遇見一只貓，在人生最低谷

Interviewer 1： He’s James Bowen， and he’s here with his mate Bob today. James， it’s an amazing story. Once homeless recovering heroin addict...I mean， big time， and you met Bob at a really， really dark time in...in your life. But there’s no cat like Bob， James. Tell us why.

Interviewer 2： It’s an extraordinary cat.

James： He is just， he is an absolutely extraordinary cat. He’s just so intelligent. I’ve never...I’ve had cats all my life， and I’ve never known one to be as smart as this little man， he just can smell something on my sofa. And he start’d following me around after I nursed him back to health. It was a stray， and I found him， and he’d been injured， and I nursed him with 1）antibiotics I got from the 2）RSPCA. Tried to find out where he lived， but I couldn’t.

Interviewer 2： He had no collar or anything.

James： No， nothing like that， no 3）microchip. I mean I’ve had him microchipped since， obviously， but he was there， and I took him in after taking an interest， because nobody seemed to know who he belonged to， and after...after he was better I tried sending him on his way， but he kept following me about， and so...

Interviewer 2： Tell us where you were at in your life at this time， ’cause you’d had a pretty rough time， hadn’t you？

James： Yeah， I was on a 4）methadone program at the time， and I was just getting my life back together， and I’d just moved into a supported housing program， having slept rough in many “5）bed and breakfasts” and 6）hostels， and slowly moving back up the ladder.

Interviewer 2： So you were kind of getting there slowly.

James： Absolutely， yeah. I was getting there， and then he gave me， I would actually say the support and love that I needed， and...

Interviewer 2： So do you think， you know， he...he found， you found each other at the right time？

James： Oh， absolutely， yes. He needed me， that’s for sure， and I don’t think I knew it then， but I definitely needed the love that he gave me， that’s for sure. Bob was always by my side. You know， he sits by my feet when I’m 7）busking or selling papers...

Interviewer 2： And he...he hangs ’round your neck sometimes. James： When we’re walking along and he doesn’t want to walk， he sits ’round my shoulders like a scarf.

Interviewer 2： And...and...and how much， you know， did that make your busking life more profitable， having a cat？ James： Oh， yeah， it made my life a lot easier. I...I can’t deny it， you know， because he loves...he loves the attention， you know， he loves to be the centre of attention. He likes to perform and do his little tricks and things like that.

Interviewer 2： And he’s a bit of a “babe magnet” as well， isn’t he？

James： Oh， yes. He’s definitely， he definitely attracts the ladies.

Interviewer 1： But tell...and the...and the whole thing about the day that you knew it was love or friendship. You found him， and he was...he was injured， he was bad...

James： Yes. After I nursed him back to health， I did， like， go， “Go on， on your way，” and he wasn’t having a bar of it. He just kept following me about. He decided that he was gonna live with me， and cats adopt people， people don’t adopt cats.

Interviewer 2： Do you think it’s， like， you’re saying you were at a bad time in your life. Was it then because you had to care for him， that gave you a...

James： Oh， Absolutely！

Interviewer 2： ...kind of sense of purpose that you’d found too 8）patronizing.

James： ...gave me...you got it...you got it right on the... right on the bar there. You know， he gave me reason. He gave me unconditional love， and in return I took care of him， and all he ever asks is a love， a bit of a 9）stroke and a few biscuits， and that’s...

采訪者甲：他叫詹姆斯·鮑文，今天他帶著伙伴鮑勃來到這里。詹姆斯，這是個(gè)很奇妙的故事。一個(gè)曾經(jīng)無家可歸、掙扎著想過上正常生活的癮君子……我的意思是，當(dāng)時(shí)你的毒癮很大，你是在人生中一個(gè)無比黑暗的時(shí)刻遇見了鮑勃。但鮑勃可不是一只普通的貓，詹姆斯，跟我們說一下他的特別之處吧。

采訪者乙：這是一只非同尋常的貓。

詹姆斯：沒錯(cuò)，他絕對是一只非凡的貓咪。他真的非常聰明。我從沒……我這輩子養(yǎng)過很多貓，但從沒見過像這只小家伙一樣機(jī)靈的貓，他連我沙發(fā)上的東西都聞得出來。他在我的照料下恢復(fù)健康之后，我去哪里他就跟到哪里。他是只流浪貓，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他的時(shí)候他受了傷，我從防止虐待動物協(xié)會那里拿了些抗生素來給他用。我想找出他原來的住處，但找不到。

采訪者乙：他沒有項(xiàng)圈之類的吧。

詹姆斯：沒有，什么都沒有，也沒有芯片。當(dāng)然了，從那之后我就給他植入了芯片。當(dāng)時(shí)他就在那里，我來了興趣，就把他帶進(jìn)了屋里，因?yàn)槊菜茮]有人知道他的主人是誰，然后……他的傷好點(diǎn)了之后，我想把他送走，但他老是跟著我，所以……

