文/By+Tait+Trussell+譯/喬文獻(xiàn)

My dog let me down. Or so it seemed. I know that man's best friend is above reproach1）. And I may have just made a false accusation. But let me tell you exactly what happened.

A few hundred yards behind our property in northwestern Michigan， there's the start of an alluring2） trail. Its floor is coated with pine needles. Mixed deciduous3） and pine woods stand on either side. This trail is one of hundreds of old logging roads and newer snowmobile paths that wind through untold miles of forest. My dog—Beans by name—and I walk the trail frequently. Normally， we saunter4） along this one trail for half a mile， then turn right on another trail for about a mile. By this amount of time spent， Beans has sniffed at ferns5） and other flora6） and has ducked into the woods alongside the trail several times to follow the scent of a deer track or investigate some cause known only to him—as beagles7） do.

Beans is a vigorous8） 30-pound black and white dog with a brown head. He is quite handsome and very intelligent （taking after his adoptive "father"）. He can shake hands. He can jump through a hoop. And he loves classical music， which quickly puts him to sleep. He not only understands what we tell him， but he also often makes sounds as if he were trying to speak back. Am I being buffaloed9） by my love for him？ Maybe so.

On this particular fateful day， we started our walk before 9 a.m. Narrow patches of sunlight shone through the trees and lit the trail.

On this day， we took a different route which led us to a different and unfamiliar trail. Beans sniffed and darted back and forth. I was sure this trail would lead us to one that eventually came back to our familiar path. But， no. We seemed to be far off course. The first hint of concern sneaked into my mind.

I had no compass， which would have been useless anyway. I could see the sun still only part way toward high noon. So， believing that the sun still rises in the east， I knew that if we kept finding trails that took us in an easterly direction， we could eventually reach Detroit—240 miles away. On second thought， trying to head toward Lake Michigan， to our west， must not have been more than several miles away.

But no trail we took seemed to have a consistent direction. And we saw not a soul on any trail. Meanwhile， Beans seemed utterly unconcerned. The sniffing and investigating was going well for him.

Finally， after more than two hours， I suddenly realized that Beans probably knew the way home. So I said： "Beans， go home. Beans， take me home." We started down another trail with Beans pulling ahead on his leash. But this trail merely led to an intersection10） of trails.endprint

"Take me home， Beans." I urged. He turned left down a new trail. After 15 or 20 minutes， it became apparent we were getting nowhere.

"Pull me home， Beans，" I was pleading by this time—picturing the rest of the day and the night in the forest， without food or drink. Maybe lost permanently. We had walked about 10 miles. And these old legs were getting sore. Beans didn't seem to mind. But he has twice as many legs as I do.

Finally， the trail we stumbled down led beside a field， and in the distance I spotted a highway with cars zipping by. We trudged11） through a field of grasses and swampy12） ground， and slowly scrambled up an embankment13） to the road.

I decided to walk left. Because it was near noon， I had no idea in what direction we were headed. Soon we came to a crossroad. The name was familiar. Lady Luck suggested I should turn left. We did and shortly came to a house.

I knocked on the door and explained my predicament14） to an elderly lady. She chuckled and said she would go and get someone to help me.

As I plunked down15） wearily16） on a porch chair， I saw out of the corner of my eye a good friend from church climbing up the hill from the house next door. Here was Sid Snyder coming to the rescue. He laughed as I told him of our travails17） on the trails. Then he drove us home.

I said earlier that Beans had let me down. I also said that he understands what we tell him. But that doesn't mean he always obeys.

Since our adventure， I concluded that Beans probably knew all along how to get home. He was just having too much fun exploring new trails.

我的狗狗讓我失望了。或者似乎如此。我清楚人類最好的朋友——狗——是無可挑剔的，因而也有可能是我錯(cuò)怪了它。不過，還是讓我來告訴你到底發(fā)生了什么吧。

我家在密歇根西北部有片地產(chǎn)，在那片地產(chǎn)后面幾百碼遠(yuǎn)的地方，是一條小路的起點(diǎn)。這條小路很迷人，路面上鋪滿了松針，路兩旁則摻雜聳立著許多落葉樹和松樹。這里有上百條過去的伐木道路和新一些的摩托雪橇路線，它們蜿蜒地穿過那片不知連綿多少英里的森林，而這條小路正是其中的一條。我和我的狗狗——名叫豆豆——經(jīng)常走這條小路。通常我們會(huì)沿著這條小路溜達(dá)個(gè)半英里，然后向右轉(zhuǎn)到另外一條路再走上大概一英里的樣子。在這段時(shí)間里，豆豆會(huì)嗅嗅那些蕨類植物和其他植物，在小路旁的樹林子鉆進(jìn)鉆出，追尋一只小鹿留下的氣味或者嗅探只有它自個(gè)兒知曉的某個(gè)目標(biāo)——就像小獵兔犬做得那樣。

豆豆是只精力旺盛的小狗，體重30磅，周身黑白兩色，腦袋棕色。它十分英俊又非常機(jī)靈（和它的養(yǎng)“父”一樣）。它會(huì)和人握“手”，會(huì)跳圈。它還愛聽古典音樂，這能使它很快入睡。它不僅能聽懂我們跟它說的話，而且常常會(huì)發(fā)出些聲音來，就好像它在試著作出回應(yīng)似的。我是不是被自己對(duì)它的愛迷昏了頭？也許是的。

