(单词翻译:单击)
Chapter Twenty-six
第二十六章
My new mother had a big, black face and a warm pink tongue.
我的新妈妈有一张大而黑的脸和一根温暖的粉红色舌头。
I stared up at her numbly the first time I realized it was all happening again—it didn’t seem possible, not after being Ellie.
当我第一次意识到重生再次发生的时候，我呆呆地盯着她——感觉不可能啊，毕竟我上辈子已经做过爱丽了了。
I had eight other brothers and sisters, all of them black, all of them healthy and full of play.
我还有八个兄弟姐妹，他们都是黑色的，都很健康，也很活泼。
For the most part, though, I preferred to wander off by myself and ponder what it meant that I was a puppy once more.
不过，大多数时候，我更喜欢一个人溜达，思考自己再次成为一只小狗意味着什么。
It made no sense.
这说不通啊。
I understood how I would never have been with Ethan if, as Toby, I hadn’t learned how to open a gate,
我的理解是：如果我是托比的时候没有学会如何开门，我就永远不会认识伊森，
and from my days in the culvert learned that there was nothing to fear on the other side of the fence.
在下水道的时候，我学会了在栅栏的另一边没有什么可怕的。
With Ethan I learned about love and companionship, and felt I was truly accomplishing my purpose, just by accompanying him on his daily adventures.
和伊森在一起，我学会了爱和陪伴，我觉得我真正完成了我的使命，那就是陪伴他做日常的各种冒险。
But Ethan also taught me how to rescue from the pond, and so when I was Ellie and learned how to Find and Show I was able to save the little boy from the tunnel of water.
但伊森也教我如何从池塘里救他，所以我是爱丽的时候，我学会了如何找人并带人去看我找到的人，我也能从下水道里救出那个小男孩。
I would not have been so good at work if I hadn’t had the experience of being Ethan’s dog—Jakob’s cold distance would have been incomprehensible and painful to me.
如果我没有做过伊森的狗，我在工作中就不会有这么好的表现了——雅各布疏冷的距离感在我看来就会是难以理解、让人痛苦的了。
But now what?
但是现在我为什么重生了？
What could possibly happen now that would justify my rebirth as a puppy?
现在可能会发生什么事来证明我又重生为一只小狗了呢?
We were in a well-kept kennel with a cement floor, and twice a day a man came in and cleaned it out and took us out into a yard to romp in the grass.
我们住在一间保养得很好的狗舍里，铺着水泥地面，每天都会有个人来打扫2次。打扫的时候，他会把我们放到院子里的草地上嬉闹。
Other men and women spent time with us, lifting us and looking at our paws,
其他的男男女女会和我们呆在一起，把我们举起来，看着我们的爪子，
and while I felt joy coming from them, none radiated that special love that I’d had with Ethan and with Maya and Al.
虽然我从他们身上感受到了快乐，但它们身上并没有散发出我在伊森、玛雅和艾尔身上感受到的那种特殊的爱。
“Congratulations, you’ve got a fine litter here, Colonel,” one of them said, holding me up in the air as he spoke.
“恭喜你，你的这窝小狗崽真漂亮，上校。”其中一个说着，把我举在空中。
