Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman.

从前有一位老爷爷和一位老奶奶。

They lived in a nice clean house which had flowers all around it, except where the door was.

他们住在一座漂亮又干净的房子里，除了门口，房子周围开满了花。

But they couldn't be happy because they were so very lonely.

但是他们一点也不幸福，因为他们太孤单了。

"If only we had a cat!" sighed the very old woman.

“要是我们有一只猫就好了！” 老奶奶叹着气说。

"A cat?" asked the very old man.

“一只猫？” 老爷爷问。

"Yes, a sweet little fluffy cat," said the very old woman.

“是的，一只可爱的毛茸茸的小猫。” 老奶奶回答道。

"I will get you a cat, my dear," said the very old man.

“我会送你一只猫的，亲爱的。” 老爷爷说。

And he set out over the hills to look for one.

于是他出发了，翻山越岭去找一只猫。

He climbed over the sunny hills.

他爬上阳光灿烂的山头。

He trudged through the cool valleys.

他吃力地走过寒冷的山谷。

He walked a long, long time and at last he came to a hill which was quite covered with cats.

他走了很久很久，最后终于来到了一座山，这座山上全是猫。

Cats here, cats there,

Cats and kittens, everywhere,

Hundreds of cats,

Thousands of cats,

Millions and billions and trillions of cats.

这里有猫，那里有猫，

大猫小猫，到处都是猫。

成百上千只猫，

成千上万只猫，

百万十亿万亿只猫。

"Oh," cried the old man joyfully, "Now I can choose the prettiest cat and take it home with me!"

“哦，” 老爷爷开心地叫了起来，“现在我可以挑一只最漂亮的猫带回去了！”

So he chose one. It was white.

于是他就挑了一只。那是一只白色的猫。

But just as he was about to leave, he saw another one all black and white and it seemed just as pretty as the first.

但是正当他打算离开的时候，他看见了一只黑白相间的猫，它跟他挑中的那只几乎一样漂亮。

So he took this one also.

所以他也带上了这只猫。

But then he saw a fuzzy gray kitten way over here which was every bit as pretty as the others so he took it too.

但是之后他又在路上看到了一只毛茸茸的灰色小猫，完全和另外两只一样漂亮，所以他把它也抱走了。

And now he saw one way down in a corner, which he thought too lovely to leave so he took this too.

现在他又在路上看到了角落里的一只猫，他觉得这只猫实在太可爱了，所以他也要带走这只猫。

And just then, over here, the very old man found a kitten, which was black and very beautiful.

在那之后，老爷爷在这边发现了一只小猫，它全身通黑，特别漂亮。

"It would be a shame to leave that one," said the very old man. So he took it.

“把它留在这儿会让我后悔的，” 老爷爷说。所以他也拿走了这只猫。

And now, over there, he saw a cat, which had brown and yellow stripes like a baby tiger.

现在，在那边，他看见了一只猫，它有着黄褐相间的条纹，就像一只小老虎。

"I simply must take it!" cried the very old man, and he did.

“我就是要带走它！” 老爷爷说。他也的确抱起了它。

So it happened that every time the very old man looked up, he saw another cat which was so pretty he could not bear to leave it,

就这样，每次老爷爷抱起一只猫，抬头又会看到另一只漂亮的猫，老爷爷不忍心把它们留在这里，

and before he knew it, he had chosen them all.

在他意识到之前，他已经抱走了所有的猫。