A Friend In Need
患難真情
Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like pairs of dogs you can find in any neighborhood, these two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses.
布朗尼和斯波蒂是一對鄰居家的狗，每天都會在一塊兒玩耍。像幾乎能在任何社區找到的成對的狗一樣，它們倆互相愛慕，常在一起玩耍嬉戲，兩家之間的草地上都已被它們踏出了一條小徑。
One evening, Brownie's family noticed that Brownie hadn't returned home. They went looking for him with no success. Brownie didn't show up the next day, and, despite their efforts to find him, by the next week he was still missing.
一天傍晚，布朗尼的主人一家發現它沒有回家，便出去尋找，但卻沒有找到它。第二天，布朗尼依然沒有露面。儘管他們努力找尋，然而，到了第二週，布朗尼還是不見蹤影。
說來奇怪，斯波蒂獨自出現在了布朗尼的主人家裡。它吠叫，哀嚎，還總是纏著家裡的人，但是人們只顧忙於自己的生活，沒有理會鄰居家這隻神經質的小狗。
Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownies house alone. Barking, whining and generally pestering Brownie's human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.
一天早上，斯波蒂終於拒絕接受“不”的回答。布朗尼的主人特德被這隻狂怒固執的小狗騷擾個不停。斯波蒂到處跟著特德，並且汪汪地叫個不停，之後它竄到近處空地上，又竄回來，似乎在說：“跟我來!有緊急情況!”
最後，特德跟著發狂的斯波蒂穿過空地，斯波蒂則停下跑回來，鼓勵般地吠叫著。這隻小狗領著特德走過一棵樹，穿過樹叢，來到距離房子半英里處的一塊荒蕪的土地上。就在那兒，特德發現了他心愛的布朗尼，它還活著，一條後腿被一個鋼製捕捉器夾住了。看到這一情景，特德大為震驚，他多麼希望自己早點認真地對待斯波蒂當初的求助啊！接著，特德看到了非同尋常的一幕。
斯波蒂所做的遠遠不只是帶領布朗尼的主人來到它被困的朋友跟前。在受傷的布朗尼周圍，特德發現有一排狗食和餐桌上的殘羹剩飯，原來這些是那個星期斯波蒂每餐剩下的食物!
Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take “no” for an answer. Ted, Brownie's owner, was steadily harassed by the furious, adamant little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then darting toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, “Follow me!It's urgent!”
Eventually, Ted followed the frantic Spotty across the empty lot as Spotty paused to race back and bark encouragingly. The little dog led the man under a tree, past clumps of trees, to a desolate spot a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leghold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he'd taken Spotty's earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.
Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie's human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week!
斯波蒂一直定期來看望布朗尼，它不惜犧牲自己的舒適生活，一心一意要讓朋友活下來。很顯然，斯波蒂一直堅守在布朗尼身旁，保護它免遭其他肉食動物的侵襲，夜間則依偎著它為它驅寒，還用鼻子拱它以振作它的精神。
Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in a single minded quest to keep his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from predators, snuggling with him at night to keep him warm and nuzzling him to keep his spirits up.
布朗尼康復了。自那以後的許多年中，兩家人經常會看到這一對忠實的朋友嬉戲玩耍，在兩家之間踩出小徑的草地上相互追逐。
Brownie recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends frolicking and chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses.
不論發生什麼事情，我們都應該忠實於我們的朋友，幫助他們擺脫困境。只有這樣，我們才能交到真正的朋友，也才能成為別人真正的朋友。
No matter what occurs, we should be loyal to our friends and help them out of trouble. Only in this way can we make true friends and be true friends to others.
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