As popular and beloved as cats are, even the biggest fan of felines will admit that they're not always easy to work with. Cats come and go as they please and they often seem to treat humans as little more than sources of food and amusement. As such, cats are usually not as useful as dogs when it comes to working—they're difficult to train and often refuse to work on human terms.Despite all this, there are a few cats that, by a strange twist of fate, have carved out some very special careers, happily working for—or with—humans in a number of ways. Let's take a look at these spectacular specimens of the feline race.
猫科动物太受欢迎而倍受溺爱，因此连它们最挚爱的粉丝也承认与它们"合作"并非易事。它们想来就来想走就走，在它们眼里，人类往往跟食物和用来消遣的活动不相上下。这样一来，在做事方面猫科动物往往没有犬类来得有用——前者更难驯养并且常常拒绝帮助人类做事。尽管如此，有一部分猫类一反常态，开创了特殊的职业，通过某些途径愉悦地为人类做事（或者说和人类共事）。让我们来看看这些拥有超能力的猫科种族代表。

10.Tama, Station Master
10.猫咪站长——多摩

In southeast Japan, there is a small train station called Kishi Station. This tiny, unassuming blip in the great Japanese railway system is unique because of its station master: a cat called Tama. In 2003, the station was caught in business turmoil between a struggling train company and its bigger competitor, who eventually gained control of the area's business by absorbing the small company. This was bad news for the owner of a small cat shelter near Kishi Station, who was forced to vacate her premises due to the new company's renovations. Out of options, she begged the president of the new railway to let the poor, homeless cats live in the station.
在日本东南部有一个小车站——"贵志站"，这个低调不起眼的小站因为猫站长多摩而成了大日本铁路系统中独一无二的车站。在2003年，这个车站夹在步履维艰的铁路公司和更大的竞争者之间，陷入了商业动乱，后者通过兼并小公司对当地的企业拥有最终控制权。这个消息对于贵志站附近一个小型猫类庇护所的主人来说并不乐观，由于新公司的改革她被迫腾出地皮。她别无选择，恳求新铁道部长让那些可怜的无家可归的猫住到车站内
The president was moved by the request, and when he saw Tama, something clicked. He immediately decided the cat was his—and the station's—good luck charm and, just like that, swore Tama in as Kishi's new station master. The adorable Tama, with his official hat and station master badge, soon became a nationwide celebrity. People would flock to see him despite having no other business in the area, turning the formerly dwindling station into a money-making machine. It is estimated that Tama has single-pawedly raised over $10 million for the station, guaranteeing that Kishi won't be closed any time in the near future. When Tama eventually becomes too old to handle his duties (which consist of manning a small booth, napping and glaring at people), the railway company has prepared: The station master recently gained a new apprentice, a young cat called Nitama.
部长被这一请求动摇，当他见到多摩时，恍然大悟，认定了它是自己乃至整个车站的幸运之神，就这样，他让多摩住进车站，成为贵志站的站长。可爱的多摩佩戴上官帽和站长徽章，不久就成了家喻户晓的"名猫"。人们特地聚集至此来看它，让原来逐渐冷清的小车站成了招财地。据估计，多摩单爪为车站提升了1000万美金的收入，保证贵志站在近来的任何时候都不会关闭。最后多摩年岁渐高无力胜任职务（包括操纵电话亭，打盹，注视人群），铁路公司另有准备：站长最近将收入一枚新学徒——一只名为尼多摩的年轻猫咪。

9.Hank The Cat, Politician
9.猫咪政治家——汉克

On Election Night 2012, a surprise grassroots candidate in Virginia called Hank raked in a hefty 7,000 votes and $16,000 for pet rescue groups. He proved to be a real threat to the powers that be, to the point where he even attracted smear campaigns from a concerned party called, strangely, "Canines for Feline Free Tomorrow."This may have been because Hank was, in fact, a cat—a handsome, nine-year-old Maine coon. His owners, who referred to themselves as his campaign managers throughout the process, had just put a tie on him and made a couple of campaign videos to see what would happen. Running under a slogan that said "It's OK to Vote Humans Out!" and on a platform of animal rights, Hank the cat was an instant hit. Although he sadly didn't win the Virginia seat in the Senate race, he did place third, which is shockingly close for a third-party candidate that wasn't even human. It is uncertain whether this says more about the awesomeness of Hank the cat or the public's distrust of ordinary politicians.
在2012年选举之夜，弗吉尼亚一位让人惊讶的草根选举者——汉克，以强有力的7000选票为动物营救组织赢得了16000美金，它甚至通过名为"为犬类自由而战的猫咪"这一党派引起了抹黑活动者的关注，这足以证明了汉克对当权者的威慑力之大。这一强大的影响力也许归功于一个事实——汉克是一只9岁的俊俏缅因猫。汉克的主人给它系上领带并制作了一些活动视频来看看究竟会产生怎样的效果。在写着"选汉克！没错！"的横幅下奔跑的猫咪汉克成了动物权利维护这一平台上的重头戏。虽然选举最终它位列第三而遗憾地与弗吉尼亚参议员失之交臂，但这个结果发生在一位非人类选举者身上，已经足以使人们震惊不已了。与其说这一结果是民众对猫咪汉克的肯定，不如说是他们对普通政治家的不信任。

