焦妈这几天心情不太好,俩孩子倒是不用她多操心,周一至周五上学周末在家休息,顶多焦远调皮点,但这也还好,让焦妈这几天总悬着心的是自家猫.
Mama Jiao's mood was in downturn for the past few days. It was the children who worried her. They would attend school Monday to Friday and rest at home on the weekends. At most Jiao Yuan would sometimes be naughty, but even this was better. Her cat was the reason for her wrecked nerves.
关都关不住!
She couldn't even lock him in!
焦妈每天晚上提心吊胆的,生怕自家猫成为第三只遭受严重抓咬伤的猫,晚上看电视都集中不了注意力,一到九点之后隔几分钟就看下客厅的挂钟,直到郑叹回来.
Every night, Mama Jiao had her nerves in knots. She was scared that her cat would become the target of life threatening wounds. She couldn't even concentrate on watching tv in the evenings anymore. The moment it hit 9, she would check back at the living room clock every few minutes till Zheng Tan was finally back home.
自打两个家属区的两只猫出了事,大家将自家猫都看得好好的,甚至有些老师还向校保卫处提议清理一下学校里的流浪猫,小郭知道后也让"绿翼协会"的人过来了一趟,将几只流浪猫带去救助站.这这那那的一系列事情下来,结论是校园里挺正常,没啥异常情况.
After what had happened to the two cats from the two quarters, everyone had a close eye on their cats. Some teachers even recommended to the security to clean up some of the strays on campus. Once Guo founds out, he had "Green Wing" send out staff to bring back the strays to the help center. With the string of events, it was concluded that everything was normal on campus. There weren't any irregularities.
协会的人布下的几个捕猫笼捕到的猫,除了那么两只看起来没啥威胁的被学生们丢弃的流浪猫之外,都被周围住着的人给认领回去了,毕竟挂猫牌的猫在这里还是占少数.
Staff from the organization set up some traps to capture the strays. But apart from the odd few harmless cats that students abandoned, the others were all taken in by people who lived in the area. After all, cats that had tags were still a minority in this area.
也有很多人觉得这事其实没什么好说的,总归只是猫的事情,何必闹得这么复杂,费这么多事干嘛啊,只要管好自家猫不久万事大吉了吗.
There were also a number of people who thought the situation wasn't that big of a deal. At the end of the day, it was just cats. There was no reason to create so much fuss over something like this. It was an absolute waste of resources. As long as people were watchful over their own cats, everything would be fine.
于是,不到一周,学校里又平静下来了.
As predicted, before Monday hit, everything quelled on campus.
警长在宠物中心呆了两天后被带回家,前天郑叹去它们那栋楼遛弯的时候还看到它趴在阳台上,脖子上套着个伊丽莎白圈,不是去势的原因,估计是怕他舔身上涂了药的伤口.还好警长听不懂人们说的那些复杂的话,不然肯定会郁闷死,因为周围邻居一看到警长那样子就问它家饲主:"呀,你家这猫终于做了?!"
Sheriff was taken home after two days of rest at the pet center. Yesterday, Zheng Tan had seen him lying on the balcony when turning the corner by his building. He had an Elizabethan collar[1] on his neck. It wasn't given to him because he was neutered, it was probably used to prevent him from licking the medication covered wounds. Thankfully Sheriff couldn't understand the confusing language of human speech, else he'd end up in a slump. When the neighbors saw his, they would all exclaim to his owner: "Oh, finally, this cat finally got it done?!"
警长家饲主只是"呵呵"两声.
Sheriff's owner only let out a slight chuckle.
总之,警长去势已经被大院的大妈们传开了.
In the end, the news of Sheriff being neutered spread like wildfire thanks to the quarter's gossiping aunties.
不过警长精神看起来还不错,现在能跑能跳的,恢复力强悍得很,大概再过个一周就能去掉那个圈了,最近这家伙不习惯戴圈而在家"造反",它饲主也是无奈得很.
But Sheriff looked terrific. He was now able to run and jump around. His recovery speed was unparalleled. He could probably take off the cone after another week. Recently, because of his discomfort with the cone, Sheriff was being "rebellious". His owner was also helpless in this situation.
阿黄被关在家,就连大胖也经常被它家老太太盯着,大院里唯一一只在外窜的也就郑叹了.
