第14章 BRAVE BOBBY 勇敢的鲍比
Some years ago, a ship bound for China had on board, with other passengers, an officer, his wife, their only child—a little boy five years old, and a large Newfoundland dog called Bobby.
Everybody in the ship liked Bobby, he was so good-tempered and frolicsome; but the boy was the dogs constant playmate. He was a merry little fellow, and as fond of Bobby as Bobby was of him.
One evening while the little boy and the dog were romping together, the ship gave a roll, and splash went the child into the sea!
A cry was raised, “A hand over! a hand over!” and the brave dog sprang over the side of the ship, clearing it like a greyhound, and swam towards the stern.
The little boy's father, half frantic, leaped with others into the jolly-boat; but it was too dark to see far before them. All gave the child up for lost.
At last they heard a splash on the left side of the ship. “Pull on, quick!”cried the father. The boat was turned, the men pulled with all their might, and in a moment brave Bobby was alongside, holding up the child in his mouth! Joy! joy! joy!
The boat was rowed back to the ship; the half-drowned boy soon got better;the parents were delighted; and brave Bobby was caressed by all.
At the Cape-of-Good-Hope, the passengers were to be landed. The officer got into the boat, with his wife and child; but he told the sailors to hold the Newfoundland dog tight by the collar till the boat was some distance from the ship. “You will then see,” said he, “what a strong swimmer he is.”
Brave Bobby pulled and tugged to get loose, but all in vain; for they held him till the boat was near the shore. But no sooner did the officer give the signal than the dog was set at liberty, and away he went full dash into the sea.
Suddenly the poor animal set up a shrill howl, and threw himself out of the water. At first it was thought he had been seized with cramp; but it was worse than that—a shark was after him!
“A shark! a shark!” sounded from the boat to the ship. Bobby swam right and left, and dived and doubled, showing his teeth, and never allowing the shark time to turn on his back; without doing which the monster could not bite him.
The officer in the boat soon saw that there was little chance of reaching the spot in time to save the dog. Poor Bobby swam and dodged, till he was almost tired out. “Stop rowing,” cried the officer to the men, “and turn the boat round.”
Just at that moment the shark, which had got very close to the dog, turned on his back and opened his horrid mouth!
Bobby was all but gone. His master rose, pointed his gun, and fired. In a moment the water was tinged with blood: the horrid jaws of the shark were shattered to pieces!
The men then rowed to the spot where Bobby was swimming about. The officer pulled the dog into the boat; the child threw his little arms around him;and the men in the boat, and the sailors in the ship, cried out with joy, “Hurrah! hurrah! joy! joy! Bobby is safe! the shark is killed! Hurrah! hurrah!”
Questions
How does the dog in the picture happen to be in the water? When did this occur? What fish is that near the dog? Why is it turning on its back? Who are in the boat? How was the dog saved? Why was he so much loved by his master?
Pronunciation
Chi'-na grey'-hound mo'-ment of'-fi-cer sound'-ed
con'-stant de-light'-ed mon'-ster sud'-den-ly al-low'-ing
play'-mate lib'-er-ty row'-ing a-long'-side sail'-ors
Write
officer sounded hurrah
suddenly allowing moment
passengers alongside shattered
若干年前，在一艘驶往中国的船只上，载着一位军官夫妇和他们的独生子以及其他乘客。军官的孩子有五岁大，他们还有一只名叫鲍比的纽芬兰犬。
船上所有人的都喜欢鲍比，因为它脾气非常好，又喜欢嬉戏。小男孩是狗永远的玩伴。他是个愉快的小家伙，他喜欢鲍比，鲍比也喜欢他。
一天晚上，小男孩和鲍比一起玩耍的时候，船发生了摇晃，溅起的浪头把小男孩卷进了海里！
叫喊声响了起来，“快来人！快来人！”这时，勇敢的鲍比跳过船的一侧，像一条快艇一样，朝船尾游去。
小男孩的父亲已经快发狂了，他和其他人一起跳进一艘小艇。但是天太黑了，看不到前面的东西。所有人都觉得这孩子肯定找不到了。
终于，他们听到船的左边出现划水的声音。“快点，继续划！”父亲喊道。船掉转回头，人们用尽全力划着，一会儿就到了勇敢的鲍比旁边，而鲍比正用嘴抓着孩子！庆幸！庆幸！庆幸啊！
小艇划了回去，快被淹死的小孩不久就恢复了；孩子的父母非常高兴，人们都去抚摸勇敢的鲍比，对他表示感谢。
船到了好望角，乘客们快要上岸了。军官和他的妻子和孩子走进船里，但是军官告诉水手们要抓牢这条纽芬兰犬的项圈，直到小艇离船有一段距离才放手。“然后你会看到，”他说，“它是一个多么坚韧的游泳高手。”
勇敢的鲍比用力又拉又拖，想挣脱束缚，但是却都徒劳无功；因为鲍比在船靠岸之前一直被拴着，所以当军官一声令下，让人们放开它的时候，鲍比就全速冲进海里。
突然，这个可怜的小动物发出一声尖厉的嚎叫，奋力想要跳出水中。刚开始，人们以为它痉挛了，但是，比这更可怕的情况出现了——一条鲨鱼在追它！
“鲨鱼！鲨鱼！”这叫喊声从小艇传到船上。鲍比一会儿往左，一会儿往右，一会儿潜水，一会儿折返。它张着嘴，不让鲨鱼有任何机会攻击它的背部；而只要攻击不到它的背部，这个猛兽就没法咬它。
在船上的军官不久就发现，要及时地赶到那片水域去救鲍比几乎是不可能的。可怜的鲍比又游又躲，马上就要筋疲力尽了。“不要划了，”军官对人们喊道，“掉转船头吧。”
就在鲨鱼离鲍比几步之遥的时候，它张开了血盆大口，攻击鲍比的 背部。
鲍比差一点就要死了。它的主人举起枪射击。水面上顿时溅满了血迹；鲨鱼可怕的下巴被打成了碎片！
然后人们划向鲍比所在的地点。军官把鲍比拉上了船，孩子的小手臂环绕着鲍比；船上的所有乘客，所有水手，都高兴地哭了起来，“万岁！万岁！好哇！好哇！鲍比平安了！鲨鱼被杀死了！万岁！万岁！”