英语沙龙：特克斯的眼睛（在线收听）

The Eyes of TEX

Eric Seal thought the scrawny puppy a t 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．”

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 w ere 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－５７mongrel．”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．”

Tex，the six－year－old cattle dog the Seals had raised from a puppy，was unusually amiable for a blue－heeler，a breed establish ed 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．

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．

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．

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．

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 on e the dogs had shared．

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．

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．

“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．”

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．

特克斯的眼睛

埃里克?西尔想，他脚旁骨瘦如柴的小狗也许有５周大。半夜里有人把这只杂种母狗扔在西尔夫妇家前门口。“你不用问，”埃里克对他妻子杰弗里说，“回答是绝对的‘不行’。我们不打算养它。我们不需要再养一条狗。如果真要养，就养一只纯种的。”杰弗里就好像没听见他说什么，轻声细语地问道，“你认为这条狗什么种？”埃里克摇摇头。“这不大好说。从颜色斑点和它半耷拉的耳朵看，我想是杂种德国牧羊狗。”“我们不能就这么把它拒之门外，”杰弗里哀求道。“我喂饱它，把它洗干净，然后给它找个家。”

小狗站在他们俩中间，似乎意识到他们在决定它的命运，先瞧瞧一个，再看看另一个，试探性地摇着尾巴。埃里克注意到小狗没有光泽的毛下面虽然是瘦骨伶仃，可它有双明亮和活泼的眼睛。最后埃里克耸耸肩，无可奈何地说，“好吧，你要摆弄它就随你吧。不过有一点要说清楚：我们不需要海因茨５７杂种狗。”他们朝房子走去，那小狗舒服地窝在杰弗里怀里。“还有一件事，”埃里克继续说道，“等几天再让它进特克斯的窝。咱们不要给特克斯添新的麻烦，它吃的苦已经够多了。”

特克斯是条西尔夫妇从小养大的牧牛狗，如今已经６岁。它是澳大利亚牧场主培育的狗种，特别和蔼可亲。尽管它的狗窝里已经有了一只黄猫，它还是高兴地让出些地方给这只西尔夫妇管它叫海因茨的新来的小狗。

海因茨出现之前不久，西尔夫妇已经注意到特克斯的视力越来越弱。兽医认为特克斯有白内障，也许可以手术去除。但是给它检查的达拉斯眼科专家认为，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。实验室的医生们断定特克斯早已丧失视力，并解释说，即使发现得早，医药或手术措施都无法终止或延缓它的视力衰弱。

回家的路上，西尔夫妇谈着谈着想起来在过去几个月里，他们实际看到过特克斯怎样生活在失明状态中，现在他们终于明白了为什么它有时候撞上正在开启的门，或把鼻子撞在铁丝围栏上，为什么它出来进去总是沿着石子道走；一旦走偏，它就摸索着直至再走回石子道上来。

西尔夫妇一直忙着特克斯失明的事，不知不觉中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。

没多久就看得出这只小德国杂种牧羊狗会长成一条大狗，大到不能再和特克斯及黄猫同享一间狗屋。于是，有个周末，西尔夫妇在原来的狗屋旁又建了间新屋。

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，只是小狗爱瞎闹，实际上是有目的的。没有经过任何训练或辅导，海因茨成了特克斯的导盲犬。

每天傍晚两只狗要进狗屋过夜时，海因茨就用它的嘴轻轻咬住特克斯的鼻子，领着它进它的屋子。早上海因茨过来叫它起来，再领着它出屋。两只狗来到门前时，海因茨用肩头引着特克斯过。要是它们沿着狗圈围栏跑，海因茨就跑在特克斯和围栏之间。

“阳光和煦的日子，特克斯四条腿伸开睡在柏油车道上，”杰弗里说道，“有车来了，海因茨就把它拱醒，引着它脱离危险。不知多少次我们看见海因茨把特克斯从马腿边推开。开始我们不明白为什么它们俩能在牧场上并排飞跑。后来有一天，两只狗陪着我遛马，我听见海因茨在‘说话’，原来它在连续发出轻轻的咕噜声，指引特克斯在它旁边跑正。”

西尔夫妇对海因茨的敬仰之情油然而生。没有经过任何训练，这条年轻的狗想出各种必要的方法帮助、指引和保护它失明的伴侣。显然，特克斯分享的不仅仅是海因茨的眼睛，还有它真诚的爱。