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.

農夫要賣幾只小狗。他做了一個廣告牌子，把它釘在院子角落的一根柱子上。釘最后一顆釘子時，他忽然感到有人在扯他的工裝褲。他低下頭，看到了一個小男孩。

&34;Mister,&34; he said, &34;I want to buy one of your puppies.&34;

“先生，”小男孩說，“我想買你的一只狗。”

&34;Well,&34; said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, &34;these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.&34;

“哦。”農夫邊擦脖子后面的汗水邊說，“這些都是純種小狗，價格很高的。”

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. &34;I&39;ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?&34;

小男孩低下了頭，一會兒，他把手伸進口袋，摸出一把零錢，舉到農夫眼前，說道：“我有39美分，可以讓我看一眼小狗嗎？”

&34;Sure,&34; said the farmer.

“當然可以，”農夫說。

And with that he let out a whistle, &34;Here, Dolly!&34; he called.

農夫說完吹了一聲口哨喊道：“過來，多利！”

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.

只見多利從窩里跑出來，越過斜坡，后面緊跟著四只小狗。小男孩的臉貼緊了鐵絲網眼里閃爍著喜悅。

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...

五只狗跑過來時，小男孩注意到狗窩里隱隱約約還有些動靜。又一個小家伙慢騰騰地跑了出來。顯示，和其它小家伙相比，它要瘦弱許多，它從斜坡上跌跌撞撞地滑了下來，使勁地追趕同伴......

&34;I want that one,&34; the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

“我想要那只。”小男孩指著那只弱小的小狗說道。

The farmer knelt down at the boy&39;s side and said, &34;Son, you don&39;t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.&34;

農夫蹲下身，對小男孩說：“小家伙，你不能要那只。它永遠都不會跑，不會陪你玩而別的狗卻可以，”

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, &34;You see sir, I don&39;t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.&34;

聽到這些話，小男孩后退了一步，坐了下來，把一只褲腳卷起。只見他小腿的兩側用一只鋼制的支架護著，腳下穿著一只特制的鞋子。小男孩轉過身，抬頭望著農夫，說道：“先生，你看，我自己跑得也不快，那只小狗需要人理解。”

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

這個世界還有許多人需要我們理解。