突然，一声轻微短促的惊叫从树下传来，“吉姆，你在树上干什么呢？”没等我答话，妈妈“砰”的一声关上了纱门，我知道她肯定在给五金店的爸爸打电话。几分钟后，家里的福特汽车开进车道。爸爸从车里出来，直奔苹果树。“吉姆，下来。”他轻声说道。我不得不合上保险栓，跳到被炎夏毒日晒得发焦的草地上。
第二天早上，爸爸对我说：“吉姆，放学到铺子来一趟。”他比我自己更了解我。
那天下午我懒懒地进了市区，到了爸爸的五金店，心想，他肯定要我擦玻璃或是干其他活。爸爸从柜台后面出来，带我进了储藏室。我们慢慢地绕过一桶桶钉子，一捆捆浇花水管和丝网，来到一个角落。我的死敌博吉就在那里，缩成一团儿，被拴在一根柱子上。“叭喇狗在这里，”爸爸说道，“如果你还想干掉他，这是最简单的办法。”他把一只口径22英寸的短筒猎枪递给我。我疑惑地望了他一眼。他点了点头。
我拿起枪，把它举上肩，用黑色枪筒向下瞄准。博吉用那双棕色眼睛看着我，开心地喘着粗气，张开那张长着獠牙的嘴，吐出粉红的舌头。就在扣动扳机的一刹那，我思绪万千。爸爸静静地在旁边站着，而我的心却如波浪般翻滚。昔日爸爸的教诲浮上心头——我们要善待无助的生命，要光明磊落地做人，要明辨是非。我想起妈妈最心爱的瓷碗被我打碎后，她还是那样爱我。
猎枪突然变得沉重起来，而眼前的目标也变得模糊不清。我把手中的枪放下，抬起头，无奈地看着爸爸。他笑了笑，然后抓住我的肩膀，缓缓地说道：“我理解你，儿子。”直到这时，我才意识到他从未想过我会扣动扳机。他以一种明智、深刻的方式让我自己做出决定。直到现在，我都从未搞清那天下午爸爸是怎么让博吉出现在五金店的，但我知道他相信我会做出正确的选择。
放下枪，我感到轻松无比。我和爸爸跪在地上，给博吉松绑。博吉欢快地在我们父子身边扭动着身体，短短的尾巴疯狂地舞动着。
那天晚上，我睡了几天来的第一个好觉。第二天早上，跳下后院的台阶时，我看见了隔壁的博吉，停了下来。爸爸抚摸着我的头发，说道：“儿子，看来你已经宽恕了他。”
我飞奔到学校。我发现宽恕真的令人精神焕发。
马耳他犬【Maltese Dog】
犬世界里的“贵族”，是所有小型犬中最高贵的一种。
产 地：马耳他
概 述：马耳他犬身体小巧、比例协调、举止优雅，它富于感情、性情温顺、精力充沛，非常有活力，对人十分友善，是理想的伴侣犬。
frolic [' frlik] v. 嬉戏
The children froliced in the garden after school.
孩子们放学后在花园里嬉戏。
aghast [' g:st] adj. 惊骇的；吓呆的
His mother stood aghast on hearing the news.
他的母亲听到这消息吓呆了。
forlorn [f' l:n] adj. 孤独的；悲惨的；凄凉的
This was a forlorn industrial town.
这曾是一个荒凉的工业小镇。
nemesis [ni' misis] n. 报应；公正的惩罚；天罚
Inward suffering is the worst of nemesis.
内心的痛苦是最厉害的惩罚。
我悲愤交加，当晚彻夜未眠。
我们要善待无助的生命，要光明磊落地做人，要明辨是非。
他以一种明智、深刻的方式让我自己做出决定。
I never did learn how Dad managed to arrange Bogy' s presence...
manage to：达成；设法
I knelt down with Dad and helped untie Bogy...
kneel down：跪下
陪你离去
Soul to Soul
佚名 / Anonymous
I worked at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital as a counselor in the Changes Program. We help people deal with the experience of losing a pet, whether through illness, accident or euthanasia.
One time, I had a client named Bonnie, a woman in her mid-fifties. Bonnie had driven an hour and a half to see if the doctors at the hospital could do anything to help her fourteen-year-old black standard poodle, Cassandra,affectionately called Cassie. The dog had been lethargic for a week or so and seemed to be confused at times.
She had been told earlier that morning by neurologist Dr. Jane Bush that Cassie had a brain tumor that could take Cassie' s life at any time.
Bonnie was devastated to learn that her companion animal was so ill. That was when Bonnie was introduced to me. The Changes Program often helps people while they wrestled with the difficult decision of whether to euthanize a pet or let nature take its course.
Bonnie had graying, light-brown wavy hair that she pulled back into a large barrette. She had sparkling light blue eyes that immediately drew my attention, and there was a calmness about her that told me she was a person who thought things through, a woman who did not make hasty decisions.
For twenty years, Bonnie had been married to a man who mistreated her. Bonnie had tried many, many times to leave him, but she just couldn' t do it. Finally, when she turned forty-five years old, she found the courage to walk away. She and Cassie, who was four years old at the time, moved to Laramie, Wyoming, to heal the old hurts and begin a new life. Cassie loved her and needed her, and for Bonnie, the feeling was mutual. There were many rough times ahead, but Bonnie and Cassie got through them together.
Six years later, Bonnie met Hank, a man who loved her in a way that she had never been loved. They were married one year later. Their marriage was ripe with discussion, affection, simple routines and happiness. Bonnie was living the life for which she had always hoped.
One morning, Hank was preparing to leave for work at his tree-trimming service. As always, he and Bonnie embraced one another in the doorway of their home and acknowledged out loud how blessed they were to have each other.
Bonnie worked at home that day rather than going into her office, where she held a position as an office assistant. Late in the afternoon, her phone rang. When she picked it up, she heard the voice of the team leader who headed the search-and—rescue service for which Bonnie was a volunteer. Bonnie was often one of the first volunteers called when someone was in trouble.
That day, Margie told her a man had been electrocuted on a power line just two blocks from Bonnie' s house. Bonnie dropped everything, flew out of her house and jumped into her truck.
When Bonnie arrived at the house, she saw an image that would be engraved in her mind for the rest of her life. Her beloved Hank hung lifelessly from the branches of a tall cottonwood tree.
All of the training that Bonnie had received about safely helping someone who has been electrocuted left her. She wasn' t concerned about her own safety. She had to do everything she could to save Hank. She just had to get him down. She grabbed the ladder stowed in her truck, threw it up against the house and began climbing. Bonnie crawled onto the top of the roof and pulled Hank' s body out of the tree toward her. Miraculously, even though she touched his body, which was touching the power line, she was not electrocuted herself. She pulled Hank onto the brown shingles of the roof and cradled his head in the crook of her arm. She wailed as she looked at his ashen face. His eyes stared out into the bright blue Wyoming sky. He was dead gone. He could not be brought back to life. She knew to the core of her being that the life they shared was over.