When the forefinger1 of twilight2 begins to smudge the clear-drawn lines of the Big City there is inaugurated an hour devoted3 to one of the most melancholy4 sights of urban life.
Out from the towering flat crags and apartment peaks of the cliff dwellers5 of New York steals an army of beings that were once men. Even yet they go upright upon two limbs and retain human form and speech; but you will observe that they are behind animals in progress. Each of these beings follows a dog, to which he is fastened by an artificial ligament.
These men are all victims to Circe. Not willingly do they become flunkeys to Fido, bell boys to bull terriers, and toddlers after Towzer. Modern Circe, instead of turning them into animals, has kindly6 left the difference of a six-foot leash7 between them. Every one of those dogmen has been either cajoled, bribed8, or commanded by his own particular Circe to take the dear household pet out for an airing.
By their faces and manner you can tell that the dogmen are bound in a hopeless enchantment9. Never will there come even a dog-catcher Ulysses to remove the spell.
The faces of some are stonily10 set. They are past the commiseration11, the curiosity, or the jeers12 of their fellow-beings. Years of matrimony, of continuous compulsory13 canine14 constitutionals, have made them callous15. They unwind their beasts from lamp posts, or the ensnared legs of profane16 pedestrians17, with the stolidity18 of mandarins manipulating the strings19 of their kites.
Others, more recently reduced to the ranks of Rover's retinue20, take their medicine sulkily and fiercely. They play the dog on the end of their line with the pleasure felt by the girl out fishing when she catches a sea-robin on her hook. They glare at you threateningly if you look at them, as if it would be their delight to let slip the dogs of war. These are half-mutinous dogmen, not quite Circe-ized, and you will do well not to kick their charges, should they sniff21 around your ankles.
Others of the tribe do not seem to feel so keenly. They are mostly unfresh youths, with gold caps and drooping22 cigarettes, who do not harmonize with their dogs. The animals they attend wear satin bows in their collars; and the young men steer23 them so assiduously that you are tempted24 to the theory that some personal advantage, contingent25 upon satisfactory service, waits upon the execution of their duties.
The dogs thus personally conducted are of many varieties; but they are one in fatness, in pampered26, diseased vileness27 of temper, in insolent29, snarling31 capriciousness of behaviour. They tug32 at the leash fractiously, they make leisurely33 nasal inventory34 of every door step, railing, and post. They sit down to rest when they choose; they wheeze35 like the winner of a Third Avenue beefsteak-eating contest; they blunder clumsily into open cellars and coal holes; they lead the dogmen a merry dance.
These unfortunate dry nurses of dogdom, the cur cuddlers, mongrel managers, Spitz stalkers, poodle pullers, Skye scrapers, dachshund dandlers, terrier trailers and Pomeranian pushers of the cliff-dwelling Circes follow their charges meekly36. The doggies neither fear nor respect them. Masters of the house these men whom they hold in leash may be, but they are not masters of them. From cosey corner to fire escape, from divan37 to dumbwaiter, doggy's snarl30 easily drives this two-legged being who is commissioned to walk at the other end of his string during his outing.
One twilight the dogmen came forth38 as usual at their Circes' pleading, guerdon, or crack of the whip. One among them was a strong man, apparently39 of too solid virtues40 for this airy vocation41. His expression was melancholic42, his manner depressed43. He was leashed to a vile28 white dog, loathsomely44 fat, fiendishly ill-natured, gloatingly intractable toward his despised conductor.
At a corner nearest to his apartment house the dogman turned down a side street, hoping for fewer witnesses to his ignominy. The surfeited45 beast waddled46 before him, panting with spleen and the labour of motion.
Suddenly the dog stopped. A tall, brown, long-coated, wide-brimmed man stood like a Colossus blocking the sidewalk and declaring:
"Well, I'm a son of a gun!"
"Jim Berry!" breathed the dogman, with exclamation47 points in his voice.
Their hands clasped in the brief, tight greeting of the West that is death to the hand-shake microbe.
"You old fat rascal49!" continued Wide-Brim, with a wrinkled brown smile; "it's been five years since I seen you. I been in this town a week, but you can't find nobody in such a place. Well, you dinged old married man, how are they coming?"
Something mushy and heavily soft like raised dough50 leaned against Jim's leg and chewed his trousers with a yeasty growl51.
"Get to work," said Jim, "and explain this yard-wide hydrophobia yearling you've throwed your lasso over. Are you the pound-master of this burg? Do you call that a dog or what?"
Hard by was a café. 'Tis ever so in the big city.
They sat at a table, and the bloated monster yelped53 and scrambled54 at the end of his leash to get at the café cat.
"Whiskey," said Jim to the waiter.
"Make it two," said the dogman.
"You're fatter," said Jim, "and you look subjugated55. I don't know about the East agreeing with you. All the boys asked me to hunt you up when I started. Sandy King, he went to the Klondike. Watson Burrel, he married the oldest Peters girl. I made some money buying beeves, and I bought a lot of wild land up on the Little Powder. Going to fence next fall. Bill Rawlins, he's gone to farming. You remember Bill, of course—he was courting Marcella—excuse me, Sam—I mean the lady you married, while she was teaching school at Prairie View. But you was the lucky man. How is Missis Telfair?"
"S-h-h-h!" said the dogman, signalling the waiter; "give it a name."
"Whiskey," said Jim.
"Make it two," said the dogman.
