They disputed and disputed, and _I_ was the very center of subject of it all, and I wished my mother could know that this grand honor had come to me; it would have made her proud.

他们翻来覆去地争论，我就是争论的中心和主题，我希望我母亲能够知道我已经得到了这种了不起的荣誉；那一定会使她很得意的。

Then they discussed optics, as they called it, and whether a certain injury to the brain would produce blindness or not, but they could not agree about it, and said they must test it by experiment by and by; and next they discussed plants, and that interested me, because in the summer Sadie and I had planted seeds -- I helped her dig the holes, you know -- and after days and days a little shrub or a flower came up there, and it was a wonder how that could happen; but it did, and I wished I could talk -- I would have told those people about it and shown then how much I knew, and been all alive with the subject; but I didn't care for the optics; it was dull, and when the came back to it again it bored me, and I went to sleep.

然后他们又讨论光学，这也是他们取的名词，他们讨论到脑子受了某种伤是不是会把眼睛弄睹这个问题，可是大家的意见不一致，他们就说一定要用实验来证明才行；其次他们又谈到植物，这使我很感兴趣，因为莎第和我在夏天种过一些种子——你要知道，我还帮她挖了些坑哩——过了许多大，就有一棵小树或是一朵花长出来，真不知怎么会有这种事情；可是竟有这么回事，我很希望我能说话——那我就要把这个告诉那些人，让他们看看我懂得多少事情，我对这个问题一定会兴头很大；可是我对于光学并不感兴趣；这玩意儿怪没有意思，后来他们又谈到这上面的时候，我就觉得很讨厌，所以就睡着了。

Pretty soon it was spring, and sunny and pleasant and lovely, and the sweet mother and the children patted me and the puppy good-by, and went away on a journey and a visit to their kin, and the master wasn't any company for us, but we played together and had good times, and the servants were kind and friendly, so we got along quite happily and counted the days and waited for the family.

不久就到了春天，天气很晴朗，又爽快，又可爱，那位漂亮的母亲和她的孩子们拍拍我和小狗娃，给我们告别，他们出远门到亲戚家去了。男主人没有工夫陪我们，可是我们俩在一起玩，日子还是过得很痛快，仆人们都很和气，和我们很要好，所以我们一直都很快活，老是计算着日子，等着女主人和孩子们回来。

And one day those men came again, and said, now for the test, and they took the puppy to the laboratory, and I limped three-leggedly along, too, feeling proud, for any attention shown to the puppy was a pleasure to me, of course. They discussed and experimented, and then suddenly the puppy shrieked, and they set him on the floor, and he went staggering around, with his head all bloody, and the master clapped his hands and shouted:

后来有一天，那些人又来了，他们说，现在要实验，于是他们就把狗娃带到实验室里去，我也就用三只腿瘸着走过去，心里觉得很得意，因为人家看得起小狗娃当然是使我高兴的事。他们讨论一阵之后就实验，后来小狗娃忽然惨叫了一声，他们把它放在地下，它就一歪一倒地乱转，满头都是血，主人拍着手大声嚷道：

"There, I've won -- confess it! He's a blind as a bat!"

“你看，我赢啦——果然不错吧！他简直瞎得什么也看不见啦！”

And they all said:

他们大家都说：

"It's so -- you've proved your theory, and suffering humanity owes you a great debt from henceforth," and they crowded around him, and wrung his hand cordially and thankfully, and praised him.

“果然是这样——你证明你的理论了，从今以后，受苦的人类应该感谢你的大功劳，”他们把他包围起来，热烈地和他握手，表示感谢，并且还称赞他。

But I hardly saw or heard these things, for I ran at once to my little darling, and snuggled close to it where it lay, and licked the blood, and it put its head against mine, whimpering softly, and I knew in my heart it was a comfort to it in its pain and trouble to feel its mother's touch, though it could not see me. Then it dropped down, presently, and its little velvet nose rested upon the floor, and it was still, and did not move any more.

