恶魔猫（初级）

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Just go to easystoriesinenglish.com/supportsupport to start your seven day free trial.

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If you're listening on apple podcasts just click try free at the top of the episode list to join.

接下来，让我们听听赞助商的消息。

And now a word from our sponsors.

万圣节那天你一般怎么过？

What do you do on Halloween?

会出门吗？

Go out?

去挨家挨户要糖果吗？

Go trick or treating?

看恐怖片吗？

Watch scary films?

你大概不会去钓鱼吧。

You probably don't go fishing.

在今天的故事里，我们会弄清楚为什么万圣节晚上去钓鱼是个糟糕的主意。

And in today's story, we will learn exactly why going fishing on Halloween night is a bad idea.

继续听，提升你的英语。

Keep listening to learn English.

你好，亲爱的英语学习者们，欢迎收听EasyStoriesInEnglish，这个帮你把英语从一般提升到不错、从不错提升到出色的播客。

Hello my lovely learners and welcome to EasyStoriesInEnglish, the podcast that will take your English from okay to good and from good to great.

我是你们的主持人阿里尔·古德贝迪。

I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show.

今天这个初级故事叫《恶魔猫》。

Today's beginner level story is called The Demon Cats.

和往常一样，文本稿和PDF都可以在easystoriesinenglish.com上找到，链接在简介里。

As always, the transcript and PDF are available at easystoriesinenglish.com and you can find the link to that in the description.

我录这期的时候，万圣节刚过，这时候讲个恐怖故事再合适不过了。

As I'm recording this, Halloween has just been, so what better time for a scary story.

我说万圣节，其实我工作的学校管它叫‘南瓜日’，因为我们是双语学校，遵循中国课程，不能推广西方宗教节日。

I say Halloween, but at my school where I work, we call it Pumpkin Day Because we are a bilingual school and we follow the Chinese curriculum, we are not allowed to promote Western religious festivals.

所以我们不过圣诞节，也不过万圣节，但我们会过南瓜日。

So we don't celebrate Christmas and we don't celebrate Halloween, but we do celebrate Pumpkin Day.

我本来想跟你们说说南瓜日那天都干些什么，但我这期是提前录的，所以现在还不知道呢。

Now I wish I could tell you what happens on Pumpkin Day, but I am recording this episode in advance, so I don't know yet.

也许我会在通讯稿里，或者下一期播客里跟你们分享。

Maybe I'll talk about it on the newsletter or in the next episode of the podcast.

总之，今天这期讲的是个万圣节的恐怖故事。

Anyway, today's episode is a scary Halloween story.

这个故事改编自汤姆·缪尔的《苏格兰沿海民间故事集》。

It is an adaptation from the book Scottish Folktales of Coast and Sea by Tom Muir.

今年我在播客里还讲过这本书里的其他故事。

I've done some other stories from that book this year on the podcast.

所以这次你们又会听到一些苏格兰口音，就是英国本土北部地区的口音。

So once again, you can expect some Scottish accents as in accents from Scotland, the northern part of the British Mainland.

希望你们喜欢，也能听懂。

Hopefully, you enjoy them and you are able to understand them.

好了。

Okay.

我先解释一下今天故事里的一些词。

I'll just explain some words that are in today's story.

恶魔，d-e-m-o-n，是一种在各种宗教里都出现的怪物。

A demon, d e m o n, is a type of monster that is found in all religions.

恶魔通常住在地下或者地狱里，喜欢伤害人类。

Demons usually live underground or in hell, and they like to hurt humans.

有些故事里，人可以召唤恶魔。

In some stories, people can summon demons.

他们能把恶魔从地狱里召唤出来。

They can call the demons up from hell.

然后恶魔会为召唤他们的人施展魔法。

Then the demons use magic for the person who summoned them.

在基督教里，撒旦或魔鬼是恶魔的首领。

In Christianity, Satan or the devil is the king of the demons.

这个故事里用了一个叫‘Auld Clootie’的名字，这是苏格兰人对魔鬼的叫法。

In this story, the name Auld Clootie is used, which is a Scottish way of referring to the devil.

