第1793期：A Dogless Night

晚上散步，发现路上狗少了 – 少了很多。

In a recent evening stroll, I noticed there were fewer dogs – much fewer.

我认识的大黄二黑小白三金四哈五边六拉七科八柴九泰十秋，都好几天不见了。

All the dogs I know – the Yellow Head, Black Nose, White Paw, Golden, Husky, Sheperd, Labrador, Corgi, Shiba, Teddy, Akita – all were nowhere to be seen.

偶尔看见一只狗子，鬼头鬼脑，凄凄惶惶，像在隔壁偷情时撞见姘狗丈夫提前回家。

I did catch sight of one doggie, furtive like a thief as if running from a near miss in his lover’s chamber where her hubby came home earlier.

狗子牵着主人，惶惶如逛街之犬。

The doggie pulled his owner, edgy and restless, as scared as a walking dog should be.

那主人，站在街边，望左望右，望了五七遍，只把那秋水望穿，天涯望断，却不过马路。

His owner stood by the street, looked to the left, and the right, and again and again, but he didn’t make a move after a thorough look.

马路对面是另一只狗子，拽着她的主人遛弯儿。提心吊胆，五步三回头，急急如咬钩之鱼，似漏网，如进锅。

On the other side of the road, another puppy dragging her master, trod like an escaping fish running for life.

两只狗子对上了眼，两个主人可慌了神。什么时候了，还有这心思，卿卿我我，公母情长？

The two dogs hit it off, which made their owners uneasy. Not a good time. Not now. No flirting. No fucking business.

嘘，别叫，风紧，扯呼，纵有万种风情，回头再说吧。

Hush, shut up, dangerous, hit the road, beat it, TTYL.

两个狗主人互相回望一眼，觉得自己才像狗。

The dog owners exchanged a parting look, both wondering who are dogs and who own whom.

无路可走时，你会觉得周遭都是罗网。

When you have tried all means but all in vain,  you feel the world is a giant net.

无处躲藏时，反倒觉得四面都是墙。

When you have nowhere to hide out, everything seems like a wall.

那个我每天散步都碰见的老妇，平日惯常同时溜七八条狗。

The old lady I see every day used to walk seven or eight dogs at a time.

她是猫犬旅馆的专业遛狗员，兼职在三家宠物医院做护工。

She is a professional dog walker in a cat and dog hotel, moonlighting in three pet hospitals as a care-taker.

这几天街边的猫馆都还开着，狗舍和狗肉馆天一黑就关门，彩条布当窗帘，像去年底刚解封时偷偷营业的小饭店那样。

The cat houses have not been affected these days, but the dog houses close early, as early as dusk falls, draping tarpaulin as curtain, as the small diners did in the first several days after the zero-Covid policy was scrapped overnight last year.

狗舍里的狗嘴都戴上了橛子，仿佛半夜要去偷营劫寨。

All the dogs in the dog houses are mouth gagged, as if ready for a sneak attack on the enemy’s camp at midnight.

如今一家挨一家的宠物旅馆和动物医院，十几年前都是洗头房。说是洗头房，其实只是个房，一年到头其实开不了几天。

The building hosting these cat and dog houses used to be occupied by whore houses a decade ago, a house of whores, for that matter.

一开大会就停业，一有动静就关门。风头过了就大酬宾，报复那几天失去的青春。

But they had to suspend service from time to time, when there were important conferences or events in the city.

When the rush is over, they would roll out promotion to make up for the lost time and youth.

玻璃窗里挂着粉红色窗帘，玻璃房里点着小粉灯。

Pink curtains behind the pink French windows; pink lamps flicker inside the glass house.

玻璃门里的粉红女裹着粉红裙，粉红裙下装着招手拉客的女粉红。

Pink ladies in pink body-hugging skirts; pink minis solicit the passers-by, peering and peeking.

好一个dogless night，安静得好像不存在。

忽然想起高尔泰先生在《寻找家园》中的一句话：寂静不等于安宁。

What a dog less night, so quiet as if non existent.

Author Gao Ertai said in Finding Homeland, “Quietness is not peace.”

我对我心中那只从不存在的拉布拉多说了声

Hi Boston 你好吗？

I said to the virtual Labrador who never came to real life, “Hi, Boston, what’s up?”

幸亏我当初没有把你带到这

人间

Thank God that I didn’t bring you into this world.

一入夜，人就恢复了四条腿爬行。

When night falls, men resume crawling on four legs.

一声哨响，多少人就变成了夜叉和虎狼。

On one single whistle, men turn into phantoms and wolves.

夜已深了，没奈何。

The night is not young; what can you do?