Enjoyment.—Anticipation.—Regret
Enjoyment.—Anticipation.—Regret.
He was only six months old when we first knew him, with long silky ears, and a little head covered with delicate yellow down, undeveloped puppy body, but a grand white chest, and black muzzle; he had fine long moustachios and long black eyelashes, from between which looked out engaging lustrous eyes of a singularly intelligent expression. He weighed just about three pounds at his utmost; and when he stretched himself to his greatest length, he was only a hand and a half long. But his port and his attitudes were those of a lion, or, when engaged in worrying a piece of cord dangled invitingly before him, for all the world just like those of a Chinese monster, only in miniature. In some ways he was like a kitten rather than a puppy, so graceful and gentle in his movements, with long claws, too, at the tips of his little feathery feet, and a way of purring when he was pleased. He made many little plaintive sounds, as if he were talking to himself; and sometimes it almost seemed as if he were talking to other people too, so articulate were they. His tail was his weak point—it 447was too long. But some people said, that as he grew older it would curl up and look shorter. We do not know if this would have been so, nor whether his body might have developed into being too long or too thin, or something. In size he was like a puppy, and his head and chest were lovely. It was very difficult to avoid treading upon him, he was so small and noiseless in his movements. So he wore three little rattles round his throat, for he was too small to wear real Peking bells. And it was extraordinary the genius the little creature had for crying out before he was hurt, and as if he had been half killed too. But no one ever saw little Shing-erh—Little Apricot, as he was called, from his colour—put out, or angry about being hurt. He was always pleased, always full of life, ready to fall off fast asleep, or spring up wide awake, without a moment's notice, and never afraid of any person or thing.
享受——期待——懊悔
當我們初次見到他時，他只有六個月大，擁有長長的絲綢般的耳朵，頭上覆蓋著細膩的黃色絨毛，身體尚未完全發育，但胸部卻潔白如雪，嘴巴呈黑色，長著優雅的長鬍鬚和長長的黑色睫毛，從睫毛間透出一雙聰明伶俐的迷人眼睛。他的體重大約只有三磅多一點，當他伸展到最大長度時，也僅有一個半手掌長。但他的姿態和神情如同一隻獅子，或是在逗弄一根吊在面前的繩子時，完全像是一隻微型的中國神獸。在某些方面，他更像是一隻小貓而不是小狗，他動作優雅溫柔，四隻小羽毛腳尖上還有長長的爪子，當他高興時還會發出咕嚕聲。他經常發出一些輕微的哀怨聲音，似乎在自言自語，有時甚至讓人覺得他在與別人對話，這些聲音如此清晰。唯一的缺點是他的尾巴太長了，但有人說，隨著他年齡的增長，尾巴會捲起來，看起來會短些。我們不知道這是否會成真，也不知道他的身體是否會變得太長或太瘦。但他像小狗一樣大小，頭和胸部非常漂亮。他的動作那麼輕盈無聲，以至於很難不踩到他。因此，他脖子上戴著三個小鈴鐺，因為他太小了，無法戴上真正的北京鈴。這個小生物還有一個奇妙的天賦，就是在受傷前就會大聲哭喊，仿佛他已經被半殺死了。但沒有人見過小杏兒——這是他的名字，因為他的顏色像杏子——對受傷表示不滿或生氣。他總是高興，充滿活力，隨時可以馬上入睡或醒來，從不害怕任何人或物。
PEKING PUG (SHORT-HAIRED). Property of Mrs. Claude Rees
When bought of a Chinaman in the streets of Peking, he showed no distrust, but nestled at once into European arms, went home in them, and growled when strangers approached his master's door, or sprang up delighted to welcome his master himself. He was carried about in a coat pocket, or sat in an office drawer, gravely watching the writing of manifests by the hour together; 448or at times trotted gaily through the streets, ever and anon stopping to sniff out some to him perfectly delicious bit of nastiness. Who so delighted as little Shing-erh, when he found out he could actually run up the stairs to the dining-room? And from that moment he was always fancying it luncheon-time or dinner-time; for there was no doubt of one thing—the little sleeve-dog did enjoy being fed. He enjoyed caresses also. If he would not come when he was called, there was always one way to secure his attention, and that was to pet Wong, our other dog, a Shantung pug, about five times Shing-erh's size. Then the little one would come at once. Poor Wong! He had been used to being called 'Little Wong,' and treated accordingly, and at first he growled, and even bit the new-comer. After that he looked heartbroken for a day or two, went home by himself when taken out walking, and resisted all the little one's efforts to draw him into a game of romps, till an idea struck him, and he began to jump on to sofas and armchairs; for did he not see the little one on them made much of? Once he even jumped right up into my lap, and tried to nestle there. And he tried to bite bits of cord, or our hands. But his teeth were very different from the tender milk-teeth of the little sleeve-dog, who could not bite any one if he tried. So these advances of his had to be summarily repelled. And gradually, though somewhat sadly, Wong reconciled himself to the situation; submitted to everyone's offering the little one crumbs of delicacy, while he sat up on his hind legs unnoticed, although chin-chinning beautifully 449with his two front paws; submitted when the little one bit his ears, or flew at his eyes, or pulled his tail, in order to attract his attention; and even condescended to be played with occasionally.
