8-7 小狗快运(下)

The Puppy Express

Snoopy went to bed at Cathy's house a nondescript1 little brown-and-white dog, very long in the tooth, and woke the next morning a celebrity 1. Word of the seventeen-year-old puppy with a bad cold who was being shuttled2 across mid-America to rejoin her family had reached the news media. After breakfast, dazed by the camera but, as always, polite, Snoopy sat on a desk at the Casper Humane 2 Society and obligingly3 cocked her head and showed off the new leash 3 that was a gift from Cathy. And that night, in Fort Wayne, the Topps were caught between laughter and tears as they saw their old girl peer out at them from the television set.

With the interview behind her, Snoopy set out for North Platte, 350 miles away, in the company of a humane society official in Casper who had volunteered for the longest single hop 44 on Snoopy's journey. The two of them stopped overnight and arrived in North Platte at noon the next day. More reporters and cameramen awaited them, but as soon as she'd been interviewed, Snoopy was back on the road for a 138-mile trip to Grand Island.

Twice more that day she was passed along, arriving in Lincoln, Nebraska, after dark and so tired that she curled up in the first doggie bed she saw despite the growls 5 of its rightful owner.

With a gift of a new wicker sleeping basket and a note “Happy to be part of the chain reuniting Snoopy with her family,” Nebraska passed the little dog on to Iowa. After a change of car and driver in Des Moines, Snoopy sped5 on and by nightfall was in Cedar 6 Rapids.

At nightfall of her fifth day on the road, Snoopy was in Chicago, her next- to-last stop. Whether it was that she was getting close to home or just because her cold had run its course, she was clearly better. Indeed, the vet 7 who examined her told the reporters that, “For an old lady who's been traveling all week and has come more than 1,300 miles, she's in grand shape. She's going to make it home tomorrow just fine.” The Topps, watching the nightly update of Snoopy's journey on the Fort Wayne TV station, broke into cheers.

The next day was Saturday, March 17th. In honor of Saint Patrick's Day6, the little dog sported a new green coat with a green derby7 pinned to the collar. The Chicago press did one last interview with her, and then Snoopy had nothing to do but nap until Rod's assistant, Skip, arrived from Fort Wayne to drive her the 160 miles home.

Hours before Snoopy and Skip were expected in Fort Wayne, the Topps were waiting excitedly at the humane shelter. Jodi and Matthew worked on a room? sized banner that, when it was unfurled8, read: WELCOME HOME, SNOOPY! FROM ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING, TO FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, VIA THE PUPPY EXPRESS, with her route outlined across the bottom and their signatures in the corner. Reporters from the Fort Wayne TV stations and newspaper, the Topps, friends and family and the shelter's staff all crowded into the shelter's waiting room.

Somewhere amid the fuss and confusion, Rod found time to draw Nancy aside and give her word that Snoopy would be arriving home with her boarding bill marked “Paid in Full.” An anonymous 8 friend of the Humane Society in Casper had taken care of it.

Then the CB radio crackled, and Skip's voice filled the crowded room. “Coming in! The Puppy Express is coming in!”

Nancy and Joe and the children rushed out in the subfreezing9 air, the reporters on their heels. Around the corner came the pickup 9 truck, lights flashing, siren10 sounding.“Snoopy's home!” screamed the children,“Snoopy's home!”

And there the little dog was, sitting up on the front seat in her St. Patrick's day outfit 10, peering nearsightedly out of the window at all the commotion 1111. After two months of separation from her family, after a week on the road, after traveling across five states for 1,500 miles in the company of strangers, Snoopy's odyssey 12 was over.

Nancy got to the truck first. In the instant before she snatched12 the door open, Snoopy recognized her. Barking wildly, she scrambled 13 across the seat and into Nancy's arms. Then Joe was there, and the children. Laughing, crying, they hugged Snoopy and each other. The family that didn't give up on even its smallest member was back together again.