8.Dewey Readmore Books, Reading Ambassador
8.阅读大使——小猫杜威

The fantastically named Dewey Readmore Books had his career path laid out for him right from the beginning. In 1988, he was found among the book returns by the staff of a public library in Spencer, Iowa. The librarians instantly decided to adopt the cute, abandoned kitten. The council blessed this, so they carefully nursed the orphan kitty to health and held a contest to decide his name. Dewey became the library's official ambassador of reading. He was featured in papers, educational videos, posters, and TV shows, generating insane amounts of publicity for the library. People would flock the library to see him and many would loan a book or two while they were there. Don't think of Dewey as just some random mascot, though—he was an official library employee as Supervisor of Staff, an extremely fitting job title for a cat.Dewey Readmore Books passed away in 2006, in the arms of the Head Librarian. However, he still remains on the library's shelves—Dewey is listed as a contributing author in several works by Vicki Myron, the Library Director.
神奇小猫杜威的职业生涯道路从一开始就很明晰。1988年，爱荷华州的斯宾塞地区公共图书馆里的职员在所归还的书堆里发现了小猫杜威，图书管理员们立马决定收养这个被遗弃的可爱小家伙。图书馆理会赞赏这样的善行，对这位小孤儿悉心照顾，还举行了讨论会为其命名。于是杜威成了这家图书馆的官方阅读大使，出现在各种论文、教育性视频、海报以及各种电视秀中，给图书馆带来了无比疯狂的宣传效果。人们为了一睹杜威真容，成群前往图书馆，也会顺便借阅三两书籍。虽然杜威作为一只猫，正式受聘于图书馆，坐拥"主管人员"这一职业化的头衔，你可千万别把他视为一个普通的吉祥物。2006年，杜威在馆长臂弯里永远沉睡了，但主管薇奇麦仑在她的几部作品里将杜威列为特约作者，因此它依然长存于图书馆的书架上。

7.Orangey, Movie Star
7.猫明星——Orangey

Because they're difficult to train and relatively unreliable, cats generally don't appear in movies as often as dogs. However, there are certain cats who have managed to create very illustrious acting careers. The most famous of them is Orangey, the orange tabby cat who was a permanent fixture in Hollywood's golden age movies, ranging from serious dramas to science fiction to horror. His most notable role is probably Audrey Hepburn's "poor slob without a name" cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's, a role that earned him the prestigious "animal Academy Award" known as a PATTY. To this day, Orangey remains the only cat who has won this award twice.Orangey's bag of tricks was so large that it seems impossible that a single cat could be so trained. This is because Orangey never was just one cat. Frank Inn, Orangey's handler, knew that a cat will only master one or two tricks, so he got dozens of identical cats and trained each of them differently. A single movie could see over 30 different "Orangeys," but since they all looked the same and were consistently billed as one cat, many people still think Orangey was just one, super-talented feline.
由于猫咪们难以训练相对来说比较不靠谱，因此他们并不像狗一样常现荧屏。然而有些猫咪却在"演艺圈"里声名显赫，其中最出名的要属Orangey。这只橙色虎斑猫的身影总能出现在好莱坞黄金时代的电影里，无论是严肃剧还是科幻题材，亦或是英雄剧，都少不了它。在电影《蒂凡尼的早餐》中，奥黛丽·赫本饰演的角色有一只没有名字的可怜小笨猫，凭借这一角色Orangey获得了"动物奥斯卡金奖"，以"小肉饼"一名熟为人知。至今为止，它是唯一一只两次获此奖项的猫。它娴熟多样的技巧让人们不敢相信单单一只猫咪就可以被训练成这样，事实上，影片中并不都是它出演。Orangey的训练员弗兰克·因了解到，一只猫仅仅只能掌握一种或两种技巧，所以他收了几十只看上去完全一样的猫，分别对它们进行训练。在一部电影里，你可以看到30只不同的"Orangeys"，但由于它们很神似并且在宣传时也被一致说成是一只猫，所以很多观众依然认为Orangey就仅仅是那一只具有超能力的猫。

6.Blackie The Talking Cat, Performer
6.会说话的猫、表演家——布莱基

These days, videos of "talking cats"—cats whose meowing sounds like certain human phrases—are a simple Google search away. The first of these impressive animals, however, predates Internet as we know it. In 1981, Blackie the Talking Cat became famous for his ability to "speak" two phrases upon request, "I love you" and "I want my mama."Blackie's owners capitalized this talent by negotiating paid appearances on various TV and radio shows. When media interest waned after a while, they decided to continue showcasing Blackie on the streets of their native Augusta, Georgia. Blackie's new career as a street performer soon hit a speed bump, as local authorities insisted he should have a business license. His owners begrudgingly paid the $50 for the permit, but they felt Blackie—who was just an animal, after all—shouldn't need one. They sued the city, arguing that their act was not a business, and by labeling it as such, the officials had infringed upon Blackie's right to free speech. Unsurprisingly, they lost the case.
近日，"会说话的猫"这一视频在谷歌轻轻松松就能搜到，视频中猫咪的叫声和人类的话语十分相似。这些猫咪固然给人们留下了深刻的印象，然而早在它们出现在互联网上并为人所知晓之前，就已经有这样神奇的猫咪了。1981年，会说话的猫布莱基因为能应要求说出"我爱你"和"我爱妈妈"而一举成名，布莱基的主人利用它这一才能，和各类电视广播节目谈判，让布莱基参加各种有偿的见面会。一段时间后由于媒体利益逐渐衰退，他们决定让布莱基在当地的乔治亚州奥古斯塔市继续它的"演艺生涯"。布莱基作为街头表演者进入了职业新领域，但不久后，由于缺少营业执照受当局阻碍，事业下滑。为了获取执照，布莱基的主人们吝啬地支付了50美金，但事后，他们觉得布莱基毕竟只是一只动物，没有必要持有营业执照。于是他们起诉了城市当局，争辩说他们的行为不属于商业行为，行政人员将这一行为归为商业活动侵犯了布莱基的言论自由权。而结果毫无疑问，他们输掉了这场官司。

翻译:梦娜 来源：前十网