Name : Biba Urška

姓名：Biba Urška

Country of Origin : Slovenia

国籍：斯洛文尼亚

Occupation : Student

职业：学生

Years in China : almost 10

在华居住时间：将近 10 年

Biba’s unique China story, written by: Biba

Biba独特的中国故事（作者：Biba Urska）

My husband and I lived in Xiamen for almost ten years, but apart from colleagues or friends in groups involved in saving animals, we didn’t meet that many other foreigners. The reason is simple, we didn’t have time.

我和丈夫在厦门生活了近十年，但除了一起拯救动物的同事和朋友外，我们并没有认识很多外国人 。原因很简单，我们没时间。

On a sunny afternoon in December 2013, I was walking our old dog at the depressing construction site beside our neighborhood. It was supposed to be a short break between my studies. But, instead, life was never the same again.

2013 年 12 月一个阳光明媚的下午，我在小区旁边气氛有点压抑的建筑工地上遛狗。当时我本想在学习之余进行短暂的放松消遣，但没想到那一天却改变了我的生活。

Our dog, Siva, sniffed around some strange rag that looked like dirty animal fur on the top of the pile of other trash. I pulled her away, but when on our way back, I didn’t have a sense of peace without checking on the strange furry thing again. No. It really looked like a mop. However then, the mop opened its eye.

我们养的狗狗——Siva，在垃圾堆上面嗅着像拖布一样的东西，似乎是动物皮毛，脏兮兮的。我把 Siva 拉走了，但是在回家的路上，我想要再回去看看那毛茸茸的东西到底是什么，否则难以打消我心头的不安。它看起来真像一个拖布。然而这时，“拖布”睁开了眼睛。

I still remember that eye, that look, a will for life! Although I thought the dog was already dying, I wanted to offer him a better place to leave this world than a pile of trash. My old dog didn’t protest when I picked it up and carried it home. After returning home, I discovered that he could not walk. I cleaned his fur. He looked like being very close to death. But after I offered him canned meat, he ate it hastily.

我仍然记得那双眼睛，那副神情，那份对生命的渴望！虽然我觉得这只狗已经奄奄一息，但我不想让他在垃圾堆里离开这个世界，我想把他带到一个更好的地方。所以我抱起他，带他回家，Siva 并没有“抗议”。回到家后，我发现他已经不能走路了。我给他洗澡，他看起来已经活不久了。但我喂肉罐头的时候，他又狼吞虎咽地吃了起来。

In the following days, my husband and I learned to help this disabled dog go to the bathroom, we fed him, and took care of him.

在接下来的日子里，我和丈夫帮助这只残疾狗狗上厕所，喂养他，悉心照料他。

Yuri had probably been severely hit by a car, and his bones were broken at six places. What shocked me most was that the injuries were old, and all the wounds were already cured. After the accident, he had lived injured and looking for food in the streets for many months.

Yuri（我们救助的狗狗） 可能是被车严重撞伤的，他全身有六处骨折。最让我震惊的是，它的伤是旧伤，而且都已经愈合。事故发生后，受伤的他好几个月都在街上流浪，寻找食物。

Already weakened, Yuri almost died of starvation. Life in the streets is hard even for young and healthy animals. Only the strongest and the luckiest can survive.

Yuri 已经很虚弱了，差点饿死。街头流浪对年轻健康的动物来说也很艰难，只有最健壮、运气最好的动物才能存活。

In the past, there were occasions when people asked us to share the story about our Yuri. They expected a touching and romantic story about two foreigners who are somehow enlightened and decided to devote their lives to poor animals.

之前，有些人想听我们讲 Yuri 的故事。他们想听到一个感人的、浪漫的故事，这个故事是关于两个善良的外国人决定将生命投入到救助动物的事业中。

The truth is there is nothing romantic about taking care of Yuri. It’s tough. It’s like living with a helpless baby for eight years, with many sleepless nights when he cries for help but cannot tell us what he needs or where it hurts. He cannot drink, eat, or go to the bathroom alone and entirely depends on us. He doesn’t know that we have work or doctoral thesis defense in the morning or that we are sick or tired ourselves.

