(单词翻译:单击)
Chapter 4
第四章
It was starting to seem to me that just when I had life all figured out it changed.
在我看来，就在我刚刚那弄清楚生活是怎么回事的时候，我的生活就发生了改变。
When we were running with Mother, I learned to fear humans, I learned to scavenge for food,
我们每天追着妈妈跑的时候，我学会了要害怕人类，也学会了如何寻找食物，
I learned how to placate Fast so he would be in what, for him, was a good mood.
我学会了如何安抚Fast，让他能有一个好心情。
And then the men came and took us to the Yard and everything was different.
然后一些人类来了，他们把我们带到院子里，一切就都变样了。
In the Yard I adjusted quickly to life in the pack, I learned to love Senora and Carlos and Bobby,
在院子里，我很快适应了群体生活，我开始喜欢上了夫人、卡洛斯和鲍比，
and just when my play with Coco was starting to assume a different, more complex character
我和可可一起玩的时候，我也开始扮演一个不同的、更复杂的角色。
we were taken to visit the nice lady in the cool room and the urgency I'd been feeling went completely away.
但这时候，我们被带到了那个凉爽的房间去看那位漂亮的女士，我一直感到的那种冲动完全消失了。
I still spent most of my day chewing on, and being chewed by, Coco,
我每天大部分时间都在跟可可玩闹着咬来咬去，
but without the odd compulsions that had occasionally seized me.
没有了之前偶尔会出现的那种冲动感。
In between the two worlds—the one outside and the Yard—stood the gate Mother had opened.
在这两个世界之间——外面的世界和院子之间——有一扇母亲曾打开过的门。
I thought about the night of her escape so many times I could practically feel the metal knob in my mouth.
我之前会经常想起妈妈逃跑的那个晚上，我甚至能感受到金属把手在我嘴里的感觉。
Mother had shown me a way to freedom, if I wanted it.
母亲演示了一条通向自由的路，如果我想，我也可以拥有自由。
But I was a different dog than Mother. I loved the Yard.
但我和妈妈不一样的是：我喜欢这个院子。
I wanted to belong to Senora.
我想陪在夫人身边。
My name was Toby.
我的名字叫托比。
Mother, however, was so antisocial that no one seemed to notice she was gone.
而母亲平日不爱交际，所以似乎没有人注意到她逃走了。
Senora had never even given Mother a name.
夫人从来没有给妈妈取过名字。
Fast and Sister sniffed every so often at the depression behind the railroad ties where Mother had lain
Fast和姐姐时不时嗅一嗅妈妈躺过的那片铁轨，那味道透露着一股压抑感。
but never showed any outward concern about her disappearance beyond that.
但他们俩都没有明显表现出对妈妈失踪的担忧。
Life went on, just as before.
生活一如既往地继续着。
