A Street Cat Named Bob

Chapter 1第一章

Fellow Travellers

同行的旅行者

There's a famous quote I read somewhere. It says we are all given second chances every day of? our lives. They are there for the taking, it's just that we don't usually take them.我曾經(jīng)在某處讀過這樣一個著名的引語，我們每天都在給自己的生活第二次機(jī)會。那些機(jī)會就在那里等著你去把握。只是我們不經(jīng)常去抓住它們。quote 引用

I spent a big chunk of my life proving that quote. I was given a lot of opportunities, sometimes on a daily basis. for a longtime I failed take any of them, but then, in the early spring of 2007, that finally began to change. It was then that I befriended Bob. Looking back on it, something tells me it might have been his second chance too.我花了我生命的大把的時間去證明那條引語。我曾經(jīng)錯過了許多機(jī)會，有時是在日常的小事中。在很長的時間里我都沒能把握住任何的機(jī)會，但在那之后，終于在在2007年的早春發(fā)生了改變。是那時與我交好的Bob，現(xiàn)在回過頭看，這也許也是他的第二次機(jī)會。

chunk 大塊? ? ? opportunity 機(jī)會? ? ? ? ? ? was given 被動? ? ? ? It was then that?????

I first encountered him on a gloomy, Thursday evening in March. London hadn't quite shaken off the winter and it was still bitingly cold in the streets,especially when the winds blew in off the Thames. There had even been a hint of frost in the air that night,which was why I'd arrived back at my new, sheltered accommodation in tottenham, north London,a little earlier than usual after a day busking around Covent Garden.

我第一次見到他是在三月的一個陰郁的星期四晚上。倫敦還沒有完全擺脫掉冬天的寒冷，當(dāng)風(fēng)吹過泰晤士河時還能在街上感受到凌冽的寒氣。在那個晚上還能察覺到空氣中的霜，這使我早早的回到了我在倫敦南邊的托特納姆的新住所，街頭賣藝比往常都早一些的聚集在了柯分公園

encounter 偶然? ? ? ? gloomy? 黑暗的.沮喪的? ? ? Thursday 星期四? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? March? 三月quite 完全? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? shaken off? 擺脫? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? bitingly .adv.尖刻的.犀利的? ? blew in off? ？thames? 泰晤士河? ? hint? 暗示，線索? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? frost 霜凍? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? accommodation? 住處busking? 街頭賣藝

As normal, I had my black guitar case and rucksack slung over my shoulders but this evening I also had my closest firend,Belle, with me. We'd gone out together years ago but were just mates now. We were going to eat a cheap takeaway curry and watch a movie on the small black and? white television set .I'd managed to find in a charity shop round the corner.

和平常一樣，我拿著我的黑色吉他箱，掛著帆布背包在肩上，除此之外這個晚上也還有我親密的朋友和我在一起他就是Belle，我們是多年前就出來流浪的，現(xiàn)在是好伙伴。我們準(zhǔn)備去打包一份便宜的咖喱食品，然后在那個小的黑白電視機(jī)看一部電影，我則需要在這附近找到一個慈善商店。

case:箱子? ? ? rucksack:帆布背包? ? ? ? slung:懸掛? ? ? ? ? mate:伙伴? ? ? ? takeaway:外賣curry:咖喱粉? manage:管理處理? ? ? ? charity:慈善

As usual, the lift in the apartment block wasn't working so we headed for the first flight of stairs,resigned to making the long trudge up on the fifth floor.

和往常一樣，公寓大樓的電梯還是壞的仍然無法使用，所以我們前往第一層樓梯，邁著沉重的步伐開始爬五樓的艱難路途。

lift:電梯? ? ? ? block:塊，街區(qū)，阻塞? ? ? ? head to:前往? ? ? ? ? flight:飛行，射擊? ? stair:樓梯resign to:順從做某事，安于做某事? ? ? ? ? trudge:艱難的路途?

The strip lighting in the hallway was broken and part of the ground floor was swathed in darkness,but as we made our way to the stairwell I couldn't help noticing a pair of glowing eyes in the gloom. When I heard a gentle, slightly plaintive meowing I realised what it was.

