Katie and the Cat Who Talked
Katie和会说话的猫
Every Saturday, not far from where Katie lived, there was a market. Farmers came into town and set up their stalls in a car park.
每个周六，离Katie住的地方不远，有一个超市。农民从镇上来，在一个停车场摆摊。
They sold the tastiest apples, the freshest eggs, and all sorts of vegetables that still had the mud from the fields on them.
他们出售最好吃的苹果，最新鲜的鸡蛋，各种各样还带着霜的蔬菜。
Katie liked to go there with her mum who looked for unusual herbs like sorrel, angelica and coltsfoot. Sometimes she made spells with these herbs, but quite often she just put them in her soups.
Katie喜欢和妈妈一起去寻找一些不同寻常的药草，例如掌叶大黄、当归和款冬。有时候她用这些药草制作咒语，但是大多数时候只是用来做汤。
One morning, as they were leaving the market, they passed an old lady who was standing on the corner holding a wicker basket.
一天早上，她们正要离开市场的时候，路过一个站在角落里的老妇人，她拿着一个柳条篮子。
“Little girl, do you want to see what I have inside this basket?” she asked.
老妇人问：“小姑娘，你想看看我的篮子里有什么吗？”
Katie was a bit afraid, because she thought that perhaps she had something bad in the basket, like apples that were poisonous.
Katie有点害怕，因为她觉得篮子里可能有什么不好的东西，像是有毒的苹果。
Besides, she knew that she must never speak to strangers. But then she heard a little sound.
除此之外，她知道不能跟陌生人说话。但是之后她听见一个声音。
“Mee-ow.”
“喵。”
“Oh Mum, can we look please?” she asked.
“妈妈，我们能看看吗？”她问。
Katie's mum was curious to see too. The old lady pulled back the cloth, and they saw that inside the basket, four little kittens were clambering over each other.
Katie的妈妈也很好奇想看看。老妇人把篮子上的布拉开，她们看见篮子里有四只小猫互相依偎。
“Oh please, they are so cute, Mum can we have one?”
“哦天啊，他们太可爱了，妈妈我们能养一只吗？”
Mum shook her head.
妈妈摇了摇头。
“Oh please, please, can we have a kitten? I want one so much. I promise to look after it and besides,” she whispered, “a cat could help me with my magic.”
“求求你了，我们养一只吧？我特别想要一只。我保证照顾它，再说一只猫也能对我的魔法有帮助。”Katie悄悄地说。
One of the kittens was black. Mum picked it up by the scruff on the back of its neck – the way a mother cat picks up her kittens.
其中一只小猫是黑色的。妈妈拎着小猫脖子后面的皮把它拎起来，就像猫妈妈拎着自己的孩子一样。
She examined it closely and made sure that he was completely black without even the smallest white mark on its paws.
她近看仔细检查，确保小猫是纯黑色的，爪子上也没有小白点。
“All right,” she said. “We'll buy this one.”
“好的，我们就买这只了。”妈妈说。
Back at home, the fluffy little creature did loads of incredibly cute things like playing with a ball of wool, looking in the mirror and thinking there was another cat there, and climbing in and out of Katie's shoe.
回到家，毛茸茸的小家伙做了很多很可爱的事情，像玩毛线球，看着镜子里的自己以为是另一只猫，从Katie的鞋里爬进爬出。
“Mum, what sort of magic can cats do?” asked Katie.
“妈妈，猫能有哪种魔法？”Katie问。
“Cats are very clever and can be your ears and eyes,” said Mum. “But you must be very careful. Cats don't have much tact. They can get you into all sorts of trouble.”
“猫很聪明，能做你的耳朵和眼睛。”妈妈说。“但是你必须非常小心。猫没有太多的智力，他们能给你带来各种麻烦。”
“By my cat's clever,” said Katie. She picked up her kitten and kissed him. “I shall call you Solomon,” she said. “Because you are so much wiser than ordinary cats.”
Katie抱起她的小猫亲吻它，说“因为你的聪明，我给你起名字叫Solomon。因为你比普通的猫都聪明。”
The months passed and Solomon grew up into a serious young cat who liked to sit and watch Katie do her homework.