渔民就是靠捕鱼为生的人。

A fisherman is someone who catches fish.

渔民在船上工作，用渔网捕捞鱼类。

Fishermen work in boats and they use nets to catch fish.

过去当渔民非常危险，但现在他们用很多机械设备，捕鱼也轻松多了。

Being a fisherman used to be very dangerous, but now fishermen use lots of machinery that makes catching fish easier.

迷信是指那些不真实却广为流传的信念。

Superstitions, s u p e r s t I t I o n s, are beliefs that are not real, but they are very popular.

每个文化里都有迷信。

You find superstitions in all cultures.

比如在英国，人们相信不能踩到路上的裂缝。

For example in The UK we have a superstition that you shouldn't step on a crack in the road.

还有种说法是，打碎镜子会带来七年霉运，或者看到黑猫也会倒霉。

Another superstition is that if you break a mirror you'll have seven years bad luck, or if you see a black cat, you'll have bad luck.

现在的人比过去少信迷信了，因为科学能证明这些说法并不成立。

These days people are less superstitious than in the past because we can use science to show that the superstitions aren't true.

动物的毛就是它身上的毛发。

An animal's fur f u r is its hair.

如果你养了长毛的狗或猫，就得经常吸尘，清理掉满地的毛。

If you have a dog or a cat with long fur, you'll have to hoover vacuum a lot to clean up all the fur.

当某样东西消失或不复存在时，我们就说它消失了。

When something goes away or stops being, it disappears.

比如，有些人能用魔法让自己凭空消失。

For example, some people can use magic to make themselves disappear.

如果你在躲避危险的动物，你肯定希望突然消失。

If you are hiding from a dangerous animal, you probably want to disappear.

要是你在我面前放一块巧克力蛋糕，它很快就会不见踪影。

If you put a chocolate cake in front of me, it will quickly disappear.

骨头是我们体内坚硬的白色结构。

Bones are hard white things that we have inside our bodies.

骨头藏在皮肤和肌肉下面。

Bones are beneath our skin and muscles.

如果你撞得特别重，可能会把骨头撞断。

If you hit yourself very hard, you might break a bone.

饮食中要摄入足够的钙，因为钙能让骨头更健康、更结实。

It's important to have calcium in your diet as calcium makes your bones healthy and strong.

当有人把刀插进某物时，就是在刺它。

When someone puts a knife into something, they stab it.

被刺伤非常危险，可能很快就会丧命。

Getting stabbed is very dangerous as you can quickly die from it.

古罗马的皇帝尤利乌斯·凯撒被人刺了二十三刀，最终丧命。

Julius Caesar, one of the emperors of ancient Rome, was stabbed 23 times and died.

你也可以用铅笔这种不太锋利的东西刺人，但照样会很疼。

You can also stab someone with something less sharp like a pencil, but it will still hurt.

抓挠是用指甲攻击，咬则是用牙齿攻击。

Scratching is attacking something with your nails, and biting is attacking something with your teeth.

猫喜欢抓人和咬人，所以养猫其实挺危险的。

Cats like to scratch and bite which can make having a cat quite dangerous.

要是被蚊子叮了，你肯定会忍不住想去抓。

If a mosquito bites you, you will want to scratch yourself.

你要是能咬到蚊子，那可真厉害。

If you bite a mosquito, well done.

这事儿太难做到了。

That's very hard to do.

它们跑得太快了。

They're fast.

神父是在教堂工作的男性。

A priest is a man who works at a church.

神父在教会里非常重要。

Priests are very important in the church.

神父会为众人朗读《圣经》，也会开导有信仰困惑的人。

Priests read to everyone from the Bible, and they talk to people who are having religious problems.

圣水是神父祝圣过的特殊水。

Holy water is special water that has been blessed by a priest.

简单说，神父把手放在水上，念一段祷文，水就变成了圣水。

Basically, the priest puts their hand over the holy water, says some special words, and then the water is considered holy or special.

