雙語全文 ● 魯迅——兔和貓

The Rabbits and the Cat

In summer， Third Mistress in our back courtyard bought a pair of white rabbits to amuse her children.

Apparently these two white rabbits had not left their mother long. Although a different species， their carefree innocence was evident. But they also raised their long， small crimson ears and wrinkled their noses， a very apprehensive look in their eyes. Probably， after all， they felt this place and the people here strange， and were less at ease here than in their old home. If you went to a temple fair yourself to buy creatures like these， they cost no more than two strings of cash apiece； but Third Mistress had spent a dollar，because she sent a servant to a shop to buy them.

The children， naturally， were overjoyed and crowded round boisterously to have a look. The grown-ups crowded round too. A puppy called S also came running over. Dashing up to sniff at them， he sneezed，then backed away a couple of paces. Third Mistress cried， “Listen， S！ you’re not to bite them！” Then she slapped his head， so that S ran off， and after that he never bit them.

These rabbits were kept most of the time in a small courtyard behind the back window. We were told this was because they were too fond of tearing the wall-paper and chewing the legs of furniture. In this little courtyard grew a wild mulberry tree. When the mulberries fell， these were what they liked eating most， and they would pass over the spinach given them. When crows and magpies wanted to fly down， they would hump their backs， stamp hard with their hind-legs on the ground and—whoosh！—bound straight up like flying snowballs. The frightened birds promptly took flight， and after several repetitions of this they no longer dared come near. Third Mistress said crows and magpies didn’t matter， at most they would just steal a little food； the real menace was a big black cat， which often watched malevolently from the top of the low wall—they must be on their guard against it. Fortunately， S and the cat were enemies， so perhaps there would be no trouble after all.

兔和貓

住在我們后進(jìn)院子里的三太太，在夏間買了一對白兔，是給伊的孩子們看的。

這一對白兔，似乎離娘并不久，雖然是異類，也可以看出他們的天真爛熳來。但也豎直了小小的通紅的長耳朵，動著鼻子，眼睛里頗現(xiàn)些驚疑的神色，大約究竟覺得人地生疏，沒有在老家時候的安心了。這種東西，倘到廟會日期自己出去買，每個至多不過兩吊錢，而三太太卻花了一元，因?yàn)槭墙行∈股系曩I來的。

孩子們自然大得意了，嚷著圍住了看；大人也都圍著看；還有一匹小狗名叫S的也跑來，闖過去一嗅，打了一個噴嚏，退了幾步。三太太吆喝著，“S，聽著，不準(zhǔn)你咬他！”于是在他頭上打了一掌，S便退開了，從此并不咬。

這一對兔總是關(guān)在后窗后面的小院子里的時候多，聽說是因?yàn)樘矚g撕壁紙，也常?？心酒髂_。這小院子里有一株野桑樹，桑子落地，他們最愛吃，便連喂他們的波菜也不吃了。烏鴉喜鵲想要下來時，他們便躬著身子用后腳在地上使勁的一彈，砉的一聲直跳上來，像飛起了一團(tuán)雪，鴉鵲嚇得趕緊走，這樣的幾回，再也不敢近來了。三太太說，鴉鵲倒不打緊，至多也不過搶吃一點(diǎn)食料，可惡的是一匹大黑貓，常在矮墻上惡狠狠的看，這卻要防的，幸而S和貓是對頭，或者還不至于有什么罷。

The children often caught the rabbits to play with. They were very affable. Ears erect， their noses twitching， they stood meekly in the small hands encircling them； but as soon as they had a chance， they lolloped away. Their bed at night was a box， strewn with straw， under the eaves jutting over the back window.

After several months like this， they suddenly started burrowing，burrowing at top speed， fore-paws scrabbling， hind-legs kicking. In less than half a day they completed a deep burrow. Everybody marvelled， until a closer inspection revealed that one rabbit’s stomach was much bigger than the other’s. The next day， taking straw and leaves between their teeth， they busied themselves for hours moving these into the burrow.

