貓之戀 The Cat Thing

你戀上貓，是否因爲被他們悄無聲息的神祕所吸引，是否因爲沉醉於他們每一步間的優雅姿態，還是因爲迷戀他們那彷彿能看穿你心思的眼睛……愛貓養貓之人不只是愛貓，而是迷戀關於貓的一切，面對貓，他們似乎毫無招架之力，只能不知不覺淪陷……

Right under our nose in our home cities and town on our sofas and lap a quiet invasion has been taking place. The cat is now officially the most popular pet in the Western world. In Britain alone it's reckoned there are 12 million cat a vast,softly purring army which it seems we are utterly powerless to resist. 就在我們眼皮底下，家裏，大城小鎮內，沙發和膝頭上，有種動物靜悄悄地侵入我們的世界。貓已然正式成爲西方國家最受歡迎的寵物。單單在英國，就估計有一千二百萬只貓。面對這支只會輕輕呼嚕的大軍，我們似乎完全無力招架。

We don't have a cat. Well, not any more. For 18 years we had a gorgeous cat called The Bee. When he died, I missed him more than I could ever have imagined. I still think about him every day. We even gave him a little gravestone. 我們沒有養貓，應該說，現在沒有了。本來我們有一隻很漂亮的貓，養了18年，給他起名叫“蜜蜂”。他死後，我對他的思念比想象中的還要深，現在每天仍然想起他。我們甚至爲他立了塊小小的墓碑。

People say that you choose a dog, but the cat chooses you. And people say that cats are 1)aloof. Well I don't know about that, all I know is that The Bee, our beloved cat, was much more than a pet, he was a friend. We loved him dearly. And do you know, I think he loved us dearly too. 有人說狗任人挑選，貓卻挑選主人。有人說貓性情冷漠，這方面我不肯定。我只知道我們深愛的蜜蜂不只是寵物這麼簡單，他是我們的朋友。我們深愛他，而我相信他也深愛我們。

And yet I wonder if I ever really knew The Bee any more than I know the neighbourhood cats that now wander through our garden. Unlike dog so much of what cats do is secret and 2)nocturnal. Mysterious. It helps to explain why some people find them so disturbing. And why so many others find cats irresistible. 不過，我也懷疑自己對蜂蜜的瞭解是否比鄰居那些經常在我們花園蕩悠的貓更多。貓不像狗，他們在夜間靜悄悄地活動，十分神祕。難怪他們令某些人感到心神不寧，又令有些人對他們無法抗拒。