣正在開始，他們說了一些話，我都聽不懂，可是他們的話有一股使我心里發冷的味道。

"Those poor creatures! They do not suspect. They will come home in the morning, and eagerly ask for the little doggie that did the brave deed, and who of us will be strong enough to say the truth to them: 'The humble little friend is gone where go the beasts that perish.'"

“那幾個可憐的人啊！他們可不會想到這個。明天早上他們就要回家來，一定會關心地問起這個干過勇敢事情的狗兒，那時候我們幾個誰有那么硬的心腸，能把事實告訴他們呢：‘這位無足輕重的小朋友到了那不能升天的畜生們所去的地方去啦。’”