03-01-07-神秘及幻想故事集 [6]
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One night I arrived home late．I was very，very drunk．When Pluto saw me，he tried to run away from me，and this made me angry．I caught him by his neck and shook him．He，in his fright，bit me on the hand．At once，a wild，terrible anger filled me，and I could feel nothing except burning hate．Slowly I took a knife from my pocket，opened it，and then carefully cut out one of Pluto's eyes from its socket．I shake today as I write these words down．Every time I remember that day，I still feel sadness and pain．
When I woke up the next morning，I felt ashamed of what I had done．But this feeling was not strong enough to make me change my life．I continued to drink because it was too difficult for me to stop．Soon，I had forgotten what I had done．
As the months passed，Pluto got better．His empty eye socket still looked terrible，but at least he wasn't in pain any more．Not surprisingly，he used to run away from me when he saw me，frightened that I would hurt him again．At first I was sad to see him run away-an animal which had once so loved me．Then I began to feel a little angry．There is something strange about the human heart．We humans seem to like hurt－ing ourselves．Haven't we all，a hundred times，done something stupid or evil just because we know that we should not do it？It was because of this，this need to hurt myself，that I did this next evil thing…
One morning I woke，found a rope and calmly tied it round Pluto's neck．Then I hung the poor animal from a tree and left it there to die．I cried as I did this terrible thing．My face was wet with tears and my heart was black and heavy．But I killed it．I killed it because I knew it had loved me，because it hadn't hurt me，even because I knew that I was doing something terrible and wrong．
That same night we had a fire in our house．I was woken from my sleep by loud shouts of ‘Fire！’When I opened my eyes，I found that the fire had already reached the bedroom．My wife and I ran out of the house as fast as we could．Luckily we escaped death，but the house and almost everything in it was destroyed．
The next day I went back into the house and saw several people standing in a group，looking at a wall．It was the only wall of the house that was still standing after the fire．It was one of my bedroom walls，the one where the head of my bed had rested．As I came nearer to the wall I heard someone say，‘How strange！’and another person，‘That's impossible！’And then I saw it-a huge cat．Not a real cat，but the shape of a cat outlined in the white bedroom wall．It was as clear as a picture．I could even see a rope around the animal's neck．
I stood there in horror，too frightened to move．Then，slowly，I thought back to the night before．I had left the cat hanging from a tree，in the garden at the back of my house．When a neighbour had first noticed the fire，many people had run into the garden．One of them had probably cut the cat from the tree and thrown it through my open window，in order to wake me up．The cat's body had hit my bedroom wall and left its shape there，because the plaster on that wall was new and still soft．
Although I thought that this was a very reasonable explanation，the strange shape on the wall still worried me．I thought about the cat day and night．I began to feel sorry that I had killed it．I started walking around the streets at night looking at all the cats，to see if I could find another one like Pluto．
One night，I was drinking in my favourite bar when I suddenly noticed a large，black cat．I went up to it and touched it．It was very large-as large as Pluto had been．It also looked very like Pluto．Except for one thing．Pluto had been black all over，but this cat had a white mark on its front．
I touched the cat and he immediately lay down against my leg and seemed very friendly towards me．This，I decided，was the cat that I wanted．I offered the barman some money to buy the cat from him，but he said that the cat didn't belong to him．In fact，he had no idea where it had come from．
So I took the cat home．My wife liked it immediately，and it stayed with us from that day．But soon-I do not know why-the cat started to make me angry
One night I arrived home late．I was very，very drunk．When Pluto saw me，he tried to run away from me，and this made me angry．I caught him by his neck and shook him．He，in his fright，bit me on the hand．At once，a wild，terrible anger filled me，and I could feel nothing except burning hate．Slowly I took a knife from my pocket，opened it，and then carefully cut out one of Pluto's eyes from its socket．I shake today as I write these words down．Every time I remember that day，I still feel sadness and pain．
When I woke up the next morning，I felt ashamed of what I had done．But this feeling was not strong enough to make me change my life．I continued to drink because it was too difficult for me to stop．Soon，I had forgotten what I had done．
As the months passed，Pluto got better．His empty eye socket still looked terrible，but at least he wasn't in pain any more．Not surprisingly，he used to run away from me when he saw me，frightened that I would hurt him again．At first I was sad to see him run away-an animal which had once so loved me．Then I began to feel a little angry．There is something strange about the human heart．We humans seem to like hurt－ing ourselves．Haven't we all，a hundred times，done something stupid or evil just because we know that we should not do it？It was because of this，this need to hurt myself，that I did this next evil thing…
One morning I woke，found a rope and calmly tied it round Pluto's neck．Then I hung the poor animal from a tree and left it there to die．I cried as I did this terrible thing．My face was wet with tears and my heart was black and heavy．But I killed it．I killed it because I knew it had loved me，because it hadn't hurt me，even because I knew that I was doing something terrible and wrong．
That same night we had a fire in our house．I was woken from my sleep by loud shouts of ‘Fire！’When I opened my eyes，I found that the fire had already reached the bedroom．My wife and I ran out of the house as fast as we could．Luckily we escaped death，but the house and almost everything in it was destroyed．
The next day I went back into the house and saw several people standing in a group，looking at a wall．It was the only wall of the house that was still standing after the fire．It was one of my bedroom walls，the one where the head of my bed had rested．As I came nearer to the wall I heard someone say，‘How strange！’and another person，‘That's impossible！’And then I saw it-a huge cat．Not a real cat，but the shape of a cat outlined in the white bedroom wall．It was as clear as a picture．I could even see a rope around the animal's neck．
I stood there in horror，too frightened to move．Then，slowly，I thought back to the night before．I had left the cat hanging from a tree，in the garden at the back of my house．When a neighbour had first noticed the fire，many people had run into the garden．One of them had probably cut the cat from the tree and thrown it through my open window，in order to wake me up．The cat's body had hit my bedroom wall and left its shape there，because the plaster on that wall was new and still soft．
Although I thought that this was a very reasonable explanation，the strange shape on the wall still worried me．I thought about the cat day and night．I began to feel sorry that I had killed it．I started walking around the streets at night looking at all the cats，to see if I could find another one like Pluto．
One night，I was drinking in my favourite bar when I suddenly noticed a large，black cat．I went up to it and touched it．It was very large-as large as Pluto had been．It also looked very like Pluto．Except for one thing．Pluto had been black all over，but this cat had a white mark on its front．
I touched the cat and he immediately lay down against my leg and seemed very friendly towards me．This，I decided，was the cat that I wanted．I offered the barman some money to buy the cat from him，but he said that the cat didn't belong to him．In fact，he had no idea where it had come from．
So I took the cat home．My wife liked it immediately，and it stayed with us from that day．But soon-I do not know why-the cat started to make me angry