一只猫的精美哲学 The Zen of Cat(3)

　　The Man 3)knit his brow in thought.
　　男人皱起眉头陷入了沉思。
　　“Now take each end of the string in one hand,” the Cat ordered.
　　The Man did so.
　　“The end in your left hand is my birth and the end in your right hand is my death. Now bring the two ends together,” the Cat said. The Man complied.
　　“You have made a continuous circle,” said the cat. “Does any point along the string appear to be different, worse or better than any other part of the string?”
　　The Man inspected the string and then shook his head “no.”
　　“Close your eyes again,” the Cat said. “Now 4)lick your hand.”
　　The Man widened his eyes in surprise.
　　“Just do it,” the Cat said. “Lick your hand, think of me in all my familiar places, think about all the pieces of string, and think about the cotton and the rose.”
　　“现在用两只手捏住绳子的两端。”猫命令道。
　　男人照做了。
　　“你左手捏着的那端就是我的出生，而右手的那端就是我的死亡。现在把两端连在一起。”猫说道。男人又照做了。
　　“你做出了一个连贯的圆圈，”猫说，“这个绳子上的任意一点同其他点有什么不同吗？比绳子的其他部分更好或者更差吗？”
　　男人审视着那根绳子，然后摇了摇头。“没有。”
　　“再次闭上你的眼睛，”猫说，“现在舔舔你的手。”
　　男人惊讶地睁大了眼睛。
　　“照我说的做吧，”猫说。“舔舔你的手，想想我在所有我熟悉的地方，想想所有的绳子，再想想棉花和玫瑰。”
　　The Man felt foolish, licking his hand, but he did as he was told. He discovered what a cat must know, that licking a paw is very calming and allows one to think more clearly. He continued licking and the corners of his mouth turned upward into the first smile he had shown in days. He waited for the Cat to tell him to stop, and when he didn’t, he opened his eyes. The Cat’s eyes were closed. The Man stroked the warm, brown fur, but the Cat was gone.
　　要舔自己的手，男人觉得很蠢，不过他还是照做了。他发现了猫所知道的秘密——舔爪子能让你平静下来，并让你能够思考得更加清楚。他继续舔着，他的嘴角开始上翘，好多天来第一次露出了微笑。他等待着猫叫停，可是没等到，于是他睁开了眼睛。猫的眼睛已经闭上了。他摸了摸猫温暖的褐色皮毛，可是猫已经去了。
　　The Man shut his eyes hard as the tears poured down his face. He saw the Cat on the windowsill, then in his bed, then lying across his important papers. He saw him on the pillow next to his head, saw his bright gold eyes and darkest brown on his nose and ears. He opened his eyes and through his tears looked over at the rose growing in a pot on the windowsill and then to the circle of string he still held 5)clutched in his hand.
　　男人用力地闭上了眼睛，泪如泉涌。他看到猫蹲在窗台上，然后是他的床上，然后躺在他的重要文件上。他看到猫在他脑袋边的枕头上，看到他明亮的金黄色的眼睛还有鼻子和耳朵上深褐色的毛发。他睁开眼睛，透过泪水，他望向窗台上的花盆里生长着的玫瑰，然后看向他依然捏在手里的绳圈。
　　One day, not long after, there was a new Cat on his lap. She was a lovely 6)calico and white ... very different from his earlier beloved Cat and very much the same.
　　不久以后的某一天，他的膝上有了一只新的猫咪。她是一只可爱的白色花斑猫——与之前那只他深爱的猫是那么地不同，然而又是那么地相同。