这是一部朴素、温暖又纯粹的自然写作经典，写的是关于动物、关于生活、关于爱的故事，全球畅销30年，累计销售1000万册以上。
年轻的兽医吉米·哈利踌躇满志地来到乡间工作，谁知道等待他的却是层出不穷的“惨事”。半夜穿睡衣出诊，被人一捧一逗地揶揄不说，饿得要崩溃，却忘了带钱，只能眼睁睁地看着三明治被端走；挨马踢狗咬也就罢了，还被一只小京巴认作干叔叔，除了礼物竟然还送签名照；好不容易约上了心仪的女孩，结果窘事连连，一波三折……
除了那些让人捧腹的趣事之外，吉米·哈利还描写了英国乡间怡人的风景，以及纯朴而热情的人们。全书融合了英格兰乡村泥土的芬芳，人与动物，人与人之间生活、爱、救赎、自由、欢乐等情感，巧妙地将温暖与欢乐，爱与忠诚，悲欢离合一一展现，幽默中蕴含着哲理。
作者简介 
吉米·哈利（James Herriot）（1916—1995），苏格兰兽医作家。原名James Alfred Wight。他以描述自己一生的兽医系列故事闻名，其平实而不失风趣的文风和朴素的博爱主义打动了千千万万英美读者。其多部自传体小说《万物既伟大又渺小》（All Creatures Great and Small，1972）、《万物有灵且美》（All Things Bright and Beautiful，1974）和《万物既聪慧又奇妙》（All Things Wise and Wonderful，1977）等相继荣登《纽约时报》畅销书榜首，后被BBC拍成电影和系列热门电视剧《All Creatures Great and Small》。英美出版界公认他是少数几位能在英国和美国长期畅销的作家之一。一系列畅销书为他带来了非凡的荣誉和财富，但是吉米·哈利依然安之若素，坚持在乡间从事兽医工作，执业长达五十多年。
英式发音 适合精听
Chapter Eleven
第十一章
I looked down at the slip of paper where I had written my visits. “Dean, 3 Thompson's Yard. Old dog ill.”
我再看看登记出诊的单子：“迪安，汤普森院子三号，老狗生病。”
The flakes of paint quivered on the rotten wood of the door as I knocked. A small, white haired man answered. His face, pinched and lined, was 1)enlivened by a pair of cheerful eyes; he wore a much-darned woollen 2)cardigan, patched trousers and slippers.
当我敲门的时候，破旧的门板上剥落的油漆块不住地跳动。一个小个白发老人来应门。他的脸上皱纹满布，不过一双眼睛倒很有神；他身上的羊毛衫一补再补，裤子也是补丁百衲，脚上穿着一双拖鞋。
“I've come to see your dog,” I said, and the old man smiled.
“我是来给您的狗看病的。”我说道。老人笑了。
“Oh, I'm glad you've come, sir,” he said. “I'm getting a bit worried about the old chap. Come inside, please.”
“噢，先生，我很高兴您能来，”他说道，“我正为那老家伙发愁。请进，请！”
He led me into the tiny living-room. “I'm alone now, sir. Lost my missus over a year ago. She used to think the world of the old dog.”
他带我走进狭小的客厅。“现在就我一个人住，先妻一年前过世了。她平日最爱这只老狗。”
The grim evidence of poverty was everywhere. In the worn out 3)lino, the fireless hearth, the dank, musty smell of the place.
贫穷的迹象处处可见。破烂的油地毯，无火的壁炉，屋子里还有股潮湿发霉的味道。
In the corner, on a blanket, lay my patient, a cross-bred 4)Labrador. He must have been a big, powerful dog in his time, but the signs of age showed in the white hairs round his muzzle and the pale 5)opacity in the depth of his eyes. He lay quietly and looked at me without hostility.
屋子的一角，躺在毯子上的，就是我的病人——一条杂种的拉布拉多犬。它从前一定是条大而强壮的狗。不过现在，年老的痕迹显在它鼻子周围花白的毛上，也显在它无光彩的眼珠上。它静静地躺着，瞅着我，毫无敌意。
“Getting on a bit, isn't he, Mr. Dean?”
“迪安先生，它很老了吧？”
“Aye he is that. Nearly fourteen, but he's been like a pup 6)galloping about until these last few weeks. Wonderful dog for his age, is old Bob and he's never offered to bite anybody in his life. Children can do anything with him. He's my only friend now—I hope you'll soon be able to put him right.”
“可不是嘛，快14岁了，不过几个星期前，它还一直像条小狗似的到处跑呀跳呀的。老鲍勃这个年纪已经很了不起啦，它一生从未咬过人。孩子们随便怎么捉弄它，它都不冒火。它如今是我惟一的朋友了，我希望您能很快地让它好起来。”
I looked at the dog with growing uneasiness. The 7)abdomen was grossly distended and I could read the tell-tale symptoms of pain; the catch in the 8)respirations, the retracted 9)commissures of the lips, the anxious, preoccupied expression in the eyes.
我看着这狗，心里越发不安。它的肚子鼓得好大，流露痛苦的症状已经很明显了，呼吸困难，嘴唇哆嗦，眼神是那么焦急，惶惶不安。
I passed my hand carefully over the dog's abdomen. 10)Ascites was pronounced. “Come on, old chap,” I said, “Let's see if we can roll you over.” The dog made no resistance as I eased him slowly on to his other side, but, just as the movement was completed; he whimpered and looked round. The cause of the trouble was now only too easy to find.