Tiger was locked in and even Fatty was under tight surveillance by the elderly granny. The only one who was still out in the quarters was of course Zheng Tan.
郑叹也不是在外瞎窜,他直觉那些猫还没教训自己,目的没达到,肯定会再次出现,而他这段时间,不管是大白天还是晚上,都大摇大摆在显眼处晃悠,可惜并没有什么结果,估计是前些天盯着学校里猫的人太多了,而且,那些猫在跟警长它们干架的时候自身也肯定受伤,大概趁这段时间修养着.
Zheng Tan wasn't outside running blindly about. Since the cat wasn't able to teach him a lesson, it hadn't achieved its goal. It was going to be back for blood. Still, nothing had happened. He'd been out strutting his stuff both day and night. Perhaps, too many people had their eyes on cats in the past few days. Anyways, those cats that fought with Sheriff and the others were probably wounded and were using this time to recuperate.
阿午的猫这段时间也没见出现在校园里,倒是核桃师兄来过一次,被二毛一个电话给叫过去的,来看二毛倒是其次,主要是听二毛说了这便两只猫受伤的事情后,核桃师兄有了怀疑.
A Wu's cats didn't make an appearance on campus during this time. But brother Walnut did make an appearance once. He'd been hooked in by a call from Er Mao. Visiting Er Mao was definitely a first. It was actually because of Er Mao's story of the two wounded cats that had aroused his suspicions.
郑叹那天也赖在二毛那里,听核桃师兄讲了些案子相关的东西,新拍到的照片里面有那只黄色的猫,也就是郑叹在外拍广告的时候碰到的那只.
That day, Zheng Tan lazed around Er Mao's places and overheard brother Walnut talk about other information related to the case. A newly obtained photo was of the yellow coloured cat. The same one that Zheng Tan had saw by the photoshoot area.
可惜的是,楚华市那么多猫,黄色的这种猫多得是,楚华大学内部就有好几只,看着都差不多,这让人从哪儿下手找去?而且到现在都没有真正拍摄到一些比较特异的东西,那个驯猫师估计警觉了.所以,在接到二毛的电话之后,核桃师兄抽了个空亲自过来了解下情况.
However, there were so many cats in Chu Hua. The cats with that colouring were beyond counting, not to mention there were a couple of those cats on Chu Hua University's campus. How could anyone even start a search like this? Even till now, they had still failed to obtain an photos that proved that there was anything out of place. The cat trainer probably was tightening all the loose ends. So, after receiving the call from Er Mao, Walnut had decided to make an personal visit.
郑叹蹲在旁边,听着他们谈论案情,据核桃师兄从阿午那边了解到的,驯猫师如果真的是很有目的性地行动的话,除了一些经常训练的项目之外,其他是需要近距离指挥的.
Zheng Tan crouched on the side and listened to their conversation about the case. From what brother Walnut learned from A Wu, if a cat trainer really had their eye on a certain prize, additional to normal training sessions, they would also require nearby command.
具体怎么去指挥,郑叹不清楚,但他能推测出一个结论——偷钱包算是个经常训练项目,所以那些猫在偷钱包的时候,驯猫师未必离它们很近,但警长和西区大院那只猫挨揍的时候,那个驯猫师应该就在周围看着.太近倒不至于,猫打架会窜来窜去,但应该在百米内吧?
Specifically how this type of close quarter command would occur was completely beyond Zheng Tan, but his guess was that stealing wallets was simply a training exercise. That's why the trainer wasn't nearby when they were stealing wallets. But the trainer must have been observing in the shadows in the encounter with Sheriff and the cat from the western quarters. There was no way they'd be standing in the middle of a cat fight when these fight often spanned across large areas. So the trainer must have been within at least 100 meters of the fight.
如果到时候真的遇到那个驯猫师,郑叹决定跟他"好好"打个招呼.
If he gets to meet this cat trainer, Zheng Tan was determined to "nicely" pay his respects.
这日,郑叹大摇大摆遛到学校广场那儿,白天的时候,也有很多学生在广场周围活动.在广场旁边有一条文化长廊,学生以及一些出来散步的人都喜欢坐在那里休息或者看书.而让郑叹停下脚步的是那里的一只长毛猫.