圣水在宗教仪式中有多种用途，比如洗礼。

Holy water is used for various purposes in religion such as baptism.

如果遇到恶魔，朝它泼圣水，通常就能除掉它。

If you meet a demon, you should throw holy water on them as that usually kills them.

明白了。

Okay.

所以，认真听，好好享受吧。

So listen and enjoy.

恶魔猫的故事。

The demon cats.

从前有个渔夫，叫穆尔多·麦塔格特。

Once there was a fisherman called Murdo McTaggart.

穆尔多·麦塔格特住在苏格兰西部的一个小村庄里。

Murdo McTaggart lived in a small village in the West Of Scotland.

靠海讨生活的人特别迷信。

People who worked with the sea were very superstitious.

毕竟，大海随时可能夺走他们的性命。

After all, the sea could take their lives any day.

所以他们迷信，觉得只要遵守那些禁忌，或许就能多活几年。

So they were superstitious because they thought that if they followed the superstitions, they might live longer.

但穆尔多·麦塔格特一点也不迷信。

But Murdo McTaggart was not superstitious at all.

他认为这些迷信都太蠢了。

He thought superstitions were stupid.

穆多喜欢晚上钓鱼，因为很多鱼晚上会出来觅食。

Murdo liked fishing at night because many fish came out at night to eat.

大多数渔夫因为迷信不敢晚上出海，所以穆多就能在月光和星光下钓鱼，第二天早上把鱼拿到市场去卖。

Most fishermen would not fish at night because of their superstitions which meant Murdo could go and catch fish under the moon and the stars and then bring the fish to market to sell in the morning.

有一年万圣节，穆多晚上出去钓鱼。

One year at Halloween, Murdo went out to fish at night.

人们看见他出门，就说：穆多，万圣节晚上不能钓鱼。

People saw him leave and said, Murdo, you can't fish on Halloween.

万圣节是鬼魂和恶魔出没的夜晚。

Halloween is a night of ghosts and demons.

跟我们一起去教堂吧，那里安全。

Come to church with us where it's safe.

穆多说。

Said Murdo.

鬼魂和恶魔根本不存在。

Ghosts and demons aren't real.

我明天一早就去教堂。

I'll go to church in the morning.

于是穆尔多还是出海捕鱼了。

And Murdo went to fish.

但他本该听大家的话，因为那天晚上，恶魔真的在活动。

But he should have listened to the people because that night demons were at work.

穆尔多正在捕鱼时，天气突然变了。

While Murdo was fishing, the weather changed.

狂风大作，接着下起了雨。

A strong wind blew and it started to rain.

没过多久，天气太糟了，穆尔多只好返航上岸。

Soon the weather was too bad and Murdo had to go back to land.

他跑向一间小屋，那是渔夫们存放工具的地方。

He ran to a small house where the fishermen kept their things.

他坐在小屋里，等着雨停。

He would sit in the small house and wait for the rain to stop.

他生了堆小火，舒服地坐了下来。

He made a small fire and got comfortable.

穆尔多听着风声，忽然听到另一个声音。

As Murdo listened to the wind, he heard another sound.

小屋的门突然被推开，十二只黑猫冲了进来。

The door to the house suddenly opened and 12 black cats ran inside.

这些可不是普通的猫。

These were not any ordinary cats.

它们体型巨大，像恶魔一样，毛色黑得像深夜。

They were huge, like demons, and their fur was as black as the night.

最后，第十三只猫也进来了。

Finally, a thirteenth cat came inside.

这只猫比其他的都大，毛色红得像火焰。

The thirteenth cat was even bigger than the others, and its fur was red like fire.

门关上了，十三只猫围坐在火堆旁。

The door closed, and the 13 cats sat around the fire.

穆尔多吓得一句话也说不出来。

Murdo was so scared, he could not speak.

那些魔猫全都盯着他。

The demon cats all watched him.

最后，那只红猫开口了。

Finally, the red cat spoke.

咱们干嘛这么安静？

Why are we sitting in silence?

