Chapter2 思念里的流浪狗 Homeless Dogs in My Mind
预知未来的狗 Jim the Wonder Dog
佚名/Anonymous
In 1925，Sam Van Arsdale, proprietor of the Ruff Hotel in Marshall, Missouri, purchased an English setter puppy in Louisiana. The puppy was considered the least promising of the litter and was sold at a throwaway price. The dog was nothing special to look at as he had usually big paws and an ungainly appearance. Sam decided to call him Jim.
Jim grew to be a fne companion for Sam. The dog was smart and good-natured, and Sam was pleased with his“bargain”.
One day, when Jim was three years old, he and Sam were walking through the woods. The weather was hot, and Sam said to Jim，“Come, boy, lets go and rest a little under a hickory tree.”
There were many types of trees in the woods, but Jim ran straight over to a hickory tree. Sam was a bit surprised. No doubt it was just a coincidence. On a whim, Sam said to Jim，“Show me a black oaktree.”When Jim ran to the nearest black oak and put his right paw on the tree, Sam was amazed. This couldnt possibly be true.
“Show me walnut tree，”he said, and Jim ran unerringly to the nearest walnut and put his paw on it. Sam continued with everything he could think of-a stump, hazel bushes, a cedar tree, even a tin can. Jim correctly identified them all. Sam could hardly believe the evidence of his own eyes. How could a dog do such things?
Sam went home and told his wife what had happened.
She said flatly，“Sam Van Arsdale, you can tell me, but dont go telling anyone else.”Sam persuaded his wife to accompany them back to the woods, where Jim put on a flawless repeat performance. She shook her head in amazement-Sams crazy story was true！
Over the next few days, Sam couldnt help telling his friends around town what his smart dog could do. They smiled at him indulgently and moved off pretty fast.
One man did listen, although of course he was skeptical. Sam, noticing that the man had parked his car on the street a few yards away, told Jim to show the man which car was his. Jim went straight to the car and put his front paw on it.
Then another man gave Sam the license plate number of his car. Sam wrote it down on a piece of paper and put the paper on the sidewalk. He told Jim to identify the car. Without hesitation, Jim walked to the car in question.
After incidents like these, Jims reputation spread like wildfire around the small town. Soon he was demonstrating his powers in the Ruff Hotel for amazed crowds of up to a hundred people at a time. There seemed to be no limit to what Jim could do. When people were in the lobby, he could determine what room numbers they occupied in the hotel, it could identify people according to the clothes they wore, the color of their hair-in spite of the fact that dogs are thought to be color-blind-their profession, and, in the case of the military, their rank.
Perhaps, the skeptics said, Sam was secretly signaling to Jim. Although none of Sam‘s friends and associates questioned his integrity, knowing him to be a plain-speaking man who wouldn’t dream of deceiving others, one woman decided to test this theory. She had the clever idea to write an instruction for Jim in shorthand；which Sam did not understand. When Sam showed Jim the paper on which the instruction was written, and told him to do whatever it said, Jim went over to a certain man. The woman shouted，“Hes doing it！”Then she explained that the instruction was，“Show us the man with rolled socks.”
Jims reputation spread far beyond the small town of Marshall. Newspapers and magazines from all over the country sent reporters to cover the story. They went away, like everyone else, amazed. Jim became known as the Wonder Dog.
Jims feats aroused scientific and medical curiosity. He was examined by veterinarians at Missouri State University, who said that there was nothing unusual about Jim-physically, he was just like any other dog. They could offer no explanation for his uncanny talent.
One day, some friends persuaded Sam to test Jim further. Could he possibly predict the future?Sam took an interest in the Kentucky Derby, so that year he wrote down the names of the horses on pieces of paper that he then laid on the foor. He asked Jim to select the horse that would win. Jim put his paw on one of the slips of paper, which was then put in a locked safe until after the race. It turned out that Jim had picked the winner. He repeated his success the following year, and so on for seven successive years.
Sam was not a gambling man and never attempted to profit from Jim‘s abilities to foretell the future. He received many letters and telegrams requesting Jim’s predictions of winning horses. Some people offered to split the profts with Sam. But Sam never wavered. Nor was he interested in a lucrative offer from Paramount for Jim to work in movies for a year. Like the modest midwesterner he was, Sam said he didn‘t really need the money and didn’t want to commercialize Jim.
As time passed, the bond between Sam and Jim grew. Sam‘s love for Jim was that of a man for his greatest friend. And the dog’s ability to do anything Sam asked was just one facet of Jims deep devotion towards Sam. So when Jim died at the age of twelve in 1937，Sam was devastated. And indeed, the whole town of Marshall was stunned by the loss. Jim was buried in the Ridge Park Cemetery, where his small white headstone reads：Jim the Wonder Dog.