Today, Zheng Tan was blatantly out wandering about in the school plaza. There were numerous students there partaking in activities in the day time. There was a cultural gallery at the edge of the plaza. Students and other people who came out for strolls loved to take breaks and read a book in that area. But what stopped Zheng Tan in his tracks was a long haired cat.
那猫体型比普通的家猫稍微大一点,看着像是有些森林猫的血统,不过,这种猫也不算是很罕见,小郭店子里就有一只啡虎斑色的挪威森林猫,乍一看去和这只差别不大.
This cat was slightly bigger than the average house cat. It looked like it had some forest cat ancestry. This wasn't considered a rare breed though. Guo had a similar brown tabby Norwegian forest cat at the center. Upon closer examination, it was similar in size with that cat.
此刻,那只猫正呆在文化长廊那里,大部分学生对校园里的猫还是很好的,有个学生将手里的面包给它吃,不过,那只猫都是等那些学生们将撕下的面包团放下之后,再伸出爪子钉上去,猫掌一弯将面包团捞起来,慢悠悠地咬两口.
Currently, the cat was still in the cultural gallery. Most students were kind to the cats on campus. A student broke off a piece of bread to feed it. However, the cat would wait till the student put down the bread in front of it then pierced it with its claws. Bending its arm, it brought the bread up and started to casually nibble at it.
它对于周围的人也是不咸不淡的样子,不害怕,不亲近.或许那些学生们感觉不到,所以才一直呆在那只猫旁边换着花样喂食,压根不知道那只猫其实一点都没将他们的示好放在眼里,心情好就吃点递到面前的食物,心情不好就扔那儿.
It was very neutral to the people around it. Not scared nor intimate. Perhaps the students could detect it, so they stayed by the cat and continued to feed it all types of food. They had no idea that the cat didn't even hold their nice actions in regard. If it was in a good mood, it would eat the food. If its mood turned sour, it'd just leave the food there.
那只猫郑叹以前没在学校里见过,看它都已经是成年猫了,学校里面的人饲养猫一般都是从小猫养起,这只猫外来的可能性极大.
Zheng Tan had never seen this cat on campus. It was obvious that it was already an adult. Most students who raised cats would start from kittens. So this cat was likely an outsider.
或许是察觉到郑叹的目光,那只正弯着爪子啃面包团的猫看向郑叹这边,目光冷冷的,看了几秒之后,又继续低头啃钉在爪子上的面包团.但郑叹知道,那家伙肯定警惕着自己这边.
Perhaps it noticed Zheng Tan's eyes on it. The cat looked in Zheng Tan's direction midway through biting the bread. It stared with a cold look for a few seconds before returning to eating the bread within its claws. But ZHeng tan knew, this cat was on guard towards his direction.
刚才那一眼,郑叹能感觉到对方传来的并不友好的信息.如果没这么一眼的话,郑叹只是有些怀疑而已,但经过这一眼之后,郑叹已经百分之八十确定这猫有问题了.那种目光不像是作为宠物饲养的猫的眼神,但看着又不像是流浪猫和野猫,它盯着郑叹看的时间虽然很短,却让郑叹有种被视作猎物的感觉.
Zheng Tan could tell that the look the cat just gave wasn't that of the friendly sort. If he wasn't shot that look, Zheng Tan would only walk away with suspicion, but now, he was 100% certain that this cat would be trouble. This kind of looks didn't come from pets. But at the same time, it didn't look like a wild or stray cat. Zheng Tan only received the look for a few seconds but he immediately knew, this was the look an hunter would give to their prey.
不过,谁才是猎物,现在还说不定.
But, just who was the prey? This couldn't be confirmed just yet.
郑叹看了那边一会儿之后,抬脚往其他方向离开,走到拐弯处的时候,郑叹猛地扭头看过去,正好看到那只猫正盯着自己这边.冷漠的眼神,比刚才更甚,截然不同于小郭店子里的那只.
Zheng Tan observed a little more before moving off in another direction. Just as he was turning the corner, Zheng Tan whipped his head back and caught the cat staring directly at him. The look of indifference over its face was more intense than a few moments ago.It was completely different from the cat in Guo's pet center.
郑叹挑衅地朝那边抬抬下巴,尾巴勾了勾,然后昂首挺胸,不急不缓地迈着步子离开.