It was a great affair taking little Shing-erh out; for he found the world so full of interest, and would look round with intelligent eyes, wagging his tail, as much as to say, "All right! but look what a delightful place I find myself in." It was impossible to be angry with him, though it made progress through the streets very slow at times. Then when one took him up and carried him as a sort of punishment—for he did dearly love to run—he would look so grave and serious, one longed to see him frolicking once more. The only way was to walk very fast; then the four little feet would go galloping along, the tiny puppy bent on showing he could run as fast as other people. He was never afraid of any dog, but quite big dogs used to run away from him, he was so lionlike in his advances; and when he went to pay a visit to any other dog, he always first drove his host into a corner with his tail between his legs. Then only would the little one make up to him, and gradually they would have a game of romps together. But just because we were so fond of him he was a great anxiety; for any Chinaman could put him up his sleeve and run away with him quite easily. And every one took a fancy to him; though not every one, like two sweet little children, asked first if they might carry him, next if they might kiss puppy-dog, and finally if they might exchange a baby-sister of the same age for him.450
One day, holding him up for a child to stroke, I noticed that the little one's breath, till then always so sweet, smelt a little. It had been very cold coming up-river in the winter weather, and it was still colder going on, damp and raw; and we hardly knew how to keep ourselves warm, much less the little puppy-dog. So it seemed hard to prevent him from lying close to the stove; but possibly it was that which made him ill. Or it may have been the little bones people gave him on the steamers. Every one used to ask deferentially, "May I give the little dog this? There is no meat on it." But there was a little meat sometimes, and all the while there was poor Wong begging unnoticed. But, then, Wong was very particular what he ate—he liked some things, disliked others; while as to little Shing-erh, we never found out what he did not like to eat whilst he was well. But now we noticed he no longer cared to play. He would take a run outside for a little while, he dearly loved to forage under the dinner-table, and pick up stray crumbs; otherwise he wanted always to be nursed, making little cooing sounds of satisfaction as he curled himself up on one's lap, his little feathery head and long ears showing off to great advantage as he did so. He was learning to sit up like Wong and beg too, and even did so sometimes without anything to lean his feeble puppy back against; and he had almost learnt to give a paw when asked. We used to talk of all we were going to teach him, believing firmly that nothing was beyond our puppy's capacity. We used to think how pleasant it would be 451when our new house was built and the garden laid out, and the little one could run freely about in it without anxiety as to his being stolen. But from the day we arrived up-country, it became increasingly evident that something was amiss with our tiny dog. He could not eat biscuit soaked in milk, his regular food whilst in Shanghai. He refused rice, unless fish were mixed with it. He showed himself ravenous for fish. Perhaps it would have been wiser to have been guided by the little creature's preferences. But bones and meat were always very attractive to him, and they could hardly have been the best food. He did not want to run after the first few days, sitting down upon his haunches, looking very serious when set down. How the country people admired him, when we carried him about, calling him, "Little sleeve-dog," "Cat-dog," "Little lion," and asking leave to stroke him, or stroking him without leave. "He comes from Peking," they would say; and they looked at him with pride and pleasure.
