Juneau's Official Greeter
佚名/Anonymous
所有经水路去阿拉斯加朱诺市的人，在到岸的码头都会受到一只叫帕齐·安的狗的欢迎。她既不吠叫，也不摇尾巴，甚至你招呼她时，她都对你不予理睬。那是因为帕齐·安是尊铜像。她庄严而安静地坐落在帕齐·安广场的中心，广场与加斯蒂诺海峡毗邻。
帕齐·安的原型是一只斯塔福德郡的杂种犬。1929年后半年，刚出生不久的她便随主人一家来到了朱诺市。当主人家发现她又聋又哑后，就不再喂养她了。
而后她被第二家主人收养，可不知什么原因，她又被抛弃了。就这样，帕齐·安成了朱诺街头无家可归的流浪狗。白天，她在市区里闲逛，当地商人和居民笑着看她欢快地从一家商铺跑到另一家商铺，虽然她是只流浪狗，但每晚码头工人会堂就会成为她的家。她将大部分时间都花在了码头上，会堂是她避寒和夜宿的地方。
这只聋哑狗有种非凡的能力。无论何时，只要有船靠近加斯蒂诺海峡，即使船还远在半英里外，她都像“听得见”汽笛声一样，立即跑到码头等候船靠岸。
朱诺市市民并不明白帕齐·安怎么会有预感船将到岸的能力，更不明白她是如何知道确切的泊船位置而去等待，但是他们知道这只狗的判断是准确的，值得信赖。
一天下午，人们聚集到指定的码头等船靠岸，帕齐·安也在迎船的人群中。突然间，她跑到另一个码头去了，每个人都感到特别疑惑，后来才知道是人们弄错了，那只船驶入海峡，便停靠在帕齐·安等候的泊位。
当地人们给帕齐·安东西吃，并常常爱怜地轻轻拍打她，帕齐·安因此也喜欢上了这些人。帕齐·安还受到了码头工人的悉心照料。但是她的主要兴趣是坐在码头上，迎接船的到岸。
于是，朱诺市市长于1934年授予帕齐·安“阿拉斯加朱诺市官方迎宾小姐”的荣誉称号。
同年，该市通过了一项法令，规定所有的狗必须领牌照。一名动物管理员把帕齐·安扣押了，并威胁她，要给她实施安乐死。几位市民集资给她办了牌照，还给她买了个鲜红的项圈。帕齐·安重新获得了自由，继续执行她的放哨任务。
13年来，几乎在她生命中的每一天，她都会摇着尾巴无忧无虑地出现，把欢乐带给朱诺市市民。她听不见人们叫她“好姑娘”，可是她看得见他们的笑靥，感受得到他们的爱怜。
1942年，帕齐·安逝世了。悲痛的市民把她的尸体放进一个小木棺材里，并将其慢慢地沉入加斯蒂诺海峡中。她将永远活在朱诺市市民的心间，并与她所乐于眺望的静谧水域永远相连。
帕齐·安死后约半个世纪，一场纪念她的活动轰轰烈烈地展开了。加斯蒂诺码头边的空地改建成了今天的帕齐·安广场，并授权竖起了一尊比活狗还大的铜像，基座上还有一个铜项圈。
现在，广场上开满了鲜花，人们坐在椅子上，如同铜像帕齐·安一样眺望着远方。
就这样，所有朱诺市市民收养并喜爱的帕齐·安依然是这座城市的官方迎宾小姐。这尊聋哑小狗的铜像就坐落在木制的迎宾牌旁，与朱诺市民一道表达了一种真挚的情意：阿拉斯加朱诺市欢迎您！
All those who travel to Juneau， Alaska， by water are welcomed at the dock by a dog named Patsy Ann. She doesn't bark. She doesn't wag her tail. She doesn't even respond when you call her. That's because Patsy Ann is a bronze statue that sits imposingly and silently in the middle of Patsy Ann Square， which borders Juneau's Gastineau Channel.
The real Patsy Ann was a Staffordshire bull terrier who arrived in Juneau as a newborn pup in late 1929 with her human family. Her family didn't keep her once they realized she was deaf and could not bark.
The dog was taken in by a second family， but for unknown reasons was later abandoned by them as well. Patsy then became an orphan who freely roamed the streets of Juneau. Patsy Ann limited her daily wanderings to the downtown area， where local merchants and residents grinned at the sight of her happily loping from business to business. Though Patsy Ann was an orphan， the Longshoremen's Hall became her nightly home. For her， it was the most logical place for warmth and sleep because she spent so much of her time on the docks.
The deaf dog possessed a most remarkable ability. Whenever a ship neared Gastineau Channel， Patsy Ann was somehow able to "hear" its whistle， even if the ship was as much as a half-mile away. At once， the terrier would scamper down to the wharf to await the ship's arrival.
Juneau's residents had no idea how Patsy Ann was able to sense the imminent approach of a ship， anymore than they could figure out how the dog knew at exactly which dock she should wait. But they learned to trust her unerring judgment.
One afternoon， townspeople gathered at the appointed dock to await an incoming ship. Patsy Ann joined the expectant crowd and then suddenly ran to a different dock. Everyone was perplexed by her behavior until they realized they had been given misinformation. The ship entered the channel and berthed at the very dock where the terrier was waiting？
Patsy Ann may have loved the local people who fed her and fondly patted her. She may have felt cared for by the longshoremen. But Patsy Ann's primary happiness came from sitting on the docks as she waited to welcome the ships.
It was appropriate， then， in 1934， for Juneau's mayor to proclaim Patsy Ann "the official greeter of Juneau， Alaska".
That same year， the city passed an ordinance stating that all dogs must be licensed. After an animal-control worker impounded Patsy Ann and threatened to euthanize the stray， several of the locals chipped in to pay for her license and to buy a bright red collar for her. She was again free to continue her lookout duty.
For thirteen years， nearly all the days of her life， the wagging tail and the happy-go-lucky presence of the little dog brought a pleasant constancy to the lives of Juneau residents. She could not hear them say "good girl"， but she saw their smiles and felt their affection.
Then， in 1942， Patsy Ann died of natural causes. Members of the saddened community placed Patsy Ann's body in a small wooden casket and lowered it into Gastineau Channel. Now she would forever be tied to the hearts of Juneau's people and to the tranquil waters she loved to watch.
Nearly fifty years after Patsy Ann's death， a campaign was waged to memorialize the terrier. A small patch of land at the Gatineau wharfside was converted into what is now Patsy Ann Square， and a larger-than-life bronze statue was commissioned—complete with a bronze collar that rests at its base.
Today at the foot of the square， gaily-colored flowers bloom， and people sit on benches and gaze out at the horizon， just as the bronze Patsy Ann does.
Patsy Ann， adopted and loved by all the residents of Juneau， is still the official greeter for her city. The statue of the little dog who could not hear sits forever next to a wooden sign， her bronzed presence echoing the words printed there： Welcome to Juneau， Alaska.