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“What happened? Was it the new one? El combatiente?” Carlos called, coming into the yard.
“发生了什么事？是新的那只惹事儿了吗？打起来了？”卡洛斯一边喊着，一边走进院子。
“Sí. Este perro será el problema,” Bobby replied.
“是的。就是那只狗惹的麻烦。”鲍比回答道。
Senora joined the men in the Yard and, after much conferring,
夫人也进了院子，和鲍比还有卡洛斯商量了很久之后，
they called Top Dog over and tended to his wounds with a sharp-smelling chemical
他们把狗老大叫过去，用一种气味很重的化学药品处理他的伤口，
that I instantly associated with the nice lady from the cool room.
这味道太过浓烈，让我我立刻联想到了那个凉爽房间里的漂亮女士。
Top Dog squirmed and licked and panted, his ears back,
狗老大扭动着身体，舔着自己，喘着粗气，耳朵耷拉在后面，
when Carlos dabbed something on the small cuts along his face.
这都是因为卡洛斯在他脸上的小伤口上涂了那种药。
I never thought Spike would allow the same treatment,
我从没想过斯派克也会甘愿接受这样的治疗。
but he stood without protest when they worked on the cut under his ear.
他们处理斯派克耳朵下面的伤口时，斯派克毫不反抗地站着。
He seemed accustomed to it, somehow, accepting the chemical smell as something that happened after a fight.
他似乎已经习惯了这种化学气味，把这当成是打架后的家常便饭。
The next several days were agony. None of use knew where we stood anymore, especially the males.
接下来的几天非常痛苦。我们都不知道我们该何去何从，尤其是狗群里的公狗们。
Spike was unquestionably the leader now, a message he enforced by challenging every single one of us, head-to-head in the Yard.
斯派克无疑是现在的领袖，他还通过面对面地在院子里挑战我们中的每一只狗子巩固了这个地位。
Top Dog had done the same, but not like this—
狗老大也会巩固自己地位，但方式跟斯派克不同——
for Spike, the most minor infraction was cause for discipline and most punishment included a swift, painful nip.
对斯派克来说，如果是最轻微的违规行为，我们会受到惩罚，而大多数惩罚都免不了迅速地咬我们一口，让我们疼一下。
When play became too boisterous and too intrusive on Top Dog's area,
如果我们在狗老大的地盘上太过吵闹或者烦扰到了他，
he had always issued a cold warning in the form of a stare, perhaps a growl.
他一般都会冷处理——瞪我们一下，或者吼一声。
Spike spent his day on patrol and would snap at us for no reason whatsoever
斯派克整天都在走来走去，会无缘无故地对我们大吼大叫，
there was a black energy in him, something strange and mean.
他身上有一种暗黑的能量，给我们一种奇怪又刻薄的感觉。
When the males jockeyed for new positions in the pack, challenging each other,
当有公狗互相争夺位置、挑战彼此时，
Spike was there and, too often, would himself get involved,
斯派克也会出现，而且他自己也常常加入其中，
seemingly unable to hold back from plunging into the fray.
似乎每次发生什么摩擦，他都会忍不住加入。
It was unnecessary and distracting, causing so much tension that minor skirmishes began breaking out among us,
这样其实没有必要，而且还会占用我们的注意力，这让我们的群体关系变得十分紧张，小摩擦不断，
fights for things that had been long ago decided, such as position at the food trough,
我们会为之前早就决定好的事情而打斗，比如吃东西时的位置，
or who would next get to lie in the part of the Yard turned cool by the leaky water faucet.
或者接下来谁可以在院子里的漏水龙头附近躺着，毕竟那里很凉快。