當從北京街頭的中國人手中買下他時，他沒有顯示出任何不信任，立刻窩在歐洲人的懷裡，被帶回家，當陌生人靠近主人家門時，他會低吼，而當主人自己回來時，他會興奮地跳起來歡迎他。他常被放在外套口袋裡帶著，或是坐在辦公室的抽屜裡，嚴肅地看著單據被書寫好幾個小時；有時候，他會愉快地在街上小跑，時不時停下來嗅嗅一些對他來說極其美味的髒東西。當小杏兒發現他可以跑上樓到餐廳時，誰比他更高興呢？從那時起，他總覺得是午餐時間或晚餐時間，因為有一點是無庸置疑的——這隻小袖狗非常喜歡吃東西。他也喜歡被撫摸。如果他不聽呼喚，有一種方法總能吸引他的注意，那就是寵愛黃，另一隻山東哈巴狗，比小杏兒大五倍。然後，小狗馬上就會過來。可憐的黃！他曾經習慣於被稱為“小黃”，並因此受到相應的對待，起初他對新來的咆哮，甚至咬他。之後，他看起來心碎了幾天，當帶他出去散步時，他自己回家，抵抗著小狗所有的遊戲邀請，直到他想到了一個主意，開始跳上沙發和扶手椅；因為他看到小狗在上面受到了很多關愛。有一次他甚至直接跳到我的膝蓋上，試圖窩在那裡。他也嘗試咬繩子或我們的手，但他的牙齒與小袖狗的嫩牙不同，無法傷人。所以他的這些舉動不得不被嚴厲地制止。逐漸地，儘管有些悲傷，黃接受了現實，忍受著每個人都給小狗餵食美味，而他自己則毫無注意地坐在後腿上，儘管他用前爪表現出極好的親近感；忍受著小狗咬他的耳朵，或飛撲向他的眼睛，或拉他的尾巴來吸引他的注意，甚至偶爾願意和小狗一起玩耍。
帶小杏兒出去玩是一件大事，因為他發現這個世界如此有趣，會用聰明的眼睛環顧四周，搖著尾巴，彷彿在說：“很好！但看看我在哪個美妙的地方。”儘管有時這讓穿過街道的進度非常緩慢，但人們無法對他生氣。然後當人們把他抱起來作為一種懲罰——因為他非常喜歡跑步——他會顯得那麼嚴肅認真，人們真想再看到他嬉戲的樣子。唯一的辦法是走得非常快；這樣四隻小腳就會快速奔跑，這隻小小的狗狗努力展示自己可以和其他人一樣跑得快。他從不害怕任何狗，但相當大的狗會從他那裡跑開，因為他靠近時如獅子一般；當他去拜訪其他狗時，他總是先把主人趕到角落裡，夾著尾巴。然後，小狗才會和他和好，並逐漸一起玩耍。然而，正因為我們如此喜歡他，他成了我們的巨大焦慮來源；因為任何中國人都可以把他塞進袖子裡輕鬆地把他帶走。而且每個人都喜歡他；雖然並非每個人都像兩個可愛的小孩子那樣，先問是否可以抱抱他，接著問是否可以親親狗狗，最後問是否可以用一個同齡的小妹妹交換他。
有一天，當我把他抱起來給一個孩子摸時，我注意到小狗的呼吸，直到那時一直很香甜，現在有點臭了。冬天的河上天氣非常寒冷，而接下來的旅途更冷，更潮濕；我們幾乎不知道如何保暖，更不用說小狗了。所以很難阻止他靠近火爐，但這可能是導致他生病的原因。或者可能是他在蒸汽船上吃的那些小骨頭。每個人總是恭敬地問：“我可以給小狗這個嗎？上面沒有肉。”但有時會有一點點肉，而同時可憐的黃則在一旁被忽視。但黃對食物非常挑剔——他喜歡一些東西，討厭另一些；而至於小杏兒，當他健康時，我們從未發現他不喜歡吃什麼。但現在我們注意到他不再喜歡玩耍了。他會在外面跑一會兒，他非常喜歡在餐桌下找尋零碎的麵包屑；除此之外，他總是想被抱著，當他蜷縮在人的膝蓋上時，發出滿意的小聲音，顯示出他的頭和長耳朵的美麗。他正在學習像黃一樣坐著乞求，甚至有時在沒有靠著什麼的情況下也能站著；他幾乎學會了伸爪表示問候。我們經常談論我們要教他什麼，相信沒有什麼是我們的小狗學不會的。我們常常想像當我們的新房子建成，花園佈置好時，小狗可以自由地在裡面跑動，無需擔心被偷走。但從我們到達內地的那天起，越來越明顯，我們的小狗出了問題。他無法吃泡在牛奶裡的餅乾，這是他在上海時的常規食物。他拒絕吃米飯，除非裡面混有魚。他對魚顯得非常渴望。也許遵循小狗的偏好會更明智。但骨頭和肉總是對他很有吸引力，而它們不可能是最好的食物。他不再想跑步了，放下他時總是坐在後腿上，顯得非常嚴肅。當我們帶著他四處走時，鄉下人對他讚嘆不已，稱他為“小袖狗”、“貓狗”、“小獅子”，並要求摸他，或者不經允許就摸他。“他來自北京，”他們會說；他們滿懷驕傲和喜悅地看著他。
PEKING LION DOG (LONG-HAIRED). Property of Mr. George Brown, H.B.M. Consul.