[英語散文] 我的摯友阿諾德

I recently lost my best friend Arnold in an automobile accident while moving my family to our new home in Arizona. Arnold was an 8-month-old pot belly who taught me so much about love, devotion and companionship. I am devastated by his loss, but thank God daily for blessing me with the joy of having Arnold for his short life.

Anyone contemplating a pot belly as a pet should know that if you are a true pet lover and devote yourself to them, a pot belly will make the most wonderful friend. You will be assured of endless hours of fascination and entertainment as you both grow together in understanding the human/pot belly relationship. Words cannot describe this relationship and it can only be fully understood by experiencing it.

Arnold didn't know he was a pig -- he thought he was just another member of our family -- modeling his behavior through observing me, my wife, my two daughters and our beagles. He was convinced he was loved by all; and he was, even when he was ornery trying to just get our attention. He learned his name, how to sit and how to use the litter box all in the first week we had him (at 7 weeks old!).

He loved to sleep on your lap as you sat on the couch watching TV. He didn't care if he grew to weigh 45lbs, he still expected you to hoist him onto your lap at precisely 8:00 pm every evening where he would fall fast asleep within seconds after snuggling his wet nose between your neck and shoulder. If you didn't respond to his initial "honks" letting you know it was his nap time, he would bump your legs with his nose until you picked him up. With his weight as it was, you couldn't hold him all evening as he preferred, so you had to slide him off onto the couch next to you where he would sleep for hours with all four legs and his nose sticking straight up in the air. He would snore as long as he could feel you next to him but would immediately wake up if you tried to leave the couch. We had hours of fun balancing objects like a salt shaker on his flat nose while he slept soundly.

Arnold helped me in all my chores around our five acres in the country. Just being there at my feet, interested in what I was doing made even the most mundane tasks enjoyable. When he was out roaming and foraging and you would call out his name, he would come running at top speed, honking the whole way until he got close to you where he would dodge you, zigzagging around with a few victory roles turning in circles before settling down and calmly walking up to you with his tail wagging as if to say (winking) "hah, got-cha."

He even helped me build a kit aircraft and a customized trailer to haul it around in. I was planning on taking him flying with me some day. He loved to play with my sockets and rolled them around on the shop floor. Just as I would struggle and get frustrated with some difficult task, Arnold would show up underneath the trailer, with his wet nose in my ear and honking -- seeming to say, "take a break and laugh with me for a while, that should make it all better." And it did, every time. God's marvelous creations minister to us in the most special ways if we can just stop for a few moments and observe them. God used Arnold to teach us this very important lesson in life which we will never forget.

My wife and two daughters began to say that Arnold and I were so close that he had become the son that I never had in our family. It seemed that we could no longer have any kind of conversation in our family or with our friends without Arnold being a main topic. The neighborhood kids would make appointments to come visit Arnold and couldn't wait to come over and play with him.

Arnold went most everywhere with us--Pet's Mart, Wal-Mart, birthday parties, Christmas vacation to Grandma's. He loved riding in the car/shopping basket and was a big hit everywhere he went. Arnold had become such an important part of our life that when we found out that our family would have to move to another state, we insisted that the contract on our new house be contingent on the homeowners' association approval of Arnold in writing before we would agree to purchasing in our prestigious neighborhood.

On the day we left our old home town, we had a going away lunch with our friends from church. Everyone there just had to go out to the truck where Arnold and all our other pet were and say goodbye. Arnold trusted me to take care of him and get him to his new home. Tragically, along the way, the wind blast from a semi knocked our trailers out of control and pushed our truck off a 40' bridge. We lost a big part of our family that day when our pets Arnold, Sweeti and Leanna were killed. I feel terrible for not being able to protect Arnold the way he trusted me to. However, I will be forever grateful for the fond memories of him which I will cherish forever.

Thank you for reading this and allowing me to share some of Arnold's life with you. If you decide that a pot belly is the right choice for you both, I pray that you will be rewarded in the same way my family was with Arnold.