Zheng Tan looked over with provocation. He lifted his chin up in the air, hooked his tail a few times, before puffing out his chest with pride and strutted away.
在郑叹离开之后不久,那只猫甩掉刚钉在爪子上的一截火腿肠,鸟都不鸟那些"乱献殷情"的学生们,转身离开.有个男生还准备伸手去拦它,被那猫挠了一爪子,在手上留下长长的血痕,立刻有血滴下来.没等男生气愤地抬脚踹,那猫立马就跑开,消失在这些学生们的视线中.
Once Zheng Tan left, that cat shook off the sausage that it originally pierced in its claws.Completely ignoring these "excessively attentive" students, it turned around and left. A male student tried to put his hand in front of it to prevent it from leaving. He ended up being scratched. A long line of blood appeared on his hand and immediately started to drip. Without waiting for the angry student to violently act out, the cat ran off, completely disappearing from the student's line of sight.
焦家,晚饭的时候,焦妈发现自家这猫吃得多了些.这是在外逛累了,消耗体力多了么?
During dinner time at the Jiao family, Mama Jiao found Zheng Tan eating a lot more. Did this cat stay out for too long and use up all its energy?
虽然焦妈经常抱怨家里人对猫太过溺爱,但轮到自己的时候依旧那样,给郑叹添了点饭之后又从汤碗里舀了两大块肉放在郑叹碗里.
Although Mama Jiao consistently complained to others that her cat was too spoiled, when it came down to it, she would scoop out some more rice and give him an extra two servings of meat for the soup bowl when they were alone.
"吃多点也好,吃饱了就呆在家里睡觉,长长肉,别总在外疯跑."
"Better to eat more. He can be full and sleep at home. The he'd grow some meat. It's better than running around all day. "
焦妈想得倒好,可到晚上看新闻的时候,郑叹又自己开门窜出去了,气得焦妈差点将手里的遥控器给甩出去.
Mama Jiao had the correct thoughts, but that couldn't stop Zheng Tan from escaping the house while she was occupied with the television in the evening. She was so enraged that she almost threw the remote in frustration.
从楼里出来,郑叹将脖子上戴着的东西放在大胖家阳台上藏好.
Coming out from the building, Zheng Tan placed what he had around his neck on Fatty's balcony, making sure he found a good hiding place for it.
大胖正趴在通往阳台的门口,看到郑叹之后,抬起头动了动耳朵,没有要起身的意思,在郑叹离开之后它又将下巴搁在爪子上,闭眼眯觉,只有两只耳朵微微动着,注意着周围的动静.
Fatty laid in the doorway to the balcony. Seeing Zheng Tan, he raised his head and gave a slight twitch of his ears, but showed no intention of getting up. Once Zheng Tan left, he placed his head upon his paws and closed his eyes to continue his nap. His ears slightly moved, paying attention to the environment around him.
郑叹晚上吃这么多,其实也是打着主意晚上战一场的,他有种感觉,今天在校内广场上见到的那只猫肯定会找上来.不知道会发生怎样的事情,所以,多蓄积点能量总好一点.
Zheng Tan had only ate so much in the preparation for the battle tonight. He just had this feeling that the cat he'd seen at the plaza was bound to look for him. He wasn't sure of what would happen, so storing some extra energy a good plan of action.
郑叹沿着警长它们经常活动的那片区域中一条小路走着,这边的路灯都比较少,只能看到偶尔从树叶间透过来的零星的光点.
Zheng Tan traversed down the path that Sheriff and the other cats often played about. The lights in this area were sparse. Occasionally, light from the stars shone from between the branches.
月光被云层遮挡,晚风中也似乎带着些与平时不一样的东西,让郑叹的神经有些紧绷.
Moonlight was covered by the clouds and the evening winds carried with it something unnatural. It gave Zheng Tan the shivers.
这两年的经历让郑叹直觉更敏锐,虽然并没有真正嗅出些什么,但他感觉自己被盯着.往周围看了看,入眼的都是树林和灌木丛,身后是那条不太宽敞的小路,一个人都没有.
These two years of experience gave Zheng Tan acute senses, though he didn't actually sniff anything out, he still felt as if he was being watched. Looking around, the average human would only be able to detect the trees, bushes, the narrow road behind him and the fact that they were utterly alone.
