◎ Beverley
All those who travel to Juneau,Alaska,by water are welcomed at the dock by a dog named Patsy Ann. She doesn’t bark. She doesn’t wag her tail. She doesn’t even respond when you call her. That’s because Patsy Ann is a bronze statue that sits imposingly and silently in the middle of Patsy Ann Square, which borders Juneau’s Gastineau Channel.
凡是經(jīng)海路去阿拉斯加州朱諾市的人,都會在碼頭上受到一只叫帕齊·安的狗的歡迎。它不吠叫,也不搖尾巴。你若是招呼它,它也不回應你。這是因為帕齊·安是一個青銅像,莊重而安詳?shù)刈湓谕麖V場的中心,與加斯蒂諾海峽毗鄰。
The real Patsy Ann was a Staffordshire bull terrier who arrived in Juneau as a newborn pup in late 1929 with her human family. Her family didn’t keep her once they realized she was deaf and could not bark.
真正的帕齊·安原來是頭英國斯塔福德郡斗牛犬。1929年后半年,它還是一頭新生幼犬,跟隨著主人一家來到朱諾。當主人家發(fā)現(xiàn)它又聾又啞后,就沒再養(yǎng)它。
The dog was taken in by a second family, but for unknown reasons was later abandoned by them as well. Patsy then became an orphan who freely roamed the streets of Juneau. Patsy Ann limited her daily wanderings to the downtown area, where local merchants and residents grinned at the sight of her happily loping from business to business. Though Patsy Ann was an orphan, the Longshoremen’s Hall became her nightly home. For her, it was the most logical place for warmth and sleep because she spent so much of her time on the docks.
這只狗被第二個家庭收留了,可不知為什么,后來又被拋棄了。帕齊成了朱諾街頭自由游蕩的孤兒。它白天只在市中心迷茫地游蕩,而當?shù)氐纳倘撕途用褚豢吹剿吒吲d興地從一家店鋪跑到另一家,就滿臉笑容。盡管它是條孤狗,但每天晚上碼頭工人大廳就成了它的家。在它看來,這當然是避寒和夜宿的地方,因為它的時間幾乎都花在碼頭上。
The deaf dog possessed a most remarkable ability. Whenever a ship neared Gastineau Channel, Patsy Ann was somehow able to “hear” its whistle, even if the ship was as much as a half-mile away. At once, the terrier would scamper down to the wharf to await the ship’s arrival.
這聾啞狗有一種非常突出的能力。只要有船一接近加斯蒂諾海峽,不知為什么,即使船還在半英里外,帕齊·安都能“聽見”汽笛聲。這時,它就會跑到碼頭等待著船靠岸。
Juneau’s residents had no idea how Patsy Ann was able to sense the imminent approach of a ship, anymore than they could figure out how the dog knew at exactly which dock she should wait. But they learned to trust her unerring judgment.
朱諾的居民不清楚帕齊·安怎么會有預感船即將到岸的能力,更不明白它是如何知道船確切的??看a頭,然后去那里等待。但是他們認識到要相信這條狗的準確判斷。
One afternoon, townspeople gathered at the appointed dock to await an incoming ship. Patsy Ann joined the expectant crowd and then suddenly ran to a different dock. Everyone was perplexed by her behavior until they realized they had been given misinformation. The ship entered the channel and berthed at the very dock where the terrier was waiting!
一天下午,人們聚集在指定碼頭迎接到岸的船。帕齊·安也加入了迎船的人群中,突然間,它跑到另外一個碼頭上去了。每個人都對它的舉動感到困惑,后來才意識到是他們弄錯了。這艘船開進海峽,就??吭谂笼R等的那個泊位上!
Patsy Ann may have loved the local people who fed her and fondly patted her. She may have felt cared for by the longshoremen. But Patsy Ann’s primary happiness came from sitting on the docks as she waited to welcome the ships.
帕齊·安也許很喜歡當?shù)鼐用?,他們給它喂吃的,鐘愛地輕輕拍它。它也經(jīng)常受到碼頭工人的照顧,但是帕齊的主要樂趣就是坐在碼頭上,等待著靠岸的船只。
It was appropriate, then, in 1934, for Juneau’s mayor to proclaim Patsy Ann “the official greeter of Juneau, Alaska”.
于是,理所當然地,1934年,朱諾市市長宣布帕齊·安為“阿拉斯加朱諾市官方迎賓小姐”。
The same year, the city passed an ordinance stating that all dogs must be licensed. After an animal-control worker impounded Patsy Ann and threatened to euthanize the stray, several of the locals chipped in to pay for her license and to buy a bright red collar for her. She was again free to continue her lookout duty.
同年,該市通過一項法令,規(guī)定所有的狗必須要領執(zhí)照。一名動物管理員扣留了帕齊,并威脅說要給它執(zhí)行安樂死。很多市民湊錢為它辦了執(zhí)照,還買了個鮮紅的狗圈。帕齊重獲自由,又有更多的時間繼續(xù)執(zhí)行遙望的任務。
For thirteen years, nearly all the days of her life, the wagging tail and the happy-go-lucky presence of the little dog brought a pleasant constancy to the lives of Juneau residents. She could not hear them say “good girl”, but she saw their smiles and felt their affection.
13年來,幾乎在它生命的每一天,每當它搖著尾巴無憂無慮地出現(xiàn)時,總給朱諾的居民帶來了歡樂。它聽不見他們說“好姑娘”,但是看得見他們的微笑,感受得到他們的關愛。
Then, in 1942, Patsy Ann died of natural causes. Members of the saddened community placed Patsy Ann’s body in a small wooden casket and lowered it into Gastineau Channel. Now she would forever be tied to the hearts of Juneau’s people and to the tranquil waters she loved to watch.
1942年,帕齊自然老死。悲痛的市民把帕齊·安的尸體安放在一個小木棺材里,慢慢落在加斯蒂諾海峽中。現(xiàn)在,它將和朱諾市市民的心永遠連在一起,和它喜歡遙望的寧靜的水域永遠連在一起。
Nearly fifty years after Patsy Ann’s death, a campaign was waged to memorialize the terrier. A small patch of land at the Gatineau wharfside was converted into what is now Patsy Ann Square, and a larger-than-life bronze statue was commissioned—complete with a bronze collar that rests at its base.
帕齊·安死后約半個世紀,一場紀念它的活動開展了。加斯蒂諾碼頭邊的一小塊土地改建成今日的帕齊·安廣場,并在那兒豎立起一尊耀眼的青銅像,比帕齊·安本身還要大,基座上還有一個銅領圈。
Today at the foot of the square, gaily-colored flowers bloom, and people sit on benches and gaze out at the horizon, just as the bronze Patsy Ann does.
如今,在廣場的終端,絢麗繽紛的花卉競相盛開,人們會坐在長椅上,如同銅像帕齊一樣眺望遠方。
Patsy Ann, adopted and loved by all the residents of Juneau, is still the official greeter for her city. The statue of the little dog who could not hear sits forever next to a wooden sign, her bronzed presence echoing the words printed there: Welcome to Juneau, Alaska.
全體朱諾市市民收養(yǎng)并愛戴的帕齊·安,依然是這座城市的官方迎賓小姐。聾啞小狗的銅像永遠坐落在木制迎賓牌旁,銅色的印字表達著真摯的情意:歡迎來到阿拉斯加朱諾市。