萨姆·范·阿斯代尔是密苏里州马歇尔镇拉夫旅馆的老板。1925年，他从路易斯安那州买回了一只英国塞特小猎狗。他被认为是这窝小狗中最没前途的一只，并且几乎是以白送的价格卖的。这只小狗看上去毫无特别之处，像大多数狗一样，有着一双大爪子和一张丑陋的嘴脸。萨姆决定叫他“吉姆”。
吉姆渐渐成为萨姆的亲密伙伴，他机灵、温顺，萨姆对这个“便宜货”很满意。
吉姆3岁的一天，他们路过一片林地。天气闷热，萨姆对吉姆说：“过来，小家伙！我们到一棵山核桃树下休息一会儿。”
林子中长有许多不同品种的树，吉姆却径直朝一棵山核桃树跑去。萨姆不禁有些惊讶，他想，一定是巧合。他一时来了兴致，对吉姆说：“告诉我哪棵是黑橡树？”吉姆跑到最近的那棵黑橡树前，并把前爪搭在树上，萨姆大为吃惊，他简直不敢相信这是真的。
“告诉我哪棵是胡桃树？”他说。吉姆又准确无误地跑到最近的胡桃树旁，把爪子放在树上。萨姆继续用凡是他能想到的东西来考吉姆——树墩、榛树丛、雪松，甚至锡罐，吉姆都能准确无误地辨别出来。他几乎无法相信自己亲眼所见的这一切。一只狗怎么可能做到这些呢？
回到家，萨姆把一切告诉了他的妻子。
妻子漠然地说：“萨姆·范·阿斯代尔，你可以和我讲这些来哄我开心，但千万别讲给其他人听。”萨姆劝服了妻子，和他们再次来到树林中。吉姆准确无误地重新辨认了一番。妻子摇头说道——萨姆的蠢话居然是真的！
接下来的几天，萨姆按捺不住内心的喜悦，对他镇上的朋友说他那伶俐乖巧的狗能做的事情。他们对萨姆报以宽容的一笑，继而不以为然地匆匆走开。
其中有一个人耐心地听萨姆讲述完，当然他还是很怀疑。萨姆看到那人的车停在几码远的路边，就命令吉姆指出哪辆车子是他的。吉姆便径直走到那辆车前，把前爪放在车上。
接着，另一个人把自己的车牌号告诉了萨姆。萨姆把它写在一张纸上，并放到了人行道上。他让吉姆辨别出那辆车，吉姆便毫不迟疑地走向那个与车牌号对应的车子。
经过多次验证，吉姆的名声似野火般遍及整个小镇。不久，他在拉夫旅馆向惊讶不已的人们展示了他那似乎永无止境的特异功能，每次都有数百名观众前来观看。当客人都在大厅时，他能判断出他们各自所住的房间号，其依据就是人们的衣着，头发的颜色（尽管事实上狗是色盲）及职业，如果是军人的话，则依据其军衔。
有人怀疑说，萨姆可能偷着给吉姆发出某些信号。虽然萨姆的朋友和熟人没人怀疑他的诚实，他们都知道萨姆是个从不骗人的老实人，但有位妇人还是想验证一下，萨姆是否真的给吉姆发出信号。她有了一个好主意，她用速记符号写了些萨姆不懂的指令。萨姆给吉姆看了写有指令的纸，并让他按纸上说的去做。吉姆便立刻向一个男人走去。那妇人喊道：“他还真对了！”然后她解释说，那指令是“把穿翻短袜的男人指给我们看”。
吉姆声名远扬，马歇尔小镇以外的人都知道他。全国各地的报刊杂志的记者络绎不绝地来竞相报道他的故事。与其他人一样，他们都满怀惊讶地离去。吉姆自此有了“神犬”的美称。
吉姆的事迹也引起了学术界和医学界的极大好奇。密苏里州立大学的兽医在对吉姆进行了身体检查后说，他和其他狗没什么两样，身体毫无异样的构造。他们对吉姆的特异功能无法解释。
一天，几个朋友劝萨姆再对吉姆进行一下测试。看他是否能预测未来。萨姆对肯塔基赛马很感兴趣。那年，他把所有参赛马的名字写在纸条上，并放到地上，让吉姆指出将要胜出的马。吉姆把爪子放在了其中一张纸上，随后这张纸条被放进了保险箱保存起来，一直到比赛结束。最后，果真是吉姆挑的那匹马夺得了冠军。第二年，吉姆又预测对了，连续七年，年年如此。
萨姆并不是个嗜赌的人，从没想过利用吉姆的预测能力来使自己获利。他收到许多来电来函，要求吉姆预测出将会胜出的马。有些人提出会和萨姆分享奖金，但萨姆从未心动过。派拉蒙电影公司开出诱人的高价邀请吉姆参加为期一年的影片拍摄，也没使萨姆动心。萨姆是个沉稳审慎的中西部人，他说他的确不需要那笔钱，也不愿使吉姆趋于商业化。
萨姆和吉姆的关系随着时间的流逝而日益密切。萨姆对吉姆有着深厚的爱，就像一个人对待他最亲密的朋友一样。这只狗极有天赋，能完成萨姆交给他的所有任务，这也是他忠于主人的一个方面。1937年，12岁的吉姆与世长辞，萨姆伤心欲绝。整个马歇尔镇都在为失去吉姆而悲痛。吉姆葬于山岭园公墓，白色的小墓碑上写着：神犬吉姆。
W词汇笔记
purchase[pə：tʃəs]v.购买
例We should not encourage people to purchase cars.
我们不该再鼓动人们购买汽车。
ungainly[ʌngeinli]adj.笨拙的；不雅的
例He regarded as ungainly or dull witted.
他被认为是笨拙或弱智的人。
evidence[evidəns]n.根据；证据
例We see evidence of the crime already.
我们已经看到了犯罪的证据。
hesitation[，heziteiʃən]n.犹豫
例He answered without a moments hesitation.
他毫不迟疑地回答了问题。
S小试身手
萨姆对吉姆有着深厚的爱，就像一个人对待他最亲密的朋友一样。
译________________________________________
他们对吉姆的特异功能无法解释。
译________________________________________
萨姆和吉姆的关系随着时间的流逝而日益密切。
译________________________________________
P短语家族
Sam persuaded his wife to accompany them back to the woods.
persuade……to：劝说；说服
造________________________________________
They smiled at him indulgently and moved off pretty fast.
move off：离去；出发；走掉
造________________________________________