Everybody was delighted， looking forward to another batch of small rabbits. Third Mistress strictly forbade the children to pick them up any more. My mother， too， was delighted by their family’s flourishing and said，once the litter was weaned， she would ask for a couple to keep outside her own window.

After this they lived in the underground home they had made，sometimes coming out to eat. Then they disappeared. There was no knowing whether they had taken food inside in advance， or had really given up eating. More than ten days later， Third Mistress told me that the two rabbits had come out again. Most likely all their baby rabbits had died，because the doe had copious milk but showed no sign of going in to suckle her children. She sounded most indignant， but there was nothing she could do about it.

One warm， sunny day， when there was no wind and not a leaf stirred on the trees， I heard a sudden chorus of laughter. Tracking down the sound，I discovered quite a crowd leaning out of Third Mistress’s back window to watch： a baby rabbit was frisking in the yard. He was much smaller than his parents had been when purchased. But already he could take off from the ground on his hind-legs and jump. The children eagerly told me that another little rabbit had peeked out of the burrow， but promptly drawn back his head. That must be his baby brother.

孩子們時時捉他們來玩耍；他們很和氣，豎起耳朵，動著鼻子，馴良的站在小手的圈子里，但一有空，卻也就溜開去了。他們夜里的臥榻是一個小木箱，里面鋪些稻草，就在后窗的房檐下。

這樣的幾個月之后，他們忽而自己掘土了，掘得非常快，前腳一抓，后腳一踢，不到半天，已經(jīng)掘成一個深洞。大家都奇怪，后來仔細(xì)看時，原來一個的肚子比別一個的大得多了。他們第二天便將干草和樹葉銜進(jìn)洞里去，忙了大半天。

大家都高興，說又有小兔可看了；三太太便對孩子們下了戒嚴(yán)令，從此不許再去捉。我的母親也很喜歡他們家族的繁榮，還說待生下來的離了乳，也要去討兩匹養(yǎng)在自己的窗外面。

他們從此便住在自造的洞府里，有時也出來吃些食，后來不見了，可不知道他們是預(yù)先運(yùn)糧存在里面呢還是竟不吃。過了十多天，三太太對我說，那兩匹又出來了，大約小兔是生下來又都死掉了，因?yàn)榇频囊黄サ哪谭浅６?，卻并不見有進(jìn)去哺養(yǎng)孩子的形跡。伊言語之間頗氣憤，然而也沒有法。

有一天，太陽很溫曖，也沒有風(fēng)，樹葉都不動，我忽聽得許多人在那里笑，尋聲看時，卻見許多人都靠著三太太的后窗看：原來有一個小兔，在院子里跳躍了。這比他的父母買來的時候還小得遠(yuǎn)，但也已經(jīng)能用后腳一彈地，迸跳起來了。孩子們爭著告訴我說，還看見一個小兔到洞口來探一探頭，但是即刻縮回去了，那該是他的弟弟罷。

The little rabbit also nibbled at grass and leaves， but apparently this was not allowed by his parents， who kept snatching them out of his mouth， yet didn’t eat them themselves. The children laughed so uproariously that finally the little rabbit took fright and hopped back to the burrow. The bigger ones followed him to the mouth of the burrow. With their fore-paws they pushed him inside， then scraped up earth to seal up the hole.

After that the little yard was livelier， there were often people at the window watching.

But then the rabbits， both small and big， disappeared. We were having a spell of dull weather. Once more Third Mistress worried that the malevolent black cat had done for them. I told her， no. Because it was cold，of course they were keeping under cover. Once the sun came out， they were sure to come out again.

The sun came out， but still no sign of them. Then everybody forgot them.

Only Third Mistress often thought of them， as she had been in the habit of feeding them spinach. Once， going into the small yard by the back window， she suddenly spotted another hole by the corner of the wall， and when she looked again at the old hole she saw a good many faint paw-prints round the entrance. Not even the big rabbits could have made such big prints. Once again her suspicion fell on the big black cat who was so often on the wall. Thereupon she felt impelled to dig up the burrow. She finally got out a hoe and dug down. Although fearing the worst， she hoped against hope to discover the small white rabbits； but a heap of mouldy grass and rabbit-fur， probably spread there for the doe’s confinement. Apart from that the place was bare， with not a trace of the snow-white little rabbit， or of his baby brother who had peeped out but not emerged from the burrow.