"She's well," he continued, after his chaser. "She refused to live anywhere but in New York, where she came from. We live in a flat. Every evening at six I take that dog out for a walk. It's Marcella's pet. There never were two animals on earth, Jim, that hated one another like me and that dog does. His name's Lovekins. Marcella dresses for dinner while we're out. We eat tabble dote. Ever try one of them, Jim?"
"No, I never," said Jim. "I seen the signs, but I thought they said 'table de hole.' I thought it was French for pool tables. How does it taste?"
"If you're going to be in the city for awhile we will—"
"No, sir-ee. I'm starting for home this evening on the 7.25. Like to stay longer, but I can't."
"I'll walk down to the ferry with you," said the dogman.
The dog had bound a leg each of Jim and the chair together, and had sunk into a comatose56 slumber57. Jim stumbled, and the leash was slightly wrenched58. The shrieks59 of the awakened60 beast rang for a block around.
"If that's your dog," said Jim, when they were on the street again, "what's to hinder you from running that habeas corpus you've got around his neck over a limb and walking off and forgetting him?"
"I'd never dare to," said the dogman, awed61 at the bold proposition. "He sleeps in the bed, I sleep on a lounge. He runs howling to Marcella if I look at him. Some night, Jim, I'm going to get even with that dog. I've made up my mind to do it. I'm going to creep over with a knife and cut a hole in his mosquito bar so they can get in to him. See if I don't do it!"
"You ain't yourself, Sam Telfair. You ain't what you was once. I don't know about these cities and flats over here. With my own eyes I seen you stand off both the Tillotson boys in Prairie View with the brass62 faucet63 out of a molasses barrel. And I seen you rope and tie the wildest steer on Little Powder in 39 1-2."
"I did, didn't I?" said the other, with a temporary gleam in his eye. "But that was before I was dogmatized."
"Does Misses Telfair—" began Jim.
They lined up at the bar. The dog fell asleep at their feet.
"Whiskey," said Jim.
"Make it two," said the dogman.
"I thought about you," said Jim, "when I bought that wild land. I wished you was out there to help me with the stock."
"Last Tuesday," said the dogman, "he bit me on the ankle because I asked for cream in my coffee. He always gets the cream."
"You'd like Prairie View now," said Jim. "The boys from the round-ups for fifty miles around ride in there. One corner of my pasture is in sixteen miles of the town. There's a straight forty miles of wire on one side of it."
"You pass through the kitchen to get to the bedroom," said the dogman, "and you pass through the parlour to get to the bath room, and you back out through the dining-room to get into the bedroom so you can turn around and leave by the kitchen. And he snores and barks in his sleep, and I have to smoke in the park on account of his asthma65."
"Don't Missis Telfair—" began Jim.
"Oh, shut up!" said the dogman. "What is it this time?"
"Whiskey," said Jim.
"Make it two," said the dogman.
"Well, I'll be racking along down toward the ferry," said the other.
"Come on, there, you mangy, turtle-backed, snake-headed, bench-legged ton-and-a-half of soap-grease!" shouted the dogman, with a new note in his voice and a new hand on the leash. The dog scrambled after them, with an angry whine66 at such unusual language from his guardian67.
At the foot of Twenty-third Street the dogman led the way through swinging doors.
"Last chance," said he. "Speak up."
"Whiskey," said Jim.
"Make it two," said the dogman.
"I don't know," said the ranchman, "where I'll find the man I want to take charge of the Little Powder outfit68. I want somebody I know something about. Finest stretch of prairie and timber you ever squinted69 your eye over, Sam. Now if you was—"
"Speaking of hydrophobia," said the dogman, "the other night he chewed a piece out of my leg because I knocked a fly off of Marcella's arm. 'It ought to be cauterized,' says Marcella, and I was thinking so myself. I telephones for the doctor, and when he comes Marcella says to me: 'Help me hold the poor dear while the doctor fixes his mouth. Oh, I hope he got no virus on any of his toofies when he bit you.' Now what do you think of that?"
"Does Missis Telfair—" began Jim.
"Oh, drop it," said the dogman. "Come again!"
"Whiskey," said Jim.
"Make it two," said the dogman.
They walked on to the ferry. The ranchman stepped to the ticket window.
Suddenly the swift landing of three or four heavy kicks was heard, the air was rent by piercing canine shrieks, and a pained, outraged70, lubberly, bow-legged pudding of a dog ran frenziedly up the street alone.
"Ticket to Denver," said Jim.
"Make it two," shouted the ex-dogman, reaching for his inside pocket.
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1
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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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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dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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9
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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stonily
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| 石头地，冷酷地 | |
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commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13
compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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14
canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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15
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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16
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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17
pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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18
stolidity
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| n.迟钝，感觉麻木 | |
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19
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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20
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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21
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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22
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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23
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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24
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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25
contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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26
pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
vileness
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| n.讨厌，卑劣 | |
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28
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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30
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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31
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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32
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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35
wheeze
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| n.喘息声，气喘声；v.喘息着说 | |
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meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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37
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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38
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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40
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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41
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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42
melancholic
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| 忧郁症患者 | |
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43
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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44
loathsomely
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| adv.令人讨厌地，可厌地 | |
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45
surfeited
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| v.吃得过多( surfeit的过去式和过去分词 )；由于过量而厌腻 | |
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46
waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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48
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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49
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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50
dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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51
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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52
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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53
yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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55
subjugated
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| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
comatose
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| adj.昏睡的，昏迷不醒的 | |
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57
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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58
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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59
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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61
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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63
faucet
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| n.水龙头 | |
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64
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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65
asthma
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| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
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66
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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67
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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68
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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69
squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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