佚名/Anonymous

布朗尼和斯波蒂是鄰居，他們每天都會(huì)在一起玩耍。與幾乎能在任何鄰里間找到的成對(duì)的狗一樣，他們互相傾慕，常在一起，以致于兩家之間的草地上已經(jīng)被他們踏出了一條小路。

一天傍晚，布朗尼的主人發(fā)現(xiàn)他沒(méi)有回家，到處找遍了也沒(méi)找到。第二天，依然沒(méi)有看到布朗尼。盡管大家還在努力尋找，可直到第二周，還是沒(méi)有找到。

讓人不解的是，斯波蒂獨(dú)自跑到布朗尼的主人家，吠叫、哀嚎，還總是纏著布朗尼的主人們，但他們忙于自己的事，根本不理會(huì)鄰居家這只精神有點(diǎn)問(wèn)題的小狗。

一天早上，斯波蒂再也不滿意被拒絕。這只暴怒的、不依不饒的小狗圍著布朗尼的主人特德叫個(gè)不停。斯波蒂死死跟著特德，汪汪地叫著，然后沖到近處的空地上，又跑回來(lái)，似乎在說(shuō)：“跟我來(lái)！有情況！”

最后，特德跟著這只發(fā)瘋似的小狗穿過(guò)空地，小狗停步奔回，吼叫著，催特德快點(diǎn)。他領(lǐng)著特德從一棵樹(shù)下穿過(guò)，經(jīng)過(guò)樹(shù)叢，最后在離房子半英里遠(yuǎn)的一處荒地停了下來(lái)。在那里，特德發(fā)現(xiàn)他心愛(ài)的布朗尼還活著，只是一條后腿被一個(gè)鋼制捕捉器夾著。特德很吃驚，為當(dāng)初沒(méi)有認(rèn)真對(duì)待斯波蒂的求助而感到后悔。隨后，他看到了驚人的一幕。

斯波蒂不僅把布朗尼的主人帶到了他被困的朋友跟前，而且在受傷的布朗尼身旁，特德還發(fā)現(xiàn)了一圈狗食和餐桌上的殘羹剩飯——后來(lái)證實(shí)那是那個(gè)星期他們每餐喂斯波蒂吃剩下的食物！

斯波蒂一直定時(shí)來(lái)看望布朗尼，下決心要讓他的朋友活下去，為了朋友，他不辭勞苦。顯然，斯波蒂陪伴著布朗尼，以免其他捕食動(dòng)物侵襲他，夜里偎依著他，把溫暖送給他，用鼻子拱他讓他振作精神。

獸醫(yī)把布朗尼的腿傷治好了。此后多年，兩家鄰居不時(shí)會(huì)看到這對(duì)忠實(shí)的朋友嬉戲玩耍，在兩家房子之間的小路上你追我趕。

Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together.Like pairs of dogs you can find in most 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.

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.

Curiously，Spotty showed up at Brownie’s house alone.Barking，whining and generally pestering Brownie’s human family.Busy with their own lives，they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.

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 Spottyhad been fed that week！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.

Brownie’s leg was treated by a veterinarian and he 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.