译◎蹇友莱 绘◎马豆子

I t w a s drizzling①the day we named our dog Curiosity after he killed the Siamese cat that belonged to the lady down the street. My mother had said the dog couldn't stay, but after it got its name, it was too late．

You can banish②it but once the cat has a name, it is family. My mother had hated that Siamese cat. She always said it looked down its nose at her. She wasn't sorry it was dead. My mother didn't like the Cat Lady, either. She liked the Cat Lady even less when the Cat Lady showed up at the front door in her bathrobe③and required$1,000 to buy a new cat. My mother suggested that she should go to Siam and get a homeless cat off the street for free. From the living room, my father suggested that she should go to hell.

But the Cat Lady did not go anywhere. Ignoring the suggestions, she sat down on our front steps and settled in for a long stay. My parents adopted the same principle for dealing with the Cat Lady as they used with my brothers when they did something they should not have: They ignored her. When it started to pour, I decided to bring her a cup of tea. The Cat Lady invited me to sit with her, and she cried because I was such a dear and because her cat was dead and because rain was getting into her tea and because she did not want to go home to her empty house with Pansy's blood on the kitchen fl oor. Pansy was the cat．

那 天，天空飘洒着绵绵细雨，在那只狗咬死了女街坊的暹罗猫之后，我们给它取了个名字——好奇。妈妈曾说过不能收留那只狗，但当它有了我们给它的名字后，妈妈就来不及反对了。

在它没有名字的时候，你可以抛弃它。一旦你给了它一个名字，它就是你家的一分子了。妈妈不喜欢暹罗猫，因为她说暹罗猫总是爱在她面前摆出一副瞧不起人的样子。因此，那只猫的死没有让她感到一丝的惋惜。妈妈同样也不喜欢那只猫的主人，尤其是当她穿着浴袍站在我家门前，要求我们赔偿—千美元给她重新买只猫的时候。妈妈建议她去暹罗的大街上免费捡一只流浪猫。正在起居室的爸爸听到她们的对话后，直接叫她滚。

但是女街坊却没有就此离开，她没有听进去我爸妈的话，甚至还在我们门前的台阶上坐了很久。爸爸和妈妈采取了通常用来应付我和兄弟们的原则来应付她：他们忽视她。当雨开始越下越大的时候，我决定给她泡一杯茶。她让我坐在她的身边，哭了起来。或许是因为我的亲切，也或许是因为她的猫的死去，又或许是因为雨滴落入了她的茶里，也或许只是因为她不想回到那空荡荡的屋子里，看到厨房中那浸染了潘西血的地板。潘西是那只被咬死的暹罗猫的名字。

父亲送我和兄弟们去她家里帮她把房子收拾干净，她才愿意离开。好奇紧跟在我们的后面，当它看到猫的尸体时，它竟大声地叫了起来。兄弟们蹲在潘西身体的旁边，戳了戳她，看看她是否会有什么反应。当然，什么反应都不会有。

在我抹厨房地板的时候，我的脑海中闪现了一个决定：我宁愿自己在淋漓的鲜血中死去，也不愿在平淡乏味的人生中苟活。我不想躺在床上，把头埋进枕头里，直到有一天在一堆皱巴巴的白毯子和床单里死去。不，我想让我的死亡充满色彩，充满激情。人生就是一场斗争，有斗争就应该有死亡，死亡的存在或许是为了更好的斗争吧。

兄弟们将潘西埋在庭院里，并在她的墓地上种了一些快要枯萎的杜鹃花。在兄弟们打算盖上那用作潘西的棺材的纸盒时，我注意到了印在盒子上面的话：请用心对待，否则一切都会太晚。

My father sent my brothers and me to clean up the Cat Lady's house, so she would go away. The dog followed behind the boys, and he barked loudly when he saw the cat. My brothers crouched④over Pansy's body, poking⑤and prodding⑥to see what she would do. Nothing．

As I mopped the Cat Lady's kitchen floor, I decided I would rather my death be bloody than boring. I did not want to lie in my bed fading into the pillow until I disappeared into a pile of wrinkled white blankets and sheets．No, I wanted there to be color and excitement in my death. Life is a struggle; it seems only appropriate that death should be, too.

My brothers planted Pansy in the backyard. They lowered her into the ground, alongside some drooping azaleas⑦. Before the boys covered the cardboard⑧box that was Pansy's coffin with dirt, I noticed the words printed on top of the box: Handle with Care. Too late.

① drizzle 英 ['drɪz(ə)l] 美 ['drɪzl]vi. 下毛毛雨 vt. 下毛毛雨 n. 细雨，毛毛雨

② banish 英 ['bænɪʃ] 美 ['bænɪʃ] vt. 放逐；驱逐

③ bathrobe 英 ['bɑːθrəʊb] 美 ['bæθrob] n. 浴衣；睡衣

④ crouch 英 [kraʊtʃ] 美 [kraʊtʃ]vi. 蹲伏，蜷伏；卑躬屈膝 vt. 低头；屈膝 n. 蹲伏

⑤poke 英 [pəʊk] 美 [pok] vi. 刺，捅；戳；伸出；刺探；闲逛 vt. 刺，捅；戳；拨开n. 戳；刺；袋子；懒汉

⑥ prod 英 [prɒd] 美 [prɑd]n. 刺针；刺棒；刺激，激励 vt. 刺，戳；刺激 vi. 刺；捅

⑦ azalea 英 [ə'zeɪlɪə] 美 [ə'zelɪə] n. 杜鹃花

⑧ cardboard 英 ['kɑːdbɔːd] 美 ['kɑrdbɔrd]n. [纸] 硬纸板；纸板箱；卡纸板 adj. 不真实的；硬纸板制的