读者文摘:狗的秘密生活(2)（打印版）

Not "arf" or "ruff" or a growl, but "woof."

不是狗吠声、鸟叫声，抑或是咆哮声，而是低吠声。

For half a second, I froze. Then I let go of the shrub I had been clinging to and fell back down the incline.

我僵住了有半秒钟，然后，我松开紧抓着的灌木，从斜坡上滚下来。

On the way down the thought hit: bear.

滚的时候，我突然想到：熊。

I clawed at my pockets for shells and inserted one into my shotgun.

我抓着口袋里的一个子弹，放进猎枪里。

I was aiming when something about the shape stopped me.

我瞄准的时候，有东西挡住了我的视线。

Whatever it was had remained sitting at the top of the bank, looking down at me.

不管那是什么，它一直坐在河岸上端，低头看着我。

There was just enough dawn by this time to show a silhouette. It was a dog. A big dog, a black dog, but a dog.

这时，晨光下我能看出它的轮廓，它是一条狗，一条大狗，一条黑狗，但只是一条狗而已。

I lowered the gun and wiped the mud out of my eyes. "Who owns you?" I asked.

我放下枪，擦掉眼睛里的泥。“你的主人是谁？”我问。

The dog didn't move, and I climbed the bank again. "Hello!" I called into the woods. "I have your dog here!"

狗没有动，我又爬上了河岸，走进树林里喊道“有人吗！你的狗在我这儿！”

There was nobody. "So you're a stray."

没有人回答。“所以你是一条流浪狗。”

But strays were shy and usually starved; this dog, a Labrador, was well fed, and his coat was thick.

但流浪狗很胆怯，而且通常很饿；这只拉布拉多犬吃得很好，而且皮毛很厚。

He stayed near me. "Well," I said. "What do I do with you?" On impulse, I added, "You want to hunt?"

他呆在我身边。“好吧,”我说。“我该怎么办？”一时心血来潮，我又问道，“你想打猎吗?”

He knew that word. His tail hammered the ground; he wiggled and then moved off along the river.

它知道这个词，尾巴敲打着地面，扭动了一下，然后沿河走了。

I had never hunted with a dog before, but I started to follow.

我以前从来没有和狗打猎过，但我开始跟着狗。

It was light enough now to shoot, so I kept the gun ready.

现在可以看清楚了，可以打猎了，我准备好枪。

We had not gone 50 yards when two mallards exploded out of some thick grass near the bank and started across the river.

还没走到50码，两只野鸭就从岸边的草丛中冲出，开始过河。

I raised the gun, cocked it, aimed just above the right-hand duck, and squeezed the trigger.

我举起枪，上了膛，瞄准了右边的鸭子，然后扣动了扳机。

There was a crash, and the duck fell into the water.

一声巨响，鸭子落入水中。