Owney,the Post Office Dog

In 1895,a globetrotting mixed-breed mutt named Owney paid a brief call on Milwaukee.As was his custom,the dog arrived aboard one train and departed a few hours later by another.His home was anywhere U.S.mail traveled by railroad—and in the 1890s that waseverywhere.

1895年，環(huán)球旅行的混種小狗奧尼短暫到訪了密爾沃基。一如往常，這只狗乘一輛火車抵達，幾小時后又乘另一輛離開。美國郵政鐵路行至哪里，哪里就是他的家——在1890年代，這意味著他的家無處不在。

[2]“A wanderer upon the face of the globe,if ever there was one,appeared in the office of Chief Clerk Frank P.Smith of the Railway Mail Service this morning,” reported theMilwaukee Journalon May 11,1895.“Post Office Owney is a dog,but he is no ordinary dog.He is the property of 7,000 railway clerks.”

[2]“一個環(huán)球漫游者，若是果真有的話，今日上午出現(xiàn)在鐵路郵政局局長弗蘭克·P.史密斯的辦公室。”1895年5月11日的《密爾沃基新聞報》報道稱，“郵差奧尼是一只狗，可他絕不是一般的狗。他屬于7000名鐵路郵政員工所共有。”

[3]Owney was a scruffy1scruffy不整潔的；邋遢的。puppy when he appeared at the Albany,N.Y.Post Office in 1888.Adopted by the clerks,Owney made his home at the post office thanks to a kind-hearted supervisor willing to overlook regulations.Owney soon started riding mail wagons and then Railway Post Office (RPO)train cars.

[3]1888年奧尼出現(xiàn)在紐約州的奧爾巴尼郵局時，還是一只臟兮兮的小奶狗。多虧一位好心的主管愿意無視規(guī)章，員工們才得以收留他，從此郵局便成了奧尼的家。奧尼很快開始乘坐郵車旅行，之后又登上鐵路郵政列車。

[4]RPOs were specially designed rail cars coupled to passenger trains.As the train moved along,Railway Mail Clerks in the car would systematically sort the mail for destinations along the line.At places where the train didn’t stop for passengers,a clever contraption2contraption 奇特的裝置。allowed bags of mail to be taken aboard from trackside hooks “on the fly.” At the same time,clerks would heave3heave舉；拉；拋。sacks of mail destined for that town off the moving train.

[4]鐵路郵政列車是專門設(shè)計的連接在客運列車上的軌道車。列車一路行駛，車上的鐵路郵政員工有條理地分揀沿線站點的郵件。在列車不停靠上下乘客的地方，一個奇妙的裝置通過軌道旁的鉤子“凌空”將成袋的郵件運上車。與此同時，員工們將送達此地的郵包從運行的列車上拋下。

[5]It was an efficient operation and mail service could be astoundingly fast.One could walk down the passenger platform at New York’s Grand Central Terminal,drop a letter through a slot4slot（投放或插入東西的）窄縫，扁口。on the wall of the appropriate RPO,and be assured it would be delivered in Chicago the next day—all for the price of a 3-cent stamp.

[5]此舉十分高效，以致郵政服務(wù)驚人地快捷。在紐約中央火車站，乘客沿著站臺走，往鐵路郵政專屬投信口投進一封信，保準第二天就會被送達芝加哥——而這僅需一枚3分錢的郵票。

[6]The nationwide network of RPOs became Owney’s home for the remainder of his life.He would hop off one RPO at a station and randomly climb into another and curl up on a pile of mailbags knowing wherever he went the clerks would take care of him.

[6]遍布全國的鐵路郵政網(wǎng)成了奧尼余生的家。他常常在站點從一輛郵政車上跳下，然后隨機登上另一輛，蜷縮在一堆郵包上。他知道，不管到了哪里，總會有郵政員工照顧他。

[7]The National Postal Museum notes,“Railway mail clerks considered the dog a good luck charm.At a time when train wrecks were all too common,no train Owney rode was ever in a wreck.The Railway mail clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot,marking his travels by placing medals and tags on his collar.”

[7]國家郵政博物館表示：“鐵路郵政員工都把這只狗當(dāng)作幸運符。在一個列車事故頻發(fā)的年代，奧尼乘坐的列車無一失事。員工們把奧尼作為他們的非官方吉祥物，并以在項圈 上 掛 勛 章 和 標 牌 的 方 式 記 錄他的旅程。”

[8]The tags,usually metal luggage claims stamped with a city name,attracted the attention of theMilwaukee Journalreporter.“A huge collar,from which dangled a half-hundred or more tags from almost every conceivable corner of the country… is fixed firmly around his neck.These tags collect so rapidly that it becomes necessary to remove them at times and clerks along the line take them off and send them to ‘Owney,Albany,N.Y.,’ where they are carefully stored away in a room provided for this purpose in the Albany Post Office.”

