Jake and Cat

佚名/Anonymous

一開始，杰克就很清楚地表現(xiàn)出他對貓的看法：她們最適合作為一道菜放在盤中。

杰克是我們家養(yǎng)的狗，他是一只身形高大、盛氣凌人的公狗，他的身上有著博德牧羊犬、拉布拉多獵犬以及一點德國牧羊犬的血統(tǒng)。在他兩歲的時候，我們從當(dāng)?shù)氐囊患覄游锉茈y所收養(yǎng)了他。我心愛的瑪撒因一場意外的疾病離開了，后來杰克走進(jìn)了我們的生活。那天，我們?nèi)ケ茈y所原本想再找一只像瑪撒一樣的皮毛亂蓬蓬的母狗，但是在湖邊我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只短毛的公狗，他高傲地、靜靜地坐在那些狂吠不止的狗中間。我們告訴避難所的管理員，我們要帶杰克回家，因為我們能感覺到他的身上有一種神奇的魔力。“這樣太好了，”管理員說道，“當(dāng)他把那種神奇的魔力展現(xiàn)在你面前時，請不要再將他送回來了！”

杰克很快就成了我們喜愛的家庭成員。他很喜歡看我們用無數(shù)的喂食器和鳥盆來吸引院子里的小鳥。他和鄰居家的小狗及附近其他的狗在公園里一起做游戲，但是他非常明確地表示：貓是不允許到他的領(lǐng)地上來的。如果有任何貓走得太近了，他就會窮追不舍地將她們攆走。

有一天，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我們的柴堆房里有幾只很小的野貓。盡管我是一個養(yǎng)狗人，也從來沒有想過要和貓共同生活，但是我的內(nèi)心深處還是對這三只小貓充滿了憐憫。她們大概有四周大，灰色斑紋的皮毛十分漂亮，大大的眼睛充滿了恐懼，她們的媽媽不見了。我將她們放進(jìn)一只箱子，并拿到屋里。杰克聽見貓叫的聲音，就立刻開始分泌唾液，流著口水，并喘著粗氣。獸醫(yī)告訴我們：“有些狗在任何情況下都是不會接受貓的。”

那次小貓事件已經(jīng)過去一年了，有一天我向外望去，目光落在一張桌子上，看見杰克豎著耳朵，頭歪向一邊，盯著地面。在他的腳下有一只小貓咪，靜靜地坐著。我試圖用溫和的話語安撫杰克，使他平靜下來，我又往前走得近些，希望能阻止那種我確信即將發(fā)生的悲慘攻擊。那只小貓的眼睛受到了嚴(yán)重感染，可能已經(jīng)看不見了，不知道自己在哪里或是還不知道自己即將面臨危險。但是杰克只是盯著那只小貓，然后又看看我，再轉(zhuǎn)過去看看小貓。我聽見了貓的叫聲，發(fā)現(xiàn)桌子底下還有一只小貓。于是我把這兩只貓都放進(jìn)盒子里，將這個盒子作為她們臨時的家。我把盒子放在車庫，然后開始打電話給我所知道的那些動物收養(yǎng)所，不厭其煩地向他們說著同樣的故事——我的狗從來不允許那些貓進(jìn)入我們家，我需要立刻將這兩只小貓重新安置好。

第二天早晨，我們又發(fā)現(xiàn)三只小貓?zhí)稍陂T口的柴堆旁，蜷縮在一起取暖。于是我把她們也帶了進(jìn)來，并放在盒子里。

我的心情異常沉重。現(xiàn)在，我們已經(jīng)有五只小貓了，她們的眼睛都感染得很厲害。她們都將被送到一個擠滿了被遺棄的動物的家庭里。一整天，我都在不停地打電話，只是一遍又一遍地被告知已經(jīng)沒有足夠的地方再收養(yǎng)更多的動物了。我知道現(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)無從選擇了。我的眼中噙著淚，撥通了獸醫(yī)院的電話，希望他們把小貓永遠(yuǎn)帶出我的生活。與此同時，我又看了看杰克，他靜靜地觀察著身邊的一切，沒有流口水，也沒有喘息聲。他看起來沒有一點不安與急躁，我感覺有些事情發(fā)生了改變。

