One evening the families stopped for the night quite early, because they had found a good spring of water. 一天傍晚，迁徙家庭都早早地停下来过夜，因为他们发现了一处很好的泉水。

It was Jonathan's fifth birthday, 今天是乔纳森的五岁生日，

and he was happy over a whistle which one of the men had made for him from the leg-bone of an antelope. 他高兴地吹着哨子，这是之前别人用羚羊腿骨为他做得。

It was still daylight when the travelers stopped, 迁徙者们停下来时天还亮着，

and the little boy took his whistle and went off by himself. 于是小男孩拿着他的口哨独自离开了。

He walked such a long way that when he turned to go back, he could not see the camp or hear any voices. 他走了很远，转身回去时，看不到营地也听不到任何声音。

But he knew that the wagons could not be far away; so he kept walking. 但他知道篷车不会离得太远，于是他继续走着。

By and by the sun dropped out of sight, and it began to grow dark, but still there was no camp to be seen. 渐渐地，太阳从视野里消失了，天开始变暗，但他仍看不到营地。

The five-year-old boy was tired and hungry, and he began to grow frightened. 这个五岁的男孩又累又饿，开始变得害怕起来。

So he sat down in a little hollow place in the prairie and cried; 于是他坐在大草原上的一个小洼地里，哭了起来。

but no one came for no one heard him. 但没有人前来，因为没有人听得见。

And then, after what seemed to him a long time, it began to be light again. 接着，他觉得似乎过了很久以后，天空再次被点亮。

The great round moon was peeping over the edge of the hollow in which he sat. 圆圆的月亮爬上天空，月光正悄悄覆盖住他坐得洼地边缘。

Something else was peeping over the edge of the hollow, something that looked like old Shep. 有其他东西正在悄悄靠近洼地边缘，它很像老谢普。

The little boy called to him, "come, Shep! Nice doggy! Nice old Shep!" 小男孩喊它：“谢普，过来，你真好，老谢普真好！”

But the animal did not come. Instead, it stood up, looked at Jonathan and backed away. 但那动物并没有过来。相反，它站起来，看着乔纳森后退。

The little boy stood up, too, and started to run toward it. 小男孩也站了起来，开始朝它跑去。

The strange dog did not wait as Shep would have done; he turned and slipped away. 那条奇怪的狗没有像老谢普之前那样等他，它转身溜走了。

In a few minutes he was back again, sitting where he had sat before. 几分钟后，它返回来，坐在它之前坐过的地方。

A little one side of him sat another animal just like him. 它旁边坐着一条长相类似的小动物。