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从前有兄弟俩，住在苏格兰一处荒僻的地方。一个老妇人为他们打点吃的，此外再没有别人了，除非把她的猫和兄弟俩的狗也算上。一个秋日的午后，哥哥埃尔辛德说他不想出门，于是弟弟弗格斯上路了，沿着山里那条他们前一天狩猎走过的小路。 他本来说太阳落山前回家，但是黄昏时分还没有回来。埃尔辛德一直看着那条路，等啊等，总也不见弟弟回来，心里七上八下。渐渐，已经过了晚饭时间。最后，弗格斯终于回来了。浑身湿漉漉的，疲惫不堪，却没说为什么回来晚了。 晚饭后，兄弟俩坐在炉火前。炉子里火很旺，劈啪作响。几只狗趴在他们的脚边。老妇人的黑猫眯着眼，端端正正趴在兄弟俩中间。弗格斯缓过劲儿来，开始说起他的奇遇。 “你肯定想知道，"他说，“我怎么回来晚了。我今天的经历非同一般。我都不知道从哪儿说起。我跟你说过，我是沿着咱们昨天走过的那条道儿走的。回家的时候，突然起了雾，我发现自己完全迷失了方向。我走了很长时间，不知道自己在什么地方。直到后来，我看到了灯光，就朝着亮处走去，希望能得到帮助。” “走近后，灯光消失了。我发现自己走到了一棵老橡树跟前。我爬到树枝上，希望能找到灯光。我的天啊！就在我右边,我看到光线来自中空的树干。我好像看到了一个教堂，正在举行葬礼。我听到歌声,看到一个棺材，周围都是火把。我知道，埃尔辛德，我就是告诉你你也不信!” 哥哥催他赶紧往下讲,又往炉火里扔了一块煤让他继续。几只狗睡得很安静，不过那只猫突然坐起身来,好像跟埃尔辛德一样，用心听弗格斯说话。事实上，弗格斯继续讲故事的时候，兄弟俩都注意到了那只猫。 没错，他继续说，“我说的都是真的。抬着棺材，举着火把的都是猫。棺材顶上放着一顶王冠和一把权杖。” 他的话被打断了，那只黑猫爬起来，尖叫着：“我的天啊！老彼得死了！我成了猫国的国王了！”接着，它一下顺着烟囱窜了上去，从此以后.再也没回来。 The King of the Cats Once upon a time there were two brothers who lived in a very lonely part of Scot¬land. An old woman used to do the cooking, and there was no one else, unless we count her cat and their own dogs. One autumn afternoon the elder of the two, whom we will call Elshender，said he would not go out—so the younger one, Fergus, went alone to follow the path where they had been shooting the day before. He meant to return home before the early sunset - however, he did not do so, and Elshender became very uneasy as he watched and waited in vain till long after their usual suppertime. At last Fergus returned, wet and exhausted, nor did he explain why he was so late. But after supper when the two brothers were seated before the fire, on which the peat crackled cheerfully, the dogs lying at their feet, and the old woman’s black cat sit¬ting gravely with half-shut eyes on the hearth between them, Fergus recovered himself and began to tell his adventures. “You must be wondering,” said he, “what made me so late. I have had a very, very strange adventure to-day. I hardly know what to say about it. I went, as I told you I should, along our yesterday’s track. A mountain fog came on just as I was about to turn homewards，and I completely lost my way. I wandered about for a long time not knowing where I was, till at last I saw a light, and made for it, hoping to get help. ” “As I came near it, it disappeared, and I found myself close to an old oak tree. I climbed into the branches the better to look for the light, and, behold! There it was right beneath me, inside the hollow trunk of the tree. I seemed to be looking down into a church, where a funeral was taking place. I heard singing, and saw a coffin surrounded by torches, all carried by… But I know you won’t believe me, Elshender, if I tell you!” His brother eagerly begged him to go on, and threw a dry peat on the fire to encour¬age him. The dogs were sleeping quietly, but the cat was sitting up, and seemed to be listening just as carefully and cannily as Elshender himself. Both brothers, indeed, turned their eyes on the cat as Fergus took up his story. “Yes,” he continued, “it is as true as I sit here. The coffin and the torches were both carried by cats, and upon the coffin were marked a crown and a scepter!” He got no farther, for the black cat started up, shrieking. “My stars! old Peter’s dead, and I’m the King of the cats!’，一Then rushed up the chimney, and was seen no more. |
