By Daham M’hamed

那零 選 張曼 譯

Luke has always been my closest and constant companion these past five years. In fact, he is very obedient to me especially when I take care of other furry friends in our shelter。

As you already know, there have been a lot of forest fires during the summer season. Many forests are badly damaged by fire each year. Not far from our shelter, a forest caught fire during this hot summer. We are on July, a heat wave which has been going on for three days。

Luke rushed towards the forest where flames send out an infernal heat. There’s no longer any hope at the moment to wait for Luke to come back to the shelter. In fact, I was waiting for the fire brigade to announce me his death in the forest. Suddenly, a fireman burst into my office and informed me that my dog Luke succeeded to save four kittens who were trapped by the flames. According to the fireman, Luke seized the kittens, one by one moving them to a safe place。

I immediately accompanied the fireman to the forest to pick up the rescued kittens. Once on the scene of the incident, Luke was not there. Then we heard the sound of a dog came from the forest barking furiously. I recognized the sound of my dog Luke. The firemen followed the tracks of the dog until they found him barking loudly by the side of an injured fireman who was lying on the ground and desperately waiting for rescue。

Thanks to Luke, four kittens and a fireman were saved. That day, I was very proud of Luke for his two heroic actions. Luke showed much compassion for both animals like him and for a human being who was trying to put out the fire with his colleagues. Truth to tell, my happiness is great and immeasurable。

I paid a visit to the fireman in his house accompanied with my adorable Luke. What a memorable scene when the fireman hugged Luke tightly to his chest! “One thousand thanks, Luke, for saving my life,” the fireman said。

This true story of love and compassion shows us that pets are loving, caring and compassionate. We should love and protect them. Don’t belittle them. Little animals can make enormous things for humans。

在過(guò)去這五年里，盧克一直都是我最親密、最忠誠(chéng)的伙伴。實(shí)際上，他對(duì)我非常順從，尤其是當(dāng)我照顧我們收容所里其他毛茸茸的動(dòng)物朋友們時(shí)。

正如你所知，在夏季，森林大火時(shí)常發(fā)生。每年，不少森林都被火災(zāi)破壞嚴(yán)重。在今年的酷暑時(shí)節(jié)，一座離我們收容所不遠(yuǎn)的森林起了大火。時(shí)值7月，一場(chǎng)熱浪襲來(lái)，足足持續(xù)了三天的時(shí)間。

盧克沖向那座森林，林中的火焰發(fā)出一股地獄烈火般的熱浪。此時(shí)，已沒(méi)有任何希望等盧克回到收容所了。其實(shí)，我是在等著消防隊(duì)向我宣布他在森林中身亡的消息。突然，一名消防員闖入我的辦公室，他告訴我說(shuō)，我的盧克成功地解救了四只陷入火災(zāi)中的小貓。根據(jù)那位消防員的說(shuō)法，盧克抓住這些小貓，一只一只地把它們轉(zhuǎn)移到了安全的地方。

我立刻陪著這名消防員趕往森林，去接那幾只被救的小貓。一到事故現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，并沒(méi)看見(jiàn)盧克的身影。隨后，我們聽(tīng)到從森林里傳出狗的狂吠聲。我認(rèn)出那是盧克的聲音。消防員們跟隨盧克的蹤跡，最后他們發(fā)現(xiàn)它在一個(gè)受傷的消防員旁邊大聲吠叫，那個(gè)人躺在地上，情況危急，正在等待援救。

幸虧盧克，一名消防員和四只小貓均得以獲救。那天，我為盧克的這兩次英勇行為而感到自豪不已。盧克既對(duì)那些像他一樣的動(dòng)物懷有同情之心，也對(duì)一個(gè)與同事一起努力撲滅大火的人類(lèi)伸出了援助之手。說(shuō)真的，我由此而產(chǎn)生的巨大愉悅感是無(wú)法估量的。

我拜訪了那個(gè)受傷的消防員，去他家時(shí)帶上了我可愛(ài)的盧克。當(dāng)消防員緊緊地把盧克抱在胸前時(shí)，那場(chǎng)面令人難以忘懷!“盧克，萬(wàn)分感謝你救了我的命，”消防員如是說(shuō)。

這個(gè)有關(guān)愛(ài)與同情的真實(shí)故事告訴我們：寵物是忠誠(chéng)、體貼且富有同情心的伙伴。我們應(yīng)該愛(ài)護(hù)它們。不要輕視它們。小動(dòng)物也能為人類(lèi)做出了不起的大事。

Vocabulary:

1. shelter: 避難所，收容所。

2. infernal: 地獄般的，惡魔似的。

3. belittle: 小看，輕視，貶低。