广场那边传来的一些隐约的乐声更让这里显得安静.
The music from the plaza only made this place seem all the more quiet.
郑叹的步子放慢了些,支着耳朵注意周围.突然前面的草丛里面来一声轻响,接着便是几声鸟叫和翅膀扑腾的声音,倒是有些像当初猫贩子下笼子的情况.
Zheng Tan's footsteps suddenly slowed and he raised his ears to scan the surroundings. Immediately, he detected a soft sound that came from the grass right in from, then followed the sound of a bird and its wings. It felt like something straight out of the scene with the cat nappers cages.
尾巴尖动了动,郑叹往那边看了会儿之后,抬脚朝那边走过去,那里有陷阱,但是,不过去也不能将那些家伙引出来.
Flicking the tip of his tail, Zheng Tan changed from simply observing to walking over. There was a trap there, but, if he didn't go over, he couldn't get the other cat to show up.
翅膀扑腾的声音越来越近,但郑叹在离那边十来米的时候就停住了,没有继续往前.扑腾声从种植在边沿的灌木丛后面不远处传来,郑叹置若罔闻,而是警惕着周围的动静,可是,除了翅膀扑腾声传来的那处之外,林子里面挺安静,如果有谁在里面活动的话,肯定会与那些长得密集的黑麦草摩擦发出声音.
By the seconds, the sound of the wings increased. Once Zheng Tan reached an vicinity of 10 meters, he stopped in his tracks. The thumping sounds came from the beyond the bushes by the edge of the path. Zheng Tan ignored the other sounds around him and scrutinized the movements in his surroundings. However, other than the thumping of the wings, the forest was quiet. If anyone was moving around in the forest, they would definitely produce sound in the densely packed rye grass.
周围只有树叶的响声,可郑叹那种被盯着的感觉越来越强烈,还带着危机感.
Only the sound of leaves rang through the vicinity. But Zheng Tan felt the intensity of the stares even more, now laced with danger.
当上方传来轻响的时候,郑叹就转身往后跑.
The moment he heard the sound come from above, Zheng Tan turned and ran.
对方竟然在树上!
This guy was in the trees!
一般猫从高高的树上下来的时候会有些缩手缩脚的样子,不像爬上去的时候那么利索,所以郑叹之前并没有觉得猫呆树上有多大的可能性,但这只从树上下来的速度相当之快,几乎是眨眼间的事.
Normally, when a cat leapt down from a tall tree, it looked as if they were shrinking. This was completely different from the sturdy look they had when scaling trees. So Zheng Tan dismissed any likelihood of a cat staying on top a tree. But the this one came out of the trees with intense speed in the blink of an eye.
虽然没有看清从树上蹿下的那只猫的样子,但郑叹确定这就是今天在广场见到的那只.
Though he didn't get a good look at the cat that pounced from the tree, he knew it must be the one in the plaza from earlier today.
小郭曾经在拍一段广告的时候,夸赞过店里那只挪威森林猫,还说过这种猫差不多是唯一一种从高处面向地面俯冲而下并毫无惧色猫.可惜店里那只猫从小当宠物娇养着,郑叹没见识过那只猫有多勇猛,而现在,他深刻体会到了这种行为带来的压迫感.
Often, when Guo was shooting his advertisements, he constantly praised the Norwegian forest cats in the store. He often talked about how they were the only cats who could leap from such heights without a ounce of fear. Unfortunately, the breed they had at the store had been raised as a pet from birth. Zheng Tan had never seen that cat lash out with aggression. But now, he would completely understand the oppressing force behind this kind of behaviour.
不管其他猫有没有这样的,至少郑叹现在面对的这只确实够猛!
Regardless of what other cats were like, the one Zheng Tan was facing now was quite ferocious.
即便对方只是正常的猫并非爵爷那种特殊猫,郑叹也不敢小瞧.郑叹跑得快,没被那只猫直接扑到,而他之所以跑,就是为了找个觉得安心的地方.谁知道面前这个林子里还有没有其他的陷阱,郑叹可不想傻逼似的一头栽进去,那样吃亏的只能是自己.
