评论
打印
The next day I went back into the house and saw several people standing in a group，looking at a wall．It was the only wall of the house that was still standing after the fire．It was one of my bedroom walls，the one where the head of my bed had rested．As I came nearer to the wall I heard someone say，‘How strange！’and another person，‘That's impossible！’And then I saw it-a huge cat．Not a real cat，but the shape of a cat outlined in the white bedroom wall．It was as clear as a picture．I could even see a rope around the animal's neck．
第二天，我回到房子里去，见几个人聚成一堆，正盯着一堵墙看。这是大火过后整栋房子惟一一堵仍旧立着的墙壁，是我卧室的四壁中的一面，平时我的床头就靠在上面。我向那面墙走近些，听见有人说：“真不可思议！”又听见另一个人说：“那是不可能的！”然后我也看见了——一只大猫。不是真猫，而是一只猫的形状，印在卧室雪白的墙上，像幅画一样清晰。我甚至可以看到那畜生脖子上拴着的绳子。
I stood there in horror，too frightened to move．Then，slowly，I thought back to the night before．I had left the cat hanging from a tree，in the garden at the back of my house．When a neighbour had first noticed the fire，many people had run into the garden．One of them had probably cut the cat from the tree and thrown it through my open window，in order to wake me up．The cat's body had hit my bedroom wall and left its shape there，because the plaster on that wall was new and still soft．
我魂飞魄散地站在那儿，吓得一动不敢动。然后，慢慢地，我回想起前一天夜里发生的事。我把猫吊在树上，是在我家后面的园子里。有一个邻居首先发现起火，很多人便跑进了那个园子。很可能是他们中间的某个人割断绳子，从树上解下那只猫，并将它顺着敞开的窗户扔进来，希望以此叫醒我。猫的尸体撞到我卧室的墙上，在上面印下了自己的轮廓，因为那面墙上的灰泥是新抹的，还软和着呢。
Although I thought that this was a very reasonable explanation，the strange shape on the wall still worried me．I thought about the cat day and night．I began to feel sorry that I had killed it．I started walking around the streets at night looking at all the cats，to see if I could find another one like Pluto．
尽管我觉得这个解释很是入情入理，但墙上那古怪的形状仍然令我心烦意乱。日日夜夜，我总想起那只猫。我有些后悔自己害死了它，并开始在深夜跑到街上转悠，注意观察所有的猫，看是否能找到一只与普路托相像的。
