The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.
A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come from encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journeys through the heavens.
If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the grave will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.

by George Graham Vest

忠犬禮讚

人在世界上最好的朋友可能會翻臉成仇。他用愛心養育的兒女可能會忘了親恩。那些我們最親近的人，那些我們把幸福和好名聲所託付的人，也會忘恩負義。人的金錢會喪失。或者當他最需要之時，卻不翼而飛。人的名譽可能會因一時考慮不周的行為而犧牲掉了。那些在我們成功時最易屈膝尊敬的人，當我們失敗的烏雲罩頂時，可能是第一個向我們投擲石塊的人。在這個自私的世界上，人能擁有一個決不自私的朋友，也永不離棄他，永不辜負或背叛他的朋友，就是他的狗。
一個人的狗愛戴他，不論他身處富貴、貧賤、健康和疾病之中。只要牠能接近主人的身邊，牠會睡臥在冰冷的地上，雖然那裡有寒風的吹襲和白雪的猛烈煎迫。牠會親吻他沒有食物提供的手；牠會舔舐他遭遇世上粗暴對待的傷痛。牠守護窮主人的睡眠，好似他市一為王子。當所有別的朋友棄他而去時，牠仍留下來。當他財富耗盡，名譽掃地時，牠對他的愛，猶如太陽當空那樣的永恆。
如果命運迫使牠的主人成為世上的流浪漢，無友也無家，忠心的狗兒並不要求多一點的特權，只求能夠陪伴他，護衛他的危險，抵抗他的敵人。當他人生最後的一幕來臨時，死神擁抱了牠的主人，他的遺體被埋入冰冷的土地，不管所有其他的朋友是否各奔前程，墓旁高貴的狗兒，仍把頭伏在兩足間，目光悲愴但仍睜大眼睛，警戒的守護著，忠心耿耿，至死不渝。

by衛斯特