亚历山德拉·曼迪斯/Alexandra Mandis

My dog, Harry, and I are very close. Harry, an eighty-pound Dalmatian, listens to me when I am upset, comforts me when I am blue and goes everywhere with me. He cares for no other person like he does for me, his beloved mama. Having raised him since he was an eight-week-old pup, I feel the same way about him-he is my blue-eyed boy.

One beautiful Sunday morning, Harry and I went to Central Park. Harry was running off leash on Dog Hill, along with all the other city dogs, while their owners enjoyed a spring day in the park.

I was feeling down because I had been recently laid off from the job I’d held for ten years. Being in the park with Harry was one of the ways I forgot for a while that I was out of work-and that my prospects were not looking good in a tough economy.

I was standing at the bottom of Dog Hill talking to another dog owner when all of a sudden, we heard someone shout,“He peed on my leg!”I turned to look, and lo and behold, at the top of the hill I saw a lady gesticulating at my beloved boy, who apparently was the culprit. Horrified, I rushed up the hill. Harry had never done anything remotely like this before.

When I got to where the woman was standing, I reached down quickly and grabbed hold of Harry’s collar in case he decided to do anything else untoward. The woman was bent over, trying to clean up her leg. She was pulling off her shoe because the pee had dribbled down her leg all the way into her shoe.

We straightened up at the same moment, and for a shocked instant, we looked at each other.

“Alexandra!”she said.

“Valerie!”It was my former boss-the one who laid me off three months before.

I apologized to Valerie for Harry’s behavior, but all the way home, I laughed and laughed, and gave Harry lots of kisses and hugs. Harry, of course, was thrilled that he clearly had pulled off a winning stunt-though, fortunately, he has never repeated his performance.

To this day, when I think about all of Harry’s wonderful qualities, his “revenge for mama”still makes me laugh the hardest.

我的小狗名叫哈里，我们是一对亲密无间的朋友。哈里是一只重达80磅的达尔马提亚狗，当我不安的时候，他会倾听我的诉说；当我忧郁的时候，他会抚慰我，陪着我走遍各地。他对于其他的人与物从来没有像对我那样尽心尽责，因为我是他最爱的妈妈。我收养他的时候，他才八个星期左右。我对他也有同样的感情，因为他是我的蓝眼睛男孩。

在一个阳光明媚的星期日早晨，我带着哈里去了中心公园。哈里很快就挣脱了绳索的束缚，跑上了狗山，跑去和其他的城市小狗一起玩了。与此同时，他们的主人们也享受着公园里的春日。

最近，我的心情很低落，因为我失业了。那份工作我已经做了十年。和哈里在公园里玩耍，可以让我在短时间内忘记失业的不愉快，还有我那拮据的经济前景。

我站在狗山下，与其他狗主人聊天。突然，我们听到有人在喊：“他在我的腿上撒尿！”我转过身一看，山顶上有一位女士正指着我的那只可爱的小狗，很显然，他就是罪魁祸首了。我有些害怕，迅速跑到山上。哈里以前从未做过这样荒谬的事情。

当我来到那位女士旁边，我马上蹲下来，抓住哈里的项圈，这样他就不可能再做出一些奇怪的事情了。那位女士弯着腰，擦着她的腿。她脱掉了鞋子，因为小狗的尿顺着她的腿流到了鞋子里。

我们同时站直了身子，很惊奇地看着对方。

“亚历山德拉！”她说道。

“瓦莱丽！”她是我的前任老板——三个月之前，就是她将我从公司开除了。

我为哈里的所作所为向她道歉，不过在回家的路上，我一直笑个不停，热切地拥抱了哈里，并送给他许多香吻。哈里，当然，也摇头摆尾，因为他做了一个惊人的表演——不过，幸运的是，他再也没有那样做过了。这一天，我一想起哈里那令人惊奇的才华——为母亲报仇，就会开怀大笑。

词汇笔记

grab[ɡr?]v.抢先；攫取；抓住；对……产生影响

例 The police grabbed him by the collar.

警察抓住他的衣领。

apologize[?pɑl?,d?aiz]v.道歉；谢罪

例 I’m afraid you forget to apologize.恐怕你忘记道歉了。

behavior[bi'heivj?n.行为；态度；性能；作用

例 She felt ashamed at her behavior.

她为她的行为感到羞愧。

revenge[ri'v?nd?]v.为……报仇；报……之仇

例 He revenged his dead father.

他为死去的父亲报仇。

小试身手

那份工作我已经做了十年。

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我们同时站直了身子，很惊奇地看着对方。

译________________________________________

哈里，当然，也摇头摆尾，因为他做了一个惊人的表演——不过，幸运的是，他再也没有那样做过了。

译________________________________________

短语家族

I was feeling down because I had been recently laid off from the job I’d held for ten years.

lay off：停止工作（活动）；停止做某种不快的事

造________________________________________

I reached down quickly and grabbed hold of Harry’s collar in case he decided to do anything else untoward.

in case：假如，以防（万一）；免得；假使

造________________________________________