The Cat Who Was Afraid of Mice（害

Afraid of mice? You really wouldn’t have expected it. His father, Tom Cat, was a famous mouse catcher. He had even won a blue ribbon at the county fair for catching the most mice in the shortest time—ten in ten minutes.

害怕老鼠？你着实难以料到会这样。他的父亲，汤姆猫，可是个远近闻名的捕鼠高手。他甚至还在乡村集市上，凭借在最短时间内捕获最多老鼠——十分钟内抓到十只——而荣获一条蓝色绶带。

And his mother, Allie, was often sent for by the local farmers to clear their barns of mice. Tom’s fur was black with a white chest. Allie was a beautiful gray cat with white paws.

而他的母亲艾丽，当地的农夫们常常请她去清理谷仓里的老鼠。汤姆的毛是黑色的，胸口有一片白色。艾丽则是一只漂亮的灰猫，爪子是白色的。

He was born in a warm barn in the Virginia countryside. He was Tom and Allie’s first kitten and they were so proud of him. They named him Kit. Kit’s fur was a combination of his father’s and mother’s: he had small stripes, black and brown.

基特出生在弗吉尼亚乡村一个温暖的谷仓里。他是汤姆和艾丽的第一只小猫，他们为他感到无比骄傲。他们给他取名叫基特。基特的毛色融合了父母的特点：身上有黑色和棕色的细条纹。

Tom and Allie had great expectations for Kit. As soon as his eyes were open they started to train him. Allie would push a pinecone or a big leaf onto the barn floor. Then Tom showed him how to quietly sneak up on it, one paw at a time, then POUNCE! Kit copied his father again and again until he got to be very clever at it. He didn’t even mind the stickiness of the pinecone on his paws. He would chase the leaf as the wind blew it across the barn floor, then he would pounce on it just like his father.

汤姆和艾丽对基特寄予厚望。他的眼睛一睁开，他们就开始训练他。艾丽会把一个松果或者一片大树叶推到谷仓的地上。然后汤姆教他怎样一次伸出一只爪子，悄无声息地慢慢靠近，接着猛地扑上去！基特一遍又一遍地模仿父亲，直到他非常熟练地掌握了这一技巧。他甚至不在意爪子上沾上松果的黏糊糊。当风把树叶吹过谷仓地面时，他会追着树叶跑，然后像父亲那样猛地扑上去。

Soon it was time for the real thing. Kit had grown fast. By springtime he was almost as big as his father, who said it was about time he caught his own food.

很快，实践的时候到了。基特长得很快。到了春天，他几乎和父亲一样大了，父亲说他也该自己抓食物了。

The farmer’s wife was in need of a good mouser. She came out to the barn to fetch Allie and Kit. She brought them into the kitchen that evening and then went to bed.

农夫的妻子需要一只出色的捕鼠猫。她来到谷仓带走了艾丽和基特。那天晚上，她把它们带进厨房，然后就去睡觉了。

That night the mice came out of their little holes to eat the crumbs of cheese and crackers that had been left on the floor.

那天夜里，老鼠们从它们的小洞里钻出来，吃着留在地上的奶酪屑和饼干屑。

So many mice! First there was one, then three, then ten mice, all running around the kitchen floor and having a great time with the feast of cheese and crackers. Kit had never before seen even one mouse, and here there were at least ten at once. He yowled and made a great leap to the top of the table. He trembled all over.

这么多老鼠啊！一开始是一只，接着三只，然后是十只老鼠，全都在厨房地板上跑来跑去，尽情享受着奶酪和饼干的盛宴。基特以前甚至连一只老鼠都没见过，而现在一下子至少有十只。他嚎叫一声，猛地跳到了桌子上，浑身颤抖。

“Kit!” his mother said. “What’s the matter with you?”

“基特！” 他妈妈说道，“你这是怎么了？”

“Mother! I’m afraid of all those mice!” cried Kit. “There are so many of them. And they run around so fast. Maybe they will bite me!”

“妈妈！我害怕那些老鼠！” 基特叫道，“它们太多了。而且跑得那么快。说不定它们会咬我呢！”

“Don’t be silly, Kit.” said his mother. “Let me show you what to do.”

“别犯傻了，基特。” 他妈妈说，“看我怎么做。”

And she pounced on one—and ate it right up, tail and all. Then she went for another, but he got away. This frightened the rest of the mice and they scurried back to their holes.

说着，她扑向一只老鼠—— 一口就把它吞了下去，连尾巴都没剩下。接着她又去抓另一只，可那只跑掉了。这一下把其他老鼠都吓坏了，它们纷纷窜回洞里。

“Now get down off that table and we’ll practice chasing and pouncing again.” Allie said in a firm tone. She was worried. What would Kit’s father say? How could the son of the two best mouse-catchers in the State of Virginia be afraid of mice?

