Katherine Messenger

One August afternoon in 1999， my parents and I drove to a farm in Leesburg， Virginia， to look at a litter1） of Jack Russell Terrier2） puppies we’d seen advertised. As soon as we arrived at the breeder’s house， we were confronted by Bunny， the long-legged mother of the pups. She was jumping in place3）， and for the entire time we visited， she never stopped jumping， up to three feet in the air. We should have known what we were in for4）.

The puppy we chose held her white-tipped tail high and posed as if on camera， while her brothers and sisters lolled5） about. As the breeder noted， she favored her glamorous show-dog grandmother. And when she looked at me， she turned her head intelligently， pricking up her ears so that they formed perfect triangles. We named her Daisy， because she was delicate and cheerful like the flower. It didn’t last.

As soon as coordination set in， she proved so energetic as to be aggressive. Running in loops in the backyard was a common activity when nobody would play. Head-butting6） beach balls also amused her， and she relished getting wet—in the wading pool outside， and in her water bowl inside. We strove to confine her to the kitchen， but she defeated our ever-sturdier gates—shimmying7） under them， leaping over them， or， in her preferred method， simply bashing8） them to the ground with a whole-body slam—then zipped upstairs to stomp on our bed pillows in victory.

Hoping to tame Daisy Do-Wrong， we enrolled her in obedience school. She easily learned to “sit，” “roll over，” and “dance” but refused to perform a trick without a treat—or to do more than one trick at a time. Once， when the owners’ attention was on the instructor after we’d supposedly gotten our dogs to “heel，” Daisy slipped out of her collar， charged across the room， and tackled a Bichon9）. No diploma from Old Dominion University for Dogs ever adorned the Eastland family manse10）.

The vet told us Daisy acted out because she needed more “entertainment.” More was never enough. If she got four walks a day， she wanted five. When she got a new toy， she liked it for a minute and looked for the next. And when she got a brother， it was the same. He slept； she trotted about the house investigating every possible line of mischief. What she enjoyed most was the backyard， her kingdom. To give her full access， and infinite opportunity to tire herself， we installed a doggy door. She reverted to her true calling： huntress. Our merciless Daisy brought in sparrows， rabbits， chipmunks， and the occasional raccoon. Not even bees escaped her pleasure in the chase—though swallowing them did land her in the animal hospital with a face like a football more than once.

At age 10， Daisy developed a liver condition. With the help of a pill， she pressed on11） with ardor undiminished， still swiping12） hosiery13） from the hamper14） and scratching the pantry15） door for marshmallows16）. A few years later， she began to lose her hearing. And then two months ago， she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. When I came down from New York to say goodbye， not even an ice cube cascading17） down the hallway could interest her.

And then she rallied18）. As a family beach vacation approached， the question was what to do with Daisy. Was she well enough to travel？ The vet said sure， so she came. Her bark was back， and so was her appetite. She was having no part of the salt-free diet the vet had ordered. This was， after all， a dog I once dressed as a French fry for Halloween. Daisy protested every piece of plain chicken or unbuttered biscuit offered and waited until no one was around but my grandmother. Then she would sit and bark sharply until Grandma Ed gave in and microwaved Daisy her favorite snack： a hotdog.

On the night of my grandmother’s birthday， Daisy jumped onto the dining room table and got a hunk of pineapple upside-down cake. When we caught her mid-bite， she looked at us with delight， her face dotted with golden crumbs19） and her ears pointing to the ceiling like exclamation marks. The next night， she struck again， gleefully stealing flounder skins and playing tug-of-war20） once caught. She slept soundly and without remorse.

We left the beach joking that Daisy had already made her reservation for next year. （She’d surely hidden a pancake in one of the closets for future snacking.） But it turned out it really was the end. Two days later， at the vet’s for a routine procedure， her tired heart gave out. The vet was surprised. We were shocked. But then that queenly， brazen， beautiful girl never would do the expected.

