評論
打印
Lesson 12 THE CAT
第12課 貓
I hope you have a nice pussy at home, and that you are good to her. Take her on your knee and look at her. How she purrs when you stroke her back!
小朋友, 你家里有沒有一只漂亮小貓啊? 你有沒有好好地照顧它呢? 把它放到膝蓋上, 好好看看它。撫摸它的后背, 它就會呼嚕呼嚕地叫, 好可愛！
Puss is covered with fur, which keeps her warm. The fur is made of short, straight hairs; and when pussy is angry, the hairs all stand up, and make her look very big and fierce.
小貓的身體蓋著一層毛皮, 毛皮可以給它保暖。毛皮上的毛又短又直。在小貓生氣的時候, 這些毛都會立起來, 讓小貓顯得特別大, 特別兇！
The cat has a round head, with small and pointed ears. She can move her ears about, and if she hears a sound she turns them up so as to hear it better.
貓的頭是圓形的, 耳朵又小又尖。它的耳朵可以朝不同的方向轉, 要是聽見什么聲音, 就轉一下耳朵, 這樣能聽得更清楚。
Look at the eyes of the cat. In the middle of each eye, just as in our own eyes, there is a black spot called the pupil, through which the light goes in.
看看貓的眼睛。每只眼睛的中間, 都有一個黑點兒。這個黑點兒叫瞳孔。我們人類也有瞳孔, 光線就是從瞳孔進去的。
When the cat is in a dark place, the pupil opens till it is big and round, and so it lets in a great deal of light. That is why the cat sees better in the dark than we do. But when the cat is in the sunlight, the pupil shuts, till it becomes only a narrow slit. A HAPPY FAMILY（幸福的家庭）
貓在暗處, 瞳孔會睜得又大又圓, 可以讓很多光線進去。所以貓在暗處看東西, 看得比我們清楚。可是, 貓來到陽光下的時候, 瞳孔就合上了, 合得只剩一條窄縫。
You can hardly hear pussy when she walks, because she has soft pads under her toes. That is a good thing for the cat, because, if the mice heard her, they would run away.
小貓走路的時候, 你幾乎聽不見聲音, 因為貓的腳趾下面有軟墊。這軟墊對貓很有好處, 因為老鼠如果聽見貓走路, 不就逃跑了么！
Look at her long whiskers. What is the use of them? They are her feelers, and they let her know if there is anything in the way, when she is creeping along in the dark.
再看看貓的長長的胡子。胡子有什么用呢? 胡子是貓的感覺器官, 讓小貓在暗處往前爬的時候, 知道路上有什么東西。
Open pussy's lips gently, and look at her teeth. Four of them are very long, and are used for tearing her food. The other teeth are like little chisels, and are used for cutting the food into small pieces.
輕輕打開小貓的嘴巴, 看看貓的牙齒。貓有四顆牙特別長, 就用這四顆牙來撕碎食物。別的牙齒, 一個個都像一把小鑿子, 就用這些牙齒來把食物切成碎塊。
Have you ever let a cat lick your hand? If you have, you will know how rough her tongue is. With this rough tongue she can scrape off all the meat from the bones you give her. She also uses her tongue as a brush to clean her fur.
小朋友, 你讓小貓舔過你的手嗎? 要是舔過, 就知道它的舌頭有多粗糙了。你給貓吃骨頭, 貓就能用這粗糙的舌頭, 把骨頭上的肉刮下來。貓也會用舌頭當刷子, 來清理自己的毛皮。
The toes of the cat have long, sharp claws. But each claw has a sheath which covers it and keeps it sharp. Pussy puts out her claws only when she wishes to take hold of something, or to scratch.
貓的腳趾, 長著又長又尖的爪子, 但是每個爪子都長著“爪套”（學名是“球套”）, 可以蓋住爪子, 不讓爪子磨禿。小貓只有在要抓住什么東西, 或者要抓傷敵人的時候, 才會把爪子伸出來。
Baby cats are called kittens. The mother cat takes great care of her kittens; and they need it at first, for they cannot see till they are nine days old. When cats are pleased, they make a funny noise called purring.
剛生下來的小貓（kitten）, 貓媽媽會無微不至地照顧小貓, 小貓在一開始也需要這種照顧, 因為小貓直到生下來第九天, 才能看見東西。小貓高興的時候會發出一種好玩的“呼?！钡穆曇簦╬urring）。
In some places men go about every day selling cats' meat. They cry, "Cats' meat! cats’ meat!” as they go along the streets. The cats know the men's cry, and run out to them for their dinner.
英國有些地方, 每天都有人出來賣貓糧, 他們會一邊在街上走一邊吆喝：“貓糧！貓糧！”貓認識這種吆喝, 一聽見就會跑出去找飯吃。
