英文原文

【英文原文】

摘要：由于猫生性狡猾，且喜欢在夜间四处游荡，中世纪的欧洲人将它们与巫术与妖魔联系在一起，对它们怀有恐惧和仇视。

Throughout much of the Middle Ages, cats were feared and hated. Since they are very sly and in the habit of moving about in the darkness at night, people used to associate them with witches and the evil spirits. Cats were treated cruelly, and even burned together with witches. People used to believe that cats took away a baby's breath by magic. Even now when mothers see a cat near their baby, they take the cat away because they think that the cat often lies on the baby, and then the baby can't breathe and dies. It was a general belief that witches and evil spirits especially liked taking the form of a black cat. Because of this belief, black cats came gradually to be looked upon as the cause of misfortune and ill luck. A popular idea is that if people see a black cat crossing the road in front of them, something unfortunate will happen to them. Some superstitious people believe that killing the cats does not necessarily mean killing the witches, for a witch can take on the body of a cat for nine times. It is said that Napoleon saw a black cat before the battle of Waterloo. He lost the battle, and the British won. Probably for this reason, the black cat is unlucky on the continent, but in Britain, it is lucky.

中文译文

【中文译文】

由于猫生性狡猾，且喜欢在夜间四处游荡，中世纪的欧洲人将它们与巫术与妖魔联系在一起，对它们怀有恐惧和仇视。猫常受虐待，甚至与所谓的女巫一同被处以火刑。人们曾普遍认为，猫能施魔法使婴儿无法呼吸。甚至到了现代，当母亲们看到猫在婴儿附近，总要把猫抱走，她们担心猫会卧在婴儿的胸上，使婴儿窒息而死。过去有一种普遍的迷信，认为女巫和妖魔喜欢变化成黑猫。因此，人们逐渐认为黑猫会带来厄运。如果看到黑猫从前面的路上经过，通常会认为有不幸事件即将发生。有人认为杀死黑猫不一定意味着杀死了女巫，因为女巫可以九次化为猫。传说有滑铁卢战役之前，拿破仑看见了黑猫，结果法国吃了败仗，英国人打了胜仗。也许由于这一传说，在英国，甚至有人将黑猫视为吉利的动物。

题外话：若想形象地了解过去人们对黑猫的恐惧，可读埃德加·爱伦·坡的短篇小说《黑猫》。故事中的黑猫给它的主人带来一连串的厄运，十分恐怖。