The Boy and the Puppy

男孩和小狗

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell.

一位農夫要賣掉一些小狗。

He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about（著手） nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard.

于是他畫了一個招牌，給小狗做廣告。他把廣告牌釘在院子角落的柱子上。

As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug（拉） on his overalls（工作服）. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.

就在他把最后一顆釘子釘進柱子時，他感到有人在拽他的工作褲。他往下看，是一個小男孩。

“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”

“先生，” 小男孩說，“我想買只狗。”

“Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”

“好啊，” 農夫一邊擦脖子后面的汗水一邊說，“這些狗都是名種狗，很貴的。”

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change（零錢） and held it up to the farmer.

小男孩低頭沉默了一會兒。隨后，他把手伸進自己的口袋，掏出一把零錢，遞給那位農夫。

“I’ve got 89 cents. Is that enough at least to take a look?”

“我有89美分，夠不夠看一眼那些狗？”

“Sure,” said the farmer.

“沒問題，” 農夫說道。

And with that he let out a whistle. “Here, Dolly!” he called.

話音剛落，農夫吹了聲口哨，喊道：“多利，到這兒來！”

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp（斜坡） ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

多利立即從狗棚里沿著斜坡跑了出來，后面跟著四個小毛球。

The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

小男孩把臉貼在用鐵鏈做成的柵欄上，眼中閃現著快樂。

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.

當狗群朝柵欄跑來的時候，小男孩注意到狗棚里還有什么東西在挪動著。

Slowly another little fur ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid.

慢慢地，又有一個小毛球出現了，這只明顯要小得多。它滑下斜坡。

Then the little pup began awkwardly wobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.

然后這只小狗一瘸一拐地朝狗群趕去，樣子有點笨拙。它努力地追趕著。

“I want that one,” the little boy said, quickly pointing to the runt.

“我想要那只狗！” 小男孩指著那只發育不健全的狗說。

The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.”

農夫跪在小男孩身邊，說道，“孩子，你不會想要那只狗的，它永遠不能像其他狗一樣陪你一起奔跑玩耍。”

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers.

聽到這些，小男孩從柵欄邊退了回來，彎下腰，開始卷起他的一條褲腿。

In doing so he revealed a steel brace（支架） running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe.

從卷起的褲腿下，可以看到他穿著特制的鞋，兩邊都用金屬架固定著。

Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see, sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”

他再次抬頭望著農夫說：“你看，先生，我自己也并不怎么能跑，而且它也需要能理解的人。”

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.

農夫眼里含著淚水，伸手捉起那只小狗。他小心翼翼地抱著那只狗，把它遞給小男孩。

“How much?” asked the little boy.

“多少錢？” 小男孩問道。

“No charge,” answered the farmer, “There’s no charge for love and understanding.”

“不要錢，” 農夫回答說，“愛和理解，無需任何費用。”