1999年8月的一個(gè)下午，我和父母驅(qū)車趕往弗吉尼亞州利斯堡的一座農(nóng)場(chǎng)，去見我們?cè)趶V告中看到的那窩活潑可愛的杰克·拉塞爾犬。我們一踏進(jìn)飼養(yǎng)員的家門，就被那窩小狗的長(zhǎng)腿媽媽邦尼堵在了門口。她在狗窩旁跳來跳去，而且在我們整個(gè)參觀期間，她一刻也沒停下來過，跳得足有三英尺高。我們本該知道會(huì)受到怎樣的“禮遇”。

我們選中的那只小狗的尾巴尖是白色的，她把自己的尾巴翹得高高的，好像在擺姿勢(shì)拍照，而她的兄弟姐妹都在懶洋洋地躺著。正像飼養(yǎng)員說的那樣，這條狗長(zhǎng)得像她魅力十足的祖母，一條表演狗。當(dāng)她看著我時(shí)，她機(jī)靈地轉(zhuǎn)了轉(zhuǎn)腦袋，豎起耳朵，形成了兩個(gè)完美的三角形。因?yàn)樗耠r菊那樣?jì)赡蹥g快，所以我們給她取名“黛西”（編注：daisy有“雛菊”之意）。但這種情況沒有持續(xù)多久。

剛和她建立默契，我們就發(fā)現(xiàn)她的精力是如此旺盛，簡(jiǎn)直就是放肆。沒人跟她玩時(shí)，她的活動(dòng)項(xiàng)目通常就是在后院一圈一圈地跑。用頭撞沙灘球也能讓她玩得很高興。而且，無論是在院子外的淺水池戲水，還是在院子里的水碗里喝水，她都喜歡把自己弄得渾身濕漉漉的。我們想盡一切辦法把她的活動(dòng)區(qū)域限制在廚房，但我們不斷加固的廚房門還是成了她的“手下敗將”：從門下邊擠出去，從門上邊跳出去，或者用她最喜歡的那個(gè)辦法，就是干脆將整個(gè)身體撞上去，把門撞倒在地。破門而出后，她就噌噌躥上樓，踩到我們的枕頭上以示勝利。

為了馴服“錯(cuò)事大王”黛西，我們給她報(bào)名參加了寵物訓(xùn)練學(xué)校。她輕而易舉就學(xué)會(huì)了“坐”“翻身”“跳舞”這些指令，但是如果沒有獎(jiǎng)賞，她就拒絕表演任何把戲，而且她一次只愿意表演一個(gè)。有一次，馴獸師要求狗主人們讓自己的狗狗“緊跟”自己，之后大家都只顧注意馴獸師了。這時(shí)，黛西從項(xiàng)圈中滑出，穿過房間，擒住一只比熊犬，扭打起來。黛西壓根沒拿到老多明寧狗大學(xué)頒發(fā)的畢業(yè)證，我們位于東岸的家里也無緣拿它來做裝飾。

獸醫(yī)告訴我們，黛西之所以會(huì)有這樣的表現(xiàn)是因?yàn)樗枰嗟摹跋病薄５俣嗟南捕疾粔?。如果她一天出去散了四次步，她就?huì)想要第五次。當(dāng)她得到一個(gè)新玩具，她對(duì)它只有一分鐘的新鮮感，下一分鐘就會(huì)尋找另一個(gè)玩具。當(dāng)她有個(gè)弟弟時(shí)，同樣的事情又發(fā)生了。弟弟睡著了，而她在屋里四處小跑，琢磨著搞點(diǎn)什么惡作劇，任何可能的機(jī)會(huì)都不放過。她最喜歡的是后院，那是她的王國(guó)。為了能讓她充分利用后院，給她無限的機(jī)會(huì)把自己玩累，我們?cè)诤笤喊擦艘簧裙烽T。她回歸到自己的本行——獵犬。我們那毫無憐憫之心的黛西逮到過麻雀、兔子、金花鼠，偶爾還會(huì)抓到浣熊，甚至連蜜蜂也逃不過她追逐的樂趣——盡管吞食蜜蜂曾使她的臉不止一次腫得像個(gè)足球，讓她因此住進(jìn)了動(dòng)物醫(yī)院。