Anger， disappointment and grief impelled her to dig up the new burrow at the corner of the wall too. As soon as she started， out scuttled the two big rabbits. She was delighted， thinking they had moved house， but still she went on digging. When she reached the bottom， that too was strewn with grass， leaves and rabbit-fur， and on this were sleeping seven tiny rabbits， pink all over. A close look showed that they hadn’t yet opened their eyes.

那小的也檢些草葉吃，然而大的似乎不許他，往往夾口的搶去了，而自己并不吃。孩子們笑得響，那小的終于吃驚了，便跳著鉆進(jìn)洞里去：大的也跟到洞門口，用前腳推著他的孩子的脊梁，推進(jìn)之后，又爬開泥土來封了洞。

從此小院子里更熱鬧，窗口也時時有人窺探了。

然而竟又全不見了那小的和大的。這時是連日的陰天，三太太又慮到遭了那大黑貓的毒手的事去。我說不然，那是天氣冷，當(dāng)然都躲著，太陽一出，一定出來的。

太陽出來了，他們卻都不見。于是大家就忘卻了。

惟有三太太是常在那里喂他們波菜的，所以常想到。伊有一回走進(jìn)窗后的小院子去，忽然在墻角上發(fā)見了一個別的洞，再看舊洞口，卻依稀的還見有許多爪痕。這爪痕倘說是大兔的，爪該不會有這樣大，伊又疑心到那常在墻上的大黑貓去了，伊于是也就不能不定下發(fā)掘的決心了。伊終于出來取了鋤子，一路掘下去，雖然疑心，卻也希望著意外的見了小白兔的，但是待到底，卻只見一堆爛草夾些兔毛，怕還是臨蓐時候所鋪的罷，此外是冷清清的，全沒有什么雪白的小兔的蹤跡，以及他那只一探頭未出洞外的弟弟了。

氣憤和失望和凄涼，使伊不能不再掘那墻角上的新洞了。一動手，那大的兩匹便先竄出洞外面。伊以為他們搬了家了，很高興，然而仍然掘，待見底，那里面也鋪著草葉和兔毛，而上面卻睡著七個很小的兔，遍身肉紅色，細(xì)看時，眼睛全都沒有開。

All became clear. Third Mistress’s earlier guess had been correct. To forestall further danger， she put the litter of seven in a box， and moved it into her room. She put the doe in too， ordering her to suckle her little ones.

From that day on Third Mistress not only hated the black cat， but took a very dim view of the mother rabbit. She said， before the first two babies were killed， others must have died， because each litter was certainly more than two； but because of unequal suckling， those deprived of milk had starved. This sounded plausible， for two of the present litter of seven were very puny. So whenever Third Mistress had time， she would catch the mother rabbit and put the babies one by one on her belly to drink milk， no matter how long this took her.

My mother remarked to me that， in all her life， she had never so much as heard to so much trouble taken over raising rabbits. It deserved to be included in the Register of Eccentrics.

The rabbit family was more flourishing than ever. Everybody was happy again.

But after that I kept feeling disconsolate. In the middle of the night，sitting under the lamp， I would think of those two little lives which had been lost none knows when， unnoticed by men or spirits， leaving no trace in the history of living creatures. Not even S had barked. This brought back old memories of when I was staying in our provincial hostel. Getting up early one day I saw beneath the big locust tree some scattered pigeon feathers，obviously let fall by a hawk. In the morning the attendant came to sweep up，and nothing was left of them. Who would have known that a life had been cut off here？ Another time， passing the Xisi Archway， I saw a puppy dying，run over by a horsecart. On my return it had gone， someone had removed it，and which of the passers-by would have known that a life had been cut off here？ On summer nights， outside the window， I often heard the long drawnout drone of flies which must have been caught by a spider， but I never paid any attention， and other people did not even hear....

