Author Unknown

烏蕪 譯

小貓毛毛

The Story of Whiskers

Author Unknown

烏蕪 譯

I t wasn’t long after I opened my eyes that Master took me home. One minute, I was1)snuggled up with my brothers and sisters, and the next I was roughly pulled from our enclosure and held up in the air.

我睜開(kāi)眼睛后不久主人就把我?guī)Щ亓思摇Ｇ耙豢蹋疫€和我的兄弟姐妹彼此依偎著，下一刻，就有人隨手把我從我們的圍欄里拉了出來(lái)，舉在空中。

It took a while to accept my Master. This strange place was unfamiliar, with giant monuments of wood and leather, and a giant toilet that I quickly learned was not meant for my kind. The Master and her family walked across their giant toilet, played games on it, even napped on it. I had a small box of my own, and every day my deposits mysteriously disappeared, no matter how deep I buried them.

我花了一段時(shí)間才接受我的主人。這個(gè)地方很新奇，周圍聳立著用木頭和皮革造成的巨大碑牌，還有一個(gè)巨大的廁所，我很快就認(rèn)識(shí)到這不是為我們貓而設(shè)的。主人和她的家人會(huì)走到他們的大廁所里，他們會(huì)坐在上面玩游戲，甚至打瞌睡。我有一個(gè)專屬的小盒子，每天我的排泄物都會(huì)神奇地消失掉，無(wú)論我把它們埋得有多深。

主人和她家人的聲音也很奇怪。我只能聽(tīng)懂他們說(shuō)的一些詞語(yǔ)?！懊保ㄟ@是我），“不行”，“貓”，“到這兒來(lái)”，還有一些對(duì)我們之間的交流至關(guān)重要的詞語(yǔ)。

The Master and her family had strange voices, too. I only learned a few words of their tongue;“Whiskers” (which was me), “no,” “cat,” “come here,” and a handful of other phrases that I knew to be2)crucial for my interaction with them.

Every morning, I engaged in a helpful ritual to wake up Master. She never got up when the horrible box on her nightstand started3)screeching, so to try to get her to turn the damn thing off, I’d slip into her bedroom and4)nuzzle her face. Sometimes, this would annoy her, but most times she would pull me in for a snuggle and rub my ears.

每天早上，我都會(huì)照例幫忙叫醒主人。就算她床頭幾上那個(gè)恐怖的盒子開(kāi)始尖叫，她也從不會(huì)馬上起床，所以為了讓她把那個(gè)該死的東西關(guān)掉，我會(huì)溜進(jìn)她的臥室，用鼻子輕輕撫弄她的臉。有時(shí)候，這個(gè)舉動(dòng)會(huì)惹毛她，但她多半會(huì)把我抱入懷中，輕揉我的耳朵。

1) snuggle [?sn?gl] v. 偎依

2) crucial [?kru:???l] adj. 至關(guān)緊要的

3) screech [skri:t?] v. 發(fā)出尖銳的聲音

4) nuzzle [?n?zl] v. 用鼻愛(ài)撫

Master’s husband loved me, too. He loved to help me hunt the5)elusive red dot and would even crawl on the foor with me when the6)menace would be on the carpet, the wall, or even my paws.

主人的丈夫也很愛(ài)我。他很樂(lè)于幫我捕捉那個(gè)神出鬼沒(méi)的紅點(diǎn)，當(dāng)這個(gè)討厭的紅點(diǎn)在出現(xiàn)在地毯上、墻上、乃至于我的爪子上的時(shí)候，他甚至還會(huì)和我一起匍匐在地上。

The third one, the only name I knew other than my own, was Kara. Kara was the Master and her husband’s only kitten. While I respected and adored my Master, Kara was my favorite.

這個(gè)家里的第三個(gè)人是卡拉，卡拉是我除了自己的名字外唯一知道的名字?？ɡ侵魅撕退煞蛭ㄒ坏摹坝揍獭薄ｋm然我很敬愛(ài)我的主人，但是卡拉才是我的最愛(ài)。

I was certain Kara knew me on a different level. I would test my theory. For instance, I would present myself while she was engaged in various tasks, and see how she reacted. She was never cruel, and often recognized that I was in7)dire need of some treats, attention, or love. The only time she displayed anger at me was when I had killed the white snake. I thought I had done her a favor, but apparently, that was wrong. The terrible sounds that came from her mouth, I never understood, but I did know to never do anything of the sort again.

