Surrounded by rolling green hills dotted1with horses and cows， the beautiful ranch townof Waimea on Hawaii’s Big Island is a peacefuland friendly place. One afternoon， while stayingwith friends at their house there， my husbandand I decided to go for a walk along the many，mostly traffic-free， country lanes2 in the area.

夏威夷大島上風(fēng)景如畫(huà)的牧場(chǎng)小鎮(zhèn)威美亞鎮(zhèn)被連綿起伏的青山環(huán)繞，其間散布著馬匹和奶牛，是一個(gè)寧?kù)o友好的地方。住在那里朋友的家里期間，一天下午，我和丈夫決定沿著該地區(qū)許多幾乎沒(méi)有車(chē)輛通行的鄉(xiāng)村小路散步。

We met a beautiful Golden Retriever，obviously well cared for but with no collar. Heseemed especially friendly so we stopped to playwith him， throwing a stick which he retrieved3several times with glee4. When we went on ourwalk， he followed us， and although I worried thathe might be going too far from his home， I couldn’tdeny5 that we were enjoying his company. We feltan immediate bond with this lovely dog and eventalked about adopting6 him if we learned that hedidn’t belong to anyone.

我們遇到了一只美麗的金毛尋回犬，它顯然受到了精心的照料，但沒(méi)有項(xiàng)圈。它看起來(lái)特別友好，所以我們停下來(lái)和他玩，扔出一根棍子，它高興地跑去銜回了好幾次。當(dāng)我們繼續(xù)散步時(shí)，它跟在我們后面。盡管我擔(dān)心它可能離家太遠(yuǎn)，但我不能否認(rèn)我們很享受它的陪伴。我們感覺(jué)與這只可愛(ài)的狗立即產(chǎn)生了感情，甚至討論到如果知道它不屬于任何人，我們可以收養(yǎng)它。

After about twenty minutes， we found ourselves walking along a dirt road inan unfamiliar area， our golden friend still trotting7 beside us. Hilly grasslandssloped8 upward beyond a fence on one side of the road， and houses spacedcomfortably apart dotted the other. One house was almost hidden by tall trees. I feltsomething wrong as we passed it and felt an urge9 to be as far away from thatplace as possible.

大約二十分鐘后，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正沿著一條陌生區(qū)域的土路行走，我們金色的朋友仍在我們身邊小跑。道路一側(cè)的柵欄外是傾斜的丘陵草地，另一側(cè)是間距適中的房屋。有一座房子，幾乎被高大的樹(shù)木遮蔽住了。當(dāng)我們經(jīng)過(guò)它時(shí)，我感覺(jué)不對(duì)勁，有一種盡可能遠(yuǎn)離那個(gè)地方的沖動(dòng)。

Just then， the door to the house creaked open and five dogs rushed out，barking and growling10 as they ran toward us. I felt terrified and couldn’t move.There was nowhere to hide and no time to run.

就在這時(shí)，那座房子的門(mén)吱呀一聲打開(kāi)了，有五只狗沖了出來(lái)。它們一邊吠叫著，咆哮著，一邊向我們跑來(lái)。我感到害怕，無(wú)法動(dòng)彈。我們沒(méi)有地方躲藏，也沒(méi)有時(shí)間逃跑。

All of a sudden， our new friend appeared between the dogs and us. He facedthem—all five of them—growling and baring11 his teeth. I was amazed to see theattacking dogs stop in their tracks ten feet away from him. Our protector held themthere while we escaped12， running quickly down the road. At a safe distance， welooked back and saw the five dogs heading back toward their house.

突然，我們的新朋友出現(xiàn)在那群狗和我們之間。它面對(duì)著它們，面對(duì)著它們五條狗，咆哮著，齜牙咧嘴。我驚訝地看到攻擊我們的狗停在離它十英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方。我們的保護(hù)者把它們攔在那里，而我們則沿著公路快速逃跑。到了安全的距離，我們回頭看，看到那五條狗正朝著它們的房子跑去。

But the Golden Retriever was nowhere in sight.

但是金毛尋回犬卻不見(jiàn)蹤影。

The road was quiet again.

路上又恢復(fù)了平靜。

I felt an ache in my heart; I missed our friendalready. Instinctively13， I knew he was not hurt.

我感到一陣心痛；我已經(jīng)很想念我們的朋友了。我憑直覺(jué)知道它沒(méi)有受傷。

With a feeling of emptiness， we made our way back to the house， hoping the whole way that we would see our golden friend again. But it was not to be.

帶著一種空虛的感覺(jué)，我們返回那座房子，希望一路上能再次見(jiàn)到我們金色的朋友，但事與愿違。

When I told our friend about the encounter14， her eyes flew wide open as she exclaimed，“It was an angel！ ”

當(dāng)我告訴我們的朋友這次偶遇時(shí)，她眼睛睜得大大的，驚呼道：“它是一個(gè)天使！”

To this day I have no doubt. A four-legged angel protected us.

直到今天我都毫不懷疑。一個(gè)四條腿的天使保護(hù)了我們。

（英語(yǔ)原文選自：chickensoup.com）