Is Holly Working Today?
For Holly and me,it started with a stray kitten1).Abandoned in the harsh winter weather,she huddled in a ball on the front steps of our building,an elementary school for emotionally disturbed children where I provided therapy three days a week.
That morning,I kept the kitten in my office while the principal figured out2) where to take it.
It started as the children soberly3) traipsed4) into my office that day for their therapy.When they spotted the kitten,their faces suddenly brightened.Their reticence5) and tenseness seemed to melt away as they petted the stray,and our sessions were relaxed and open.The kitten's effect was astounding and,by the end of the day,I was hatching a plan.My dog,Holly,was a gentle,gregarious6),well-behaved seven-year-old of mix ed parentage.Couldn't she have the same relaxing effect on the children I counseled?Enthused,I began paperwork requesting permission to bring Holly to school with me,providing documentation of the benefits of companion animals.
The project was approved,but my supervisor clearly let me know that Holly and I were on trial.The responsibility for any problems with the “dog experiment ”would land squarely on my shoulders.Optimistic nonetheless,I smiled at the signs pasted on my office door as I unlocked it on Holly's first morning with me at school.“Holly is happy to be here,”the children had carefully stenciled7).Already the children were responding positively to the idea of a dog counselor.Holly sniffed out my office,and we settled in for a day of work.
A small boy entered,and he and Holly stared at each other warily.“Does that dog bite?”
“No,”I assured him.“Why don't you give her a treat?”I handed him a bag of multicolored doggie treats.“Pick any color you like,”I said.The boy chose a red treat and tentatively held it out to Holly.She neatly and gently took the treat,swallowed it quickly and licked the boy's hand.The boy smiled.Holly's critical debut had been a success.
After the bell rang,a succession of little visitors came to our door,vying8) to see Holly.As they took turns handing treats to Holly,she wagged her tail and licked their hands,showing her approval.It was no wonder the children were drawn to her:For many of them,it was t heir first encounter with unconditional acceptance.
During the days that followed,Holly learned not to bark at the children's knocks on my office door.I set up a corner for her in my office on a piece of carpet remnant9).The children eagerly came to me for their counseling visits,sitting on the floor by Holly and petting,brushing,playing with and confiding in her.As they relaxed with Holly,they let down their defenses.Our counseling sessions became smooth and productive.
Little by little,Holly's influence reached beyond her little corner of my office.Absences at school began to drop,and the children's disruptive behaviors softened.Even the teachers ducked in for some pet therapy throughout the day,giving Holly a short pat and restoring their spirits in her presence.
I didn't realize how loved Holly was,though,until I missed two days of work with strep throat10).When I called in sick the first day,expecting a touch of sympathy,I was immediately asked if that meant Holly would have to stay home,too.The second day,I was seriously asked if I could at least send Holly to work in a cab.Apparently,the teachers were tired of answering the question:“Is Holly working today?”
One morning before school,nine-year-old LeMar,a third-grader who visited Holly regularly,was shot and killed in a domestic dispute.His classmates learned of the tragedy while they were still on the school bus,and by the time they arrived at school,they were terrified and in tears.
I hurried to LeMar's home classroom,Holly trailing behind me.LeMar's teacher stood there with tears streaming down her face.“My degree didn't prepare me to handle something like this,”she sobbed.I mustered all my sources and expertise to come up with the right words to soothe them.
“Crying is okay for adults and children,”I began,“especially when something like this happens.”Still seeing the pain on their faces,I continued to tell them that it was okay to be scared,that fear is a natural response.For a while,we talked about how we would miss LeMar.It was at this point that I realized what Holly was doing.
She was working her way around the room,going from child to child--and the teacher--putting her front paws on their laps and stretching up to lick the tears from their faces.Unconsciously,the children hugged her back,running their fingers through her fur with such intensity that she would have gone bald if they'd done it all day.She called no significant attention to herself,but quietly expressed love and consolation.She diligently kept up her silent comfort throughout that long,difficult day.