“现在从桌子上下来，咱们再练习追逐和扑抓。” 艾丽语气坚定地说道。她很担心。基特的爸爸会怎么说呢？弗吉尼亚州最厉害的两名捕鼠能手的儿子，怎么会害怕老鼠呢？

The next night the same thing happened again. Kit leaped on top of the refrigerator this time.

第二天晚上，同样的事情再次发生。这次基特跳到了冰箱顶上。

“Just watch me,” said his mother as she pounced on one mouse after another until five mice were dead.

“看着我。” 他妈妈一边说，一边一只接一只地扑向老鼠，直到五只老鼠丧命。

“I can’t help it.” Said Kit. “They run around so fast and I’m afraid they’ll jump on me!”

“我没办法。” 基特说，“它们跑得太快了，我怕它们跳到我身上来！”

The next morning Allie had to return to the barn to do her Spring Cleaning. Kit’s father, Tom, had gone on a hunting trip with three of his friends from a neighboring farm. Kit was alone in the house. Maybe Kit would learn to catch mice by himself. Maybe not.

第二天早上，艾丽得回谷仓进行春季大扫除。基特的爸爸汤姆，和邻村农场的三个朋友外出打猎去了。基特独自留在屋里。也许基特会自己学会抓老鼠。也许学不会。

As soon as his mother left, and after the mice had gone back to their hiding places, Kit began to explore the house. What a pleasant place it was! If only he could always live there—and if only the mice stayed in their holes all the time. He cautiously climbed the stairs to the second floor. There were three doors, but only one was open. Kit went in.

妈妈一离开，老鼠们也都回到藏身之处后，基特便开始在屋里四处探索。这地方可真惬意！要是他能一直住在这儿就好了—— 而且要是老鼠们能一直待在洞里不出来就更好了。他小心翼翼地爬上楼梯，来到二楼。那儿有三扇门，只有一扇是开着的。基特走了进去。

There was a boy sleeping in the bed. Kit jumped on the bed and gently put his paw on the boy’s head. The boy woke up and laughed. “What a beautiful cat!” he said and stroked Kit’s fur. This had never happened to Kit before. It was heaven.

床上睡着一个男孩。基特跳上床，轻轻地把爪子搭在男孩的头上。男孩醒了过来，笑了。“多漂亮的猫啊！” 他说着，抚摸着基特的毛。这种事基特从未经历过，感觉就像置身天堂。

The boy picked up Kit and took him down to the kitchen where he set out a saucer of cream. This was a new taste for Kit. He licked it all up.

男孩抱起基特，把他带到厨房，在那儿放了一碟奶油。这对基特来说是种全新的滋味。他把奶油舔得一干二净。

Then the farmer came into the kitchen. “We still have mice in the house. I could hear them scurrying around all night. If this cat doesn’t catch mice we’ll have to get another one that does. I can’t afford to keep a useless cat!”

这时，农夫走进了厨房。“屋里还是有老鼠。我整晚都能听到它们跑来跑去的声音。要是这猫抓不住老鼠，我们就得换一只会抓的。我可养不起没用的猫！”

“Oh please Dad,” said the boy. “Let’s give him a chance. He’s such a lovely cat and I’m sure he will catch the mice soon.”

“哦，求求你了，爸爸，” 男孩说，“再给他一次机会吧。他是只多么可爱的猫啊，我相信他很快就能抓住老鼠的。”

The farmer’s wife came into the kitchen to make breakfast. “We could try him out for a day or two and see if he catches the mice. His mother always got rid of the mice in my house in just a few days.”

农夫的妻子走进厨房准备做早餐。“我们可以再试他一两天，看看他能不能抓住老鼠。他妈妈以前总能在几天内就把我屋里的老鼠清理干净。”

So the farmer agreed to give Kit two days to get rid of the mice.

于是，农夫同意给基特两天时间把老鼠消灭掉。

That night Kit curled up in a chair in the kitchen and waited for the mice to appear. He would try as hard as he could to catch the mice and not be afraid. He wanted to live with the boy in this wonderful house that was so much nicer than the barn.

那天晚上，基特蜷缩在厨房的一把椅子上，等着老鼠出现。他会尽自己最大的努力去抓老鼠，不再害怕。他想和这个男孩一起住在这个美妙的家里，这儿可比谷仓好多了。

But it happened again. When the mice came out of their holes and started running around the kitchen, Kit was frightened and again he jumped on top of the refrigerator.

可同样的情况再次发生了。老鼠从洞里出来，开始在厨房里四处乱窜时，基特吓坏了，又一次跳到了冰箱顶上。

In the morning the farmer came down to the kitchen and announced “One more day! If the mice aren’t gone tonight, the cat will have to go!”

