One night,I was drinking in my favourite bar when I suddenly noticed a large,black cat.I went up to it and touched it.It was very large-as large as Pluto had been.It also looked very like Pluto.Except for one thing.Pluto had been black all over,but this cat had a white mark on its front.
一天夜里,我正在我最喜欢的酒吧里喝酒,突然,我注意到一只大个儿的黑猫,便朝它走过去,抚摸它。它大极了——和普路托过去一样大,而且看上去也很像普路托。不相像的只有一处。普路托是通体乌黑的,但这只猫前胸有一块白斑。
I touched the cat and he immediately lay down against my leg and seemed very friendly towards me.This,I decided,was the cat that I wanted.I offered the barman some money to buy the cat from him,but he said that the cat didn't belong to him.In fact,he had no idea where it had come from.
我抚摸着那猫,它立即挨着我的腿躺倒,似乎对我非常友善的样子。我当即断定,这就是我梦寐以求的那只猫。我向酒吧老板提出付他一些钱买下这只猫,但他说这只猫并不属于他,实际上,他根本不知道它是从什么地方跑来的。
So I took the cat home.My wife liked it immediately,and it stayed with us from that day.But soon-I do not know why-the cat started to make me angry,and,as time passed,I began to hate it.I did not hurt it in any way,but I always tried to keep as far away from it as possible.
于是我把猫带回了家。我妻子一下子就喜欢上了它,打那天起,它便和我们待在一起。可是没多久——我不知是何缘故——这只猫开始惹我生气了,而且,时间一长,我便开始对它深恶痛绝。我并没怎么折磨它,不过我总是尽量避开它,巴不得离得越远越好。
I knew one reason why I hated this cat so much.On the morning after I had brought it home,I saw that,like Pluto,it had lost one of its eyes.My wife,who was the kind,gentle person that I had once been,only loved the cat more because of this.But the cat didn't like my wife.It loved me alone.
我知道有一个原因,可以解释我为何如此厌恶这只猫。就在我把它带回家的第二天早上,我看到,像普路托一样,它也丢掉了一只眼睛。我的妻子像过去的我一样是个善良、温柔的人,她因为猫的这次不幸反而更加怜爱它了。但这只猫并不喜欢我妻子,它只依恋我一个人。
Every time I sat down,it used to jump onto my knees.When I went out of a room,it used to run out in front of me and get between my feet,or climb up my legs.At these times,I wanted to kill it.But I didn't,because I was too afraid-afraid of the cat,and even more afraid of the white mark on its chest.
每次我一坐下,它就要跳到我膝盖上;我一走出房间,它就窜出来跑到我前面,走在我两脚中间,或是爬到我的腿上。每逢这种时刻,我就想杀了它。但我没有下手,因为我太害怕了——害怕这只猫,尤其害怕它胸前的那块白斑。