一段令人疑惑的記憶

向紅

Though it is one of the faded memories of my life today， there are times when I remember its face clearly， especially its eyes. As it had yellow spots on its eyes we called it Spotty. It would have been a stray1 dog until it came to me.

I was seven years old. My dad had just got transferred2 to Nasik. We had shifted into a rented house. It was raining very heavily on the day we moved.

I went out and felt a cool wind on my face. It was a cold dark night. We had our meal and went to sleep.

In the midnight， I heard a loud thud3 outside the main door. I took courage and peeped4 out through the window. There was a small dog lying on an old rug5 which my mother had put outside the door. It was wet and shivering6. At first， it was difficult to see the little one. It had a black body which was darker even than a black rain cloud. It was the yellow spots on its eyes， which made me discover it.

It was trying to get inside the curved rug to avoid the chilling7 air outside as I could see only its head outside the rug.

I saw that the flowerpot kept on the window sill had fallen down. I felt pity for the poor soul. I went in and came out with an old towel. I went near the innocent one and held it in my hand and wiped it till it had become dry. I took it inside and made a bed for it with a woolen rug and a small pillow. It seemed very comfortable in its new bed as it went to sleep immediately.

The next morning， everyone in the family came to know about the unusual guest. “Shall we keep it with us？” I questioned my mom.

Like any other parents would， my parents first totally refused my idea but I and my sister convinced8 them to keep Spotty.

Slowly Spotty got easily mingled with everyone and became one of the family members. We got used to all its small habits and pranks9.

Days passed on and one evening when Spotty returned from its long walk， it was very tired. It came to my room and sat near me. It was then I saw that its hind leg was injured and was bleeding. I called out my mother and she quickly tied a bandage10 around its leg and gave it food to eat.

I was very upset. But the next day， Spotty was up to its usual pranks though it limped a bit. After this incident， my relation with Spotty became closer. I really admired it a lot for its courage.

Almost a year later， one midnight， we heard Spotty barking breathlessly. We came out and saw that it was barking continuously heading somewhere. After some time， Spotty became quite. I patted it on its back and came inside.

The next morning， my heart skipped a beat when I didnt see Spotty. I searched for it in each and every corner but it was nowhere. And this time it had gone and would never come back. I cried and waited for it. We waited for one long week. But there were no signs of it.

Then one day， my dad got transferred to Mumbai. We shifted back to Mumbai. What would have happened to Spotty？ Would it have died？ These were the only questions in my mind， but they all remained unanswered forever.

雖然如今我已經(jīng)不太記得那段時(shí)光，但是有時(shí)我還是會(huì)清楚地記起它的臉尤其是它的眼睛。因?yàn)樗难劬ι嫌悬S色的斑點(diǎn)，所以我們叫它“斑點(diǎn)”。在遇到我之前，斑點(diǎn)本是一只流浪狗。

那年我七歲了。我父親剛剛調(diào)任到納西克。我們把家搬到了租來(lái)的房子里。我們搬家那天，雨下得非常大。

我開(kāi)門(mén)出去就能感覺(jué)到一陣?yán)滹L(fēng)撲面而來(lái)。那是一個(gè)寒冷而漆黑的黑夜。我們吃了飯，然后就去睡覺(jué)了。

午夜時(shí)分，我聽(tīng)到大門(mén)外一聲巨響。我鼓起勇氣，透過(guò)窗戶向外看去。有一只小狗躺在我媽媽放在門(mén)外的一張舊地毯上。它渾身濕透了，身體顫抖著。一開(kāi)始很難察覺(jué)到這個(gè)小家伙。它的身體是黑色的，甚至比漆黑的雨云還要黑。是它眼睛上的黃色斑點(diǎn)讓我注意到了它。

它試圖把自己卷入地毯里以抵擋外面的寒冷空氣，而我只能看到它的頭露在地毯外面。

我看到窗臺(tái)上的花盆掉了下來(lái)。我覺(jué)得這個(gè)小家伙很可憐。于是我回屋，拿了一條舊毛巾出來(lái)。我走近它把它捧在手里，把它身上擦干了。我把它帶進(jìn)屋，用毛毯和一個(gè)小枕頭為它鋪了一張床，它似乎在新床上很舒服，很快就睡著了。

第二天早上，家里的每個(gè)人都知道了斑點(diǎn)的存在。我問(wèn)媽媽：“我們能把它留下嗎？”

像其他父母一樣，我的父母開(kāi)始不同意我的這個(gè)想法，但最后我和姐姐說(shuō)服了他們讓斑點(diǎn)和我們一起。

慢慢地，斑點(diǎn)和我的家人相處越來(lái)越融洽，成為家庭成員之一。我們也習(xí)慣了它所有的習(xí)性和惡作劇。

幾天過(guò)去了，一天晚上，斑點(diǎn)走了很多路，回來(lái)時(shí)，它顯得非常疲憊。它來(lái)到我的房間，坐在我旁邊。那時(shí)，我看到它的后腿受了傷并且正在流血。我叫了我媽媽，然后她迅速將繃帶綁在它腿上，給了它吃了一點(diǎn)東西。

我看著它那個(gè)樣子非常傷心。但是第二天，盡管它一瘸一拐，但它還是像往常一樣同我們惡作劇。在這次事件之后，我與斑點(diǎn)的關(guān)系變得更加親密了。我非常欽佩它的勇氣。

差不多一年之后的一個(gè)午夜，我們聽(tīng)到斑點(diǎn)氣喘吁吁地吠叫。我們出來(lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)它正在不停地朝某個(gè)地方叫。叫了一段時(shí)間后，斑點(diǎn)便安靜下來(lái)了。我拍了拍它的背便回屋了。

第二天早上，我心很慌因?yàn)榘唿c(diǎn)不見(jiàn)了，我到處找都沒(méi)看見(jiàn)它。這次它已經(jīng)走了，而且永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)回來(lái)。我哭著等了它一個(gè)星期，但沒(méi)有它的消息。

有一天，我的爸爸調(diào)回了孟買(mǎi)。我們搬回了孟買(mǎi)。斑點(diǎn)怎么了？它去哪里了？它死了嗎？我腦海里一直盤(pán)旋著這些問(wèn)題，但永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)人能回答我了。