A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
"Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
"Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle, "Here, Dolly!" he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up...
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.
参考译文
农夫要卖几只小狗。他做了一个广告牌子，把它钉在院子角落的一根柱子上。钉最后一颗钉子时，他忽然感到有人在扯他的工装裤。他低下头，看到了一个小男孩。
“先生，”小男孩说，“我想买你的一只狗。”
“哦。”农夫边擦脖子后面的汗水边说，“这些都是纯种小狗，价格很高的。”
小男孩低下了头，一会儿，他把手伸进口袋，摸出一把零钱，举到农夫眼前，说道：“我有39美分，可以让我看一眼小狗吗？”
“当然可以，”农夫说。
农夫说完吹了一声口哨喊道：“过来，多利！”
只见多利从窝里跑出来，越过斜坡，后面紧跟着四只小狗。小男孩的脸贴紧了铁丝网眼里闪烁着喜悦。
五只狗跑过来时，小男孩注意到狗窝里隐隐约约还有些动静。又一个小家伙慢腾腾地跑了出来。显示，和其它小家伙相比，它要瘦弱许多，它从斜坡上跌跌撞撞地滑了下来，使劲地追赶同伴......
“我想要那只。”小男孩指着那只弱小的小狗说道。
农夫蹲下身，对小男孩说：“小家伙，你不能要那只。它永远都不会跑，不会陪你玩而别的狗却可以，”
听到这些话，小男孩后退了一步，坐了下来，把一只裤脚卷起。只见他小腿的两侧用一只钢制的支架护着，脚下穿着一只特制的鞋子。小男孩转过身，抬头望着农夫，说道：“先生，你看，我自己跑得也不快，那只小狗需要人理解。”
这个世界还有许多人需要我们理解。