因為那條在走廊的破燈管使得地板的一部分被沉浸在黑暗之中，但是當(dāng)我們來到樓梯口時，我禁不住發(fā)現(xiàn)在黑暗中有一雙熾熱的目光。當(dāng)我回過神時我才發(fā)現(xiàn)那是一聲細(xì)膩中帶有些許哀傷的貓叫聲。

strip:條? ? ? hallway:走廊? ? ? ? ? ? ? ground:地板? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? swathe:包圍? ? ? ? ? stairwell:樓梯井? ? ? couldn't help:禁不住? ? ? ? ? glowing:熾熱的? ? ? ? ? ? gloom:昏暗? ? ? ? ? ? slightly:些微的? ? ? ? ? plaintive:哀傷的? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? meow:貓叫

Edging closer, in the half-light I could see a ginger cat curled up on a doormat outside one of the ground-floor flats in the corridor that led off the hallway.

緩慢靠近，我在昏暗的燈光中，看到一只姜黃色的貓蜷縮在其中一戶的公寓房門外的門墊上，那房間的走道通向屋內(nèi)的玄關(guān)。

edging:邊緣? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ginger :姜黃色的? ? ? ? ? ? ? curled up:蜷縮? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? doormat:門墊? flats in:橫插? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? corridor :走廊? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? led（lead） off:通向

I'd grown up with cats and had always had a bit of a soft spot for them. As I moved in and got a good look I could tell he was a tom, a male.

我曾經(jīng)與這些貓一起長大，所以我們之間一些深厚的感情，我對他們總是軟心腸。當(dāng)我靠近，再待我看清它之后，我可以說它是雄貓。

grown up:長大成人? ? ? a bit of :一點(diǎn)? ? ? soft spot:弱點(diǎn)? ? move in :生活在，遷入? ? ? ? male:雄性

I hadn't seen him around the flats before,but even in the darkness I could tell there was something about him, I could already tell that he had something of a personality. He wasn't in the slightest bit nervous, in fact,? completely the opposite.

我之前沒有在公寓的見到過它，但是我能感覺到在黑暗中的它。我早就可以預(yù)見它的一些個性。她從來不緊張，事實上完全相反。

flat:平的，公寓 ? ? ? ? ? already:已經(jīng)? ? ? ? personality:個性，品格? ? ? ? slightest:極不重要的，很少的 nervous:神經(jīng)緊張的? ? completely:完全? ? opposite:相反

There was a quiet, unflappable confidence about him, He looked like he was very much at home here in the shadows and to judge by the way he was fixing me with a steady, curious , intelligent stare, I was as if he was saying:' So who are you and what bring you here?

'它非常的安靜鎮(zhèn)定顯得很有自信，它在黑暗中用好奇的眼光穩(wěn)穩(wěn)的打量我，像是在對我說”你是誰，是什么帶你來這里“

quiet:安靜平和? ? ? ? ? ? ? unflappable:鎮(zhèn)定的? ? ? ? ? ? ? judge:判斷裁決? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? fix:固定steady:穩(wěn)固的? ? ? ? ? ? ? curious:好奇的? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? intelligent:智能的? ? ? ? ? ? ? stare:凝視bring:帶來

I couldn't resist kneeling down and introducing myself." Hello, mate. I've not seen you before, do you live here?'? I said. He just looked at me with the same studious, slightly aloof expression, as if he was still weighing me up.

我抵抗不了，跪下來介紹自己“你好呀，我從沒有見過你，你住這里嗎？”，他故意用同樣的眼神看著我，有點(diǎn)冷淡的表現(xiàn)，好像在權(quán)衡我。

resist:抵抗? ? ? ? ? ? kneel down:下跪? ? ? introducing:介紹? ? ? ? studious:用工，熱心的slightly:些微的? ? ? aloof:冷淡的? ? ? ? ? ? ? expression:表現(xiàn)? ? ? ? ? weigh:權(quán)衡，考量

I decided to stroke his neck, partly to make friends but partly to see if he was hard to tell in the dark, but I realised there was nothing, which immediately suggested to me that he was stray. London had more than its fair share of those.