Even if the other party was just a normal cat, and not anything special like nobility, Zheng Tan wasn't going to under-estimate it. With Zheng Tan's fast running, he escaped getting pounced on by the cat. The reason for his running was in order to find a place to get some peace of mind. Who knew if there were more traps in this forest. Zheng Tan wasn't going to rush inside like an idiot. He knew better rather than to let himself suffer blindly.
在离这里不远的地方还有个林子,郑叹对那里够熟悉,今儿下午回去吃晚饭的时候还从那边走过,那时候也没觉得有危险,想来也没谁在那里设陷阱,在自己熟悉的地方解决问题肯定是最好的,总比这里安全.天时地利人和,"地利"绝对不可忽视.
A distance away from here, there was another forest that Zheng tan was familiar enough with. He passed it by on his way back home for dinner. At that time, he didn't feel any danger. Thinking back, no one would put any traps there. It was the best to resolve this issue on home base. As long as it was safer than here. There is a always a right time and place, "topological advantages" should never be ignored.
那只猫跑动速度很快,可郑叹更快.
That cat ran quickly, perhaps even faster than Zheng Tan.
窜到那个熟悉的林子里之后,郑叹就直接爬上树,在树与树之间穿梭,论这个技能,郑叹还是很有信心将后面那只比下去的.而且,这才只出现了一只,其他的呢?
After running into the familiar forest, Zheng Tan climbed up a tree and started to maneuver through the branches. This particular skill, he was confident far surpassed the cat behind him. But, this was only a single cat. Where were the others?
那只猫大概追得有些累了,一时拿郑叹也没法,停下来后张嘴叫了几声.这种猫叫的时候与普通的猫发音不一样,小郭说它们叫起来像唱歌,郑叹当时一点都没听出来哪儿像唱歌了,这时候更不觉得.
Perhaps that cat got tired in its chase, and being unable to deal with Zheng Tan any further it stopped to let out angry howls. The howls of this type of cat were often different to that of a regular cat. Guo said it sounded as if they were singing. Zheng Tan didn't see the song like sound then, and even less so now.
这应该是在招呼同伴了吧?正好,全部出现了一齐解决.刚才郑叹就察觉到周围还有其他注意这里的,那个驯猫师也没出现.
It was calling for its commerades right? Perfect, he could get rid of them all in one go. Just then, he had detected something else in the surroundings. The cat trainers had yet to appear.
可是,在这只猫叫声刚停下来的时候,又一声猫叫从一个方向传来,让树下那只猫准备爬树的动作顿了顿.
But, the moment the cat stopped its howling, another cat started howling in the distance. The cat who was preparing to scale the tree paused for a moment.
郑叹看着这猫像是突然高度警惕起来.说起来,刚那声从远处传来的猫叫,郑叹听着有些熟悉,只是一时对不上号,也没有太多时间去想到底是哪个家伙.
Zheng Tan looked at this cat that suddenly tensed up, raising its guard. Thinking back, that howl did sound oddly familiar. He just couldn't put his finger on it, and this wasn't the time to determine which family's cat it was.
此时.
At this time.
东区大院,B栋一楼,大胖家.
Western quarters. Building B. Level 1. Fatty's home.
老太太戴着老花镜正看着手上的一本关于昆曲的书,突然想起什么,喊道:"大胖啊,把阳台上的拖鞋叼进来吧."
The elderly granny had on her spectacles on and was reading a book about Kun Qu [2] within her hands. Suddenly remember something, she shouted: "Fatty ah, bring in the slippers from the balcony."
天气渐热,冬天的毛拖鞋也早用不着了,老太太将毛拖鞋洗了放外面晾着,今儿忘了收.平时老太太也经常让大胖帮忙叼阳台上的东西.经常听到的几个词大胖还是能听懂些的.
The weather was warming up. The winter slippers hadn't being used for a while. The elderly granny had washed up her woolen slippers and had laid them out on the balcony to dry. She forgot to bring them in earlier. Normally, the elderly granny would get Fatty to bring in items from the balcony. Fatty was able to understand the frequently used words.
等了会儿没听到动静,老太太抬头看向阳台那边,"大胖?"
After not hearing any movement, the elderly granny raised her head and looked towards the balcony, "Fatty?"
发现不对劲,老太太搁下手里的书,走到阳台一瞧.哪有大胖的影?!
Seeing that something was off, the elderly granny put down the book in her hands and moved to the balcony to take a look. Where did Fatty vanish to?!