我小心翼翼地触摸它的腹部，明显感觉到腹部有积水。“来，老家伙，”我说道，“翻过身来看看。”我慢慢地让它翻身，它并不抗拒，但刚翻过来，它就呻吟起来，双目四顾。这样一来，病因已经太明显了。
I stroked the old dog's head as I tried to collect my thoughts. This wasn't going to be easy.
我一面轻抚着老狗的头，一面整理着我的思绪。实在很难开口。
“Is he going to be ill for long?” the old man asked, and again came the thump, thump of the tail at the sound of the loved voice. “It's miserable when Bob isn't following me round the house when I'm doing my little jobs.”
“它还会病很久吗？”老人问道。一听到这亲爱的声音，狗尾巴又在毯子上“咚咚”敲了两下，“每天我做些琐事时，没有鲍勃跟着我脚前脚后转，可真是难受呀！”
“I'm sorry, Mr. Dean, but I'm afraid this is something very serious. You see this large swelling. It is caused by an internal growth.”
“迪安先生，真对不起，恐怕事情已经很严重了。您看到这一大块肿块吗？是因为里边长了东西。”
“You mean...cancer?” the little man said faintly.
“你是说……癌？”小老头微弱地说。
“I'm afraid so, and it has progressed too far for anything to be done. I wish there was something I could do to help him, but there isn't.”
“我怕是这样了，已经蔓延得太厉害了，现在已经没法子了。我真希望我能有什么方法来帮帮它，可是已经没法子了。”
The old man looked bewildered and his lips trembled. “Then he's going to die?”
老人好像听不懂我的话，他的嘴唇直抖：“那它是要死了？”
I swallowed hard. “We really can't just leave him to die, can we? He's in some distress now, but it will soon be an awful lot worse. Don't you think it would be kindest to put him to sleep? After all, he's had a good, long 11)innings.” I always aimed at a brisk, matter-of-fact approach, but the old clichés had an empty ring.
我用力咽了一口口水。“我们实在不能就这么由它自生自灭，是不是？它现在已经够痛苦了，但不久情况还会更坏。您不觉得最仁慈的办法就是让它安眠吗？毕竟，它的一生也算得上是长寿多福的了。”我一向做事都是利落明快，实事求是，可是，今天，这些陈词滥调听起来空洞无力。
The old man was silent, then he said, “Just a minute,” and slowly and painfully knelt down by the side of the dog. He did not speak, but ran his hand again and again over the grey old muzzle and the ears, while the tail thump, thump thumped on the floor.
老人一言不发，然后他说：“请等一下。”接着他慢慢地、痛苦地跪在老狗旁边，什么也不说，只是用手一遍又一遍地摸着它鼻子和耳朵上的花白老毛，而狗尾巴则“咚咚咚”地敲在地板上。
He knelt there a long time while I stood in the cheerless room, my eyes taking in the faded pictures on the walls, the frayed, grimy curtains, the broken-springed armchair.
老人跪在那儿好大会工夫，而我就站在这个阴暗凄凉的房间里，把墙上褪色的照片、又破又脏的窗帘、弹簧断了的椅子都看在眼里。
At length the old man struggled to his feet and gulped once or twice. Without looking at me, he said 12)huskily, “All right, will you do it now?” I filled the 13)syringe and said the things I always said.
终于，老人挣扎着站起来了，干咽了一两下，然后他哑着嗓子说话了，眼睛也不看我：“好吧，你现在就做吗？”我把针筒灌满，跟老人说着那些我经常说出的话。
“You needn't worry, this is absolutely painless.”
“您不用担心，这是绝对没有痛苦的。”
The dog did not move as the needle was inserted, and, as the 14)barbiturate began to flow into the vein, the anxious expression left his face and the muscles began to relax. By the time the injection was finished, the breathing had stopped.
针打进去的时候，老狗一动也没动，等麻醉剂进到血管以后，它脸上焦虑的表情消失了，肌肉开始放松，注射完毕时，它的呼吸已经停了。
The old man stood motionless except for the clasping and unclasping of his hands. When he turned to face me his eyes were bright. “That's right, we couldn't let him suffer, and I'm grateful for what you've done. And now, what do I owe you for your services, sir?”
老人呆呆地站在那儿，只有双手不住地一开一合。当他最后转过头来面对我的时候，他的眼睛又恢复光亮了“没错，我们不能眼看着它受罪，我很感激您所做的。先生，那现在我该付你多少钱呐？”
“Oh, that's all right, Mr. Dean,” I said quickly, “It's nothing—nothing at all. I was passing right by here—it was no trouble.”
“啊，不用付钱，迪安先生，”我很快地说，“没什么，真的没什么！我就是恰好路过，一点儿也不麻烦。”
The old man was astonished. “But you can't do that for nothing.”
老人吃惊地说：“但是你总不能无偿服务。”
“Now please say no more about it, Mr. Dean. As I told you, I was passing right by your door.” I said goodbye and went out of the house, through the passage and into the street. In the bustle of people and the bright sunshine, I could still see only the stark, little room, the old man and his dead dog.
“迪安先生，请不要再说了。我都说了，我不过是恰好路过您门口而已。”我说了再见，就走出屋子，穿过门廊，走到街上。街上人来人往，阳光灿烂，可是我眼前却只看得到那间幽暗的小屋、老人和他死去的狗。
