On one occasion, however, when he turned round near a familiar sausage-shop, Jack could not see Annushka. He dashed back so hastily that his left ear was turned inside out as he went. But Annushka was not to be seen at the cross-roads. So Jack resolved to find his way by scent6. He stopped, cautiously raised his wet sensitive nose, and tried in all directions to recognise the familiar scent of Annushka's dress, the smell of the dirty kitchen-table and mottled soap. But just at that moment a lady came hurriedly past him, and brushing up against his side with her rustling7 skirt she left behind a strong wave of disgusting Oriental perfume. Jack moved his head from side to side in vexation. The trail of Annushka was entirely8 lost.
But he was not upset by this. He knew the town well and could always find his way home easily—all he had to do was to go to the sausage-shop, then to the greengrocer's, then turn to the left and go past a grey house from the basement of which there was always wafted9 a smell of burning fat, and he would be in his own street. Jack did not hurry. The morning was fresh and clear, and in the pure, softly transparent10 and rather moist air, all the various odours of the town had an unusual refinement11 and distinctness. Running past the post-office, with his tail stuck out as stiff as a rod and his nostrils12 all trembling with excitement, Jack could have sworn that only a moment before a large, mouse-coloured, oldish dog had stopped there, a dog who was usually fed on oatmeal porridge.
And after running along about two hundred paces, he actually saw this dog, a cowardly, sober-looking brute13. His ears had been cropped, and a broad, worn, strap14 was dangling15 from his neck.
The dog noticed Jack, and stopped, half turning back on his steps. Jack curled his tail in the air provokingly and began to walk slowly round the other, with an air of looking somewhere to one side. The mouse-coloured dog also raised his tail and showed a broad row of white teeth. Then they both growled16, turning their heads away from one another as they did so, and trying, as it were, to swallow something which stuck in their throats.
"If he says anything insulting to my honour, or the honour of any well-bred pointer, I shall fasten my teeth in his side, near his left hind-leg," thought Jack to himself. "Of course, he is stronger than I am, but he is stupid and clumsy. Look how he stands there, like a dummy18, and has no idea that all his left flank is open to attack."
And suddenly ... something inexplicable19 and almost supernatural happened. The other dog unexpectedly threw himself on his back and was dragged by some unseen force from the pathway into the road. Directly afterwards this same unseen power grasped Jack by the throat ... he stood firm on his fore-legs and shook his head furiously. But the invisible "something" was pulled so tight round his neck that the brown pointer became unconscious.[1]
[1] Some municipalities in Russia provide a man and a cart to take off stray dogs. Jack had been suddenly netted by the dog-man.
He came to his senses again in a stuffy20 iron cage, which was jolting21 and shaking as it was drawn22 along the cobbled roadway, on a badly-jointed vehicle trembling in all its parts. From its acrid23 doggy odour Jack guessed at once that this cart must have been used for years to convey dogs of all breeds and all ages. On the box in front sat two men, whose out-ward appearance was not at all calculated to inspire confidence.
There was already a sufficiently24 large company in the cart. First of all, Jack noticed the mouse-coloured dog whom he had just met and quarrelled with in the street. He was standing25 with his head stuck out between two of the iron bars, and he whined27 pitifully as his body was jolted28 backwards29 and forwards by the movement of the cart. In the middle of the cage lay an old white poodle, his wise-looking head lying between his gouty paws. His coat was cut to make him look like a lion, with tufts left on his knees and at the end of his tail. The poodle had apparently30 resigned himself to his situation with a stoic31 philosophy, and if he had not sighed occasionally and wrinkled his brows, it might have been thought that he slept. By his side, trembling from agitation32 and the cold of the early morning, sat a fine well-kept greyhound, with long thin legs and sharp-pointed head. She yawned nervously33 from time to time, rolling up her rosy34 little tongue into a tube, accompanying the yawn with a long-drawn-out, high-pitched whine26.... Near the back of the cage, pressed close up to the bars, was a black dachshund, with smooth skin dappled with yellow on the breast and above the eyes. She could not get over her astonishment35 at her position, and she looked a strangely comical figure with her flopping36 paws and crocodile body, and the serious expression of her head with its ears reaching almost to the ground.
Besides this more or less distinguished37 society, there were in the cage two unmistakable yard dogs. One of them was that sort of dog which is generally called Bouton, and is always noted38 for its meanness of disposition39. She was a shaggy, reddish-coloured animal with a shaggy tail, curled up like the figure 9. She had been the first of the dogs to be captured, and she had apparently become so accustomed to her position that she had for some time past made many efforts to begin an interesting conversation with someone. The last dog of all was out of sight, he had been driven into the darkest corner, and lay there curled up in a heap. He had only moved once all the time, and that had been to growl17 at Jack when he had found himself near him. Everyone in the company felt a strong antipathy40 against him. In the first place, he was smeared41 all over with a violet colour, the work of certain journeyman whitewashers; secondly42, his hair was rough and bristly and uncombed; thirdly, he was evidently mangy, hungry, strong and daring—this had been quite evident in the resolute43 push of his lean body with which he had greeted the arrival of the unconscious Jack.
