English Original
Bill was not so much a man of the world as a man of Basford and Hartshill. Yet his life was one of extraordinary richness in its simplicity, filled with minute experiences and, I always felt, a whole ocean of private memories. At night, he would sit alone in his back room, unpacking these secrets like a cut glass set, only to repack them before morning. I sensed there was more to Bill than he ever revealed.
Our arrival on Victoria Street was marked by two events.
First, within minutes, I was sent to buy cigarettes for my mother. Norman Bettany, owner of the small grocer's next door, sporting a grey shop coat and brilliantined hair, shook my hand and said, "Welcome to Basford." It was a gesture unimaginable today.
Second, Bingo, the dog who had lived there with the previous occupants, began making unannounced and traumatic visits. This gave Bill a chance to show his way with dogs.
Bingo had already left his mark—scratch lines at paw height on the outside of the kitchen door, a testament to his former guardianship. A few days after we had unpacked most of our belongings, we heard desperate scratching, grunting, and moaning from that door. Looking out the window, we saw Bingo again—a refugee from his own fate, trying to return to the familiar and certain.
The first time, we had little idea how Bingo would react upon finding his territory, and that of his master and mistress, occupied by an invading force denying him what he still saw as his legitimate home.
In short, Bingo turned exceptionally nasty. When our faces appeared at the window instead of the reassuring ones of his owners, his expression was one of bewilderment. His eyes—if a dog could do this—widened with shock and incomprehension. As we approached, that look festered into vicious disappointment, bile, and acrid resentment.
中文翻译
与其说比尔是个见过世面的人，不如说他是巴斯福德和哈茨希尔本地人。然而，他的生活因其质朴而异常丰富，充满了细微的经历，而且我总觉得，还有一片只有他自己知晓的、浩瀚如海的私人记忆。夜晚，他会独自坐在后屋，像打开一套雕花玻璃器皿一样展开这些秘密，又在黎明前重新收起。我总觉得，比尔所展现的远非他的全部。
我们初到维多利亚街时，有两件事标志着我们的到来。
第一件事是，几分钟内，我就被派去给母亲买烟。隔壁小杂货店的老板诺曼·贝塔尼，穿着灰色的店服，头发梳得油光锃亮，他握着我的手说：“欢迎来到巴斯福德。”这种礼节在今天是难以想象的。
第二件事是，宾果——那条曾与前住户一同住在这房子里的狗——开始不请自来地进行令人头疼的拜访。这给了比尔一个展示他与狗相处之道的机会。
宾果早已留下了他的印记——厨房门外爪痕高度的划痕，证明着他昔日的守护。在我们拆开大部分行李几天后，我们听到从那扇门传来绝望的抓挠声、咕哝声和呻吟声。望向窗外，我们又看到了宾果——一个被自己命运放逐的难民，试图回到他所熟悉和确信的一切中去。
第一次，我们几乎不知道宾果在发现他的领地，以及他主人和女主人的领地，如今被一支入侵部队占领，并拒绝承认他仍视为合法家园的地方时，会作何行为。
简而言之，宾果变得异常凶恶。当我们的脸出现在窗框后，而不是他主人那令人安心的面容时，他脸上露出了困惑迷乱的表情。他的眼睛——如果狗能做到的话——因震惊和不解而睁得大大的。当我们靠近时，那种眼神溃烂成恶毒的失望、怨恨与辛辣的愤懑。