A Dog's Eye View of Man 完整註解
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你有想過我們的狗狗是怎麼看我們的嗎？本篇小短文，出自美國著名的幽默作家 JAMES THURBER，他透過寵物狗的視角，用幽默諷刺的方式描述了人類種種矛盾的行為。
閱讀前你該知道的詞彙
view 文中指的是某個「視角」
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If man has benefited immeasurably by his association with the dog, what, you may ask, has the dog got out of it? His scroll has, of course, been heavily charged with punishments: he has known the muzzle, the leash and the tether; he has suffered the indignities of the show bench, and the tin can on the tail, the ribbon in the hair; his love life with the other sex of his species has been regulated by the frigid hand of authority, his digestion ruined by the macaroons and marshmallows of doting women.
indignities 指「侮辱」或「屈辱」的行為或經歷。文中指狗狗在展示臺上受到的屈辱。
doting 「溺愛、過度寵愛」
如果說人類因與狗的相處而受益無窮 (immeasurably)，那麼你可能會問，狗從中得到了什麼？當然，狗的人生紀錄中充滿了各種懲罰：它曾經戴過口罩 (muzzle)，拴過牽繩 (leash) 和拴繩 (tether)；曾經被迫站在展示臺 (show bench) 上，尾巴上被綁過錫罐 (tin can)，毛髮上綁過絲帶；它的愛情生活受到人類冷酷和 (frigid) 管理限制 (regulated)，它的消化系統 (digestion) 被寵愛狗的女孩們的馬卡龍 (macaroons) 和棉花糖 (marshmallows) 所毀壞。