Hachiko: The Dog Who Waited
Welcome back to Learn English with Podcasts. Sarah, picture a train station where a dog showed up every single day, at exactly the same time, for almost ten years.欢迎回到 Learn English with Podcasts。Sarah，想象一个火车站：一只狗每天准点出现，整整近十年。
Ten years. Waiting for what?十年。在等什么？
Waiting for a man who would never come back. This is the true story of Hachiko, a dog from Japan who became a national symbol of loyalty.等一个永远不会回来的人。这是八公的真实故事——一只日本狗，后来成了全国忠诚的象征。
Okay, I'm already hooked. Start from the beginning. Who was the man?好，我已经上钩了。从头讲。那个人是谁？
His name was Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University. He taught agriculture, and he lived in a neighbourhood of Tokyo called Shibuya.他叫上野英三郎，是东京帝国大学的教授，教农业，住在东京一个叫涩谷的街区。
And the dog?那狗呢？
Hachiko was an Akita, a large Japanese breed, white and strong. Ueno brought him home in 1924, when the puppy was only a few months old.八公是一只秋田犬，日本的大型犬种，白色、健壮。1924 年，上野把这只几个月大的小狗带回了家。
So they lived together in Shibuya.所以他们一起住在涩谷。
Right. And they built a small daily habit. Every evening, Ueno came home from the university by train. Hachiko walked to Shibuya Station and waited at the exit, then walked home with him.对。他们养成了一个小习惯。每天傍晚，上野坐火车下班回家。八公会走到涩谷站，在出口等着，然后跟着他一起回家。
That's a sweet little routine. What broke it?真温馨的小日常。是什么打破了它？
On 21 May 1925, Ueno went to work as usual. But that day, he had a brain haemorrhage at the university and died suddenly. He was 53.1925 年 5 月 21 日，上野像往常一样去上班。但那天，他在大学里突发脑出血，突然去世，年仅 53 岁。
And Hachiko went to the station that evening, like always.而那天傍晚，八公像往常一样去了车站。
He did. The train arrived, the passengers came out, but Ueno never stepped through that gate. And the next day, Hachiko went back. And the day after that.没错。火车到了，乘客出来了，但上野再也没从那道门里走出来。第二天，八公又去了。再第二天，还是去了。
He didn't understand that his owner was gone.他不明白主人已经不在了。
He just kept the routine. From that day until his own death, Hachiko returned to Shibuya Station almost every day and waited for the evening train.他只是维持着那个习惯。从那天起，直到自己离世，八公几乎每天都回涩谷站，等着那班晚上的火车。
How long was that, in the end?最后，这持续了多久？
Almost ten years. He died on 8 March 1935. From the day Ueno died, that is 9 years, 9 months, and 15 days.近十年。八公死于 1935 年 3 月 8 日。从上野去世那天算起，是 9 年 9 个月零 15 天。
Nine years. That is hard to imagine. What happened to the dog after the professor died?九年。真难以想象。教授去世后，这只狗怎样了？
Ueno's family could not keep him, so Hachiko was sent to live with relatives, and later with the professor's old gardener, a man named Kobayashi who lived near the station.上野的家人没法养他，于是八公被送给亲戚，后来住进了教授旧园丁小林家——小林就住在车站附近。
And from there he kept walking to the station.从那儿，他继续走到车站。
Every day. At first the station workers only tolerated him. Some people were unkind. He was once badly hurt, and one of his ears never stood up straight again.每天。起初车站工作人员只是容忍他。有些人还不友善。他曾被人打伤，一只耳朵从此再也没竖起来。
That's the detail that gets me. His own statue shows that drooping ear.这一点最戳我。他自己的铜像，就塑着那只垂下的耳朵。
Yes. The statue shows him exactly as he was. For about seven years, almost no one outside Shibuya noticed. Then, in 1932, a former student of Ueno changed everything.对。铜像把他塑得和真身一模一样。头七年，涩谷之外几乎没人注意他。然后，1932 年，上野的一位学生改变了这一切。
Who was he?他是谁？
His name was Hirokichi Saito. He loved the Akita breed and was counting how many purebred Akitas were left in Japan. His answer was shocking: only about 30.他叫斋藤弘吉。他热爱秋田犬这个品种，当时正在统计日本还剩多少只纯种秋田犬。答案令人震惊：只有大约 30 只。
Thirty? For a whole country?30 只？全国就这么多？
That was the number. Hachiko was one of them. Saito learned his story, wrote it for a newspaper called the Asahi Shimbun, and on 4 October 1932 the article made Hachiko famous overnight.就是这个数。八公是其中一只。斋藤了解了他的故事，写给了《朝日新闻》。1932 年 10 月 4 日，这篇文章让八公一夜成名。
So the dog became a celebrity in his own lifetime.所以这狗生前就成了名人。
He did. People started bringing him treats at the station. Two years later, in 1934, they raised money for a bronze statue. The sculptor was Teru Ando, and at the unveiling, Hachiko himself was there.成了。人们开始在车站给他带零食。两年后，1934 年，大家凑钱给他立了一座铜像。雕塑家是安藤照，揭幕那天，八公本人就在现场。
The dog attended his own monument. I love that image.这只狗出席了自己的纪念碑揭幕。我喜欢这个画面。
Less than a year later, in March 1935, Hachiko was found dead near the station. He was 11 years old. He was buried at Aoyama Cemetery, right next to Ueno's grave.不到一年，1935 年 3 月，八公在车站附近被发现死亡，享年 11 岁。他被葬在青山灵园，就挨着上野的墓。
So in the end, they were together again.所以最后，他们又在一起了。
Exactly. The original statue was melted down for metal during the war, and a new one was made in 1948. Today it still stands at Shibuya, and it is the most famous meeting spot in Tokyo.正是。原来的铜像在战争期间被熔掉做了金属，1948 年重铸了一座。今天它仍立在涩谷，是东京最有名的碰头地点。
People say "meet me at Hachiko" like we say "meet me at the clock."人们说"在八公那儿见"，就像我们说"在钟楼下见"。
And the story travelled far. In 2009 a film called Hachi: A Dog's Tale, with Richard Gere, told his story in America. Helen Keller even brought the first Akita to the US after hearing about him.这个故事也传得很远。2009 年，一部叫《忠犬八公的故事》的电影，由理查·基尔主演，在美国讲了他的故事。海伦·凯勒听了他的事之后，还把第一只秋田犬带到了美国。
Here is what I keep thinking. The dog didn't wait because he hoped. He waited because that was the only way he knew how to love.我一直在想一件事。这只狗等待，不是因为还抱有希望。他等待，只是因为那是他唯一懂得如何去爱的方式。
That's the quiet truth of it. No drama, no reward, just the same station, the same hour, for nine years.这才是它安静的本质。没有戏剧，没有回报，只是同一个车站，同一个时辰，坚持了九年。
So before we go, a question for you: if someone you loved never came home, would you keep the light on? We'd love to hear your thoughts.结束前提个问题：如果你爱的人再也没回家，你会一直留着那盏灯吗？我们很想听听你的想法。
Thanks for listening to Learn English with Podcasts. See you in the next episode.感谢收听 Learn English with Podcasts，我们下一集见。