2015年12月11日金曜日 - 
Charles: Animal Adoption
Something I often mention in my lessons is my dog. I realize that on the surface talking about a dog isn't the most exciting thing, but have you heard the English phrase “there's more (to something) than meets the eye”?
When I was a child, my parents spared no expense on a family dog. It was a shining golden retriever from a well-bred line of pure bred retrievers. It was also an idiot. It was a retriever that wouldn't retrieve. If you threw a ball, it would chase it and keep it for itself. It was a greedy and dopey dog (we even began calling him “Dopey” instead of his real name). When the family ate dinner in the kitchen, he would hide under the table sniffing around for crumbs. When he couldn't find any, he'd stand up and smack his head on the table. From doing this every day and never learning from his mistakes, he had a huge bump on his head when he was older. His skull had formed a kind of defensive horn. Despite all of this, he wasn't a bad dog. He really cared about my dad and my sister at least. When he died, my sister demanded a dog for years until my parents caved.
We adopted a dog from a shelter this time
because my parents weren't impressed with how little that expensive pedigree did for the last dog. This new dog was a bit of a mystery. My sister picked him out and my
mom was suspicious but ultimately went along with it. It
turns out that he's a mix breed that is largely Pit Bull. Pit Bulls are infamous
in America as natural born killers. This one grew especially big. 40Kg of solid
muscle: a powerhouse. My mom panicked and demanded he be brought back to the
shelter but my sister wailed and cried. My dad demanded he be given a chance. He was probably
abandoned as a puppy when someone, like my mom, panicked at what he could
become.
He never became the monster my mom was afraid of. Instead he’s a smarter,
playful, and friendly dog. He's great around people and gentle around children.
You can't judge a book by its cover.
It's because of this that when I came to Asia
and my wife discovered a Maltese, rejected and missing a leg, we took him in. One man's trash is another man's treasure. We'll never
know why he was abandoned or how he lost his leg, but it
worked out in the end because we basically got the perfect dog for free. He
will dance on command, go to bed when told, wait for permission to eat, and is
always excited to see me. If there's a takeaway here, I guess it's to consider
adopting next time you're thinking about getting a dog. You could find a diamond in the rough.
on the surface：from a position of limited understanding (perspective) ：表面的には
more (to
something) than meets the eye：a significant hidden detail exists：見た目以上の価値がある
spared no
expense：willing to
spend a lot of money：出費を惜しまない
retrieve：返す
greedy：食いしん坊
dopey：まぬけな
crumbs：パン屑
smack：ゴンと打ちつける
bump：こぶ
caved：surrendered：降参する
pedigree：family line：血統書
ultimately：最終的に
it turns
out：the fact is：～であることがわかる
a powerhouse：something powerful：発電所、転じて力強い物
wailed：わんわん泣く
you can't
judge a book by it's cover：assumptions can be, or are, likely wrong：人(犬)は見かけによらない
took in：invited to live with, raised, adopted：引き取った
one
man's trash is another man's treasure：phrase for people having different values：捨てる神あれば拾う神あり
diamond in the rough：an exceptional rare thing found in an otherwise
insignificant place：ダイヤの原石