古时候，有一个人非常厌恶家里的老鼠。他不惜代价，总算买到了一只好猫。

In the past, a man was disgusted with the rats in his house. So he spared no expense to get a good cat.

他想，应该让这只猫吃得饱饱的，把它养得好好的。于是，他每天用肥美而又可口的鱼和肉喂它，让它睡在柔软的毛毯上。

He thought he should let the cat eat its fill and keep it well. So he fed the cat with plenty of delicious fish and meat every day and let it sleep on a soft woolen blanket.

猫每天吃得很饱，养得很肥，日子也过得很舒服。谁知道，这样一来，猫再也不去捕捉老鼠了。更奇怪的是，这只猫后来索性与老鼠交上了朋友，它们和平共处，一起玩耍，老鼠在他家里闹得越来越凶了。

The cat was fed well. It grew fat and lived comfortably. Who would know that in this way the cat would no longer catch rats. What was even stranger was that the cat simply made friends with the rats. They coexisted peacefully and even played together. Thus the rats made more and more trouble in the house.

从此，他不再养猫了。他气呼呼地告诉别人说：

Since then, the man no longer kept any cats. He said disappointedly to his friend:

“世界上，实在连一只好猫也找不到！”

“As a matter of fact, no good cat can be found in the world.”

*选自清朝嘉庆年间（公元1796—1820年）乐钧的《耳食录》

* Selected from the book Er Shi Lu (Notes on Believing What Is Heard) by Yue Jun in the years of Jia Qing (1796 —1820 A.D.) of the Qing Dynasty

【生词与短语 New Words & Expressions】

1.世无好猫 [shì wú hǎo māo]  No Good Cat in the World

2.肥美 [féi měi]  a. rich; plenty of

3.可口 [kě kǒu]  a. delicious

4.不惜代价 [bù xī dài jià]  (idiom) spare no expense

5.喂 [wèi]  v. feed

6.柔软 [róu ruǎn]  a. soft

7.毛毯 [máo tǎn]  n. woolen blanket

8.索性 [suǒ xìng ]  ad. simply

9.和平共处 [hé píng gòng chǔ]  (idiom) coexist peacefully