可是这些话我差不多都没有听见，因为我马上就往我的小宝贝那儿跑过去，到它所在的地方和它挨得紧紧的，舐着它的血，它把它的头靠着我的头，小声地哀叫着，我心里很明白，它虽然看不见我，可是在它那一阵痛苦和烦恼之中，能够感觉到它的母亲在挨着它，那对它也还是一种安慰。随后不久它就倒下去了，它那柔软的鼻子放在地板上，它安安静静的，再也不动了。

Soon the master stopped discussing a moment, and rang in the footman, and said, "Bury it in the far corner of the garden," and then went on with the discussion, and I trotted after the footman, very happy and grateful, for I knew the puppy was out of its pain now, because it was asleep. We went far down the garden to the farthest end, where the children and the nurse and the puppy and I used to play in the summer in the shade of a great elm, and there the footman dug a hole, and I saw he was going to plant the puppy, and I was glad, because it would grow and come up a fine handsome dog, like Robin Adair, and be a beautiful surprise for the family when they came home; so I tried to help him dig, but my lame leg was no good, being stiff, you know, and you have to have two, or it is no use. When the footman had finished and covered little Robin up, he patted my head, and there were tears in his eyes, and he said: "Poor little doggie, you saved HIS child!"

一会儿主人停止了讨论，按按铃把仆人叫进来，吩咐他说，“把它埋在花园里远远的那个犄角里，”说罢又继续讨论，我就跟在仆人后面赶快走，心里很痛快、很轻松，因为我知道小狗娃这时候已经睡着了，所以就不痛了。我们一直走到花园里最远的那一头，那是孩子们和保姆跟小狗娃和我夏天常在大榆树的树荫底下玩的地方，仆人就在那儿挖了一个坑，我看见他打算把小狗娃栽在地下，心里很高兴，因为它会长出来，长成一个很好玩、很漂亮的狗，就像罗宾·阿代尔那样，等女主人和孩子们回家来的时候，还要妙不可言地叫他们喜出望外；所以我就帮他挖，可是我那只瘸腿是僵的，不中用，您知道吧，您得使两条腿才行，要不然就没有用。仆人挖好了坑，把小罗宾埋起来之后，就拍拍我的头，他眼睛里含着泪，说道：“可怜的小狗儿，你可救过他的娃娃的命哪。”

I have watched two whole weeks, and he doesn't come up! This last week a fright has been stealing upon me. I think there is something terrible about this. I do not know what it is, but the fear makes me sick, and I cannot eat, though the servants bring me the best of food; and they pet me so, and even come in the night, and cry, and say, "Poor doggie -- do give it up and come home; DON't break our hearts!" and all this terrifies me the more, and makes me sure something has happened. And I am so weak; since yesterday I cannot stand on my feet anymore. And within this hour the servants, looking toward the sun where it was sinking out of sight and the night chill coming on, said things I could not understand, but they carried something cold to my heart.

我已经守了整整两个星期，可是他并没有长出来！后一个星期里，有一种恐怖不知不觉地钻到我心里来了。我觉得这事情有些可怕。我也不知道究竟是怎么回事，可是这种恐惧叫我心里发烦，仆人们尽管拿些最好的东西给我吃，可是我吃不下；他们很心疼地抚爱我，甚至晚上还过来，哭着说：“可怜的小狗儿——千万不要再守在这儿，回家去吧；可别叫我们心都碎啦！”这些话更把我吓坏了，我准知道是出了什么毛病。我简直没有劲了；从昨天起，我再也站不起来了。最后这个钟头里，仆人们望着正在落山的太阳，夜里的寒气正在开始，他们说了一些话，我都听不懂，可是他们的话有一股使我心里发冷的味道。

"Those poor creatures! They do not suspect. They will come home in the morning, and eagerly ask for the little doggie that did the brave deed, and who of us will be strong enough to say the truth to them: 'The humble little friend is gone where go the beasts that perish.'"

“那几个可怜的人啊！他们可不会想到这个。明天早上他们就要回家来，一定会关心地问起这个干过勇敢事情的狗儿，那时候我们几个谁有那么硬的心肠，能把事实告诉他们呢：‘这位无足轻重的小朋友到了那不能升天的畜生们所去的地方去啦。’”