Can Dogs and Cats Along？ 貓狗能否好好相處呢？

張默妍

If you have brothers and sisters， you know its completely natural for arguments to take place from time to time. OK...its completely natural for arguments to take place all the time！This doesnt mean you dont love each other， though. It just means you spend a lot of time together and its only natural to have disagreements. You may even hear parents say their kids “fight like cats and dogs.” “Fighting like cats and dogs” is a common phrase that people use to mean people argue， fight or dont get along. If you like cartoons， youve probably seen many that portray1 cats and dogs fighting like sworn enemies2. There have even been movies made that describe cats against dogs.

如果你有兄弟姐妹，你就會(huì)知道時(shí)不時(shí)的爭(zhēng)吵是不可避免的。好吧……應(yīng)該說(shuō)兄弟姐妹之間的爭(zhēng)吵隨時(shí)都會(huì)發(fā)生！但是，吵嘴并不意味著你們不愛(ài)彼此。這只是意味著你們彼此相處的時(shí)間很長(zhǎng)，因此有分歧也是很正常的。你甚至可以聽(tīng)到父母說(shuō)他們的孩子“水火不容”。“水火不容”是人們常用的一個(gè)短語(yǔ)，意思是人們之間互相爭(zhēng)論、吵架或相處不和睦。如果你喜歡卡通，你可能看到過(guò)很多描繪貓和狗像死敵一樣爭(zhēng)斗的故事片，甚至還有專(zhuān)門(mén)講述貓與狗對(duì)抗的電影。

Are cats and dogs natural enemies that can never get along？ Or is there hope for a truce between the members of the feline3 and canine4 species？ If you observe cats and dogs or ask people who own both cats and dogs， you will get lots of opinions on the subject. Cats and dogs will obviously fight from time to time. There is no doubt that some dogs will chase cats and maybe even harm them if given the chance. However， people who own both dogs and cats will also tell you that they can easily be trained to get along. In fact， many will show you that dogs and cats can play together and even sleep curled up5 together. As with many questions in life， theres simply no easy answer to the question of whether dogs and cats can get along. Dogs and cats are different in many ways that can make it difficult for them to get along.

貓和狗是永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法和睦相處的天敵嗎？ 或者，貓科動(dòng)物和犬科動(dòng)物之間是否有休戰(zhàn)的希望呢？ 如果你觀察貓和狗，或者詢(xún)問(wèn)既養(yǎng)貓又養(yǎng)狗的人，你會(huì)得到很多關(guān)于這個(gè)問(wèn)題的看法。顯然貓和狗時(shí)不時(shí)就會(huì)斗上一斗。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，有些狗會(huì)追逐貓，一有機(jī)會(huì)甚至還會(huì)傷害它們。然而，養(yǎng)狗和貓的人也會(huì)告訴你，馴服它們和平共處是一件很簡(jiǎn)單的事情。事實(shí)上，很多人會(huì)告訴你，狗和貓可以一起玩耍，甚至可以蜷縮在一起睡覺(jué)。就像生活中的許多問(wèn)題一樣，狗和貓能否和諧相處根本沒(méi)有一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的答案。狗和貓?jiān)谠S多方面都是不同的，這使得它們很難和諧相處。

However， with patience and the right circumstances6， cats and dogs can be best friends. For example， dogs tend to be social animals that are naturally playful. Cats， on the other hand， tend to be more independent. A dog that wants to play might seem aggressive7 and intimidating8 to a cat. This may lead the cat to defend itself against an attack thats really just a desire to play. Likewise， dogs—especially puppies—like to chase each other. Its a fun game. Chasing cats can be just as fun as chasing other dogs...unless youre the cat， of course. Again， cats may interpret9 such playful behavior as a threat.

然而，如果加上耐心引導(dǎo)和合適的環(huán)境，貓和狗可以是最相親相愛(ài)的好伙伴。例如，狗往往是天生喜歡嬉戲的群居動(dòng)物。而另一方面，貓更喜歡獨(dú)來(lái)獨(dú)往。一只渴求玩耍的狗可能看起來(lái)很有攻擊性，這對(duì)貓來(lái)說(shuō)很?chē)樔恕＿@可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致貓咪防御“攻擊”，而這“攻擊”其實(shí)只是狗想尋求玩伴的表現(xiàn)。同樣地，狗——尤其是小狗——喜歡互相追逐。這是一個(gè)有趣的游戲。而追趕貓對(duì)它們來(lái)說(shuō)和追趕別的狗一樣有趣……雖然貓并不這么想。同樣地，貓也會(huì)把這種頑皮的行為理解為一種威脅。

Even something dogs and cats have in common—tails—can make things confusing. When a dog wags10 its tail， its sending a friendly message： “Im happy. Lets play.” Cats， however， wag their tails when theyre angry. You can see how this might lead cats and dogs to become confused if theyre facing each other with wagging tails！Although dogs and cats arent really natural mortal enemies， dogs are hunters by nature. This means that they might hunt and chase anything that moves—including a cat. This natural behavior that could cause problems between dogs and cats can be controlled by special training—called socialization11—when the animals meet for the first time. Although there are many natural barriers12 to interaction13 between cats and dogs， it is possible for them to get along. It just takes time， patience and a desire for harmony. And even if they get along for a while， it doesnt mean that they wont fight from time to time—just like you and your brothers and sisters！

即使貓和狗有一個(gè)共同點(diǎn)——它們都有尾巴——也會(huì)讓局面變得混亂。當(dāng)一只狗搖尾巴時(shí)，這是它在發(fā)出友好的信息，表示：“我很高興，讓我們一起玩吧?！比欢埳鷼獾臅r(shí)候會(huì)搖尾巴?？上攵?dāng)貓和狗四目相對(duì)，各自搖著自己尾巴的時(shí)候，這可能會(huì)讓它們困惑。雖然狗和貓不是真正的天敵，但狗卻是天生的獵手。這意味著他們可能會(huì)追捕任何移動(dòng)的東西——包括貓。這種自然的行為可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致狗和貓之間出現(xiàn)問(wèn)題，但是可以在它們第一次見(jiàn)面的時(shí)候通過(guò)特殊的訓(xùn)練，即社會(huì)化來(lái)控制。雖然貓和狗之間存在著許多天然的障礙影響它們之間的互動(dòng)，但它們還是有可能和睦相處的。只是這需要時(shí)間、耐心和主人對(duì)于貓狗和諧的渴望。即使它們和平共處了一段時(shí)間，也并不意味著他們不會(huì)有爭(zhēng)端——就像你和你的兄弟姐妹一樣！

Notes：

1. portray v. 描述

2. sworn enemy天敵

3. feline n. 貓科動(dòng)物

4. canine n. 犬科動(dòng)物

5. curl up 蜷縮起來(lái)

6. circumstance n. 環(huán)境

7. aggressive adj. 有進(jìn)取心的；侵略性的

8. intimidating adj. 嚇人的

9. interpret v. 解釋

10. wag v. 搖動(dòng)

11. socialization n. 社會(huì)化

12. barrier n. 障礙

13. interaction n. 互動(dòng)