There was silence for a quarter of an hour. At last Jack, whose healthy sense of humour never forsook44 him under any circumstances, remarked in a jaunty45 tone:
"The adventure begins to be interesting. I am curious to know where these gentlemen will make their first stopping place."
The old poodle did not like the frivolous46 tone of the brown pointer. He turned his head slowly in Jack's direction, and said sharply, with a cold sarcasm47:
"I can satisfy your curiosity, young man. These gentlemen will make their first stopping place at the slaughter-house."
"Where? Pardon me, please, I didn't catch the word," muttered Jack, sitting down involuntarily, for his legs had suddenly begun to tremble. "You were pleased to say—at the s-s ..."
"Yes, at the slaughter-house," repeated the poodle coldly, turning his head away.
"Pardon me, but I don't quite understand.... Slaughter-house? ... What kind of an institution is that? Won't you be so good as to explain?"
The poodle was silent. But as the greyhound and the terrier both joined their petition to Jack's, the old poodle, who did not wish to appear impolite in the presence of ladies, felt obliged to enter into certain details.
"Well, you see mesdames, it is a sort of large courtyard surrounded by a high fence with sharp points, where they shut in all dogs found wandering in the streets. I've had the unhappiness to be taken there three times already."
"I've never seen you!" was heard in a hoarse48 voice from the dark corner. "And this is the seventh time I've been there."
There was no doubt that the voice from the dark corner belonged to the violet-coloured dog. The company was shocked at the interruption of their conversation by this rude person, and so pretended not to hear the remark. But Bouton, with the cringing49 eagerness of an upstart in society, cried out: "Please don't interfere50 in other people's conversation unless you're asked," and then turned at once to the important-looking mouse-coloured dog for approbation51.
"I've been there three times," the poodle went on, "but my master has always come and fetched me away again. I play in a circus, and you understand that I am of some value. Well, in this unpleasant place they have a collection of two or three hundred dogs...."
"But, tell me ... is there good society there?" asked the greyhound affectedly52.
"Sometimes. They feed us very badly and give us little to eat. Occasionally one of the dogs disappears, and then they give us a dinner of ..."
In order to heighten the effect of his words, the poodle made a slight pause, looked round on his audience, and then added with studied indifference53:
—"Of dog's flesh."
At these words the company was filled with terror and indignation.
"Devil take it ... what low-down scoundrelism!" exclaimed Jack.
"I shall faint ... I feel so ill," murmured the greyhound.
"That's dreadful ... dreadful ..." moaned the dachshund.
"I've always said that men were scoundrels," snarled54 the mouse-coloured dog.
"What a strange death!" sighed Bouton.
But from the dark corner was heard once more the voice of the violet-coloured dog. With gloomy and cynical55 sarcasm he said:
"The soup's not so bad, though—it's not at all bad, though, of course, some ladies who are accustomed to eat chicken cutlets would find dog's flesh a little too tough."
The poodle paid no attention to this rude remark, but went on:
"And afterwards I gathered from the manager's talk that our late companion's skin had gone to make ladies' gloves. But ... prepare your nerves, mesdames ... but, this is nothing.... In order to make the skin softer and more smooth, it must be taken from the living animal."
Cries of despair broke in upon the poodle's speech.
"How inhuman56!"
"What mean conduct!"
"No, that can't be true!"
"O Lord!"
"Murderers!"
"No, worse than murderers!"
After this outburst there was a strained and melancholy57 silence. Each of them had a mental picture, a fearful foreboding of what it might be to be skinned alive.
"Ladies and gentlemen, is there no way Of getting all honourable58 dogs free, once and for all, from their shameful59 slavery to mankind?" cried Jack passionately60.
"Be so good as to find a way," said the old poodle ironically.
The dogs all began to try and think of a way.
"Bite them all, and have an end of it!" said the big dog in his angry bass61.
"Yes, that's the way; we need a radical62 remedy," seconded the servile Bouton. "In the end they'll be afraid of us."
"Yes, bite them all—that's a splendid idea," said the old poodle. "But what's your opinion, dear sirs, about their long whips? No doubt you're acquainted with them!"
"H'm." The dog coughed and cleared his throat.
"H'm," echoed Bouton.
"No, take my word for it, gentlemen, we cannot struggle against men. I've lived in this world for some time, and I've not had a bad life.... Take for example such simple things as kennels63, whips, chains, muzzles—things, I imagine, not unknown to any one of us. Let us suppose that we dogs succeed in thinking out a plan which will free us from these things. Will not man then arm himself with more perfect instruments? There is no doubt that he will. Haven't you seen what instruments of torture they make for one another? No, we must submit to them, gentlemen, that's all about it. It's a law of Nature."
"Well, he's shown us his philosophy," whispered the dachshund in Jack's ear. "I've no patience with these old folks and their teaching."
