The Young Man and the Cat

    Once upon a time there was a sleek¹ tabby cat．She lived in a small house in the town with a handsome young man．He was always very kind to her．He gave her milk to drink and pieces of fresh fish and meat to eat．He let her play in the garden during the day and at night she was allowed to come and go as she pleased，for he always left a little window by the back door open for her．In return she kept the house clear of mice and rats．She sat on his knees in the evenings and she woke him up purring at the foot of his bed in the mornings．The young man lived quite alone except for the cat．He had no mother or father，no brothers or sisters，and hardly any friends．“You are my only companion，”he used to say to the cat in the evenings as they sat by the fire．“Without you I should die of loneliness in this unfriendly town．”
    “I wish I could talk to him，”thought the cat．“I wish I could tell him how much I love him．if only I were a human being I am sure I could make him love me too．Then he would never be lonely again．”
    All she could do，however，was purr and rub² her soft nose affectionately against his sleeve³．Now it happened that Venus⁴，the goddess of love，was looking down into the young man's house at that very moment，wondering what to do about him．She listened to the cat's secret thoughts．“I wonder，”she said to herself，“I wonder．Yes，I shall try it．”
    That night while the cat was out hunting in the garden，Venus cast⁵ a strong spell on her and changed her into a human being in the morning when the young man opened the back door to see where hislittle cat had run he found a beautiful young girl standing⁶ there．The young man soon fell in love with the gentle girl he had found in his garden．He had never seen anyone quite like her．Her hair was in all colours of brown and gold and her large eyes looked sometimes green and sometimes yellow．She had long，pointed fingers and toes and she moved so lightly and easily that she seemed to float over the ground．Strangely，she seemed to know her way around the town al-though he was sure he had never seen her there before．After a very short time they were married．The young man and the girl were very happy together．During the day while he was at work she cleaned the house，cooked the dinner and mended his clothes．In the evenings they sat in front of the fire and talked about all the things they would do together．From time to time the young man would say：
    “If only you had seen my funny little cat．Before you came，she was all I had．I know you would have loved her too．”
    The girl would smile to herself，remembering faintly⁷ that there had been other times that the man knew nothing about．One evening，a year after their wedding，Venus looked down at them again．“It looks successful，”she said，“but I wonder whether it wil last．I think it is time I gave her a test．”
    Later that night，just as the girl and the young man were falling asleep，Venus set a small，frightened mouse down in the corner of their bedroom it pattered round the skirting board for a minute，trying to find a hole to escape down．Then it gave a tiny squeak⁸．At once the girl sat straight up in bed，her nose twitching，her eyes opening wide in the darkness．Then the mouse made a sudden⁹ dash，across the car-pet．The girl was out of bed in a flash．Her long fingers pounced¹⁰ on themouse and she raised it eagerly to her mouth．As the young man watched in horror¹¹ from the bed there was as mall flash and a high-pitched hissing¹² noise．When he could see properly again the girl had vanished¹³．In her place stood a small tabby cat．The mouse had disappeared．The little cat shook her head a little，as if she did not quite know what had happened to her．Then with one spring she was on the bed beside him，rubbing her nose against his chest¹⁴．“I don't know what happened，”said the young man，“but I'm glad to see you back again，little cat．”
    You can't change your own nature．Exercises：
    回答下列问题：
    ① Who lived with the young man？
    ② What did Venus do to the cat？
    ③ How did the young man and the girl get on with each other？
    ④ What do you learn from the story？

1 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

2 rub   

n.摩擦，困难，障碍，难点，磨损处；vt.擦，搓，摩擦，惹怒；vi.摩擦，擦破

参考例句：

• Don't let the wire rub up against the pipe.别让电线碰到管子上。
• He used to rub up against many famous movie stars.他过去经常偶然碰到许多有名的影星。

3 sleeve   

n.袖子，袖套

参考例句：

• Will you please mend the sleeve of my blouse?请你把我衬衣的袖子补一下好吗？
• He pulled my sleeve, attracted my attention in this way.他扯了扯我的衣袖以引起我的注意。

4 Venus   

n.金星；维纳斯(罗马神话中爱与美的女神)

参考例句：

• Venus is of the same size as Earth.金星跟地球差不多一样大。
• Venus was a goddess worshiped by the Romans.维纳斯是罗马人所崇拜的女神。

5 cast   

vt./vi.(cast,cast)投掷；投射；抛

参考例句：

• You can cast your vote at the local polling station.你可以在当地的投票站投票。
• He cast off fear and decided to make a try.他去掉害怕心理，决定试一试。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 faintly   

adv.微弱地；隐约地；虚弱地；有点

参考例句：

• Her voice was faintly mocking. 她的声音略带一丝嘲弄。
• A beginning beard faintly shadowed his chin and lean cheeks. 从他的下巴和瘦削的面颊上可以依稀看到刚长出来的胡须。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

9 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

10 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 horror   

n.惊骇，恐怖，惨事，极端厌恶

参考例句：

• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation.公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。
• The thought of working nights fills me with abject horror.一想到要夜间工作我就觉得惨兮兮的。

12 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

13 vanished   

adj.消失了的v.消失( vanish的过去式和过去分词 )；突然不见；不复存在；绝迹

参考例句：

• He walked through—and vanished. Poof! Like that. 他走了过去，然后就嗖的一下子不见了。
• The magician vanished in a puff of smoke. 魔术师在一股烟雾中突然不见了。

14 chest   

n.胸，大箱子，金库，资金，一箱，密封室，衣橱

参考例句：

• The bear's chest is hairy.那只熊的胸部毛茸茸的。
• Mother has a pain in her chest.母亲胸口疼.。