几个月过去了，Solomon长成了一只年轻的猫咪，它喜欢坐着看Katie做作业。
He often went out for long walks on his own, and Katie wondered where he wandered and what he saw.
他常常独自出去散步，Katie很好奇他去哪了，看到了什么。
“Wouldn't it be nice to ask him?” she thought. And then she had an idea.
“问他会不会不太好？”Katie想，然后她想到一个好主意。
She went into her mother's room and pulled down a volume from the Encyclopedia of Magic. There were some spells in there that were so secret that they weren't even on the internet yet.
Katie进妈妈的房间，从魔法百科全书中拉下一卷。里面有一些咒语非常隐秘，甚至在网上都找不到。
She turned through the pages of magic instructions that began with “C” and she found the one that looked the most promising for her purpose. It was called “Cat's Tongue”.
她打开了以C开头的魔法介绍页，她找到了那个看起来最有希望的咒语，叫做“猫的舌头”。
Katie went out into the garden to pick some catnip. She said a magic spell over it, and came back in to the kitchen to give it to Solomon. He purred appreciatively because there was nothing that he liked more than catnip.
Katie来到花园，找到一些猫薄荷，对着它念了一些咒语，然后回到厨房，把猫薄荷给了Solomon。他很高兴，因为没有什么比猫薄荷更喜欢的了。
“Now Solomon,” said Katie, “can you tell me where you went on your walk today and what you saw?”
“现在Solomon，你能告诉我你今天去哪了，看到什么了吗？”Katie问。
“Murrrrr,” said Solomon.
Solomon叫到：“喵喵喵……”
“I'm afraid I don't understand cat talk,” said Katie.
“恐怕我听不懂猫语，”Katie说。
“I was just thinking,” said Solomon, “what to tell you first. Would you like to know about the mouse that I caught and ate for breakfast?”
Solomon说：“我在想，应该先告诉你什么。你想知道我捉到了一直老鼠，然后把它当早餐吃了吗？”
“Not really.”
“不太想。”
“Or would you like to know about the oak tree where I sharpen my claws?”
“或者你想知道我磨爪子的那颗橡树吗？”
“Not especially.”
“不是特别想。”
“Then shall I tell you who I saw with your friend Isis?”
“那么我应该告诉你我看见你的朋友Isis和谁在一起吗？”
“Yes,” said Katie. “That would be rather more interesting.”
“是的，”Katie说。“那一定非常有趣。”
“I saw Isis sitting in her garden with Tim eating ice creams, and do you know what? They kissed!”
“我看到Isis坐在她的花园里，和Tim一起吃冰淇淋，你知道吗？他们亲亲了！”
“Huh! They didn't?”
“啊，他们真的亲了？”
“They did. I saw it.”
“亲了，我看见了。”
And Katie was so excited that she couldn't wait to tell everyone at school all about Isis and Tim, but of course she wasn't going to tell Isis or Tim themselves, because they obviously already knew about it.
Katie太兴奋了，她等不及要告诉学校所有的人，Isis和Tim的事，但是她不能告诉Isis和Tim，显然他们已经知道这件事。
“Wow, you don't say!” said Emma.
“哇，是真的吗？”Emma说。
“Ugh, how could she? He has blackheads on his nose,” exclaimed Jane.
“啊，她怎么能选Tim，他的鼻子上有黑头。”Jane大叫。
“But how do you know?” asked Ravinia.
“但是你是怎么知道的？”Ravinia问。
As Katie couldn't say how she knew, because her talking cat was meant to be a secret, so she just said that she saw it all with her own eyes.
Katie不能说她是怎么知道的，因为她的会说话的猫是一个秘密，所以她只能说她自己看见的。
The next day, when Katie came home, she found Solomon sleeping on top of a pile of laundry.
第二天，当Katie回家时，她发现Solomon睡在一堆衣服上。
“Solomon, wake up you sleepy moggy! What did you see today?”
“Solomon，快醒来！你今天看到了什么？”
“Well,” he said with a stretch and a yawn, “I was walking along the top of the school wall when I saw your friend Isis again. She was talking to Ravinia and she said that you were a spy and a tell-tale-tit.”
