Once we could stroke him, he was tamed.
现在他非常友善
Now he’s become a very friendly cat.
过去的五年里 这些高楼拔地而起
It all changed over the last five years,
这里的一切都变了
when these buildings went up.
这里过去全是绿地
It used to be all green here.
原来有果园 还有种农作物的园地
There were orchards, and gardens where they’d grow crops.
但是这些高楼盖好之后
When these buildings went up,
一切都消失了 再也找不到自然的痕迹
it all disappeared, no nature left.
天呐
Oh dear.
看看他们 七只圆滚滚的小奶猫
Look at them, seven plump kittens!
这些小猫 如果他们拆了这里就太可惜了
These kittens… it’ll be a shame if they tear this place down.
我不知道我们该怎么做
I don’t know what we’ll do.
这里会变成一条主道
This will be a major road.
他们想连起那些大楼
They want to connect these buildings.
比起我们日后的处境
We’re more worried about what’ll happen to the cats
我们更担心这些猫咪该何去何从
than what might happen to us.
如果拆除这片区域
If this area gets demolished,
他们可能找不到人陪伴
and that’s likely, they won’t have anyone.
总有一天 他们会想念这些街道
At some point, they miss the streets.
他们可以在外面找块地
They can find some earth out here,
做自己想做的
to do their business.
但若是屋里的猫砂 就很难那样做了
It’s harder to do that in a house with cat litter.
但在这样的室外 他们能尽情挖洞
But out here they dig it up.
他是从哪儿来的
Oh no, where did he come from?
-一只老猫把他带到了后院 -好可爱
– An older cat got to him in the backyard. – Oh sweetie.
我马上想到了你
I immediately thought of you.
我们该拿你怎么办
What are we going to do with you?
可怜的小东西
You poor, poor thing.
我在想他是不是死了 他死了吗
Is he gone, I wonder. Is he dead?
他一定是被撞到了地上
He must have slammed him
是一只大猫攻击的他
against the ground… got attacked by a bigger cat.
这是他们的天性 有时候就是这样
It’s a fact of nature. It happens.
这只猫是我的第一个孩子
This one was my first child.
她对我来说很特殊
She was special
不仅因为她是我第一个宠物
not only because she was my first
还因为她性格也很好
but also because she had great character.
她死于乳腺癌
She died of breast cancer.
为了防止她舔伤口我会给她穿上衣服
I would dress her to keep her from licking her wounds.
我很努力地想找到一只像她一样的猫
I tried very hard to find a cat like her again…
但我意识到这都是徒劳无功的
but I came to realize that it was futile,
她是独一无二的
that she was one of a kind.
我十分想念她 如果还有来生
My longing for her… let’s just say if there is afterlife,
比起我祖母 我更希望再遇见她
I want to meet her again, not my grandmother.
我们每天做九公斤的鸡肉
We cook twenty pounds of chicken every day.
我们不喂他们干猫粮或其他人工制品
We don’t feed them dried cat food or anything artificial.
我的心理医生说
My therapist says
我通过治疗他们的创伤
I try to heal my own wounds by healing theirs.
喂养他们 照顾他们 来治愈自己
By feeding them and tending to their needs.
我的伤一定是根深蒂固了
My wounds must be so deeply rooted…
我为他们做了这些 但还是没有痊愈
they still haven’t healed despite all this.
我猜他们痊愈时我就痊愈了
I guess I’ll heal when they heal.
有段时间我无法坦然面对死亡
There was a time I had great difficulty dealing with death.
我接受死亡的现实
I accept death as a reality…
但却难以抑制我对他们的思念
but I have difficulty dealing with the longing.
这就是死亡对我造成的困扰
That’s my problem with death.
现在我们得去分早餐了
Now we’ll go out to distribute the morning meal.
这是日常工作
This is our daily routine,
一周七天 包括周日
seven days a week, including Sundays.
等等宝贝 等等
Wait honey, wait.
过来 过来我的宝贝
Come, come my girl.
我的小宝贝们
My little darlings.
过来 我给你们带了吃的
Come, I’ve got your food!
本来有六十只 但过去两周里死了五只
There were sixty but five died in the last two weeks.
都是被癌症带走的
And it’s always cancer.
我们总说人会死于癌症 其实动物也会
We say it happens to people, but it happens to animals too.
我们吃同样的食物 喝同样的水
We eat and drink the same – the same food, the same water.
我们养了很多只猫
We’ve raised a lot of cats.
有些老去死亡 有几只被车碾过
Some grew old and died, quite a few got run over.
我们发现自己深爱的东西
We learned that something you love
总有一天会消失不见
can one day cease to exist.
我们学会了默默地接受
We adopted a sense of stoicism that way.
