雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:老舍 狗

The Dog 狗

◎ Lao She ◎ 老舍

Of all dogs in the world，those in China are perhaps the most pitiful and ugly-looking．But it is their wretched life rather than their breed that is to blame for their ugliness．All dogs，if well-fed，will be plump and nice-looking irrespective of their bodily form．In poverty-stricken China，people don't even have enough to feed themselves，let alone dogs．Chinese dogs are ugly-looking not because they are born like that，but because they've been reduced to skin and bones by hunger，with tails between their legs all the year round．

中國(guó)狗恐怕是世界上最可憐最難看的狗。此處之“難看”并不指狗種而言，而是與“可憐”密切相關(guān)。無論狗的模樣身材如何，只要喂養(yǎng)得好，它便會(huì)長(zhǎng)得肥肥胖胖的，看著順眼。中國(guó)人窮。人且吃不飽，狗就更提不到了。因此，中國(guó)狗最難看；不是因?yàn)樗L(zhǎng)得不體面，而是因?yàn)樗鞘萑绮瘢K年夾著尾巴。

I always feel like crying whenever I see a homeless little dog roaming about the street in search of human excrement．It doesn't mean that I'm a sentimental，lachrymose sort．It's because I associate the misery of the little dog with the poverty of our people．Our cats and dogs will never get nice fat unless our people are well-off.

每逢我看見被遺棄的小野狗在街上尋找糞吃，我便要落淚。我并非是愛作傷感的人，動(dòng)不動(dòng)就要哭一鼻子。我看見小狗的可憐，也就是感到人民的貧窮。民富而后貓狗肥。

We are apt to declare that ours is a big country with rich natural resources，meaning that there is no need for us to worry because we have plenty of everything to last us forever and ever．Well，why not take a look at our dogs！

中國(guó)人動(dòng)不動(dòng)就說：我們地大物博。那也就是說，我們不用著急呀，我們有的是東西，永遠(yuǎn)吃不完喝不盡哪！哼，請(qǐng)看看你們的狗吧！

Dogs always remain man's faithful servants though they are under-fed and kicked and beaten without any reason．A dog continues to perform with loyal devotion the duty of guarding the door and keeping watch at night though he has been starved to a skeleton and kicked at by his master．He never minds how poor his master is．Such an animal deserves our high praise．We should attribute to them such laudatory epithets as“devotion”，“loyalty”，“content with poverty”，“courage”，etc．But I wonder why we have been undiscriminatingly calling traitors and villains“running dogs”，as if dogs were disloyal and unfaithful animals．I should voice grievances for them！

還有：狗雖那么摸不著吃，那么隨便就被人踢兩腳，打兩棍，可是它們還照舊的替人們服務(wù)。盡管它們餓成皮包著骨，盡管它們剛被主人踹了兩腳，它們還是極忠誠(chéng)的去盡看門守夜的責(zé)任。狗永遠(yuǎn)不嫌主人窮。這樣的動(dòng)物理應(yīng)得到人們的贊美，而忠誠(chéng)、義氣、安貧、勇敢，等等好字眼都該歸之于狗?？墒牵也粫缘脼槭裁粗袊?guó)人不分黑白的把漢奸與小人叫作走狗，倒仿佛狗是不忠誠(chéng)不義氣的動(dòng)物。我為狗喊冤叫屈！

Cats，however，are greedy and lazy．They come to you when you have meat to offer，but otherwise leave you．Flunkeys of imperialism and mean persons should have been called“running cats”.

貓才是好吃懶作，有肉即來，無食即去的東西。洋奴與小人理應(yīng)被叫作“走貓”。

Perhaps the reason why we prefer to say“running dogs”rather than“running cats”is that dogs are good-tempered while cats are supercilious．If so，I would think that people are perhaps inclined to bully the weak and fear the strong.

或者是因?yàn)楣返钠夂?，不像貓那樣傲慢，所以中?guó)人不說“走貓”而說“走狗”？假若真是那樣，我就又覺得人們未免有點(diǎn)“軟的欺，硬的怕”了！

Maybe there is a kind of dog whose scientific name is“running dog”．I'm not quite sure.

不過，也許有一種狗，學(xué)名叫作“走狗”；那我還不大清楚。

《狗》是小說家、劇作家老舍于1944年12月10日發(fā)表在《新民報(bào)晚刊》上的一篇雜文。時(shí)逢國(guó)難，作者愛狗、談狗，借此表達(dá)了自己憂國(guó)憂民的純真感情以及對(duì)洋奴、漢奸、小人的憎恨。