第2章 杰克的爱心

Jake and Cat

佚名/Anonymous

一开始，杰克就很清楚地表现出他对猫的看法：她们最适合作为一道菜放在盘中。

杰克是我们家养的狗，他是一只身形高大、盛气凌人的公狗，他的身上有着博德牧羊犬、拉布拉多猎犬以及一点德国牧羊犬的血统。在他两岁的时候，我们从当地的一家动物避难所收养了他。我心爱的玛撒因一场意外的疾病离开了，后来杰克走进了我们的生活。那天，我们去避难所原本想再找一只像玛撒一样的皮毛乱蓬蓬的母狗，但是在湖边我们发现了一只短毛的公狗，他高傲地、静静地坐在那些狂吠不止的狗中间。我们告诉避难所的管理员，我们要带杰克回家，因为我们能感觉到他的身上有一种神奇的魔力。“这样太好了，”管理员说道，“当他把那种神奇的魔力展现在你面前时，请不要再将他送回来了！”

杰克很快就成了我们喜爱的家庭成员。他很喜欢看我们用无数的喂食器和鸟盆来吸引院子里的小鸟。他和邻居家的小狗及附近其他的狗在公园里一起做游戏，但是他非常明确地表示：猫是不允许到他的领地上来的。如果有任何猫走得太近了，他就会穷追不舍地将她们撵走。

有一天，我发现我们的柴堆房里有几只很小的野猫。尽管我是一个养狗人，也从来没有想过要和猫共同生活，但是我的内心深处还是对这三只小猫充满了怜悯。她们大概有四周大，灰色斑纹的皮毛十分漂亮，大大的眼睛充满了恐惧，她们的妈妈不见了。我将她们放进一只箱子，并拿到屋里。杰克听见猫叫的声音，就立刻开始分泌唾液，流着口水，并喘着粗气。兽医告诉我们：“有些狗在任何情况下都是不会接受猫的。”

那次小猫事件已经过去一年了，有一天我向外望去，目光落在一张桌子上，看见杰克竖着耳朵，头歪向一边，盯着地面。在他的脚下有一只小猫咪，静静地坐着。我试图用温和的话语安抚杰克，使他平静下来，我又往前走得近些，希望能阻止那种我确信即将发生的悲惨攻击。那只小猫的眼睛受到了严重感染，可能已经看不见了，不知道自己在哪里或是还不知道自己即将面临危险。但是杰克只是盯着那只小猫，然后又看看我，再转过去看看小猫。我听见了猫的叫声，发现桌子底下还有一只小猫。于是我把这两只猫都放进盒子里，将这个盒子作为她们临时的家。我把盒子放在车库，然后开始打电话给我所知道的那些动物收养所，不厌其烦地向他们说着同样的故事——我的狗从来不允许那些猫进入我们家，我需要立刻将这两只小猫重新安置好。

第二天早晨，我们又发现三只小猫躺在门口的柴堆旁，蜷缩在一起取暖。于是我把她们也带了进来，并放在盒子里。

我的心情异常沉重。现在，我们已经有五只小猫了，她们的眼睛都感染得很厉害。她们都将被送到一个挤满了被遗弃的动物的家庭里。一整天，我都在不停地打电话，只是一遍又一遍地被告知已经没有足够的地方再收养更多的动物了。我知道现在我已经无从选择了。我的眼中噙着泪，拨通了兽医院的电话，希望他们把小猫永远带出我的生活。与此同时，我又看了看杰克，他静静地观察着身边的一切，没有流口水，也没有喘息声。他看起来没有一点不安与急躁，我感觉有些事情发生了改变。

于是，我平静地坐着，而且心中有一个声音告诉我该怎么做。我给兽医打了电话，预约检查小猫的眼睛。从兽医院回家的路上，我去了一家宠物店，买了第一箱猫食。回到家中，我将放小猫的盒子拿到屋里。杰克在旁边等着。时间到了，于是我小心翼翼地将那几只小猫放在厨房的地板上，屏住呼吸，时刻准备在必要时刻去拯救那几只小猫。

杰克走了过来，用鼻子挨个闻了闻那几只小猫，接着就坐在她们的中间，看着我。那几只小猫蜂拥而上，很高兴能够找到这么大的可以依偎的既温暖又毛茸茸的身体来取暖。那是杰克打开他的心扉接受这五只小猫咪的时刻，我不知道他是不是想起了当时自己也需要一个家。我蹲下来感谢他的爱心和怜悯，告诉他，我是多么感激他走进了我的生活。但是这些感激的话语等到以后再告诉他吧——杰克和他的小猫咪们已经睡着了。

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.