English Original
In Puerto Rico, many years ago near the Condado Lagoon, there lived a poor fisherman. He lived alone in a hut, and his only companion was his dog.
The fisherman and his dog were devoted to each other. They were often seen strolling on the white sandy beach or walking along the vine-tangled road to San Juan. However, there was one place where they were never seen together: the fisherman's boat. He never took the dog with him.
Yet, the dog was always by his master's side as the fisherman prepared his boat each morning. When the man sailed out to sea, the dog would scamper up to the high ridge separating the lagoon from the open ocean. There he would sit and watch all day, never moving until he saw the little boat return in the late afternoon. Then he would race back to shore to greet his master, and together they would set off for San Juan to sell the day's catch.
Years passed. The fisherman grew older, and so did his faithful dog. Still, the fisherman went to sea, and the dog kept watch from the ridge above the lagoon.
One September morning, as the fisherman was preparing his boat, the dog suddenly began to bark and howl. He circled his master and tugged at his trousers. The fisherman, having never seen his dog behave so strangely, patted its back, thinking it wanted to play. But the dog persisted. The fisherman laughed, gave the dog another pat, and then climbed into his boat and sailed away. The dog went to his watching place on the ridge, still barking and howling.
That morning, the sky was blue and the breeze was soft. Other fishing boats were also out. Suddenly, the breeze turned wild. The fisherman's boat was seized by the wind and whirled around. The sky darkened, and rain began to fall.
"It's a hurricane!" cried the fisherman. "A hurricane blowing onshore!" He thought of his dog at once. Had it left the ridge and run home? Or was it still sitting there? He tried to steer his boat toward the shore, but a great wave swept over him and tossed the boat away.
By dawn the next morning, the hurricane had passed. The sky was blue again, and the sea was eerily calm. As the sun rose, the families of the fishermen ran to the shore, watching and waiting for the boats to return. None came. Slowly, the people returned to their homes to grieve and begin rebuilding their lives. In their sorrow, no one thought of the fisherman's dog.
Several months later, a group of villagers gathering sea grapes noticed what looked like a dog sitting high on the ridge above the lagoon.
"Look," said one. "Isn't that the old fisherman's dog?"
"How could it be, after all this time?" replied another.
To settle the matter, the first man climbed the rugged, stony ridge. But when he reached the spot, he found only a rock—a rock shaped exactly like a dog. He hurried back down. Yet, when the people looked up again, they saw the stone dog clearly. Its head was held high, its body alert, as if ready to spring into the sea. It sat there on the ridge, waiting, waiting…
And there it sits to this day, for anyone to see.
中文翻译
许多年前，在波多黎各的康达多泻湖附近，住着一位贫穷的渔夫。他独自住在一间小屋里，唯一的伙伴就是他的狗。
渔夫和他的狗相依为命。人们常看到他们在白色的沙滩上散步，或是走在通往圣胡安、藤蔓缠绕的小路上。然而，有一个地方人们从未见过他们在一起：渔夫的船上。他从不带狗上船。
尽管如此，每天早晨渔夫准备船只时，狗总是陪伴在侧。当渔夫驶向大海，狗便会奔跑上那道将泻湖与开阔海洋分隔开的高耸山脊。它会在那里坐上一整天，直到傍晚看到小船归来才动身。然后它会飞奔回岸边迎接主人，一同前往圣胡安售卖当天的渔获。
年复一年。渔夫老了，他忠实的狗也老了。渔夫依然出海，狗依然在泻湖上方的山脊守望。
九月的一个早晨，渔夫正准备船只，狗突然开始狂吠和哀嚎。它绕着主人转圈，扯着他的裤腿。渔夫从未见过狗如此反常，便拍了拍它的背，以为它想玩耍。但狗依然坚持。渔夫笑了笑，又拍了拍狗，然后登上船驶离了。狗跑到山脊上的守望处，仍在不停地吠叫。
那天早晨，天空湛蓝，微风和煦。其他渔船也出海了。突然，微风变得狂暴。渔夫的船被风抓住，打起了转。天空暗了下来，开始下雨。
“是飓风！”渔夫喊道。“飓风登陆了！”他立刻想到了他的狗。它离开山脊跑回家了吗？还是仍然坐在那里？他试图将船驶向岸边，但一个巨浪将他淹没，卷走了小船。
次日黎明时分，飓风已经过去。天空再次湛蓝，海面异常平静。太阳升起时，渔民的家人们跑到岸边，守望并等待着船只归来。一艘也没有。人们缓缓回到家中，在悲痛中开始重建生活。在悲伤中，没有人想起渔夫的狗。
几个月后，一群采集海葡萄的村民注意到，泻湖上方的山脊高处似乎坐着一只狗。
“看，”一个人说。“那不是老渔夫的狗吗？”
“过了这么久，怎么可能呢？”另一个人回答。
为了弄清真相，第一个人爬上了崎岖多石的山脊。但当他到达那里时，只发现了一块石头——一块形状酷似狗的石头。他急忙下来。然而，当人们再次抬头望去，他们清晰地看到了那只石犬。它昂着头，身体警觉，仿佛随时准备跃入大海。它就坐在山脊上，等待着，等待着……
直到今天，它仍坐在那里，供所有人观看。