雙語故事:一貓一世情 A Boy and His Cat (1)

I'm not sure how he got to my clinic. He didn't look old enough to drive, although his child's body had begun to broaden and he moved with the heavy grace of young manhood. His face was direct and open.

我不知道他是怎樣來到我的診所的。他看起來還沒到可以開車的年齡，雖然他那孩童的身軀已經開始發育，舉手投足間也充滿了年輕男子的翩翩風姿。他的表情坦率而真誠。

When I walked into the waiting room, he was lovingly petting his cat through the open door of the carrier on his lap. With a schoolboy's faith in authority, he had brought his sick cat in for me to mend. The cat was a tiny thing, exquisitely formed, with a delicate skull and beautiful markings. She was about the boy's own age, give or take a year. I could see how her spots and stripes and her fierce, bright face had evoked the image of a tiger in a child's mind, and Tigress she had become. Age had 1dammed the bright green fire of her eyes into faded lace, but she was still elegant and 1self-possessed.

他的膝蓋上放着一個貓籠，當我走進候診室時，他正把手伸進敞開的小門，親切地愛撫着他的貓。帶着學生對於權威的信任，他將他那生病的貓帶到我這裏來治療。貓的個頭不大，身形纖美，有着精緻的小腦袋和美麗的斑紋。她的年紀和那男孩差不多大，偏差不超過一歲。我可以從她的斑點和條紋，還有她那野性機靈的臉龐上看出，在孩子的心目中她就像是一隻老虎，所以她的名字就叫虎妞。年齡的衰老使得她眼中明亮的綠色火焰黯然失色，但她依然優雅自若。

I began to ask questions to determine what had brought this charming pair to see me. Unlike most adults, the boy answered simply and directly. Tigress had had a normal appetite until recently, when she'd begun to 1vomit a couple of times a day. Now she was not eating at all and had withdrawn from her human family. She had also lost a pound, which is a lot when you weigh only six.

我開始問診，瞭解為什麼這兩個可愛的傢伙會到我這裏來。和大多數成年人不同的是，男孩的回答簡單而直接。虎妞的胃口一向正常，直到最近她開始每天嘔吐好幾次。如今她完全不吃不喝了，還躲避着她的人類家庭。她已經瘦了一磅（約0.454公斤）——如果你只有六磅重的話，這就瘦得很厲害了。

Stroking Tigress, I told her how beautiful she was while I examined her eyes and mouth, listened to her heart and lungs, and felt her stomach. My fingers found it: a tubular mass in 1mid-abdomen. Tigress politely tried to slip away. She did not like the mass being handled.

我撫摸着虎妞，一邊對她説她是多麼美麗，一邊檢查她的眼睛和嘴巴，聽她的心肺，輕按她的胃部。我發現在她腹部的中部有個腎小管團。虎妞客氣地試圖溜走。她不喜歡被人摸到那塊東西。

I looked at the fresh faced boy and back at the cat he had probably had all his 1ife. I was going to have to tell him that his beloved companion had a 1tumor. Even if it were 1surgically removed, she probably would survive less than a year, and might need weekly chemotherapy to last that long.

我看了看男孩稚嫩的臉龐，然後又看了看那隻或許從小就陪伴着他的貓。我將不得不告訴他，他摯愛的夥伴得了腫瘤。即便做手術摘除了，她可能也活不過一年，而且可能還要每個星期做化療才能維持得到。

It would all be very difficult and expensive. So I was going to have to tell this boy that his cat was likely to die. And there he was, all alone. Death is something we push to the background and ignore as long as possible, but in reality every living thing we love will die. It is an omnipresent part of life. How death is first experienced can be life-forming. It can be a thing of horror and suffering, or a peaceful release.

這樣治療難度頗大，且費用高昂，所以我將不得不告訴這個男孩，他的貓很可能會死去。然後，就剩下他孤單一人了。我們常常刻意漠視死亡：儘可能久地忽視它的存在，但實際上，我們深愛的每個生命都會死去。死亡是生命中揮之不去的一部分。第一次直面死亡的經歷會影響往後的生活。它可能會是一件恐怖而痛苦的事情，或者也可能會是一種安詳的解脱。