一切都明白了，三太太先前的預(yù)料果不錯。伊為預(yù)防危險起見，便將七個小的都裝在木箱中，搬進(jìn)自己的房里，又將大的也捺進(jìn)箱里面，勒令伊去哺乳。

三太太從此不但深恨黑貓，而且頗不以大兔為然了。據(jù)說當(dāng)初那兩個被害之先，死掉的該還有，因?yàn)樗麄兩换兀瑳Q不至于只兩個，但為了哺乳不勻，不能爭食的就先死了。這大概也不錯的，現(xiàn)在七個之中，就有兩個很痩弱。所以三太太一有閑空，便捉住母兔，將小兔一個一個輪流的擺在肚子上來喝奶，不準(zhǔn)有多少。

母親對我說，那樣麻煩的養(yǎng)兔法，伊歷來連聽也未曾聽到過，恐怕是可以收入《無雙譜》的。

白兔的家庭更繁榮；大家也又都高興了。

但自此之后，我總覺得凄涼。夜半在燈下坐著想，那兩條小性命，竟是人不知鬼不覺的早在不知什么時候喪失了，生物史上不著一些痕跡，并S也不叫一聲。我于是記起舊事來，先前我住在會館里，清早起身，只見大槐樹下一片散亂的鴿子毛，這明明是膏于鷹吻的了，上午長班來一打掃，便什么都不見，誰知道曾有一個生命斷送在這里呢？我又曾路過西四牌樓，看見一匹小狗被馬車軋得快死，待回來時，什么也不見了，搬掉了罷，過往行人憧憧的走著，誰知道曾有一個生命斷送在這里呢？夏夜，窗外面，常聽到蒼蠅的悠長的吱吱的叫聲，這一定是給蠅虎咬住了；然而我向來無所容心于其間，而別人并且不聽到……

If it is possible to blame the Creator， then I think he really creates life too much at random， and destroys it too much at random.

A yowl—two cats are fighting outside the window again.

“Xun！ Are you beating cats again there？”

“No， they’re biting each other. Why should I beat them？”

My mother has always disapproved of my cruelty to cats. Now doubtless suspecting me of employing sinister tactics to avenge the little rabbits， she had questioned me. Indeed， I was the byword of the whole household for my enmity to cats. I had killed cats， and often beat them，especially during the mating season. I beat them， however， not because they are mating， but because their caterwauling stops me from sleeping. I see no need for all that yowling when they mate.

Besides， since the black cat had killed the little rabbits， I had a more righteous cause for which to fight. Mother， I felt， was really too soft-hearted. That was why I made such an evasive， almost disapproving， answer.

The Creator goes too far. I cannot but oppose him， although this may be abetting him instead. That black cat must not be allowed to lord it much longer on the low wall， I resolved. Then， involuntarily， my eye fell on a bottle of potassium cyanide tucked away in my case of books.

Oct-22

假使造物也可以責(zé)備，那么，我以為他實(shí)在將生命造得太濫，毀得太濫了。

嗥的一聲，又是兩條貓?jiān)诖巴獯蚱鸺軄怼?

“迅兒！你又在那里打貓了？”

“不，他們自己咬。他那里會給我打呢?！?

我的母親是素來很不以我的虐待貓為然的?，F(xiàn)在大約疑心我要替小兔抱不平，下什么辣手，便起來探問了。而我在全家的口碑上，卻的確算一個貓敵。我曾經(jīng)害過貓，平時也常打貓，尤其是在他們配合的時候，但我之所以打的原因并非因?yàn)樗麄兣浜?，是因?yàn)樗麄內(nèi)?，嚷到使我睡不著，我以為配合是不必這樣大嚷而特嚷的。

況且黑貓害了小兔，我更是“師出有名”的了。我覺得母親實(shí)在太修善，于是不由的就說出模棱的近乎不以為然的答話來。

造物太胡鬧，我不能不反抗他了，雖然也許是倒是幫他的忙……

那黑貓是不能久在矮墻上高視闊步的了，我決定的想，于是又不由的一瞥那藏在書箱里的一瓶青酸鉀。

一九二二年十月。