注释：

1. nondescript [5nCndis5kript] a.  (因无特征而)难以归类的，难以形容的

2. shuttle [5FQtl] vt.  短程穿梭般运送

3. obligingly [E5blaidViNli] ad. 有礼貌地，与人方便地

4. hop [hRp] n. [口] (长距离飞行或旅行中的)一段旅程

5. speed [spi:d] (p.t.＆ p.p. sped) vi. 迅速行进

6. Saint Patrick's Day 圣帕特里克节(3月17日，爱尔兰人节日)

7. derby [5dB:bi] n. [美] 常礼帽，圆顶高帽

8. unfurl [Qn5fE:l] vt.  打开，展开

9. subfreezing [5sQb5fri:ziN] a.  零摄氏度以下的，冰点以下的

10. siren [5saiErin ] n.  汽笛，警报器

11. commotion [kE5mEuFEn] n.  喧闹，骚动

12. snatch [snAtF] vt.  一下子拉，一把抓住

小狗快运(下)

斯努皮在卡西家睡觉的时候还是条默默无闻的褐白相间的年迈小狗，第二天早上醒来却出了名。用接力的方式穿越美国中部护运一只得了重感冒的17岁小狗与家人团聚的消息不胫而走，成了新闻媒介争相报道的对象。早餐之后，斯努皮被摄像机照得眼光缭乱，但它还是像往常一样，有礼貌地坐在卡斯珀动物保护协会的写字桌上，文雅地翘着头，向人炫耀卡西送它的礼物——新皮带。那天晚上，韦恩堡的托普全家看见斯努皮从电视里朝他们瞧时，兴奋得又哭又笑。

记者采访结束之后，在卡斯珀动物保护协会一名工作人员陪同下，斯努皮又出发前往350英里外的北普拉特。这位工作人员志愿护送这段斯努皮旅程中最长的路程。路上他们俩停车过夜，第二天中午抵达北普拉特。更多的文字和摄影记者在等候着，采访一结束，斯努皮又连忙赶路到138英里外的格兰德岛。

那天又换了两次车，天黑以后到达内布拉斯加的林肯市。斯努皮疲惫不堪，蜷缩在几天来看见的第一张狗铺上睡起觉来，顾不得那铺的原主的咆哮了。

带着一件礼物——一个新的柳条睡篮，还有一张写着“很高兴成为帮助斯努皮与家人团圆的接力传送队的一员”的便条，小狗从内布拉斯加州来到了艾奥瓦州。在得梅因换了车和司机之后，斯努皮继续前进，傍晚时刻到了锡达拉皮兹。

第五天的黄昏，斯努皮抵达了倒数第二站芝加哥。不知是由于离家越来越近了，还是感冒好了，斯努皮的精神明显好多了。的确，给她检查的兽医对记者说：“这么大岁数的一条狗，颠簸了一个星期，行程1300多英里，目前这种身体状况很不错，明天肯定能平安到家。”托普全家看了韦恩堡电视台关于斯努皮旅途的晚间最新消息，欢呼雀跃。

第二天是3月17日，星期六。为纪念圣帕特里克节，小狗惹人注目地穿了件绿色外套，颈圈上别着一顶绿色圆顶礼帽。在芝加哥新闻界进行了最后一次采访之后，斯努皮没事可干，就小睡了一会儿，等罗德的助手斯基普从韦恩堡来接它走完最后的160英里路程。

斯努皮和斯基普抵达韦恩堡之前几个小时，托普一家就心情激动地在动物庇养站翘首以待。约迪和马修准备了一条房间大小般的横幅，上面写着：“斯努皮，欢迎你从怀俄明州罗克斯普林斯到印第安纳州韦恩堡乘小狗快运回家!”横幅下面标出了全程路线，横幅角上还有他俩的签名。动物庇养站接待室里，挤满了来自当地电视台和报社的记者、托普一家、朋友们和他们的家人，以及庇养站的工作人员。

就在这一片忙乱中，罗德找个机会把南希拽到一边，告诉她说斯努皮的食宿账单上已注着“金额付讫”的字样。卡斯珀动物保护协会一位不愿透露姓名的朋友承担了这笔费用。

这时民用波段无线电嘎嘎作响，挤满人的接待室听到了斯基普的声音：“来了!小狗快运到了!”

南希、乔和孩子们冲向零度以下的室外，记者们紧随其后。货车转过街角，车灯闪烁，喇叭鸣响。孩子们高声喊道：“斯努皮回家了!斯努皮回家了!”

小狗穿着圣帕特里克节日服装坐在前排座位上，眯着近视的眼睛看着窗外喧闹的人群。与家人分离两个月，路上走了一个星期，在陌生人陪伴下行程1500英里，途经5个州，斯努皮的漫长行程结束了。

南希头一个走到卡车跟前，就在她打开车门的一瞬间，斯努皮认出了她。它欣喜若狂地大声叫着，爬过座位，扑入南希的怀抱。乔和孩子们也随后出现。他们悲喜交加地拥抱斯努皮，也互相拥抱庆贺。这个没有舍弃家庭中身材最小的成员的人家又团聚在一起了。