采訪者乙：說一下你當(dāng)時(shí)的生活是什么情況吧，因?yàn)槟隳菚r(shí)剛經(jīng)歷了一段很艱難的時(shí)期，對吧？

詹姆斯：是的，我當(dāng)時(shí)正在接受美沙酮戒毒療法，在努力讓生活步入正軌。將就著住了很多簡易旅館和招待所之后，我那時(shí)剛剛搬進(jìn)了廉租房，正慢慢地回歸到正常的社會生活中。

采訪者乙：就是說你當(dāng)時(shí)正慢慢地做回一個(gè)正常人。

詹姆斯：嗯，沒錯(cuò)，我正努力做回一個(gè)正常人，然后鮑勃給了我，這么說吧，他給了我需要的支持和愛，還有……

采訪者乙：那么你是否覺得，你知道的，他遇到了……你們在恰當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)候遇到了彼此？

詹姆斯：哦，絕對是，一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)。他需要我，這是肯定的，我當(dāng)時(shí)并沒有意識到的是，我絕對需要他所給我的愛，這也是肯定的。鮑勃總是陪伴著我，你知道的，我賣藝或者賣報(bào)紙的時(shí)候，他就坐在我腳邊……

采訪者乙：他……他有時(shí)還跑到你肩膀上。詹姆斯：我們一起走路的時(shí)候，如果他不想走了，他就會坐在我的肩膀上，像條圍巾一樣。

采訪者乙：那……那你覺得帶著他是不是讓你的賣藝生意也好了很多呢？

詹姆斯：嗯，的確是，這讓我的生活好過了很多。我……我并不否認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)，你知道的，因?yàn)樗芟矚g人們的關(guān)注，他很喜歡成為關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)。他愛表演，搞些小花樣什么的。

采訪者乙：他還是個(gè)“美女殺手”，對吧？詹姆斯：是啊，他確實(shí)很招女士們的喜歡。

采訪者甲：能不能仔細(xì)地說一下……你真正意識到這份愛或者說友誼的那一天。你看到他，他受了傷，情況很糟糕……

詹姆斯：對，我把他的傷養(yǎng)好之后，就跟他說：“走吧，該干嘛干嘛去?！笨伤粋€(gè)字都沒聽進(jìn)去，就一直跟著我。他是鐵了心要跟我一起生活。這么看來，是貓收養(yǎng)人，而不是人收養(yǎng)貓。

采訪者乙：你會不會認(rèn)為，你說你當(dāng)時(shí)正經(jīng)歷著人生的低谷，那是不是因?yàn)槟阋疹櫵?，所以你才有了…?/p>

詹姆斯：哦，正是這樣！

采訪者乙：……一種迫使你去作出改變的目的感。

詹姆斯：……給了我……你說得……你說到點(diǎn)子上了。你知道的，他給了我作出改變的理由。他給了我無條件的愛，而作為回報(bào)，我照顧他，他所需要的一切不過是愛、幾下輕撫和幾塊餅干，如此而已……

Interviewer 2： Does he have days when he doesn’t want to go busking， says “I’m not， can’t be bothered today”？

James： Yeah， he lets me know. We...we communicate， not on a verbal level， but we communicate with each other， you know， through little gestures and things， and I know what he wants and what he doesn’t want. I know when he’s tired. I know when he needs to go to the loo or something like that...

Interviewer 1： James， any...anybody who leads a...a relatively normal life and they have a pet in it， and they’ll talk about the joy that pet gives them. Very few people would be able to say， “My pet saved my life.”James： Mmm， absolutely.

Interviewer 1： But， your...your pet has...has done that， enhanced your life. How would you describe... James： He has literally turned my life around. He is the most wonderful thing that’s happened to me in a very long time.

采訪者乙：他會不會有時(shí)候不想跟你去賣藝，會不會說“我不去，今天不要煩我”之類的？

詹姆斯：也有這樣的時(shí)候，不過他會讓我知道。我們……我們會交流，當(dāng)然不是語言上的交流，但我們會跟彼此溝通，你知道的，通過一些小舉動什么的，我知道他想做什么，不想做什么，知道他什么時(shí)候累了，什么時(shí)候要上廁所之類的。

采訪者甲：詹姆斯，過著相對正常生活的人們?nèi)绻袑櫸锏脑?，他們一般談的是寵物帶給他們的樂趣。很少有人能夠說：“我的寵物挽救了我的人生?！?/p>

詹姆斯：唔，確實(shí)是。

采訪者甲：但是，你的寵物……做到了這一點(diǎn)，讓你的生活煥然一新。你怎樣描述……

詹姆斯：他的的確確讓我的生活有了翻天覆地的改變。在很長一段時(shí)間以來，他是我遇到的一個(gè)最最美妙的奇跡。

翻譯：Papaya