[8]這些標牌通常是印有城市名的金屬行李領(lǐng)取簽，它們引起了《密爾沃基新聞報》記者的注意：“一個巨大的項圈，上面掛著五十多個標牌，來自美國幾乎每一個能想到的角落……緊緊地箍在他的脖子上。這些標牌收集得太快，以至于不得不定期摘除。沿線的員工把它們摘下，寄至‘紐約州奧爾巴尼的奧尼’。在奧爾巴尼郵局一間專供收藏的房間里，它們被精心地保存。”

[9]Concerned the tags were a burden for the little dog,U.S.Postmaster General John Wanamaker had a custom harness5harness挽具；（起固定或保護作用的）背帶。made for Owney—and also named him the Official Mascot of the Railway Mail Service.

[9]由于擔(dān)心標牌會讓這只小狗負重，美國郵政總長約翰·沃納梅克特意為奧尼定制了一件背心——并將他指定為鐵路郵政服務(wù)的官方吉祥物。

[10]In 1895,a few months after his visit to Milwaukee visit,Owney made an around-the-world trip.Starting from Tacoma,Washington in August,he traveled with mail bags throughout Asia,North Africa,the Middle East,and across Europe,before returning to New York City on December 23 and,finally,to his Post Office friends in Albany.

[10]1895年，在訪問過密爾沃基數(shù)月后，奧尼踏上了一場環(huán)球旅行。8月份，他從華盛頓州的塔科馬出發(fā)，和郵包一起，一路游經(jīng)亞洲、北非、中東，并橫穿歐洲，后于12月23日返歸紐約，并最終回到奧爾巴尼郵局的朋友身邊。

[11]For such a famous dog,Owney was admittedly not much to look at.The Journal reporter wrote,“He is a scotch terrier,somewhat larger than the ordinary specimen of that kind of dog.He has had many a knock in his time and he looks it.One eye has ceased to serve its original purpose.”

[11]盡管是如此有名的一只狗，但不可否認的是，奧尼長得并不好看。《密爾沃基新聞報》的記者寫道：“他是一只蘇格蘭梗犬，比這個品種的一般狗要稍大些。他一生遭受了許多打擊，這從外貌上就能看出。一只眼睛永久地損傷了。”

[12]Owney’s death was a sad one.In June 1897,he hopped off a train in Toledo,Ohio.It seems a postal clerk chained Owney to a post while waiting for a newspaper reporter to arrive.Not used to this kind of treatment and possibly becoming ill-tempered in his older years,Owney bit the clerk on the hand.The local postmaster ordered Owney put down.A Toledo police officer led the dog into an alley and shot him.

[12]奧尼的死令人痛心。1897年6月，他在俄亥俄州的托萊多從一列車上跳下。好像是一個郵政員工在等候一位新聞記者時，將它拴到了一根柱子上。奧尼不習(xí)慣這種待遇，也可能年紀大了脾氣變壞，于是就咬了這位員工的手。當(dāng)?shù)剜]局局長下令殺死奧尼，一名托萊多的警官就把狗引到胡同里槍殺了。

[13]Owney had traveled 143,000 miles in his lifetime.

Mail clerks around the country donated funds to have Owney’s remains preserved.In 1911,Owney became the property of the Smithsonian Institution.

[13]奧尼一生總共旅行了143000英里。

全國的郵政員工捐資保存了奧尼的遺體。1911年，奧尼為史密森學(xué)會所有。

[14]A century later,in 2011,Owney appeared on a U.S.postage stamp.Today he occupies a central place in the atrium6atrium（現(xiàn)代建筑物中央通常帶有玻璃屋頂?shù)模┲型ァf the National Postal Museum,wearing his famous harness and surrounded by a few of the estimated 1,000 tags he accumulated in his travels.

[14]一個世紀后的2011年，奧尼出現(xiàn)在美國的郵票上。今天他被置于國家郵政博物館正廳的中心位置，身著他那著名的背心，周身環(huán)繞著旅行中收集的標牌（估計有1000個）中的一些。

[15]One of the many tags in the Smithsonian’s collection is made of brass.It reads “Milwaukee license no.694,”and granted Owney the freedom to roam the city.■

[15]史密森學(xué)會收藏的標牌中有一個是黃銅制成的，上面寫著“密爾沃基 牌照號694”，許可奧尼在這座城市自由行走。□

（譯者曾獲第三屆“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽優(yōu)秀獎）