我肯定卡拉非常了解我。我會(huì)驗(yàn)證自己的想法。比如說(shuō)，我會(huì)在她分身乏術(shù)的時(shí)候在她面前晃來(lái)晃去，然后看看她會(huì)有什么反應(yīng)。她從來(lái)不會(huì)因此對(duì)我大發(fā)脾氣，還明白那刻我非常需要她的陪伴、關(guān)注以及愛(ài)。她唯一一次對(duì)我生氣是在我弄死那條白蛇的時(shí)候。我認(rèn)為我是在幫她，但顯然，我錯(cuò)了。我聽(tīng)不懂那些從她嘴里冒出來(lái)的可怕聲音，但我知道我以后再也不會(huì)做這種事情。

As Kara grew taller and more magnificent, she seemed to be boundless with energy. Her time from home grew longer, too.

卡拉變得越來(lái)越高挑，越來(lái)越漂亮，她似乎擁有無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的精力。她不在家的時(shí)間也越來(lái)越長(zhǎng)。

As I grew older, I marveled at Kara’s ability to be so8)spry. She and her kind were so fawless and never aged. With me, I felt like I’d never be a kitten again. The frst time I neglected to deposit my waste in the box, I was yelled at severely. But I couldn’t help it. I just couldn’t move fast enough.

我變得越來(lái)越老，我對(duì)卡拉總能這么精力充沛感到驚嘆不已。她和她的同類總是那么完美無(wú)瑕，從不會(huì)變老。而我，我覺(jué)得自己已經(jīng)不再年輕了。當(dāng)我第一次不小心把我的排泄物排在盒子外時(shí)，我受到了嚴(yán)厲的斥責(zé)。但我身不由己。我真的走不快了。

Then, one day, Kara left. I waited patiently that night, but never saw her return.

然后，有一天，卡拉出門(mén)了。那天晚上我很耐心地等她回來(lái)，但我等不回她。

5) elusive [??lju:s?v] adj. 難懂的，難捉摸的，易忘的

6) menace [?men?s] n. 威脅，危險(xiǎn)物

7) dire [?da??] adj. 可怕的；緊急的

8) spry [spra?] adj. 充滿生氣的，活潑的，敏捷的

Days went by. Perhaps months. I don’t even know.I napped often in Kara’s room, hoping when I would wake up, she would be there…

日子一天天地過(guò)去。也許有幾個(gè)月了。我甚至都不知道有多久了。我經(jīng)常在卡拉的房間小睡，希望一醒來(lái)就能看到她在那里……

One day, Master came to me as I laid on Kara’s bed. In Master’s hand was the small box that everyone seemed to have permanently in their grip. She spoke into the box:“Kara!” My ears perked up. Master held the box to me.

有一天，當(dāng)我躺在卡拉床上的時(shí)候，主人過(guò)來(lái)找我。主人手上拿著一個(gè)小盒子，似乎所有人的手上每時(shí)每刻都拿著這么個(gè)小東西。她對(duì)那個(gè)小盒子說(shuō)話：“卡拉！”我的耳朵豎了起來(lái)。主人把盒子放到我旁邊。

“Whiskers!”

“毛毛！”

“Kara!” I gasped. I could hear her voice, but I didn’t see her. Where was she? I was so excited that I didn’t realize I released my9)bladder until Master10)clucked her tongue unhappily and picked me up to clean me off.

“卡拉！”我倒抽一口氣。我可以聽(tīng)到她的聲音，但看不到她的人。她在哪里呢？我非常興奮，都沒(méi)注意到我放松了膀胱，直到主人不高興地發(fā)出嘖嘖聲我才知道，然后她把我抱起來(lái)，幫我清理干凈身體。

The next morning, something was different. Master didn’t make me my normal breakfast. I hadn’t been eating much anyway. But she did bring me a piece of delicious fsh from her own plate, and it was very good. I wanted to get onto my viewing post, but my joints hurt so bad. Master must have sensed this, and she picked me up to place me on the highest spot.

第二天早上，有些事情變了。主人沒(méi)有給我弄平常的早餐，但我也不怎么吃東西了。不過(guò)她從盤(pán)子里拿了一條好吃的魚(yú)給我，很不錯(cuò)。我想要爬到我的觀望桿上去，但是我的關(guān)節(jié)痛得厲害。主人一定是覺(jué)察到了這點(diǎn)，所以她把我抱到了最高的地方。

I napped there for a few hours, then woke up and found that we were in the White Man’s place. Master was bringing me here more as I got older. How strange it was that none of them ever changed; nothing around me ever did, and only I had become different.

我在那里睡了幾個(gè)小時(shí)，醒來(lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)我們到了“白大褂”那兒。我年紀(jì)越大，主人帶我來(lái)這里的次數(shù)就越多。多奇怪啊，他們的樣子從來(lái)沒(méi)有改變，我周圍的一切都沒(méi)有變，只有我變了。

Master carried me to the back, and laid me down on the table.

