The dog was tied up outside a café.

A forlorn pug photographed as he waited for his owner by the side of the road has been acclaimed¹ as the world's saddest dog.

Pictures of the pet taken by a passer-by have become an internet sensation after being posted on the photo-sharing website Flickr.

The dog – nicknamed Mr Newman – looks inconsolable as he sits on the pavement tied to a lamp-post with his leash².

The photograph was taken outside a café in the bohemian Californian city of San Francisco, which may go some way to explaining why he is dressed in a stylish³ grey and purple sweater.

"He was hanging around looking for somebody to love him. I tried to cheer him up – he seemed happy to me," said the photographer Chris Michael.

One of the four photos of the dog on Flickr is titled "Tough day for Mr Newman" and captioned⁴: "Despite his cool threads, the girls just aren't interested in him any more."

Dozens of commenters on the site said they had been touched by the dog's maudlin⁵ gaze. "I come back to see this photo every now and then because it's too darn cute," wrote one.

Another viewer said that she had been moved to buy a pug of her own after seeing the photos.

Mr Newman may have won the hearts of internet users but his web fame is unlikely to eclipse that of feline⁶ rival Keyboard Cat, the musical pet who has become a meme in his own right on YouTube.

一只被遗弃的哈巴狗在路边等待主人时被拍到，此后被誉为世界上最忧伤的狗。

这只宠物狗被一个路人拍到，所拍照片被上传至Flickr图片分享网站后迅速走红。

照片上的这只名叫“纽曼先生”的小狗坐在人行道上，被拴在路边的一根灯柱上，看上去很伤心。

这张照片是在加州旧金山市的一家咖啡馆外拍到的。旧金山颇具波希米亚风格，这或许可以解释为什么这只宠物狗穿了一件灰紫相间的时尚毛衣。

拍下这张照片的克里斯•迈克尔说：“它一直在那里徘徊，似乎在寻找一个爱它的人。我试着逗它玩，他看到我似乎很开心。”

在上传至Flickr网站的四张照片中，其中有一张名为“纽曼先生的艰难时日”，图片说明为：“尽管它的毛衣很酷，可也无法赢得女孩们的心。”

很多网友发表评论称自己被狗狗可怜的眼神所感动。其中一位写道：“我不时地回来看这些照片，因为它实在是太可爱了。”

另一名网友称她在看到这些照片后自己也忍不住去买了一只哈巴狗。

“纽曼先生”也许赢得了众多网友的心，但它的网络人气可能还无法超越“键盘猫”。这只颇具音乐才能的宠物猫曾在YouTube网站上迅速走红。

Vocabulary:

forlorn: lonely and sad; forsaken⁷（孤苦伶仃的，被遗弃的）

inconsolable：impossible or difficult to console; despondent⁸（无法安慰的，极为伤心的）

bohemian: pertaining⁹ to or characteristic of the unconventional life of a bohemian（波希米亚的）

threads：slang. clothes.（衣服）

maudlin：tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental（感情脆弱的）

meme：a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet（在网络上迅速走红的事物）

in one's own right: 凭本身的头衔