As I slid into the front seat of my car t hat afternoon,I leaned back,exhausted from the emotional trauma11).I just wanted to be home.Glancing briefly into the backseat,I was surprised to see that Holly had already fallen asleep.She was just as drained as I was,if not more so,and,not for the first time,I felt a pang of guilt.Was a fair to ask my dog to take on the emotional responsibilities of troubled children?Shouldn't she be allowed to stay home and enjoy the carefree life of a house pet?
Those doubts may be why,even now,I occasionally stop in my rush to leave for school in the morning and,instead of ordering Holly into the car,look at her,asking,“Do you want to go to school today?”When she leaps up eagerly,all wags and excitement,I figure she's answered that burning question for all of us.Yes,Holly is working today.
□by Barbara J.Wood
霍莉今天上班嗎?
對我和霍莉來說,一切是從一只無主的貓開始的。它在嚴(yán)寒中被拋棄,在校舍樓前臺階上,蜷縮在一個(gè)球里。這是一所為心理不正常的兒童開設(shè)的小學(xué),我在那兒每周提供三天的心理治療。
那天早上,我把那只貓留在了我的辦公室里,而校長則在考慮如何安置它。
那天,事情是從孩子們安靜地、悠悠忽忽走進(jìn)我的辦公室接受治療開始的。他們見到小貓時(shí),個(gè)個(gè)眼前一亮。他們摸拍這只無主的貓時(shí),素日的緘默和緊張似乎融化了,療程進(jìn)行得既輕松,又坦率。小貓的效果令我吃驚,那天工作結(jié)束時(shí),我就開始醞釀一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃。我的混血狗霍莉7歲,它性情溫和、合群、有禮貌。它對我治療的孩子也能產(chǎn)生松弛神經(jīng)的同樣效果嗎?我滿腔熱情地著手寫報(bào)告,引用文獻(xiàn)資料,列舉了以動物為伴的好處,請求批準(zhǔn)我?guī)Щ衾騺韺W(xué)校。
我的計(jì)劃雖然獲準(zhǔn),但是校長交代得很清楚,我和霍莉是先試試。我要對有關(guān)“狗試驗(yàn)”出現(xiàn)的任何問題承擔(dān)全部責(zé)任。
即使這樣,我還是很樂觀。帶霍莉來學(xué)校的第一天早上,我開鎖打開辦公室門時(shí),看到貼在門上的告示,我笑了。孩子們認(rèn)認(rèn)真真地寫著:“霍莉高興來這兒”。他們對狗充當(dāng)輔導(dǎo)員的想法已經(jīng)做出積極的反應(yīng)?;衾虬艳k公室嗅聞一遍后,我們一天的工作就開始了。
一個(gè)小男孩走進(jìn)來,他和霍莉警惕地對視著。“那狗咬人嗎?”他問道。
“不,”我讓他放心。“你為什么不給它吃點(diǎn)什么?”我遞給他一袋各種顏色的狗餅干。“挑你喜歡的顏色,”我說道。那男孩挑了塊紅色的,試探地朝霍莉伸出手。它利索輕巧地叼住餅干,很快地吞下后,舔了舔男孩的手。男孩笑了。霍莉的初次登場獲得成功。
鈴響后,一伙小參觀者陸續(xù)來到門前,爭著要看霍莉。他們輪流喂它餅干,它晃動著尾巴,還舔他們的手,表示贊賞。它吸引孩子并不奇怪,因?yàn)樵S多孩子是第一次被無條件地接受。
在隨后的日子里,霍莉?qū)W會不再聽到孩子敲我辦公室門時(shí)就吠叫。我為它在屋角里放了塊地毯碎頭。孩子們積極地來我這兒進(jìn)行心理治療,他們坐在霍莉身旁的地上,撫摸它,梳理它的毛,逗它玩,向它吐露心里話。孩子們輕松地和霍莉相處,防備意識也隨之松懈。心理障礙療程進(jìn)展順利,卓有成效。
霍莉的影響逐漸地從屋角擴(kuò)展到辦公室外。上課缺勤率開始下降,孩子們的搗亂行為有所緩和。甚至教師們也不時(shí)光顧,想接受些寵物治療,輕拍它一下,在它面前又重新打起精神。
直到我因?yàn)槟摱拘匝屎硌變商鞗]去學(xué)校,我才知道霍莉多么受人們愛戴。第一天我打電話請病假,期望聽到一些同情的話語,可對方立刻問我,這是否意味霍莉也得待在家里。第二天,學(xué)校來電話問我,能否至少讓霍莉搭出租車去上班。很明顯,老師們已經(jīng)厭煩回答同樣的問題:“霍莉今天上班嗎?”
