整全的教育, Holistic Education, 中文教材, 姒玉明编著, Chinese TextBook, Zhong Wen

狗颂
简短版编进了《整全教育中文》第六册第七课

    1869年10月18日夜晚，Missouri 州Johnson 县Warrensburg 镇上一声枪响之后，邻居们听到一条狗在黑夜里哀叫，不久，就没有声音了。Charles Burden 呼唤自己的猎犬Old Drum，但是它一直没有回家。

    Burden的一位邻居是他的姐夫Leonidas Hornsby，他们两家都经营农场，饲养家畜。但是，由于一些狗和狼的袭击，Hornsby最近损失了一百多头羊。他于是发誓，要杀死再闯入他们家的狗。10月18日那天晚上，他发现一条狗闯进了院子。他的侄子Samuel Ferguson要他立即开枪，那条狗中枪以后哀叫着逃走了。

    第二天上午，Burden发现他的Old Drum被枪杀了。他万分难过，认定是被姐夫Hornsby枪杀的。为了给Old Drum伸张正义，他将Hornsby告上了法庭，要求一百美元的赔偿。

    一个月以后， Hornsby收到传票，要他到Warrensburg 镇的Justice of the Peace那里出庭。经过庭审，第二年一月，陪审团判定 Hornsby赔偿Burden二十五美元，外加法庭费用。然而， Hornsby不服气，将案子上诉到Johnson County Court of Common Plea。双方都聘请了新的律师，在三月重新开庭。一个月之后， Hornsby收到法庭的判决，按照他的愿望，只支付法庭费用。

    但是，Burden又不服气，要求重新开庭。这一次，他聘请的律师是后来成为美国参议员的George Graham Vest。据说，Vest被聘请后，曾经发誓：“若不打赢这个官司，将向全Missouri州的狗道歉。”果然，在第五次庭审时，Vest根本不理会案子的证据，而是以一篇“狗颂”赢得了官司。法庭判决 Hornsby支付五十美元赔偿金和法庭费用。 Hornsby不服气，上诉到Missouri州最高法院，但得到“维持原判”的判决。

    然而，无论是Burden还是 Hornsby，由于支付大笔的律师费用，两人都变穷了，但Vest和 Old Drum一夜成名。Old Drum的故事被拍成了电影，“狗颂”被刻在 Old Drum雕像座基上，一并立在Johnson 县的法院前。下面是“狗颂”的原文和译文。

Tribute to a dog

George Graham Vest

    "Gentlemen of the Jury, the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog."

    "Gentleman of the Jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and the sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation fall to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."

陪审团的先生们：
    一个人在世上最好的朋友可能会与他反目成仇。他精心养育的儿女也可能不忠不孝。那些和我们最密切和亲近的人，那些我们用幸福和名誉做担保、无比信赖的人可能会背信弃义。一个人可能会失去他所拥有的金钱，而且也许就在他最需要的时候。一个人的名誉也会由于一时的虑事不周而丧失殆尽。当我们春风得意时，那些在我们面前卑躬屈膝、百般奉承的人也许就是第一个在我们霉运当头，对我们落井下石的人。在这个自私自利的世界里，一个人能有的绝对无私、不弃不离、知恩图报、忠心耿耿的朋友就是他的狗。

陪审团的先生们：
    无论主人处富贵或贫穷，是健康或是患病，狗总会守候在他的身旁。如果能靠近主人，不管是寒风凛冽，还是朔雪飘飘，它愿意睡在冰冷的地面上。它亲吻即使没有食物的徒手，舔抚主人在薄情人世遭遇的创伤和悲痛。它守卫著贫困交加的主人安睡如同守卫帝王就寝。当曲终人散，唯有它义无反顾、守望依旧。当千金散尽，声誉荡然无存，它对主人的爱依然如故，如日当空。即使主人被命运捉弄、被世人抛弃、无家可归，忠诚的狗不求别的，只求能陪伴主人，保护他的安全，反击他的敌人。当最后的时刻来临，主人被死神拥抱，他的遗体被掩埋在冰冷的黄土之下，不管是否所有的朋友都烟消云散、各奔前程，就在主人的墓地旁你可以看见那高贵的狗，它的头伏在脚爪之间，黯然伤神，但依然非常警觉，至死不渝。

Statue of Old Drum at the Johnson County Courthouse

编译：姒玉明返回