Some years ago, a ship bound for China had on board, with other passengers, an officer, his wife, their only child—a little boy five years old, and a large Newfoundland dog called Bobby.

Everybody in the ship liked Bobby, he was so good-tempered and frolicsome; but the boy was the dogs constant playmate. He was a merry little fellow, and as fond of Bobby as Bobby was of him.

One evening while the little boy and the dog were romping together, the ship gave a roll, and splash went the child into the sea!

A cry was raised, “A hand over! a hand over!” and the brave dog sprang over the side of the ship, clearing it like a greyhound, and swam towards the stern.

The little boy's father, half frantic, leaped with others into the jolly-boat; but it was too dark to see far before them. All gave the child up for lost.

At last they heard a splash on the left side of the ship. “Pull on, quick!”cried the father. The boat was turned, the men pulled with all their might, and in a moment brave Bobby was alongside, holding up the child in his mouth! Joy! joy! joy!

The boat was rowed back to the ship; the half-drowned boy soon got better;the parents were delighted; and brave Bobby was caressed by all.

At the Cape-of-Good-Hope, the passengers were to be landed. The officer got into the boat, with his wife and child; but he told the sailors to hold the Newfoundland dog tight by the collar till the boat was some distance from the ship. “You will then see,” said he, “what a strong swimmer he is.”

Brave Bobby pulled and tugged to get loose, but all in vain; for they held him till the boat was near the shore. But no sooner did the officer give the signal than the dog was set at liberty, and away he went full dash into the sea.

Suddenly the poor animal set up a shrill howl, and threw himself out of the water. At first it was thought he had been seized with cramp; but it was worse than that—a shark was after him!

“A shark! a shark!” sounded from the boat to the ship. Bobby swam right and left, and dived and doubled, showing his teeth, and never allowing the shark time to turn on his back; without doing which the monster could not bite him.

The officer in the boat soon saw that there was little chance of reaching the spot in time to save the dog. Poor Bobby swam and dodged, till he was almost tired out. “Stop rowing,” cried the officer to the men, “and turn the boat round.”

Just at that moment the shark, which had got very close to the dog, turned on his back and opened his horrid mouth!

Bobby was all but gone. His master rose, pointed his gun, and fired. In a moment the water was tinged with blood: the horrid jaws of the shark were shattered to pieces!

The men then rowed to the spot where Bobby was swimming about. The officer pulled the dog into the boat; the child threw his little arms around him;and the men in the boat, and the sailors in the ship, cried out with joy, “Hurrah! hurrah! joy! joy! Bobby is safe! the shark is killed! Hurrah! hurrah!”

Questions

How does the dog in the picture happen to be in the water? When did this occur? What fish is that near the dog? Why is it turning on its back? Who are in the boat? How was the dog saved? Why was he so much loved by his master?

Pronunciation

Chi'-na grey'-hound mo'-ment of'-fi-cer sound'-ed

con'-stant de-light'-ed mon'-ster sud'-den-ly al-low'-ing

play'-mate lib'-er-ty row'-ing a-long'-side sail'-ors

Write

officer sounded hurrah

suddenly allowing moment

passengers alongside shattered

若干年前，在一艘駛往中國的船只上，載著一位軍官夫婦和他們的獨生子以及其他乘客。軍官的孩子有五歲大，他們還有一只名叫鮑比的紐芬蘭犬。

船上所有人的都喜歡鮑比，因為它脾氣非常好，又喜歡嬉戲。小男孩是狗永遠的玩伴。他是個愉快的小家伙，他喜歡鮑比，鮑比也喜歡他。

一天晚上，小男孩和鮑比一起玩耍的時候，船發生了搖晃，濺起的浪頭把小男孩卷進了海里！

叫喊聲響了起來，“快來人！快來人！”這時，勇敢的鮑比跳過船的一側，像一條快艇一樣，朝船尾游去。

小男孩的父親已經快發狂了，他和其他人一起跳進一艘小艇。但是天太黑了，看不到前面的東西。所有人都覺得這孩子肯定找不到了。

終于，他們聽到船的左邊出現劃水的聲音。“快點，繼續劃！”父親喊道。船掉轉回頭，人們用盡全力劃著，一會兒就到了勇敢的鮑比旁邊，而鮑比正用嘴抓著孩子！慶幸！慶幸！慶幸啊！

小艇劃了回去，快被淹死的小孩不久就恢復了；孩子的父母非常高興，人們都去撫摸勇敢的鮑比，對他表示感謝。

船到了好望角，乘客們快要上岸了。軍官和他的妻子和孩子走進船里，但是軍官告訴水手們要抓牢這條紐芬蘭犬的項圈，直到小艇離船有一段距離才放手。“然后你會看到，”他說，“它是一個多么堅韌的游泳高手。”

勇敢的鮑比用力又拉又拖，想掙脫束縛，但是卻都徒勞無功；因為鮑比在船靠岸之前一直被拴著，所以當軍官一聲令下，讓人們放開它的時候，鮑比就全速沖進海里。

突然，這個可憐的小動物發出一聲尖厲的嚎叫，奮力想要跳出水中。剛開始，人們以為它痙攣了，但是，比這更可怕的情況出現了——一條鯊魚在追它！

“鯊魚！鯊魚！”這叫喊聲從小艇傳到船上。鮑比一會兒往左，一會兒往右，一會兒潛水，一會兒折返。它張著嘴，不讓鯊魚有任何機會攻擊它的背部；而只要攻擊不到它的背部，這個猛獸就沒法咬它。

在船上的軍官不久就發現，要及時地趕到那片水域去救鮑比幾乎是不可能的。可憐的鮑比又游又躲，馬上就要筋疲力盡了。“不要劃了，”軍官對人們喊道，“掉轉船頭吧。”

就在鯊魚離鮑比幾步之遙的時候，它張開了血盆大口，攻擊鮑比的 背部。

鮑比差一點就要死了。它的主人舉起槍射擊。水面上頓時濺滿了血跡；鯊魚可怕的下巴被打成了碎片！

然后人們劃向鮑比所在的地點。軍官把鮑比拉上了船，孩子的小手臂環繞著鮑比；船上的所有乘客，所有水手，都高興地哭了起來，“萬歲！萬歲！好哇！好哇！鮑比平安了！鯊魚被殺死了！萬歲！萬歲！”