　　在我們搬家到亞利桑那州的途中發生了交通意外，從此我失去了我最好的朋友阿諾德。阿諾德是一隻八個月大的寵物豬，是他令我更懂得愛，懂得投入和維繫情誼。他的離去令我傷心欲絕，不過我還是常感謝上帝賜予我與阿諾德相處的那段短暫卻快樂的時光。

凡是考慮想養寵物豬的人都應該知道，如果你真心疼它，全身心地伺候它，小豬就會成爲你最棒的朋友。在這個與小豬一起探索相處的過程中，你一定會非常着迷，發現其中有無窮的樂趣。言語是無法描繪這種關係的，只有親身經歷才能充分體會。

阿諾德並不知道自己是一隻豬，他以爲自己就是我們家的一員，所以他會觀察模仿我、我太太、我兩個女兒還有我家小獵犬的一舉一動。他深信我們所有人都愛他，事實的確是這樣，就算有時候他會耍脾氣來吸引我們的注意力。他來到我們家的第一個星期（7周大的時候）就已經學會了自己的名字，學會了怎麼坐，還有怎麼用那個小盒子。

他喜歡在你坐在沙發上看電視的時候睡在你大腿上。他也不管自己已經長到45磅重，就是要你每天晚上八點準時把他擡到你大腿上來，溼乎乎的鼻子在你的脖子和肩膀之間溫存一番後，眨眼功夫這傢伙就酣睡起來了。開始的時候他會“鼾鼾”地提醒你他到點休息了，而如果你沒反應，他就會用鼻子撞你的腳，直到你把他抱起爲止。他倒想一整晚睡在你腿上，但他這麼重，你根本是受不了的，所以得把他順勢滑到旁邊的沙發上，讓他鼻子四腳朝天地呼呼大睡。只要他感覺到你就在他身邊，他會放心盡情地打他的呼嚕睡他的覺；但是一旦你想走開，他會馬上醒過來。他沉睡的時候，我們會玩個遊戲，在他那扁鼻子上擺像鹽瓶那樣的小玩藝而要保持平衡不倒，這樣一玩就是幾個小時，大家玩得不亦樂乎。

在我們那方圓五英畝的鄉下地方，我做什麼家務雜事阿諾德都會幫我一把。只要他挨在你腳跟，興致勃勃地看你在忙，就足以讓最索然無味的雜務變得有趣起來。他在外面溜達覓食的時候，只要你喊他的名字，他就會以最快的速度朝你奔來，“鼾鼾”地一路叫着，跑到離你不遠的地方他又會跟你玩起迷藏來，左轉右轉地走着，繞着圈，一副凱旋而歸的模樣，然後才靜下來慢慢走到你跟前，搖搖尾巴，好像眨着眼跟你說“哈，總算找到你啦！”

他還幫我一起組裝了一架小型飛機和一輛運載飛機的特製拖車。我打算哪天把他帶上跟我一起飛翔藍天。他很喜歡玩那些插座零件，在工場裏把它們推來推去。每當我爲一些高難度的工作傷透腦筋，灰心喪氣的時候，阿諾德就會從拖車的下面鑽出來，溼乎乎的鼻子伸到我的耳邊，“鼾鼾”地似乎在說“休息一會兒，跟我笑一會兒，然後什麼事都好辦啦！”果真有效，而且每次都行。只要我們能停一停，仔細看看，就會發現上帝絕妙的創造物總以最特別的方式照顧我們。上帝派阿諾德來給我們上了這人生的重要一課，我們畢生難忘。

我太太和兩個女兒都說阿諾德跟我親密得就像成了我兒子一樣，一個我們家一直缺少的角色。家裏聊天或者和朋友聊天都好像離不開阿諾德這個主題。鄰居的小孩會預約來我們家，迫不及待要來和阿諾德玩。

我們去哪裏，阿諾德幾乎都跟我們在一起——寵物用品超市、沃爾馬超市、生日派對，聖誕假期他還跟我們一起到奶奶家去。他喜歡坐在手推車或者購物籃裏，所到之處都大受歡迎。阿諾德已經在我們生活中佔據了一個重要的位置，所以當我們要搬到另一個州買房子時，我們都堅持要在合同裏附上街坊鄰居的聯合書面允諾，同意讓阿諾德在該區生活，這樣我們纔會考慮在那些名區裏買房。

離開老家的那天，我們和教友一起吃了餞行午餐。在場的每個人都走到貨櫃車旁邊，跟裏面的阿諾德和我們的其他寵物告別。可悲的是，在路上一輛半拖車呼嘯而過，強烈的側風氣流使我們的拖車失控，貨櫃繼而被拋到40英尺的橋下。那天家中成員損失慘重，我們的寵物阿諾德、甜甜和蓮娜都離開我們了。阿諾德如此地信任我，我卻沒法保護他，我真的很難受。不過，我將永遠珍藏和他一起的深情片斷，感激他帶來的這段美好回憶。

謝謝你們讀這篇文章，讓我和你們分享阿諾德的生活點滴。擁有阿諾德，我們得益匪淺，如果你也決定要養只小豬做寵物，那我祝願你也有一樣多的收穫。