美国国家公共电台 NPR A Boy And A Pup Come To One Another's Rescue In 'The Dog Who Lost His Bark'

 

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

In the book "The Dog Who Lost His Bark," a boy named Patrick rescues a scruffy¹, little dog named Oz, who's been mistreated and abandoned at a garbage site. Oz is so traumatized that he's lost his bark. And Patrick tries to help him get it back. We've been asking authors and illustrators how they work together or separately to bring stories to life. In this case, Irish author Eoin Colfer says he got the idea for the book during a dinner at illustrator P.J. Lynch's house.

EOIN COLFER: I had a few ideas I was playing around with. And one of the ideas was a rescue dog that, in turn, rescues the boy who has rescued him. But I couldn't find a way into it until P.J.'s son started playing the piano. He's a wonderfully gifted piano player. And the dog that they were fostering³ at the time loved the music. And it was just giving little barks and wagging⁴ his tail. And that was like a thunderbolt of inspiration⁵ for me. So I added that into the dog story where the boy heals the dog through music. And I don't know what P.J.'s first reaction was when I approached him with that idea.

P J LYNCH: Yeah. Well, I - we had been talking about...

COLFER: Yeah.

LYNCH: ...Working together for some time. In fact, when we first met, you said, oh, I'd love to do a book with you. And I thought you were just being polite.

(LAUGHTER)

LYNCH: But my wife and daughter are mad about dogs and cats - that they foster² animals, young animals and unwanted animals and sometimes sick animals. It's very noisy (laughter). There's this piano playing. And there's dogs barking. We have two very noisy ones at the moment (laughter). And I didn't know that this was affecting Eoin in that way. He was feeling inspired. It just shows. I think he's thinking of stories all the time.

COLFER: I've always been very affected⁶ by music. Music heals the savage⁷ breast and our beast in this case. And I remember when my father died, I used to just listen to the songs that he listened to a lot. And it really helped me through it. So then I started to look up music therapy, which is a very powerful tool that's used on children but also on animals. And I thought this would be a lovely way to get the importance to music of - not just for enjoyment⁸ but to affect you in a positive way as an art form. I also knew that P.J. would definitely have musical instruments and dogs that he could use to model.

LYNCH: I was struggling at the start trying to find a face and a form for the dog - was trying to get a mixture of character and cuteness. And I tried lots and lots of different ones. And then I came home one day. I was a bit despairing. And there were two new pups in the house. They were called Popcorn⁹ and Marshmallow. And they were - one of them was cute and fluffy¹⁰. And the other was less so. And I went for the one that was less fluffy and cute. And he became the model. I guess there was a girl...

COLFER: Yeah.

LYNCH: ...Who modeled for the boy. But if I had to have Oz looking quizzical, I could just sit with her for ages. It made the job much more pleasant and doable for me, actually.

COLFER: Well, I was a fan of P.J.'s first. And what's very nice is when we do events together. I really enjoy that.

LYNCH: Yeah.

COLFER: It's good fun. And P.J. does live drawing. I could be literally¹¹ reading the phone book.

LYNCH: (Laughter).

COLFER: The kids are staring at these beautiful drawings appearing out of thin air.

LYNCH: No. From my point of view, that's absolutely brilliant fun when we do an event together because I don't have to worry about the talking because Eoin goes off and...

COLFER: What?

(LAUGHTER)

LYNCH: ...Never stops. And he's always funny.

COLFER: Sometimes, when you really hit the sweet spot and P.J.'s really on fire with the charcoal¹² and I've told a few really funny jokes and all the kids are with us, you realize that for them - as it was for me as a child, if you were ever at an event like that - it just becomes something you remember. And I like to think that we are in the memories of all these schools around the country...

LYNCH: Yeah. That's a lovely...

COLFER: ...That we travel to. Yeah.

LYNCH: That's a lovely way to look at a dog.

COLFER: Yeah.

LYNCH: I remember, when I was at school, we never met authors.

COLFER: No.

LYNCH: And I certainly didn't even know illustrators existed.

COLFER: Yeah.

LYNCH: So I'd like to think that some of those hundreds of kids that we've worked with and drawn¹³, talked for - hopefully, they'll be inspired to write their own stories and illustrate¹⁴ their own books.

COLFER: What you said there about not meeting writers now - that's so true. And what that does is it makes kids think that that we're some kind of strange species¹⁵ and that they couldn't possibly do it. And it's - you know, it's out of their reach. But when you meet me and you - and we're extremely ordinary...

(LAUGHTER)

COLFER: I think they go, maybe I could give it a go.

LYNCH: Yeah.

COLFER: I could try to draw that dog. And I could maybe write a little story. So yeah. That's lovely to think that that might happen.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLITZ&SUPPE'S "ACTIVELY¹⁶ IDLE")

BLOCK: That was author Eoin Colfer and illustrator P.J. Lynch talking about their latest book "The Dog Who Lost His Bark."

(SOUNDBITE OF FLITZ&SUPPE'S "ACTIVELY IDLE")

1 scruffy   

adj.肮脏的，不洁的

参考例句：

• Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛，但神态老练世故。
• His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。

2 foster   

vt.收养，培养，促进；adj.收养的，收养孩子的

参考例句：

• Nowadays young couple sometimes foster.现今年轻夫妇有时领养别人的孩子。
• The captain did his best to foster a sense of unity among the new recruits.队长尽力培养新成员之间的团结精神。

3 fostering   

v.培养，促进( foster的现在分词 )；收养，养育

参考例句：

• Our school is dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary talents. 我校致力于培养复合型人才。 来自辞典例句
• Economic conditions fostering speculation in land have driven land values to a lofty level. 助长土地投机的经济状况把土地价格推向极高的水平。 来自辞典例句

4 wagging   

adj.（左右）摆动，摇摆，摇动v.（使）摇动，摇摆( wag的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The dog ran up, wagging its tail. 那条狗摇着尾巴跑上前去。
• A dog reacts to kindness by wagging its tail. 狗摇尾巴以报答人们的爱护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

8 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

9 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

10 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

13 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

14 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

15 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。