Bell-Ringers　会敲钟的猫

When I was a child,my father took me to see some feats performed by some traveling cats.They were called“the bell-ringers,”and were respectively named Jet,Blanche,Tom,Mop,and Tib.Five bells were hung at regular intervals on a round hoop erected on a sort of stage.A rope was attached to each bell after the manner of church bells.At a given signal from their master,they all sprang to their feet,and at a second signal,each advanced to the ropes,and standing on their hind feet,stuck their front claws firmly into the ropes,which were in that part covered with worsted,or something of the kind,so as to give the claws a firmer hold.There was a moment's pause—then No.1 pulled his or her rope,and so sounded the largest bell;No.2 followed,then No.3,and so on,till a regular peal was rung with almost as much precision and spirit as though it were human hands instead of cats'claws that effected it.

小时候，爸爸带我去看游走江湖的猫表演节目。这些猫被叫作“敲钟人”，它们的名字分别是杰特、布朗、汤姆、忒布。台上立着一个铁环，上面均匀地挂着五个铃铛，每个铃铛上都系着一根绳子，就像教堂的钟那样。主人发出第一声信号，五只猫都跳起身，发出第二次信号，它们就跑到绳子跟前，后脚着地立起来，前爪紧紧地扣住绳子，抓手的那段绳子上缠着布或其他诸如此类的东西，这样就能抓紧了。稍事片刻，一号猫开始拉绳子，最大的那个铃铛就响起来了。接下来是二号猫，然后是三号，如此轮下去，直到铃铛有节奏地响起来，其准确与响亮的程度，如同出自人手，而不是猫爪。