“好吧，”他伸着懒腰打着哈欠，“我在学校的围墙上面走着，又看见你的朋友Isis。她正在跟Rivinia说话，她说你是个间谍，专门编造故事。”
“She didn't!” exclaimed Katie with great indignation.
“她不能这样！”Katie非常生气地大叫。
“Of course, you don't have to believe me if you don't want to.”
“当然，如果你不想，你不用相信我。”
“I do believe you Solomon. I just meant, like, how dare she say a thing like that? She's my friend. Well you know what? I'm not speaking to her anymore.”
“我真的相信你Solomon。我只是想说，她怎么敢这么说？她是我的朋友。你知道吗？我不会再跟她说话了。”
And for the rest of the week at school, Isis and Katie pretended not to notice each other, even though they were normally the best of friends.
在学校的剩余时间里，Isis和Katie假装互不关心，即使他们曾是最好的朋友。
When they weren't falling out with each other, Isis and Katie would share secrets and problems, and quite often, when they got home from school, they would chatter on the phone because they liked each other's company so much.
当他们互相不争吵时，Isis和Katie会经常分享秘密和问题，当她们回家时，还会带电话聊天，因为她们互相喜欢对方的陪伴。
Now Katie wasn't speaking to Isis. So she called Paul who used to go her school.
现在Katie不跟Isis说话，所以她打电话给经常去她学校的Paul。
Isis was looking out of her bedroom window at the spot where she had sat with Tim. Tim had given her one tiny little kiss, as an experiment, just to see what all the fuss was about that sort of thing. And she had liked it.
Isis正看着窗外她和Tim曾经坐在一起的地方。Tim曾经轻轻地吻了她，作为一个实验，她只是想看看这种事情有什么大惊小怪的。她喜欢上了这种感觉。
She would have liked it less if she had known that Katie was spying on her? But how? The garden had a high wall all around it. Had she climbed up a tree? Or flown over on her broomstick, more like.
如果她知道Katie在监视她，她会喜欢这种感觉少一点吗？但如何？花园被高墙环绕，Katie是爬树上来的吗？或者骑着她的扫帚，更有可能。
But however she had spied that kiss, the hurtful thing was that she had gossiped about it. When the rumours started to spread around school, thanks to Katie and her big mouth, Tim became embarrassed and stopped being her friend.
但无论如何她看到了那个吻，最让人伤心的是Katie还四处宣扬。当传闻传遍学校，由于Katie和她的大嘴，Tim变得很尴尬，不愿意和她做朋友了。
While Isis was thinking these sad thoughts, she noticed that a black cat was sitting in the apple tree, watching the birds flutter around the nut container that swung to and fro from a branch.
当Isis正在想这些的时候，她注意到一直黑色的猫坐在苹果树上，看着鸟儿从这个树枝跳到那个树枝。
“I know you,” she said. “You're that witch Katie's cat.”
“我认识你，”她说，“你是Katie的猫。”
And then Isis thought to herself. “That's it! The cat is Katie's spy… but I bet I can turn that cunning creature into a double agent. Soon he'll be spying for me. It doesn't take much to win a faithless cat's heart.” She knew exactly what to do. Two minutes later she was walking down the garden path carrying a saucer of clotted cream.
Isis想，“就是它，这是猫是Katie的间谍，但是我打赌我能把这只狡猾的动物变成双面间谍。很快他就要成为我的间谍。赢得一直猫的信任不用花费很多。”她清楚地知道怎么做。两分钟后，她走在花园小路上，带着一碟奶油。
“Here kitty, kitty,” she called. That was all it took. Soon Solomon's rough tongue was lapping up the cream. “Now would you like to come inside and have some gorgeous smelly sardines?” asked Isis.
“这里，猫咪，猫咪。”她叫着。这就是所有的一切。一会儿Solomon的舌头就舔着盘子了。“现在你愿意加入进屋里，享用一些美味的沙丁鱼吗？”Isis问。
“I don't mind if I do,” said Solomon.
“我不介意，”Solomon说。
When Solomon had eaten the tinned sardines in the kitchen, Isis lifted up the feline fellow and took him to her room where she put him down on her big soft pink pillow. As he stretched out she tickled his belly.
