A Friend in Need 患難真情－動物讓我們感動 Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like pairs of dogs you can find in most any neighborhood, these two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses. neighborhood n. 附近、臨近 respective adj. 各自的One evening, Brownie's family noticed that Brownie hadn' t returned home. They went looking for him with no success. Brownie didn't show up the next day, and, despite their efforts to find him, by the next week he was still missing. show up 露面 missing adj. 不見的Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie's house alone. Barking, whining and generally pestering Brownie's human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog. whine v. 哀鳴 pester v. 糾纏Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take "no" for an answer. Ted, Brownie's owner, was steadily harassed by the furious, adamant little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then darting toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, "Follow me! It's urgent!" harassed adj. 厭煩的 furious adj. 狂怒的 adamant adj. 堅定的、固執的Eventually, Ted followed the frantic Spotty across the empty lot as Spotty paused to race back and bark encouragingly. The little dog led the man under a tree, past clumps of trees, to a desolate spot a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leghold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he'd taken Spotty's earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable. frantic adj. 瘋狂的 desolate adj. 荒涼的 horrified adj. 驚駭的Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie's human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week! array n. 排列 remains n. 殘餘Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in a single minded quest to keep his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from predators, snuggling with him at night to keep him warm and nuzzling him to keep his spirits up. sacrifice v. 獻出 predator n. 食肉動物 snuggle v. 偎依 nuzzle v. 用鼻愛撫Brownie's leg was treated by a veterinarian and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends frolicking and chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses. veterinarian n. 獸醫 recover v. 痊癒、恢復 frolic v. 嬉戲 [NextPage]布朗尼和斯波蒂是鄰居，兩隻每天相會一起玩的狗。像幾乎能在任何社區找到的成對的狗一樣，它們倆互相愛慕，常在一起玩耍嬉戲，兩家之間的草地上已經踏出了一條小徑。一天傍晚，布朗尼的主人家發現它沒有回家，搜尋一番也沒找到。第二天，布朗尼依然沒露面。儘管人們還在努力尋找着，到了第二週，它還是不見蹤影。奇怪的是，斯波蒂獨自出現在布朗尼主人家，吠叫、哀嚎，還總是纏着家裏的人，但他們忙於自己的生活，沒有在意鄰居家這隻神經質的小狗。一天早上，斯波蒂終於拒絕接受“不”的回答。布朗尼的主人特德被這隻暴怒的、不依不饒的小狗騷擾個不停。斯波蒂到處跟着特德，汪汪地叫個不停，然後竄到近處空地上，又竄回來，似乎在說：“跟我來！情況緊急！”最後，特德跟着發瘋似的斯波蒂穿過空地，小狗停步奔回，用叫聲催促着。它領着特德從一棵樹下穿過，經過樹叢，來到離房子半英里遠的一處荒地。在那裏，特德發現他心愛的布朗尼還活着，一條後腿被一個鋼製捕捉器夾着。特德大爲震驚，後悔當初沒有認真對待斯波蒂的求助。隨後，一幅非凡的景象映入眼簾。斯波蒂不僅僅只是帶領布朗尼的主人來到它被困的朋友跟前。在受傷的布朗尼四周，特德發現有一圈狗食和餐桌上的殘羹剩飯——後來證實是那個星期每餐喂斯波蒂吃剩下的食物！斯波蒂一直定時來看望布朗尼，一心一意要讓它的朋友活下去，吃苦受累在所不惜。顯然，斯波蒂陪着布朗尼，保護它免遭其他捕食動物的侵襲，夜間偎依着它爲它驅寒，用鼻口拱它振作它的精神。獸醫治癒了布朗尼的傷腿。自那以後多年中，兩家鄰居不時會看到這一對忠實的朋友嬉戲玩耍，在兩幢住房間久踩成徑的草地上相互追逐。
