Four-Legged Angel四條腿的天使

Surrounded by rolling green hills dotted1with horses and cows， the beautiful ranch townof Waimea on Hawaii’s Big Island is a peacefuland friendly place. One afternoon， while stayingwith friends at their house there， my husbandand I decided to go for a walk along the many，mostly traffic-free， country lanes2 in the area.

夏威夷大島上風(fēng)景如畫的牧場小鎮(zhèn)威美亞鎮(zhèn)被連綿起伏的青山環(huán)繞，其間散布著馬匹和奶牛，是一個寧靜友好的地方。住在那里朋友的家里期間，一天下午，我和丈夫決定沿著該地區(qū)許多幾乎沒有車輛通行的鄉(xiāng)村小路散步。

We met a beautiful Golden Retriever，obviously well cared for but with no collar. Heseemed especially friendly so we stopped to playwith him， throwing a stick which he retrieved3several times with glee4. When we went on ourwalk， he followed us， and although I worried thathe might be going too far from his home， I couldn’tdeny5 that we were enjoying his company. We feltan immediate bond with this lovely dog and eventalked about adopting6 him if we learned that hedidn’t belong to anyone.

我們遇到了一只美麗的金毛尋回犬，它顯然受到了精心的照料，但沒有項圈。它看起來特別友好，所以我們停下來和他玩，扔出一根棍子，它高興地跑去銜回了好幾次。當(dāng)我們繼續(xù)散步時，它跟在我們后面。盡管我擔(dān)心它可能離家太遠(yuǎn)，但我不能否認(rèn)我們很享受它的陪伴。我們感覺與這只可愛的狗立即產(chǎn)生了感情，甚至討論到如果知道它不屬于任何人，我們可以收養(yǎng)它。

After about twenty minutes， we found ourselves walking along a dirt road inan unfamiliar area， our golden friend still trotting7 beside us. Hilly grasslandssloped8 upward beyond a fence on one side of the road， and houses spacedcomfortably apart dotted the other. One house was almost hidden by tall trees. I feltsomething wrong as we passed it and felt an urge9 to be as far away from thatplace as possible.

大約二十分鐘后，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正沿著一條陌生區(qū)域的土路行走，我們金色的朋友仍在我們身邊小跑。道路一側(cè)的柵欄外是傾斜的丘陵草地，另一側(cè)是間距適中的房屋。有一座房子，幾乎被高大的樹木遮蔽住了。當(dāng)我們經(jīng)過它時，我感覺不對勁，有一種盡可能遠(yuǎn)離那個地方的沖動。

Just then， the door to the house creaked open and five dogs rushed out，barking and growling10 as they ran toward us. I felt terrified and couldn’t move.There was nowhere to hide and no time to run.

就在這時，那座房子的門吱呀一聲打開了，有五只狗沖了出來。它們一邊吠叫著，咆哮著，一邊向我們跑來。我感到害怕，無法動彈。我們沒有地方躲藏，也沒有時間逃跑。

All of a sudden， our new friend appeared between the dogs and us. He facedthem—all five of them—growling and baring11 his teeth. I was amazed to see theattacking dogs stop in their tracks ten feet away from him. Our protector held themthere while we escaped12， running quickly down the road. At a safe distance， welooked back and saw the five dogs heading back toward their house.

突然，我們的新朋友出現(xiàn)在那群狗和我們之間。它面對著它們，面對著它們五條狗，咆哮著，齜牙咧嘴。我驚訝地看到攻擊我們的狗停在離它十英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方。我們的保護(hù)者把它們攔在那里，而我們則沿著公路快速逃跑。到了安全的距離，我們回頭看，看到那五條狗正朝著它們的房子跑去。

But the Golden Retriever was nowhere in sight.

但是金毛尋回犬卻不見蹤影。

The road was quiet again.

路上又恢復(fù)了平靜。

I felt an ache in my heart; I missed our friendalready. Instinctively13， I knew he was not hurt.

我感到一陣心痛；我已經(jīng)很想念我們的朋友了。我憑直覺知道它沒有受傷。

With a feeling of emptiness， we made our way back to the house， hoping the whole way that we would see our golden friend again. But it was not to be.

帶著一種空虛的感覺，我們返回那座房子，希望一路上能再次見到我們金色的朋友，但事與愿違。

When I told our friend about the encounter14， her eyes flew wide open as she exclaimed，“It was an angel！ ”

當(dāng)我告訴我們的朋友這次偶遇時，她眼睛睜得大大的，驚呼道：“它是一個天使！”

To this day I have no doubt. A four-legged angel protected us.

直到今天我都毫不懷疑。一個四條腿的天使保護(hù)了我們。

（英語原文選自：chickensoup.com）