A Street Cat Named Bob
Chapter 1第一章
Fellow Travellers
同行的旅行者
There's a famous quote I read somewhere. It says we are all given second chances every day of our lives. They are there for the taking, it's just that we don't usually take them.我曾经在某处读过这样一个著名的引语，我们每天都在给自己的生活第二次机会。那些机会就在那里等着你去把握。只是我们不经常去抓住它们。quote 引用
I spent a big chunk of my life proving that quote. I was given a lot of opportunities, sometimes on a daily basis. for a longtime I failed take any of them, but then, in the early spring of 2007, that finally began to change. It was then that I befriended Bob. Looking back on it, something tells me it might have been his second chance too.我花了我生命的大把的时间去证明那条引语。我曾经错过了许多机会，有时是在日常的小事中。在很长的时间里我都没能把握住任何的机会，但在那之后，终于在在2007年的早春发生了改变。是那时与我交好的Bob，现在回过头看，这也许也是他的第二次机会。
chunk 大块 opportunity 机会 was given 被动 It was then that?????
I first encountered him on a gloomy, Thursday evening in March. London hadn't quite shaken off the winter and it was still bitingly cold in the streets,especially when the winds blew in off the Thames. There had even been a hint of frost in the air that night,which was why I'd arrived back at my new, sheltered accommodation in tottenham, north London,a little earlier than usual after a day busking around Covent Garden.
我第一次见到他是在三月的一个阴郁的星期四晚上。伦敦还没有完全摆脱掉冬天的寒冷，当风吹过泰晤士河时还能在街上感受到凌冽的寒气。在那个晚上还能察觉到空气中的霜，这使我早早的回到了我在伦敦南边的托特纳姆的新住所，街头卖艺比往常都早一些的聚集在了柯分公园
encounter 偶然 gloomy 黑暗的.沮丧的 Thursday 星期四 March 三月quite 完全 shaken off 摆脱 bitingly .adv.尖刻的.犀利的 blew in off ？thames 泰晤士河 hint 暗示，线索 frost 霜冻 accommodation 住处busking 街头卖艺
As normal, I had my black guitar case and rucksack slung over my shoulders but this evening I also had my closest firend,Belle, with me. We'd gone out together years ago but were just mates now. We were going to eat a cheap takeaway curry and watch a movie on the small black and white television set .I'd managed to find in a charity shop round the corner.
和平常一样，我拿着我的黑色吉他箱，挂着帆布背包在肩上，除此之外这个晚上也还有我亲密的朋友和我在一起他就是Belle，我们是多年前就出来流浪的，现在是好伙伴。我们准备去打包一份便宜的咖喱食品，然后在那个小的黑白电视机看一部电影，我则需要在这附近找到一个慈善商店。
case:箱子 rucksack:帆布背包 slung:悬挂 mate:伙伴 takeaway:外卖curry:咖喱粉 manage:管理处理 charity:慈善
As usual, the lift in the apartment block wasn't working so we headed for the first flight of stairs,resigned to making the long trudge up on the fifth floor.
和往常一样，公寓大楼的电梯还是坏的仍然无法使用，所以我们前往第一层楼梯，迈着沉重的步伐开始爬五楼的艰难路途。
lift:电梯 block:块，街区，阻塞 head to:前往 flight:飞行，射击 stair:楼梯resign to:顺从做某事，安于做某事 trudge:艰难的路途
The strip lighting in the hallway was broken and part of the ground floor was swathed in darkness,but as we made our way to the stairwell I couldn't help noticing a pair of glowing eyes in the gloom. When I heard a gentle, slightly plaintive meowing I realised what it was.
因为那条在走廊的破灯管使得地板的一部分被沉浸在黑暗之中，但是当我们来到楼梯口时，我禁不住发现在黑暗中有一双炽热的目光。当我回过神时我才发现那是一声细腻中带有些许哀伤的猫叫声。
strip:条 hallway:走廊 ground:地板 swathe:包围 stairwell:楼梯井 couldn't help:禁不住 glowing:炽热的 gloom:昏暗 slightly:些微的 plaintive:哀伤的 meow:猫叫
Edging closer, in the half-light I could see a ginger cat curled up on a doormat outside one of the ground-floor flats in the corridor that led off the hallway.
缓慢靠近，我在昏暗的灯光中，看到一只姜黄色的猫蜷缩在其中一户的公寓房门外的门垫上，那房间的走道通向屋内的玄关。
edging:边缘 ginger :姜黄色的 curled up:蜷缩 doormat:门垫 flats in:横插 corridor :走廊 led（lead） off:通向
I'd grown up with cats and had always had a bit of a soft spot for them. As I moved in and got a good look I could tell he was a tom, a male.
我曾经与这些猫一起长大，所以我们之间一些深厚的感情，我对他们总是软心肠。当我靠近，再待我看清它之后，我可以说它是雄猫。
grown up:长大成人 a bit of :一点 soft spot:弱点 move in :生活在，迁入 male:雄性
I hadn't seen him around the flats before,but even in the darkness I could tell there was something about him, I could already tell that he had something of a personality. He wasn't in the slightest bit nervous, in fact, completely the opposite.