"You're quite right, mademoiselle," said Jack, gallantly64 wagging his tail.
The mouse-coloured dog was looking very melancholy and snapping at the flies. He drawled out in a whining65 tone:
"Eh, it's a dog's life!"
"And where is the justice of it all?"—the greyhound, who had been silent up to this point, began to agitate66 herself—"You, Mr. Poodle, pardon me, I haven't the honour of knowing your name."
"Arto, professor of equilibristics, at your service." The poodle bowed.
"Well, tell me, Mr. Professor, you have apparently had such great experience, let alone your learning—tell me, where is the higher justice of it all? Are human beings so much more worthy67 and better than we are, that they are allowed to take advantage of so many cruel privileges with impunity68?"
"They are not any better or any more worthy than we are, dear young lady, but they are stronger and wiser," answered Arto, with some heat. "Oh, I know the morals of these two-legged animals very well.... In the first place, they are greedy—greedier than any dog on earth. They have so much bread and meat and water that all these monsters could be satisfied and well-fed all their lives. But instead of sharing it out, a tenth of them get all the provisions for life into their hands, and not being able to devour69 it all themselves, they force the remaining nine-tenths to go hungry. Now, tell me, is it possible that a well-fed dog would not share a gnawed70 bone with his neighbour?"
"He'd share it, of course he would!" agreed all the listeners.
"H'm," coughed the dog doubtfully.
"And besides that, people are wicked. Who could ever say that one dog would kill another—on account of love or envy or malice71? We bite one another sometimes, that's true. But we don't take each other's lives."
"No, indeed we don't," they all affirmed.
"And more than this," went on the white poodle. "Could one dog make up his mind not to allow another dog to breathe the fresh air, or to be free to express his thoughts as to the arrangements for the happiness of dogs? But men do this."
"Devil take them!" put in the mouse-coloured dog energetically.
"And, in conclusion, I say that men are hypocrites; they envy one another, they lie, they are inhospitable, cruel.... And yet they rule over us, and will continue to do so ... because it's arranged like that. It is impossible for us to free ourselves from their authority. All the life of dogs, and all their happiness, is in the hands of men. In our present position each one of us, who has a good master, ought to thank Fate. Only a master can free us from the pleasure of eating a comrade's flesh, and of imagining that comrade's feelings when he was being skinned alive."
The professor's speech reduced the whole company to a state of melancholy. No other dog could utter a word. They all shivered helplessly, and shook with the joltings of the cart. The big dog whined piteously. Bouton, who was standing next to him, pressed his own body softly up against him.
But soon they felt that the wheels of the cart were passing over sand. In five minutes more they were driven through wide open gates, and they found themselves in the middle of an immense courtyard surrounded by a close paling. Sharp nails were sticking out at the top of the paling. Two hundred dogs, lean and dirty, with drooping72 tails and a look of melancholy on their faces, wandered about the yard.
The doors of the cage were flung open. All the seven new-comers came forth73 and instinctively74 stood together in one group.
"Here, you professor, how do you feel now?" The poodle heard a bark behind him.
He turned round and saw the violet-coloured dog smiling insolently75 at him.
"Oh, leave me alone," growled the old poodle. "It's no business of yours."
"I only made a remark," said the other. "You spoke76 such words of wisdom in the cart, but you made one mistake. Yes, you did."
"Get away, devil take you! What mistake?"
"About a dog's happiness. If you like, I'll show you in whose hands a dog's happiness lies."
And suddenly pressing back his ears and extending his tail, the violet dog set out on such a mad career that the old professor of equilibristics could only stand and watch him with open mouth.
"Catch him! Stop him!" shouted the keepers, flinging themselves in pursuit of the escaping dog. But the violet dog had already gained the paling. With one bound he sprang up from the ground and found himself at the top, hanging on by his fore-paws. And in two more convulsive springs he had leaped over the paling, leaving on the nails a good half of his side.
The old white poodle gazed after him for a long time. He understood the mistake he had made.
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收听单词发音
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1
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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2
frisky
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| adj.活泼的，欢闹的；n.活泼，闹着玩；adv.活泼地，闹着玩地 | |
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3
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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4
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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6
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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8
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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9
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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12
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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15
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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16
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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17
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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18
dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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19
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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20
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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21
jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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22
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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25
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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26
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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28
jolted
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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30
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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31
stoic
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| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
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32
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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36
flopping
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| n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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37
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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38
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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39
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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40
antipathy
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| n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物 | |
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41
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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42
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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43
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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44
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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45
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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46
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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47
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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48
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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49
cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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50
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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51
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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52
affectedly
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53
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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54
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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55
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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56
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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57
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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58
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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61
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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62
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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63
kennels
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| n.主人外出时的小动物寄养处，养狗场；狗窝( kennel的名词复数 )；养狗场 | |
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gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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65
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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66
agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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67
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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68
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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69
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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70
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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71
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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72
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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73
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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74
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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75
insolently
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| adv.自豪地，自傲地 | |
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76
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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