当Solomon吃完了厨房里的沙丁鱼罐头，Isis把这只猫抱起来，把它带到她的房间，放在她那柔软的粉色枕头上。当他伸懒腰时，她挠着他的肚子。
“Mrrr. You sure know how to spoil a cat,” said Solomon.
“喵！你真的知道如何溺爱一直猫，”Solomon说。
“I sure do,” said Isis. “And you can come here, drink cream, feast on sardines, and lie on my pillow any time you want. But tell me. Who is your owner and what is he or she like?”
“我当然知道，”Isis说，“任何时候你想来，你都可以来这，喝奶油，享受沙丁鱼，躺在我的枕头上。但是告诉我，谁是你的主人，他或者她喜欢什么？”
“Oh nobody special, just a little witch called Katie,” purred Solomon.
“哦没什么特殊的人，就是一个叫Katie的小女巫，”Solomon咕噜着说。
“I know her. She has a boyfriend, hasn't she?” asked Isis, taking a stab in the dark.
“i认识她，她有一个男朋友，对吗？”在黑暗中Isis尝试问。
“Not really. She just holds hands with Paul sometimes,” he said.
“不完全是。她只是和Paul牵了几次手，”他说。
And Isis thought that was rather interesting. “And tell me,” she said, “what does she say about the other kids at school?”
Isis觉得非常有趣。“告诉我，她在学校是怎么说别的孩子的？”她问。
“Oh nothing worth knowing. Just that Annabel has bandy legs, and Georgie is a cry baby, and Ravinia can't be trusted to keep a secret, and Laura is so stupid that she takes notes when she's watching cartoons on TV.”
“哦没什么值得知道的。就是Annabel有O型腿，Georgie是个爱哭鬼，Ravinia守不住秘密，Laura很愚蠢，她会在看电视上的卡通动画时，记笔记。”
That was more than enough information. Five minutes later Isis had dialed Katie's number and was relating back all the interesting facts that she had just learnt.
这是超多的信息了。5分钟后，Isis拨通了Katie的号码，她把她刚刚听到的事情都联系起来了。
“That's all rubbish,” said Katie. “It's a tissue of lies.”
“都是垃圾，”Katie说，“这是一套有组织的谎言。”
“No, it's not. It's the perfect truth.”
“不，不是。它是完美的事实。”
“Prove it,” challenged Katie. And she immediately wished that she hadn't said that.
“证明一下，”Katie挑衅地说。然后她立马希望她没说过这话。
“All right I will prove it. Your black moggy is lying on my pillow in my room and I'm going to invite Annabel, Georgie, Ravinia and Laura round to hear what he has to say. And then I'm going to tell the entire world about you and Paul. In fact, I'm going to send record dedications for soppy love songs to all the radio stations on your behalf.”
“好的，我会证明的。你的黑色的猫正躺在我房间的枕头上，我这就去邀请Annabel，Georgie， Ravinia和Laura来听你的猫是怎么说的。然后我要告诉全世界你和Paul的事。事实上，我会以你的名义给所有的广播电台送上爱的情歌的献唱。”
“No, you wouldn't.”
“不，你不会的。”
“Try me.”
“试试吧。”
And Katie realised that she was in a tight spot – one that magic wouldn't necessarily get her out of.
Katie意识到，她在一个很拥挤的地方，根本不允许她施展魔法。
“Ok,” she said. “I'm sorry that I gossiped about you.”
“好，”她说。“对不起我传你的谣言了。”
And although Isis didn't accept her apology right away, the next day at school, when she found herself next to Katie in the dinner queue she asked:
尽管Isis不能立马接受Katie的道歉，第二天在学校，当她发现在食堂排队时挨着Katie，她问：
“How's your cat?”
“你的猫怎么样了？”
“I don't know. He's not talking to me.”
“我不知奥，他不跟我说话。”
“You mean that even your cat doesn't talk to you any more?”
“你是说，你的猫不再跟你说话了？”
“Not since last night. I took the spell off him. I'm not so sure that a talking cat is such a good idea.”
“自从昨晚，我把咒语从他身上拿走。我不确定一只会说话的猫是不是好主意。”
And after that, Isis and Katie became best friends again – because everyone needs somebody special that they can talk to.
从那以后，Isis和Katie又成了最好的朋友，因为每个人都需要一个能够说话的特殊的人。
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