我们后院里有个猫咪墓地
We had a cat cemetery in the backyard.
我大哥和我会举办盛大的葬礼埋葬他们
My older brother and I would bury them with great ceremony.
因为我们在牛仔电影里看到过十字架
And because we’d see crosses in cowboy movies
就像《黄金三镖客》的最后一幕
like that last scene in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
我们觉得它们看起来很不错
we thought they looked impressive.
我们不是基♥督♥教♥徒♥
We’re not Christian,
但它们在电影里看起来很酷
but they look cool in movies
因为我们不会雕刻小墓碑
and because we weren’t about to engrave tiny gravestones
所以我们会用树枝为他们做十字架
we’d make crosses out of twigs.
有一天 父亲看到十字架后吓坏了
Then one day our father saw us and freaked out over the crosses.
立马把我们送去了古♥兰♥经♥学校
Immediately sent us to Qur’an school
这样我们就不会变成基♥督♥教♥徒♥
so that we wouldn’t suddenly turn Christian.
我们跟他说完全不用担心
We told him not to worry, obviously.
如果没有猫
If I hadn’t had cats,
我将会经历一个糟糕的童年
I would’ve had a very troubled childhood
因为仅与人交流互动是不够的
because interacting only with people is not enough…
和成年人交流也会很困难
and especially difficult with grown-ups.
我喜欢在复古商店里闲逛的猫
I love cats who hang out in vintage stores,
书本的香味
“Hmm the smell of paper”…
洋溢于旧唱片间
stretching out among old LPs.
在我素描时 她像一只店里的猫
It’s especially satisfying when I’m sketching
睡在一个抽屉里 让人感到十分愉悦
she sleeps in the drawer like a vintage store cat.
我偶尔去看一下抽屉
I check the drawer once in a while…
好吧 她还睡着 然后我继续工作
“OK, she’s still asleep”… And I carry on working.
因为作画是非常孤独的工作
Because drawing is such isolating work,
一只熟睡的猫很能给你带来安慰
a sleeping cat can really give you comfort.
他们任何不满的行为
Any ungrateful behavior
其实都是真诚的表现
on their part is really an act of sincerity.
他们不需要道歉
They don’t need to apologize.
我想有些人期望从猫那里得到些什么
I guess there are people who expect that from a cat.
「我给你食物 但你都不愿坐在我腿上」
“I gave you all that food and you won’t even sit on my lap.”
一种期望付出能有所回报的关系
A relationship where they expect a return on an investment.
吉汉吉尔的山脚下
Down the hill in Cihangir,
在奥斯曼帝国时代曾有一个大港口
there used to be a big harbor during the Ottoman era.
挪威和其他地方的船只会载货而来
Ships from Norway and elsewhere would come with cargo.
水手们会在船上养猫来抵御老鼠
Sailors would keep cats on board to fend off rats.
在船只卸货的时候 猫会下船
As cargo was being unloaded, cats would get off the boat
想着他们终于登上陆地了
thinking that they’d made it to land.
他们跋涉爬上山顶
And trek up to the top of the hill.
之后 他们错过了登船
Later, they’d miss the boat
在吉汉吉尔开始新的生活
and begin life here in Cihangir.
现在 这个地方有各种品种的猫
Now, there are countless kinds of cats in this area.
挪威猫和来自世界各地的猫
Norwegian cats, and cats from all over the world.
种类十分繁多
There’s a lot of variety.
后来 这里建成了
Later, the first Ottoman
奥斯曼帝国第一条下水道系统
sewers were built in this part of the city.
巨大的老鼠威胁着居民
And giant rats would terrorize residents.
这就是每家每户都有一只猫的原因
That’s why every house had a cat.
为了抵御下水道里巨大的老鼠
To fend off the giant sewer rats.
他第一次出现时我们叫他「牛奶小子」
His name was “Milkman” when he first showed up.
他会到处喝牛奶
He’d come around to drink milk and leave.
他只有一岁 还没有绝育
He was barely a year old. He hadn’t been neutered.
后来他每次出现都伤痕累累
Then he started showing up all beat up.
他会因跟其他公猫抢母猫而打架
He got into fights with other males over the ladies.
他有一次被狠狠踢了一脚 腿都脱臼了
He got kicked one time and showed up with a dislocated leg.
他还被一只狗咬得屁♥股♥上多了一个洞
He was bitten by a dog and showed up with a hole in his butt.
但绝不会破坏他的心情 他总是很快乐
But it never ruins his mood – he’s always happy.
我的邻居开始叫他乐天派
A neighbor of mine started calling him carefree, happy-go-lucky.
所以名字就这么定了 乐天派
So the name Gamsiz – carefree – stuck.
我们的兽医伊丽芙觉得乐天派爱上她了

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