主人把我?guī)У搅撕竺嫒ィ盐曳旁谧雷由稀?/p>

9) bladder [?bl?d?] n. 膀胱，氣泡，球膽

10) cluck [kl?k] v. 發(fā)出咯咯聲

“What’s wrong?” I asked, reaching a paw out to her.

“怎么了？”我問(wèn)道，把爪子伸向她。

Water leaked from her eyes and she reached out, taking my paw between her fngers. “Good cat, Whiskers,” I heard her say.

水從她的眼里流出，她用手握住了我的爪子?！昂煤⒆樱?，”我聽(tīng)她如此說(shuō)道。

The White Man came in, with a pointy thing in his hands. He scratched my ears and my chin. Ahh, my favorite spots. He knew. They all knew. They all know so much about me. I only wish I had more time to learn more about them.

“白大褂”進(jìn)來(lái)了，手上拿著一根尖尖的東西。他撓了撓我的耳朵和下巴。哈，這是我最喜歡讓人碰的地方。他知道，他們都知道。他們都那么地了解我。我只希望我能有更多時(shí)間去多了解他們。

The White Man brought the point to my arm. Usually, it would hurt, but not today. As he squeezed the pointy thing, I suddenly felt very warm and—

“Where is he?”

“白大褂”把那根尖尖的東西扎到了我的手臂上。一般而言，這會(huì)弄痛我，但今天沒(méi)有。當(dāng)他推著那根尖尖的東西的時(shí)候，我突然覺(jué)得全身很溫暖，以及——

“它在哪兒？”

Kara?

卡拉？

“Where is Whiskers? Am I too late? The traffc from the university was horrible and I didn’t think I’d make it in time and please, oh god, I hope I made it in time—”

“毛毛在哪兒？我太遲了嗎？從大學(xué)到這兒的交通狀況太糟糕了，我覺(jué)得我趕不上，拜托，噢，天，我希望我能趕上——”

It was Kara. Kara was here!

這是卡拉?？ɡ谶@兒！

The door of the room burst open, and Kara stood there with a red face that matched her hair. “Is he gone?” she11)blurted out.

房門(mén)突然打開(kāi)了，卡拉站在了那兒，她雙頰通紅，與她的發(fā)色很相稱?！八吡藛?？”她沖口而出。

The White Man shook his head. “I just gave him a calming12)sedative.”

“白大褂”搖搖頭?！拔抑皇墙o它打了一支鎮(zhèn)靜劑。”

“Kara…” I whispered weakly.

“卡拉……”我虛弱地說(shuō)道。

“Oh, Whiskers,” she cried. She ran over to me and placed her head on my side.

“噢，毛毛，”她大叫道。她向我走了過(guò)來(lái)，把頭靠在我的身邊。

I lifted my head. It was so hard, I was so weak. All I could13)muster was a soft meow, and laid my paw on her hand. For some reason, this made her cry even more. I don’t know why she was so sad. I lived a happy life. My only regret is that I would not live as long as her.

我抬起頭。這很困難，我太虛弱了。用盡全身力氣只能發(fā)出一聲輕輕的喵喵聲和把我的爪子放在她的手上。不知為何，這讓她哭得更厲害了。我不明白為什么她那么傷心。我的一生都過(guò)得很快樂(lè)。我唯一的遺憾就是不能活得和她一樣久。

I felt another gentle poking on my arm. My vision started getting14)fuzzy, but I wasn’t scared. I had Kara there with me.

我感覺(jué)我的手臂又被輕輕地戳了一下。我的視線開(kāi)始模糊，但我一點(diǎn)也不害怕，因?yàn)榭ɡ谖疑磉叀?/p>

My eyelids were so heavy, but I struggled to watch her. Soon, it was hard to keep them open at all.

我感到眼皮很重，但我還是努力盯著卡拉看。但是，我的眼睛快要睜不開(kāi)了。

“I love you, Whiskers,” Kara said.

“我愛(ài)你，毛毛。”卡拉說(shuō)。

“I love you, too,” I whispered back, and I closed my eyes.

“我也愛(ài)你?！蔽业吐暬卮鸬溃缓箝]上了我的雙眼。

11) blurt out 脫口說(shuō)出，沖口說(shuō)出

12) sedative [?sed?t?v] n. 鎮(zhèn)靜劑，止痛藥

13) muster [?m?st?] v. 集聚

14) fuzzy [?f?z?] adj. 模糊的，失真的