星期六晚上他仍然与我们呆在一起，所以他又被允许睡在地下室。

On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic.
星期天我计划带孩子们去野炊。
Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case his owner came by,

因为我想最好把German留下以防他的主人从旁走过，
we drove off without him.

我们没有带上他就开车出发了。
When we stopped to get gas at a local station,
当我们停下来在一家当地加油站加油时，
we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us.
我们吃惊地看到German随后跑到了加油站。
He not only raced to the car,
他不仅跑到汽车边，
he leaped onto the hood and put his nose on the windshield,
还跳上了汽车的引擎罩上，并且把鼻子还贴到了挡风玻璃上，
looking directly into my eyes.
直视我的眼睛。
No way was he going to be left behind.
没有办法把他留下，
So into the station wagon he jumped and settled down in the back for the ride to the picnic.
因此他又跳进了（我们的这辆）客货两用车，舒舒服服地坐在后面开始了这次野餐之行。
He stayed again Sunday.
这个星期天他又留了下来。

Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school.
星期一的早上，孩子们准备上学时，我把German放了，让他出去遛遛。
He didn’t come back.

他没有返回来。
As evening came and German didn’t appear, we were all disappointed.
当夜幕降临时，他没有出现，我们大家都很失望。
We were convinced that he had gone home or been found by his owners,
我们确信他已回家或者已被他的主人找到。
and that we would never see him again.
（我们想）将再也见不到他了。
We were wrong.
我们错了。
The next Friday evening. German was back on our doorstep.
第二个周五的晚上，German又回来了，就在我们的门阶上（呆着）。
Again we took him in,
我们又一次接纳了他，
and again he stayed until Monday morning,
并且他再次留了下来，一直呆到星期一的早上，
when our housekeeper arrived.
直到我们的女管家到来。

This pattern repeated itself every weekend for almost 10 months.
这种每个周末都要重复一次的模式持续了几乎10个月。
We grew more and more fond of German and we looked forward to his coming.
我们越来越喜欢German，并期待着他的来临。
We stopped thinking about where he belonged-he belonged to us.
我们不再想他来自何处——（因为）他属于我们。
We took comfort in his strong, warm presence,
我们在他强大而又温暖的庇护中感到安慰，
and we felt safe with him near us.
并觉得他就在我们的附近，所以感到安全。

Each week,
每一个星期，
between German’s visits,
在German来访之间的时间里，
I grew a little stronger, a little braver and more able to cope;
我变得坚强、勇敢起来，更能应付处理问题了；
every weekend I enjoyed his company.
每一个周末我都享受到了他伴随的乐趣。