实际上，照顾 Yuri 并不是一件浪漫的事，相反，这很艰难。这就像和一个无助的婴儿生活八年，要经历许多不眠之夜，他会哭着寻求帮助，但却不能告诉我们他需要什么或者哪里痛。他自己不能吃，不能喝，也不能上厕所，完全依赖我们。他不知道我们上午有工作，有博士论文答辩，也不知道我们也会生病，也会疲惫。

We also never decided intentionally to take care of him and other dogs. We both are very busy with work, and we love to have fun just as much as any other people. So it’s not that we have chosen to take care of animals as our hobby. Because of them, there is not much fun, travel, money, and almost no free time.

照顾这些狗狗从来不是我们的本意。我们俩的工作都很忙，而且我们和其他人一样爱玩，照顾动物并不是我们的爱好。因为要照顾他们，我们失去了许多乐趣，没怎么旅行，也没有钱，几乎没有属于自己的闲暇时间。

Instead, there is tiredness, a constant struggle for money to take care of them, and often quarrel about whose turn it is to take care of them. This is our everyday.

相反，我们有的是疲惫，为了他们而努力挣钱，经常因为轮到谁照顾他们而吵架。这就是我们的日常。

We adjusted our lives to living with a disabled dog.

为了照顾这只残疾狗狗，我们调整了自己的生活方式。

After a strict local regulation in Xiamen in 2017, some dogs breeds became illegal, so we adopted three dogs to save their lives. Since then, we have been slowly preparing them to leave China, and we brought them all home to Slovenia a couple of months ago.

2017 年，厦门出台了一项严格的规定，禁养一些品种的狗，所以我们收养了三只狗，以拯救他们的生命。从那开始，我们就陆续将他们带出中国，几个月前我们把他们都带回了斯洛文尼亚的家。

I would lie if I said life without Yuri and so many other dogs wouldn’t be much easier for us. It would be easier if I had just turned a blind eye when I spotted him, as many people suggested I should do or they would have. But, was there really a choice?

如果我说，没有 Yuri 和这么多狗狗的生活不会变得更轻松，那我一定是在撒谎。很多人说，我当时应该对 Yuri 视而不见，这样生活就会轻松很多。但是，这真的是一种选择吗？

We accepted what life has given to us, sometimes also the situations we barely can handle. For example,  In August, I traveled home with three cages of animals alone. Many people don’t know that I also suffer from a disability, and the trip with so many animals was indescribably painful for me. But we made it to Slovenia!

我们接受了生活的馈赠，但有时也必须面对棘手的情况。例如，八月我独自带着整整三笼狗狗回斯洛文尼亚。很多人不知道我还患有残疾，带着这么多动物的奔走对我来说真是异常艰难。但我们还是成功到达了斯洛文尼亚！

We also get many things in return from our furry family. From Yuri, for example, I have learned that no matter how much we suffer, no matter how much it hurts, we have to keep on going.

我们也从这些毛茸茸的家人身上学到了很多东西。例如，从 Yuri 身上，我明白无论遭受多大的痛苦，无论承受多大的伤害，我们都要坚持下去。

In nine years, my husband and I haven’t seen much of China. We never went to the most famous places; we didn’t go hiking in Yunnan, we missed the Terracotta warriors and the picturesque raft trip in Guilin. However, I think we did what is right. We saved lives.

九年来，我和丈夫没有去过中国的很多地方。我们没有去过那些极负盛名的景点，我们没有去云南徒步旅行，也没有亲眼目睹兵马俑，更没有经历桂林风景如画的木筏之旅。虽然如此，我认为我们在做正确的事。我们挽救了许多小生命。

作者：Biba 翻译：潘泽彬

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