一天早上上課前,定時(shí)來看霍莉的三年級學(xué)生、9歲的勒馬爾在家庭爭吵中被槍擊后死去。他的同學(xué)們在校車上聽到這噩耗,到了學(xué)校后,個(gè)個(gè)驚恐不已,流著眼淚。
霍莉尾隨我匆忙趕到勒馬爾的教室。勒馬爾的老師站在那兒,淚流滿面。“我的學(xué)位沒有教我怎樣處理這樣的事情,”她抽噎著說道。我使出渾身解數(shù),想說出恰當(dāng)?shù)脑拋戆参克麄儭?/span>
“對成年人和孩子來說,哭是應(yīng)該的,”我開口說道,“尤其是發(fā)生了這種事情的時(shí)候。”看到他們臉上仍顯露著悲痛,我接著告訴他們恐懼也是正常的,那是一種自然反應(yīng)。我們談?wù)摿艘粫何覀儗振R爾的思念。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候,我才注意到霍莉在干什么。
它繞著教室走,從一個(gè)孩子到另一個(gè)孩子,也到老師那兒,它把前爪放在他們膝上,挺身舔去他們臉上的眼淚。孩子們下意識地抱住它的背,使勁胡嚕它的毛,手指用勁那么大,要是胡嚕一天的話,霍莉準(zhǔn)會成禿毛狗了。它并不要求給予它自己多大的關(guān)注,只是默默地奉獻(xiàn)摯愛和安撫。在那漫長而痛苦難熬的一天里,霍莉不知疲倦地給人以無聲的慰藉。
那天下午,我鉆進(jìn)汽車前座后,仰身坐下,感情的創(chuàng)傷使我疲憊不堪。我只想回家。往后座一瞥,我驚奇地看到霍莉已經(jīng)睡著了。它如果不比我更累,至少和我一樣筋疲力盡。我再次感到良心的不安。讓我的愛犬承擔(dān)陷入痛苦的孩子們感情上的責(zé)任公平嗎?它是不是該留在家里,享受家庭寵物無憂無慮的生活呢?
這些疑問,可能說明了我有時(shí)早上匆忙準(zhǔn)備去學(xué)校時(shí)為什么要停步,不是叫霍莉上車,而是看著它問道:“今天你想去學(xué)校嗎?”當(dāng)它急切地蹦起,搖晃著尾巴,激動不已時(shí),我想它已經(jīng)回答了我們大家急于要問的問題。是的,霍莉今天上班。
NOTE 注釋:
kitten [5kitn] n. 小貓
figure out [美口] 想出
soberly [5sEubEli] adv. 嚴(yán)肅地, 冷靜地
traipse [treips] vi. [口] 閑蕩,拖著腳步走
reticence [5retIsEns] n. 沉默寡言
gregarious [^re5^ZEriEs] adj. 社交的, 群居的
stencil [5stensl, -sil] vt. 用模板印刷
vie [vai] v. 競爭
remnant [5remnEnt] n. 殘余, 剩余, 零料, 殘跡
strep throat [醫(yī)] 膿毒性咽喉炎
trauma [5trC:mE] n. [醫(yī)] 外傷, 損傷