我之前没有在公寓的见到过它，但是我能感觉到在黑暗中的它。我早就可以预见它的一些个性。她从来不紧张，事实上完全相反。
flat:平的，公寓 already:已经 personality:个性，品格 slightest:极不重要的，很少的 nervous:神经紧张的 completely:完全 opposite:相反
There was a quiet, unflappable confidence about him, He looked like he was very much at home here in the shadows and to judge by the way he was fixing me with a steady, curious , intelligent stare, I was as if he was saying:' So who are you and what bring you here?
'它非常的安静镇定显得很有自信，它在黑暗中用好奇的眼光稳稳的打量我，像是在对我说”你是谁，是什么带你来这里“
quiet:安静平和 unflappable:镇定的 judge:判断裁决 fix:固定steady:稳固的 curious:好奇的 intelligent:智能的 stare:凝视bring:带来
I couldn't resist kneeling down and introducing myself." Hello, mate. I've not seen you before, do you live here?' I said. He just looked at me with the same studious, slightly aloof expression, as if he was still weighing me up.
我抵抗不了，跪下来介绍自己“你好呀，我从没有见过你，你住这里吗？”，他故意用同样的眼神看着我，有点冷淡的表现，好像在权衡我。
resist:抵抗 kneel down:下跪 introducing:介绍 studious:用工，热心的slightly:些微的 aloof:冷淡的 expression:表现 weigh:权衡，考量
I decided to stroke his neck, partly to make friends but partly to see if he was hard to tell in the dark, but I realised there was nothing, which immediately suggested to me that he was stray. London had more than its fair share of those.
我决定轻抚它的脖子，一半是想和它做盆友，一半是看看它是否在黑暗中难以言表，但是我马上意识到并不是这样的，看来，伦敦这个城市，不是对于每个人每件事情都是公平分享，公平对待的。
stroke:划，轻抚 neck:脖子 partly:一部分 suggested:建议，暗示stray:流浪 fair:公平的 those:那些
He seemed to be enjoying the affection, and began brushing himself lightly against me. As I petted him a little more, I could feel that his coat was in poor condition, with uneven bald patches here and there, He was clearly in need of a good meal. From the way he was rubbing against me, he was also in need of a bit of TCL.
他看起来很享受的样子，并且开始轻轻的擦拭自己来反对我。当我想更加宠爱他时，我感觉到他的外套很破旧，有很多单调的补丁。他很需要一顿好的膳食。他通过摩擦我的方式来反抗我。，他也很迫切的需要
TCLaffection: 情感 brush 画，刷 lightly 轻轻的，不费力的 against 反对petted 宠物，宠爱 condition 条件环境身份 uneven 不均匀的bald 秃顶的，单调的 patches 补丁 clearly：清晰地 in need：在危难中 meal 膳食 from the way：从...的方式 rubbing 摩擦 TCL 电视
‘poor chap, I think he 's a stray. he's not got a collar and he's really thin.' I said, looking up at Belle, who was waiting patiently by the foot of the stairs.She knew I had a weakness for cats.”
可怜的小家伙，我想他迷路了，他没有项圈而且他真的好瘦“我说到，仰望着belle，他正在楼梯处耐心的等候。她知道我对小猫没办法。
chap:小家伙 stray:迷路 collar:颈圈，抓住 thin:薄的，瘦的looking up:仰望 patiently:耐心的 stairs:楼梯
‘No James, you can't have him.' She said, nodding towards the door of the flat that the cat was sitting outside. ' He can't have just wandred in here and settled on this spot, he must belong to whoever lives there. Probably waiting for them to come home and let him in.
'“不，詹姆斯，你不可以养他”她说，她朝着猫坐的门的方向点点头。“他不可能是住在这里的，只是在这里取暖，他肯定属于这里的住着的人的，也许只是在等他们把它领回家。
nodding:点头 probably:大概
Reluctantly, I agreed with her. I couldn't just pick up a cat and take him home with me, even if all the signs pointed to the fact it was still trying to sort out my flat. What if it did belong to the person living in that flat? They weren't going to take too kindly to someone carrying off their pet, were they?
我很不情愿的同意她的话。不可以就这样捡起它带回家，即使所有的事实都在说它尝试着进我的公寓，但是如果他属于这栋楼里的住户的话呢？他们不可能和善的同意一个人带走照顾他们的宠物。
Reluctantly：不情愿的 pick up ：捡起 even if 即使 sign：预示sort out: 挑选出 flat：公寓
Besides, the last thing I needed right now was the extra responsibility of cat. I was a failed musician and recovering drug addict living a hand-to-mouth existence in sheltered accommodation. Taking responsibility for myself was hard enough.
除此之外，我还要做的是承担起我对猫的责任，可我是一个失败的音乐人和瘾君子，现在住在一个勉强才能维持住的公寓。对我来说这个责任对我来说还是太难了。
Besides:除此之外 recovering：恢复 drug：毒品 addict：有瘾的hand-to-mouth:勉强维持 existence：存在