我決定輕撫它的脖子，一半是想和它做盆友，一半是看看它是否在黑暗中難以言表，但是我馬上意識到并不是這樣的，看來，倫敦這個城市，不是對于每個人每件事情都是公平分享，公平對待的。

stroke:劃，輕撫? ? ? ? ? ? ? neck:脖子? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? partly:一部分? ? ? ? ? ? suggested:建議，暗示stray:流浪? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? fair:公平的? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? those:那些

He seemed to be enjoying the affection, and began brushing himself lightly against me. As I petted him a little more, I could feel that his coat was in poor condition, with uneven bald patches here and there, He was clearly in need of a good meal. From the way he was rubbing against me, he was also in need of a bit of TCL.

他看起來很享受的樣子，并且開始輕輕的擦拭自己來反對我。當(dāng)我想更加寵愛他時，我感覺到他的外套很破舊，有很多單調(diào)的補(bǔ)丁。他很需要一頓好的膳食。他通過摩擦我的方式來反抗我。，他也很迫切的需要

TCLaffection: 情感? ? ? ? ? ? ? brush 畫，刷? ? ? ? ? ? lightly 輕輕的，不費(fèi)力的? ? ? ? ? ? against 反對petted 寵物，寵愛? ? ? ? condition 條件環(huán)境身份? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? uneven 不均勻的bald 禿頂?shù)模瑔握{(diào)的? ? ? patches 補(bǔ)丁? ? ? ? ? ? clearly：清晰地? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? in? need：在危難中 meal 膳食? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? from the way：從...的方式? ? ? ? ? ? rubbing 摩擦? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? TCL 電視

‘poor chap, I think he 's a stray. he's not got a collar and he's really thin.' I said, looking up at Belle, who was waiting patiently by the foot of the stairs.She knew I had a weakness for cats.”

可憐的小家伙，我想他迷路了，他沒有項圈而且他真的好瘦“我說到，仰望著belle，他正在樓梯處耐心的等候。她知道我對小貓沒辦法。

chap:小家伙? ? ? ? ? stray:迷路? ? ? ? ? ? collar:頸圈，抓住? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? thin:薄的，瘦的looking up:仰望? ? patiently:耐心的? ? stairs:樓梯

‘No James, you can't have him.' She said, nodding towards the door of the flat that the cat was sitting outside. ' He can't have just wandred in here and settled on this spot, he must belong to whoever lives there. Probably waiting for them to come home and let him in.

'“不，詹姆斯，你不可以養(yǎng)他”她說，她朝著貓坐的門的方向點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭?！八豢赡苁亲≡谶@里的，只是在這里取暖，他肯定屬于這里的住著的人的，也許只是在等他們把它領(lǐng)回家。

nodding:點(diǎn)頭? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? probably:大概

Reluctantly, I agreed with her. I couldn't just pick up a cat and take him home with me, even if all the signs pointed to the fact it was still trying to sort out my flat. What if it did belong to the person living in that flat? They weren't going to take too kindly to someone carrying off their pet, were they?

我很不情愿的同意她的話。不可以就這樣撿起它帶回家，即使所有的事實都在說它嘗試著進(jìn)我的公寓，但是如果他屬于這棟樓里的住戶的話呢？他們不可能和善的同意一個人帶走照顧他們的寵物。

Reluctantly：不情愿的? ? ? ? ? pick up ：撿起? ? ? ? even if 即使? ? ? ? ? sign：預(yù)示sort out: 挑選出? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? flat：公寓

Besides, the last thing I needed right now was the extra responsibility of cat. I was a failed musician and recovering drug addict living a hand-to-mouth existence in sheltered accommodation. Taking responsibility for myself was hard enough.

除此之外，我還要做的是承擔(dān)起我對貓的責(zé)任，可我是一個失敗的音樂人和癮君子，現(xiàn)在住在一個勉強(qiáng)才能維持住的公寓。對我來說這個責(zé)任對我來說還是太難了。

Besides:除此之外? ? ? ? ? recovering：恢復(fù)? ? ? ? ? ? drug：毒品? ? ? ? ? ? addict：有癮的hand-to-mouth:勉強(qiáng)維持? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? existence：存在