第二天早上，农夫下楼来到厨房，宣布道：“就再给一天时间！要是今晚老鼠还没被消灭，这猫就得走人！”

Kit was very sad when he was put into the kitchen that night. If cats could cry he would have cried himself to sleep. But he couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about the boy and about how much fun it would be to play with him all day, and maybe sleep with him in his bed at night.

那天晚上被关进厨房时，基特非常难过。要是猫会哭的话，他肯定会哭着入睡。但他睡不着。他一直在想那个男孩，想着要是能整天和他一起玩耍，晚上也许还能和他一起睡在床上，那该多有趣啊。

The mice were just creeping out of their holes when a great loud thunderstorm frightened them back in hiding. Suddenly Kit smelled a strange smell. It wasn’t the smell of mice. It was something else. Like the bonfire the farmer had set in his field last fall to burn the brush from the woods. That was scary for the cats—they had run away to the safety of the barn.

老鼠刚从洞里悄悄探出头，一场突如其来的大雷阵雨就把它们吓得又躲了回去。突然，基特闻到一股奇怪的味道。这不是老鼠的味道，而是别的什么。就像去年秋天农夫在田里烧树林里砍下来的树枝时燃起的篝火味。那次可把猫咪们吓坏了—— 它们都跑到谷仓里找安全的地方躲起来了。

Kit knew that something was wrong. That smell did not belong in a house. Quickly he jumped off the chair and ran up to the boy sleeping in his bed. “Wake up! Wake up!” Kit licked the boy’s face. He meowed as loudly as he could.

基特知道出事了。这味道不该出现在屋子里。他迅速从椅子上跳下来，跑到正在床上睡觉的男孩身边。“醒醒！醒醒！” 基特舔着男孩的脸，用尽全力大声喵喵叫着。

The boy woke up. “What’s the matter?” he groaned. And then the boy smelled the burning. “Fire!” he yelled and ran to wake up the farmer and his wife. The farmer quickly called the fire department while the farmer’s wife and the boy carrying Kit raced downstairs and out to the back yard. Soon the farmer joined them.

男孩醒了。“怎么了？” 他嘟囔着。接着男孩也闻到了烧焦的味道。“着火了！” 他大喊一声，跑去叫醒农夫和他的妻子。农夫赶紧打电话给消防队，与此同时，农夫的妻子和抱着基特的男孩冲下楼，跑到后院。不一会儿，农夫也和他们会合了。

Soon they could hear the fire trucks racing and screaming their alarms on the highway. The fire fighters rushed into the house and then up to the roof. The lightning had hit the roof and started a fire there. They pulled the big hose from the truck and shot the water up to the top of the roof. The fire was out. The house was saved.

很快，他们就听到消防车在公路上呼啸疾驰，警笛大作。消防员们冲进屋子，直奔屋顶。原来是闪电击中了屋顶，引发了火灾。他们从车上拉出粗大的水管，将水喷向屋顶上方。火被扑灭了，房子保住了。

The family was still watching the fire fighters when the fire chief came down from the roof and told them the fire was out. “If you hadn’t called us right away you would have lost your house and probably your lives!” he said.

一家人仍在看着消防员忙碌，这时消防队长从屋顶下来，告诉他们火已经扑灭。“要是你们没马上给我们打电话，这房子可能就没了，你们的命恐怕也保不住！” 他说道。

“The cat! It was the cat who woke me up! He saved ourlives!” shouted the boy.

“是那只猫！是猫把我叫醒的！它救了我们的命！” 男孩大声说道。

The next day the local newspaper reported the story of the cat who saved the lives of the family. The story was picked up by other papers all around the country. Reporters called to find out more about this famous cat and take pictures of the boy holding his life-saving cat. And the Society for Heroic Animals presented Kit with a Silver Medal, the first ever awarded to a cat.

第二天，当地报纸报道了这只救了一家人命的猫的故事。这个故事被全国各地的其他报纸纷纷转载。记者们打电话来，想进一步了解这只出名的猫，并给抱着救命猫的男孩拍照。英勇动物协会授予基特一枚银质奖章，这是首次颁发给猫的此类奖章。

But the happiest moment for both the boy and Kit was when the farmer announced to the family “This cat has saved our lives. He will always have a home with us. And if we need to get rid of the mice, we’ll find another cat to do that!”

但对男孩和基特来说，最开心的时刻，是农夫向全家人宣布：“这只猫救了我们的命。它永远都是我们家的一员。要是我们需要灭鼠，就再找别的猫来做！”

So that is the story of the cat who was afraid of mice. Tom Cat and Allie were so proud of their son. They told all their cat friends about Kit’s medal and they never again mentioned anything about mice.

这就是那只害怕老鼠的猫的故事。汤姆猫和艾丽为他们的儿子感到无比骄傲。他们把基特获得奖章的事告诉了所有猫朋友，而且从此再也没提过老鼠的事。