在那個(gè)特別悲催的日子，早上還不到9點(diǎn)我們就出發(fā)散步去了。縷縷陽光透過森林照射下來，照亮了那條小路。

在那天，我們選了一條和平常不同的路線，它將我們帶到了一條不同且陌生的小路上。豆豆還是嗅來嗅去，來回奔跑。我確信順著這條路走，我們最終能回到那條熟悉的小路上。可是，沒有。我們貌似偏離得太遠(yuǎn)了。我開始感到一絲擔(dān)憂。

我身上沒帶指南針，即便有一個(gè)也不會(huì)有什么幫助。我能看得出太陽依舊在朝著正午日上當(dāng)空的方向移動(dòng)。因此，懷著日出東方的信念，我明白如果我們一直尋找把我們帶到東邊的路，我們最終就能抵達(dá)底特律市——離這里240英里吧。我再一想，我們?nèi)舯M力奔向我家西邊的密歇根湖，一定只有幾英里才對(duì)。

但是，我們走的路好像沒有一條始終是朝著一個(gè)方向的，而且不管在哪條路上，我們連個(gè)人影都看不到。在這期間，豆豆似乎一點(diǎn)兒也不擔(dān)心，四處嗅聞和探索對(duì)它來說正合適。endprint

終于，在走了兩個(gè)多小時(shí)之后，我突然意識(shí)到，豆豆很可能知道回家的路。于是我說：“豆豆，回家。豆豆，帶我回家?！倍苟共弊由纤┲?，在前面拉著我走，我們走上了另一條路。但是，這條小路只是把我們帶到了一個(gè)交叉路口。

“帶我回家，豆豆。”我催促道。它向左轉(zhuǎn)到了一條新路上。走了15還是20分鐘后，很顯然，我們還是不知道身在何處。

“拉著我回家呀，豆豆?！钡酱藭r(shí)，我已經(jīng)是在懇求豆豆了。我在腦海中想象著當(dāng)天剩下的時(shí)間和夜里將在這片森林里度過，沒有吃的，也沒有喝的，或許要永遠(yuǎn)迷失在這里。我們都已經(jīng)走了大概十英里了。我這兩條老腿已經(jīng)開始酸痛。豆豆看起來卻一點(diǎn)事沒有，可它比我多了兩條腿呢。

最后，我們踉踉蹌蹌走上的這條小路把我們帶到了一片田野旁，我發(fā)現(xiàn)遠(yuǎn)處有一條高速公路，上面很多車輛飛馳而過。我們艱難地穿過那片雜草叢生、泥濘不堪的田野，慢慢地爬上了路堤。

我決定向左邊走，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)快晌午了，我自己也不知道我們在往哪個(gè)方向走。很快我們就來到了一個(gè)十字路口。那個(gè)路名很熟悉，幸運(yùn)女神告訴我應(yīng)該向左拐。我們朝左一拐，很快便走到了一所房子前。

我敲開了門，向一位上了年紀(jì)的女士說明了自己的窘境。她輕聲笑了笑，說她會(huì)去找人來幫我。

我累得一屁股癱坐在門廊邊的椅子上，透過眼角的余光，我看到教會(huì)的一位好友正從鄰近的房子那邊爬山坡上來。是錫德·斯奈德來救我了。他大笑著聽我傾訴我們在那些小路上奔波的辛酸，然后開車把我們送回了家。

我之前就說過，豆豆讓我失望了。我也說過，它能聽懂我們跟它說的話。但是，這并不意味著它總會(huì)聽話。

從我們的那次歷險(xiǎn)之后，我斷定豆豆很可能自始至終都知道該怎么回家，它只是探索那些沒走過的小路時(shí)玩得太不亦樂乎了。

1. above reproach： 無可指責(zé)的；完美無缺的

2. alluring [??l??r??] adj. 吸引人的；迷人的

3. deciduous [d??s?d?u?s] adj. （指樹木）每年秋季落葉的

4. saunter [?s??nt?（r）] vi. 漫步；閑逛

5. fern [f??n] n. 蕨類植物

6. flora [?fl??r?] n. （指某一地區(qū)的）植物群

7. beagle [?bi?ɡl] n. （短毛、長耳、短腿、黑褐色）小獵兔犬；比格爾獵犬

8. vigorous [?v?ɡ?r?s] adj. 精力充沛的

9. buffalo [?b?f?l??] vt. <美口>迷惑

10. intersection [??nt??sek?n] n. 道路交叉口；十字路口

11. trudge [tr?d?] vi. 步履艱難地走

12. swampy [sw?mpi] adj. 沼澤地的

13. embankment [?m?b??km?nt] n. （公路、鐵路的）路堤

14. predicament [pr??d?k?m?nt] n. 困境，窘境

15. plunk down： 砰地坐下

16. wearily [?w??r?li] adv. 疲倦地；疲勞地

17. travail [?tr?ve?l] n. 艱辛；勞苦endprint