My Black Puppy小黑狗

像从前一样，大狗是睡在门前的木台上。望着这两只狗我沉默着。我自己知道又是想起我的小黑狗来了。

As usual， the two big dogs were sleeping on the wooden platform in front of the gate. Staring at them， I realized I was again thinking of the black pup I once owned.

前两个月的一天早晨，我去倒脏水。在房后的角落处，房东的使女小钰蹲在那里。她的黄头发毛蓬着，我记得清清的，她的衣扣还开着。我看见的是她的背面，所以我不能预测这是发生了什么！

One morning two months ago， when I went out to empty the chamber pot， I saw the landlady’s housemaid Xiaoyu squatting near the rear corner of the house. Her fluffy yellow hair and unbuttoned jacket still remain fresh in my mind to this day. But with only a view of her back， I could hardly figure what she was up to.

我斟酌1着我的声音，还不等我向她问，她的手已在颤抖，唔！她颤抖的小手上有个小狗在闭着眼睛，我问：

“哪里来的？”

“你来看吧！”

她说着，我只看她毛蓬的头发摇了一下，手上又是一个小狗在闭着眼睛。

不仅一个两个，不能辨清是几个，简直是一小堆。我也和孩子一样，和小钰一样欢喜着跑进屋去，在床边拉他的手：

“平森……啊，……喔喔……”

我的鞋底在地板上响，但我没说出一个字来，我的嘴废物似的啊喔着。他的眼睛瞪住，和我一样，我是为了欢喜，他是为了惊愕。最后我告诉了他，是房东的大狗生了小狗。

I wanted to ask her， and began to soften my tone. However， before I could even open my mouth， her hands began to tremble. Ah！ In her tender hands I glimpsed a small pup， eyes closed.

“Where did you get it？” I asked.

“Come and see.”

Thus saying， she tossed her fluffy hair， and I saw in her hands another pup， also with its eyes closed.

No， not only two. I couldn’t tell how many， there must have been a bunch of them. Full of joy， I became as childlike as Xiaoyu. I ran back to my room and grabbed the hand of Pingsen， who was still in bed.

“Pingsen… Ah… Er…”

The soles of my shoes resounded on the floor， while I failed to utter a single coherent word， as if my mouth had lost its function. We were locked in a mutual stare， for him out of astonishment， and for me out of happiness. Finally I managed to tell him that the big dog of the landlord had given birth.

过了四天，别的一只母狗2也生了小狗。

以后小狗都睁开眼睛了。我们天天玩着它们，又给小狗搬了个家，把它们都装进木箱里。

争吵就是这天发生的3：小钰看见老狗把小狗吃掉一只，怕是那只老狗把它的小狗完全吃掉，所以不同意小狗和那个老狗同居，大家就抢夺着把余下的三个小狗也给装进木箱去，算是那只白花狗生的。

Four days later， another bitch， a white spotted dog， gave birth too.

By and by all the pups were able to open their eyes. We played with them all day. To give them a new home， we put them all in a wooden box.

Seeing that the old dog had eaten up one of its pups， Xiaoyu opposed letting it live with its litter any longer， for fear that it would do the same to the rest. Hence we purposely put the two litters together in the same box under the care of the white spotted dog. And it was this that led to the fight between the two dogs.

那个毛褪得稀疏、骨格突露、瘦得龙样似的老狗，追上来。白花狗仗着年轻不惧敌，哼吐着开仗的声音。平时这两条狗从不咬架，就连咬人也不会。现在凶恶极了。就像两条小熊在咬架一样。房东的男儿、女儿、听差、使女，又加我们两个，此时都没有用了。不能使两个狗分开。两个狗满院疯狂地拖跑。人也疯狂着。在人们吵闹的声音里，老狗的乳头脱掉一个，含在白花狗的嘴里。4

The old dog， though not much more than skin and bones with a smattering of hair， somehow followed up. The spotted dog， taking the advantage of being younger， did not flinch， but snarled menacingly， ready to fight. These two dogs were usually very peaceful， never biting anyone. Yet now they were like two little bears， engaged in a brawl so vicious that neither the landlord’s sons and daughters nor their servants and housemaids could break them up. Pingsen and I were not able to be of any more help. The two dogs chased and wrestled with each other all over the courtyard. They were crazy， and so were the people around them. Amid the confusion， the spotted dog bit a nipple off the old dog and held it in its mouth.

人们算是把狗打开了。老狗再追去时，白花狗已经把乳头吐到地上，跳进木箱看护它的一群小狗去了。

脱掉乳头的老狗，血流着，痛得满院转走。木箱里它的三个小狗却拥挤着不是自己的妈妈，在安然地吃奶。

Eventually the two dogs were beaten apart. When the old dog tried to chase after the spotted dog again， the latter， leaving the bitten-off nipple on the ground， had already leapt in the wooden box， reassuming her role as mother to all the pups.

The old dog， bleeding and in pain， milled around in the courtyard， while in the wooden box its three pups were found suckling at the breast of the spotted dog， which was not their real mother.

有一天，把个小狗抱进屋来放在桌上，它害怕，不能迈步，全身有些颤，我笑着像是得意，说：

“平森，看小狗啊！”

他却相反，说道：

“哼！现在觉得小狗好玩，长大要饿死的时候，就无人管了。”

Some days later， I took a pup into my room and sat it on the table. Fearful and unable to move， it was trembling all over. With a sense of pride， I said joyfully to Pingsen：

“Hey！ Come and have a look！”

But his response was the opposite of my expectation.

“Humph！ Now you think they are lovable， but nobody will care a fig when they grow up and starve to death.”

这话间接的可以了解。我笑着的脸被这话毁坏了，用我寞寞的手，把小狗送了出去。我心里有些不愿意，不愿意小狗将来饿死。可是我却没有说什么，面向后窗，我看望后窗外的空地;这块空地没有阳光照过，四面立着的是有产阶级的高楼，几乎是和阳光绝了缘。不知什么时候，小狗是腐了、乱了，挤在木板下，左近有苍蝇飞着。我的心情完全神经质下去，好像躺在木板下的小狗就是我自己，像听着苍蝇在自己已死的尸体上寻食一样。

I understood what he meant to say， and the smile on my face froze. In silence I took the pup out of the room. I was not happy with his words， I didn’t want to see the pups die of starvation， but I didn’t know what to say. I gazed through the back window at the vacant ground， where the sunshine was almost completely blocked out by the surrounding buildings of wealthy families. Under some wooden boards， a dead little pup had been left to rot away. It must have been there for quite some time， since flies were buzzing around the place. I sank into a sort of hallucination， in which I became the dead pup， listening to the buzz of the flies feeding themselves on my body.