于是，我平靜地坐著，而且心中有一個聲音告訴我該怎么做。我給獸醫(yī)打了電話，預(yù)約檢查小貓的眼睛。從獸醫(yī)院回家的路上，我去了一家寵物店，買了第一箱貓食。回到家中，我將放小貓的盒子拿到屋里。杰克在旁邊等著。時間到了，于是我小心翼翼地將那幾只小貓放在廚房的地板上，屏住呼吸，時刻準(zhǔn)備在必要時刻去拯救那幾只小貓。

杰克走了過來，用鼻子挨個聞了聞那幾只小貓，接著就坐在她們的中間，看著我。那幾只小貓蜂擁而上，很高興能夠找到這么大的可以依偎的既溫暖又毛茸茸的身體來取暖。那是杰克打開他的心扉接受這五只小貓咪的時刻，我不知道他是不是想起了當(dāng)時自己也需要一個家。我蹲下來感謝他的愛心和憐憫，告訴他，我是多么感激他走進(jìn)了我的生活。但是這些感激的話語等到以后再告訴他吧——杰克和他的小貓咪們已經(jīng)睡著了。

From the beginning， Jake made his feelings clear about the subject of cats： they were best served on a plate.

Jake was our resident dog， a large dominant male， part Border collie and part Labrador retriever， with a little German shepherd thrown in. Jake was about two years old when he was adopted by us from the local animal shelter. He came into our lives shortly after I lost my beloved dog Martha to an unexpected illness. One day we went to the shelter， searching for a shaggy-haired female (like Martha) to bring into our home. Instead， we found Jake， a short-haired male， proud and silent in the middle of all that barking. We told the shelter worker that we wanted Jake to come home with us because we could sense he had a lot of magic inside of him. "That's great，" she said， "Just don't bring him back when he shows you that magic？"

Jake immediately became a cherished member of our family. He loved watching the birds we attracted to our yard with numerous feeders and birdbaths. He played with the puppy next door and other dogs in the park， but made it extremely clear that cats would never be allowed on his property， chasing any feline that came too close.

One day， I found a litter of wild kittens in our woodpile. Although I had been a "dog person" all my life and had never had the privilege of sharing my life with a cat， my heart went out to these little fur balls. They were only about four weeks old， and had beautiful gray-striped bodies and large， frightened eyes. Their mother was nowhere in sight. I put them into a box and brought them inside. Jake heard the meowing and immediately began to salivate， drool， and pant. Our veterinarian told us， "Some dogs just don't accept cats under any condition."

A year after the kitty experience， one day I looked outside onto the deck and saw Jake with his ears up and his head cocked sideways， staring at the ground. There at his feet was a tiny kitten， sitting very still. Using soothing words to try and keep Jake calm， I moved in closer， hoping to prevent the ugly attack I felt sure was coming. The kitten had badly infected eyes， and it probably couldn't see where it was or what was looming over it. But Jake just looked at the little creature， then looked up at me， and then back at the kitten. I heard some meowing， and discovered another kitten under the desk. So I scooped them both up into a box that would be their temporary home. I put the box in the garage and started making calls to all the animal people I knew， telling each the same story—my dog would never allow these cats into our home， and I needed to relocate them right away.

The next morning， we found three more kittens lying in a pile outside the door， huddled together for warmth. So I took them in and added them to the box.

My heart was very heavy. Now we had five little kittens， all with infected eyes， which would be sent out into a world already crowded with unwanted little creatures. I spent the day making phone calls， only to be told over and over that no one had room for more critters. I knew I'd run out of options， so with tears in my eyes， I picked up the phone to make the call to the vet that would take the kittens out of my life forever. At the same moment， my eyes fell on Jake， calmly observing everything going on around him. There was no drooling， no panting， he didn't seem upset or anxious. I felt something was different.

So I became still and I sat. And I heard a voice in my heart telling me what to do. I called our veterinarian and made an appointment to bring the kittens in and get their eyes checked. On the way home from the doctor， I went to a pet store and bought my first litter box. I came home and brought the box of kittens back into the house. Jake was waiting. The time had come， so I carefully put the babies on the floor of the kitchen and held my breath， ready to come to the rescue if necessary.

Jake walked over and sniffed each of the kittens. Then he sat down in the middle of them and looked up at me. The kittens swarmed over him， happy to find a big， warm body of fur to curl up next to. That's when Jake opened his heart to the five little kittens and adopted them as his own. I wondered if he remembered a time when he， too， had needed a home. I went down to thank him for his love and compassion and tell him how grateful I was he'd come into my life. But it would have to wait until later—Jake and his kittens were fast asleep.