十歲時(shí)，黛西的肝臟出了問題。在藥物的幫助下，她和以往一樣，激情絲毫未減，仍然從籃子里偷拽襪子，為了吃軟糖而用爪子撓食品儲(chǔ)藏室的門。幾年后，她的耳朵開始聾了。兩個(gè)月前，她被診斷患了充血性心力衰竭。當(dāng)我從紐約回來向她告別時(shí)，她甚至對(duì)一塊沿走廊向下滑的冰塊都提不起興趣了。

不久，她的體力又恢復(fù)了。隨著家人去海灘度假日期的臨近，問題也來了：黛西該怎么辦？她的健康狀況適合去旅行嗎？獸醫(yī)認(rèn)為可以，所以她和我們一起去了。她的叫聲變得和以前一樣洪亮，食欲也恢復(fù)了。獸醫(yī)叮囑的無鹽飲食她根本就沒吃。畢竟，她可是那條我曾經(jīng)在萬圣節(jié)時(shí)裝扮成薯?xiàng)l的狗。我們給黛西的那些味道清淡的雞肉或是沒抹黃油的餅干，她一塊也不愿意嘗，她就一直等著，直到人們都離開，只剩下我的祖母。之后，她會(huì)坐下來叫個(gè)不停，最后祖母埃德只好讓步，用微波爐給黛西烤她最喜歡吃的點(diǎn)心——熱狗。

在祖母生日的那天晚上，黛西跳到餐廳桌上，搶了一大塊菠蘿反轉(zhuǎn)蛋糕。她正咬著蛋糕時(shí)被我們逮了個(gè)正著，她歡快地看著我們，臉上到處都是金色的蛋糕渣，耳朵對(duì)著天花板，就像個(gè)感嘆號(hào)。第二天晚上，她又出擊了，喜滋滋地去偷比目魚的魚皮，被抓了現(xiàn)行后又和我們玩起了拔河比賽。之后她酣暢大睡，毫無自責(zé)之心。

我們離開海灘時(shí)開玩笑地說，黛西已為來年作好了準(zhǔn)備。（她肯定在某個(gè)壁櫥里藏了塊薄煎餅作為來年的點(diǎn)心。）但結(jié)果證明，一切真的要結(jié)束了。兩天后，在獸醫(yī)診所作例行檢查時(shí)，黛西那顆疲倦的心停止了跳動(dòng)。獸醫(yī)很驚訝，我們也很震驚。但那位女王般高貴、勇敢、美麗的姑娘從來都不會(huì)按人們的意料行事。

1.litter [?l?t?（r）] n. 一窩

2.Jack Russell Terrier：杰克·拉塞爾獵犬，具有活躍、精力旺盛、愛好群集的特點(diǎn)。

3.in place：在原來的（或常處的、合適的、指定的）位置

4.be in for：肯定會(huì)經(jīng)歷，注定要遭受

5.loll [l?l] vi. 懶洋洋地倚靠（或躺、坐、站）

6.head-butt：用頭頂撞……

7.shimmy [???mi] vi. 顫動(dòng)，搖晃

8.bash [b??] vt. 重打，猛擊

9.Bichon：比熊犬，體型嬌小，毛發(fā)蓬松，矯捷靈活，具有歡快的氣質(zhì)。

10.manse [m?ns] n. 住宅，莊園

11.press on：（不顧困難地）繼續(xù)前行

12.swipe [swa?p] vt. 偷竊

13.hosiery [?h??zi?ri] n. 襪類，針織品

14.hamper [?h?mp?（r）] n. 有蓋（柳條）大籃

15.pantry [?p?ntri] n. 餐具室，食品室

16.marshmallow [?mɑ?（r）??m?l??] n. （外包糖粉的）果漿軟糖

17.cascade [k??ske?d] vi. 像瀑布般下落（或傾瀉、流注）

18.rally [?r?li] vi. 復(fù)原，突然恢復(fù)健康

19.crumb [kr?m] n. 面包屑，碎屑

20.tug-of-war：拔河