A Four-legged Guardian Angel

Snow had just melted off the ground that April day at our house in Regina Beach. I had just cleaned up the pool in preparation for selling the house. The year before, I had lost my job, and now our financial situation was depressing. Finally, I had put the home on the market. Even worse, I would have to give up my beloved Great Dane (大丹犬), Brigitte, because I could no longer afford the cost of feeding it. The thought of losing the dog and our beautiful home was almost more than I could bear.

Deep in discouragement, I sat typing up my application letters. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my thirteen-month-old son, Forrest, as he lay on the carpet, playing near our big, gentle Brigitte. It seemed as if Brigitte was always meant to be in this family and she turned out to be a perfect companion.

Brigitte came to our house on Christmas eve when the doorbell rang and I was sure some of my Christmas packages had arrived.   I ran to the door but no one was there. I sensed something and looked down, only to find a beautiful Great Dane sitting there, looking up at me with big, intelligent eyes. Perhaps, someone had found the puppy somewhere and left her there, and then rang the doorbell and ran away. They accurately guessed I would welcome an additional family member and take care of her.

Thinking of these, I couldn’t help sighing and went straight back to work. However, I hadn’t typed more than two sentences when Brigitte began barking and running back and forth to the sliding glass door overlooking our pool.

I raced to see what was happening and noticed that the sliding door was slightly open. Suddenly, I realized Forrest was nowhere to be seen.   In panic, I opened the door and ran outside.

There I was surprised to see Brigitte, who was terrified of water, dive into the pool.

Finally, the doctor said Forrest was all right and could be released from hospital.

A Panting Trout

Julia always enjoyed running through The Dark Walk towards the light at the end of it, which was a dark, damp tunnel of smooth branches. This year she had the extra joy of showing it to her small brother, Stephen, and of terrifying him as well as herself.

One day they found a hole on one side of the walk. Inside there was water, where they perceived (察觉、发现) a breathless trout (鳟鱼). They were both so thrilled that they were no longer afraid of the darkness as they bent down and peered at the fish panting (喘气) in his tiny prison, his silver stomach going up and down like an engine, otherwise he was motionless. Julia wondered what he ate and thought of his hunger. She found him a worm. But he ignored the food, and just went on panting. She bent over him, wondering how he had been here. All the winter, in the dark tunnel, all day, all night, floating around alone.

Nobody knew how the fish got here. Her mother suggested that a bird had carried it here. Her father thought that in the winter a small stream might have carried it down there as a baby, and it had been safe until summer came and the water began to dry up.

Before going to bed, Stephen asked his mummy to tell him a story as usual, while Julia lay in her bed, not interested in it. That night mom told a story about a trapped little fish. “And so, in the end, the naughty fish got bigger and bigger, and the water got less and less…Then a Fairy Godmother appeared…”

Passionately, she turned around and cried, “Mummy, don’t make it a horrible old story.” Staring at the moon she knew there was no such thing as a fairy and that actually the trout, down in the tunnel, was panting for his life:

She sat up in the silent night and Stephen was sound asleep.

Julia poured the trout out of the pot into the river.

Chito Shedden was a simple fisherman and tour guide from Siquirres, Limon Province, Costa Rica.He had a broad range of interesting facts about nature, which helped his business quite a bit.

The year was 1989 and Chito was walking along the banks of the Reventazón River when he happened upon something very strange. There was a dying male crocodile(鳄鱼). When he stepped up to carefully examine the skinny reptile, he realized it had been shot through the head and then left eyes.

He knew, dangerous as it was, he couldn’t leave the poor animal there, alone and helpless. Chito acted quickly, calling for the help of several brave friends to load the heavy reptile into his boat. He knew if he could heal it, he would then send it back into the wild. He named the huge reptile “Pocho”, which means strength and began to care for him in his own backyard.

The kind and helpful fisherman started to heal Pocho with medicine, food, and more importantly, lots of care and attention. Chito fed the crocodile a steady diet of chicken and fish. He bought medicine to prevent infection(感染) and even slept by his side at night.

Affection was one of the most important factors. Chito gave him kisses and hugs. He talked to him and petted him.“The crocodile needed my love to regain the will to live,” he said. In time, Pocho improved enough to returned to normal health. It was time for him to return to his own river in the wild. Chito and his friends loaded the crocodile back into his boat and set him free in a nearby river. The two parted ways and Chito returned home alone.

Chito awoke the next morning, and walked outside._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A closer relationship was formed between Pocho and Chito._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once there was a slave named Androcles, who was so badly treated by his master that he resolved to run away from him. He therefore secretly left his master’s house and hid himself in a forest, some miles distant from the city.

After wandering about for some time, he came to a large cave, and overcome by hunger and tiredness, he lay down in it, and soon fell fast asleep.

He was suddenly awakened by the roar of a wild beast; a great lion stood right at the mouth of the cave. There was no way he could escape!

Androcles expected nothing else than to be at once torn to pieces, but to his great surprise, the lion came gently towards him, without showing any signs of anger. It gave forth a low and mournful (悲哀的) sound, as if it were begging for his assistance. As the lion approached him, he noticed that one of its feet was swollen.

He then went up to the lion, took hold of the wounded paw (爪子)，and examined it as a surgeon would examine a patient. He was not long in finding out the cause of the swelling; for he saw in the ball of the foot a very large thorn (刺). The slave pulled out the thorn, and pressed out of the wound a quantity of matter, which gave the lion immediate relief.

Then, the lion began to show his gratitude by every means in his power. He jumped about like a playful spaniel (西班牙猎犬), wagged his great tail, and licked the hands and feet of his physician. From that moment Androcles became his guest; the lion always shared his prey.

The slave continued to live like this for several months. At length, wandering carelessly through the woods, he was seized by a company of soldiers who were sent by the master to search for him.

He was sentenced to be torn by a lion in the public arena (竞技场).

However, the lion didn’t act as most had imagined.

We already know that the underwater world is anything but silent. It is full of natural sounds produced by animals and by the motion of the atmosphere and water. But today’s researchers are increasingly concerned about the man-made noises under the water. They are confusing whales and other marine animals

Although hearing is important to all animals, the special qualities of the undersea world emphasize the use of sound. Underwater sound allows marine animals to gather information and communicate at great distances and from all directions. Loud underwater noises can cause damage to their hearing. And nowadays it's becoming too much for marine wildlife. Evidence shows that whales will swim hundreds of miles, rapidly change their depth, and even beach themselves to get away from the sounds of sonar.

You might think lower noises, typically caused by shipping or construction, do not pose a threat to marine animals. In fact, while they may not kill the animals directly, they can disturb their ability to locate food, find mates and avoid predators (掠食动物)).Scientists looked at the effects of noise from small motorboats on coral-reef fish at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In the lab, the fish had been trained to recognize the smell of three common predators as a threat. Some fish were trained in the presence of boat noise, while the others had training with the natural sounds of the ocean. It turned out that the first group showed no fright reactions when exposed to the predator. However, the other group was scared. And under the influence of underwater noise on this group, only 20 percent of fish survived, compared to almost 70 percent of unexposed fish.

Humans rely on the ocean for its natural resources and biodiversity. The ocean also plays an important role in regulating( 调节)temperatures, As Cousteau said, "For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.