(单词翻译:单击)
This was, I decided, my purpose as a dog, to comfort the boy whenever he needed me.
我觉得这就是我作为一只狗的目的——当这个男孩需要我时，我就安慰他。
Sometimes families would leave the neighborhood and new families would arrive,
有时会有一些家庭离开社区，也会有新的家庭到来，
so when Drake and Todd moved in a few houses down I considered it nothing but good news
所以，当德雷克和托德搬进离我们几栋房子远的地方时，我认为是好消息
—and not just because Mom made delicious cookies to take to the new neighbors,
——这不仅是因为妈妈做了美味的饼干给新邻居们吃，
feeding me a couple as a reward for keeping her company in the kitchen.
给在厨房里陪伴她的我喂了几块饼干作为奖励。
New boys meant more children to play with. Drake was older and bigger than Ethan,
这里的男孩变多了，这意味着有更多的孩子可以一起玩。德雷克比伊森年长，也比伊森强壮，
but Todd was the same age and he and Ethan became fast friends.
但托德和伊森同龄，于是他俩很快成了朋友。
Todd and Drake had a sister named Linda who was even younger; she fed me sugary treats when no one was watching.
托德和德雷克有一个妹妹叫琳达，她的年级更小。她会趁没人的时候喂我甜食。
Todd was different from Ethan. He liked to play games in the creek with matches, burning plastic toys, like Linda’s dolls.
托德和伊森不一样。他喜欢用火柴在小溪里玩游戏，点燃塑料玩具，比如琳达的娃娃。
Ethan would participate, but he didn’t laugh as much as Todd; mostly Ethan just watched the things burn.
伊森会参加，但他不怎么像托德那样笑。伊森大部分时间只是看着托德烧东西。
When Todd announced he had firecrackers one day, Ethan got pretty excited.
有一天，托德宣布他要放鞭炮，伊森非常兴奋。
I had never seen anything like a firecracker and was pretty startled at the flash and the noise and the way the plastic doll instantly had a smoky smell
我从来没有见过像鞭炮这样的东西，鞭炮发出的闪光和噪音让我感到吃惊，那塑料玩具居然能在片刻间产生一股烟味。
—or at least the part I could find after the explosion.
至少鞭炮爆炸后残留的部分是有那种烟味的。
At Todd’s urging, Ethan went into his house and came back with one of the toys he had built with his father
在托德的催促下，伊森走进他的房子，带着他和父亲一起做的一个玩具回来了。
and the boys put a firecracker in it and threw it in the air, and it blew up.
那些孩子放了一个爆竹在那个玩具里面，把玩具扔到空中，然后玩具爆炸了。
“Cool!” Todd yelled.
“太酷了！”托德喊道。
But Ethan just grew quiet, frowning at the little shards of plastic floating away in the creek.
但伊森却变得安静下来，对漂在小溪里的塑料碎片皱着眉头。
I sensed a jumble of confused emotions from him.
我从他身上感觉到一种复杂的感情。
When Todd tossed firecrackers up into the air and one came down near me, the percussion snapped against my side.
托德把鞭炮抛向空中，有一个落在我附近并爆炸了。
I ran over to the boy for reassurance, and he hugged me and took me home. Having such easy access to the backyard had some advantages.
我跑向伊森那儿寻求安慰，他抱着我，带我回家。还好这里离我们的后院很近。
Ethan wasn’t always particularly attentive to the fence gate, which meant I sometimes was free to stroll the neighborhood.
伊森不是经常关注篱笆门，这意味着我有时可以在附近闲逛。
