景一

The whole family clustered around the computer screen， oohing1. The face on the shelters website was irresistible2： a beautiful， white-and-liver Pointer Hound mix with big floppy ears and the saddest， most expressive brown eyes wed ever seen on a dog. Under the photo it said， “Jerome loves hot dogs.”

全家人都聚集在电脑屏幕旁，发出“喔”的声音。收容所网站上那张脸令人无法抗拒：这是一只漂亮的、白色和肝色相间的波音达猎犬，它有着松软的大耳朵，还有我们在狗身上见过的最忧郁、最富有表现力的棕色眼睛。照片下面写着：“杰罗姆喜欢热狗。”

Our son Patrick and his girlfriend were home for Thanksgiving weekend. It didnt take long to convince the whole family to visit the shelter. We called ahead so they were ready for us. We walked in together， five adults coming through the door at the same time， but Jerome knew which human he wanted. He walked right up to Patrick， put his paws on his shoulders and licked his face. It was love at first sight—on both sides. We didnt even need the hot dogs the shelter staff had cut up to help us get Jeromes attention.

我们的儿子帕特里克和他的女朋友在家过感恩节周末。没过多久全家就被说服了去收容所。我们提前打了电话，所以他们做好了准备。我们一起走进去，五个成年人同时走进门，但杰罗姆知道它喜欢的是哪一个人。它径直走到帕特里克跟前，把爪子放在他肩膀上并舔着他的脸。这是“一见钟情”——对于双方都是。我们甚至不需要收容所的工作人员切好的热狗来帮助引起杰罗姆的注意。

The shelter had a waiting period， but Patrick convinced them to hurry along the process. He had to be back at his job in Philadelphia on Monday. After a quick reference check with our vet3， they agreed. So on Sunday Pat packed the trunk of his girlfriends car with their luggage—including a three-pound box of the best hometown hot dogs （the ones all locals bring back from every visit home）. They made Jerome comfy4 on a blanket in the back seat and waved a happy goodbye as they pulled out of our driveway.

收容所有一段等候時间，但帕特里克说服他们赶快完成这一流程，他星期一必须回到费城工作。在我们的兽医进行了一次快速参考检查后，他们同意了。因此，到了周日，帕特里克把行李打包好放在女朋友的车后备箱，其中包括一盒3磅重的家乡热狗（当地人每次回家乡都会带一些回去）。他们让杰罗姆舒适地呆在后座的毯子上，然后在驶离我们的车道时，向我们挥手道别。

Patrick and Renee headed south on I-81 for Philly， and marveling at how well-behaved and quiet their new charge appeared to be. It wasnt until the Allentown rest stop， about two hours down the road， that they found out why.

帕特里克和芮妮在81号州际公路上朝南开往费城，他们对新伙伴的良好表现和安静感到惊奇。直到顺着路开了两小时左右，在阿伦镇的休息站，他们才知道原因。

Jerome had been hard at work， chewing through the back seat—upholstery5， stuffing， trunk wall and all—until he reached his prize. Every one of those hot dogs was gone， and Jerome had the biggest smile on his face.

杰罗姆一直忙着在后座上咬东西——座套、填充物、后备箱壁等等——直到它拿到了战利品。所有的热狗都不见了，杰罗姆的脸上露出了最灿烂的笑容。

Patrick was proud of his best friends ingenuity， and he ended up having plenty to be proud about over the coming years. Wed eagerly await his phone calls home to hear about Jeromes latest heist6. He devoured7 whole roasts， loaves8 of bread and thawing9 pork chops， pushing the wrappers under the stove as if Pat wouldnt notice the missing meat.

帕特里克为他最好的朋友的聪明才智感到骄傲，在接下来的几年里，他终于有了很多值得骄傲的事情。我们热切地等着他打电话回家，那样就能听到杰罗姆最近犯下的劫案。它狼吞虎咽地吃掉整块烤肉、大块的面包和解冻的猪排，把包装纸推到炉子下面，就好像帕特里克不会注意到丢失的肉一样。

In his most celebrated caper， Jerome ate an entire pepperoni10 pizza while Patrick was tipping the delivery driver. He closed up the box and nudged11 it back into the center of the coffee table as if it had been delivered empty. It was almost the perfect crime. Only his pizza breath gave him away.

杰罗姆最有名的罪行就是在帕特里克给送货司机小费的时候，吃了一整块意大利辣香肠披萨。它合上盒子，轻轻地把它推回到咖啡桌的中央，就好像它在送来的时候就是空的。这几乎是完美的犯罪。只有满嘴的披萨味让它露出了马脚。

In Jeromes later years， Patrick moved back to our town， and his dad and I helped care for the old guy. Because of his aching hips， Jerome had a hard time getting to sleep and wanted someone near him until he dozed off. When Pat was at work， I took to singing a lullaby12 with lyrics adapted just for Jerome. Each verse would have a different one of his favorite foods， “Dream of pork chops，” Id croon. Or Brie cheese， pizza， biscuits...But his favorite verse， the one that always got Jerome to doze off， was： “Dream of hot dogs， dream of hot dogs. Sleep.”

在杰罗姆的晚年，帕特里克搬回我们镇上，他父亲和我帮忙照顾这位“老人”。因为杰罗姆的臀部疼痛，很难入睡，它希望有人在身边，直到它打起瞌睡。帕特里克去工作时，我就开始唱为杰罗姆改编过歌词的摇篮曲。每段歌里都会有它最喜欢的食物。我会低吟：“梦到猪排”。或者布里干酪、披萨、饼干……但杰罗姆最喜欢的能让它打瞌睡的一段就是：“梦到热狗，梦到热狗。快睡吧。”

Jerome lived to the ripe old age13 of sixteen. He proudly wore scars from a fight to the death with an opossum14， lost most of his teeth， survived a congenital15 heart murmur and ached in nearly every joint in his body. But he never lost his love for food...or his trickster ways.

杰羅姆活到了十六岁的高龄。它骄傲地带着一个与负鼠战斗几乎死掉的伤疤，失去了大部分牙齿，在先天性心杂音中幸存下来，身体几乎每个关节都在疼痛。但它从来没有失去对食物的热爱……或是放弃它的诡计。