来吧。

Come.

给穆尔多·麦塔格特唱首歌吧。

Let's sing a cue for Murdo McTaggart.

接着，猫群开始唱了起来。

And then the cats began to sing.

‘cumha’是一种哀歌。

A cumha is a funeral song.

猫们唱起了哀歌，可那歌声简直难听得要命。

The cats sang the cumha, but their singing was awful.

Murdo真想捂住耳朵。

And Murdo wanted to put his hands on his ears.

终于，猫们停了下来，全都盯着Murdo。

Finally, the cat stopped and they looked at Murdo.

好了，Murdo，”红猫说，“我们给你送了份大礼，现在你得付钱了。

Well now Murdo, said the red cat, we have sent you a lovely cure and now you must pay for it.

付钱？

Pay?

Murdo说。

Said Murdo.

我为什么要付钱？

Why should I pay?

我又没死，这也不是我的葬礼，我怎么付得起你们的报酬？

I'm not dead and it's not my funeral, and how can I pay you anyway?

哎呀，这个我也不太清楚，”红猫说，“不过唱歌真的会让人特别饿。

Oh, I don't know, said the red cat, but singing makes one very hungry.

穆尔多看了看那十二只黑猫，它们的眼睛里闪着饥饿的光。

Murdo looked at the 12 black cats, their eyes shone with hunger.

他环顾了一下屋子。

He looked around the house.

可他找不到任何能用来付给猫的东西。

He couldn't see anything that he could use to pay the cats.

他打开门，朝外面张望。

He opened the door and looked outside.

雨里坐着一只羊和一头老牛。

There, sitting in the rain, were a sheep and an old cow.

喏，拿去吧，”他说。

There, take that, he said.

穆尔多指着那只羊，十二只黑猫立刻冲了上去。

Murdo pointed to the sheep and the black cats ran.

它们扑向羊，那可怜的动物瞬间被黑毛淹没。

They jumped on the sheep and the poor animal disappeared under their black fur.

羊发出惨叫。

The sheep cried.

但几秒钟后，撕咬停了下来，猫们纷纷退开。

But a few seconds later, the buying stopped, and the cats moved away.

地上只剩下一堆白骨。

There was nothing left but a pile of bones.

猫们镇定地走回屋里，轻轻关上了门。

The cats calmly came back inside and shut the door behind them.

这一切发生得太快，穆尔多只能呆坐着旁观。

It all happened so quickly that Murdo could only sit and watch.

真美啊，红猫说。

How lovely, said the red cat.

来吧，咱们给穆尔多·麦克塔格特唱一首送行曲。

Come, let's sing a cue for Murdo McTaggart.

猫又唱了起来，这次唱得更难听了。

And the cats sang again, this time they sang even worse.

唱完之后，黑猫们全都盯着穆尔多，红猫开口了。

Afterwards, the black cats all looked at Murdo and the red cat spoke.

好了，穆尔多，我们给你唱了首动听的送行曲，现在该你付钱了。

Well now, Murdo, we have sung you a lovely cumha and now you must pay for it.

穆尔多打开门，指了指那头老牛。

Murdo opened the door and pointed to the old cow.

喏，拿去吧，他说。

There, take that, he said.

这次猫的动作更快了，毕竟这头牛年纪大，肉也不多。

This time the cats moved even more quickly as the cow was old and did not have much meat.

一分钟前还有一头牛在吃草，下一秒就只剩下一堆骨头了。

One minute there was a cow eating grass, and the next minute there was only a pile of bones.

穆尔多还没来得及动一下手指，猫们就回来了。

Before Murdo could even move a finger, the cats were back.

黑猫们又一次齐刷刷盯着穆尔多，那只红猫开口了。

Once more, the black cats all looked at Murdo and the red cat spoke.

来吧，咱们给穆尔多·麦塔格特唱一首库哈。

Come, let's sing a cumha for Murdo McTaggart.

猫们又唱了起来。

And the cats sang again.

这次可真是最糟的一回。

This was the worst time.

猫的歌声太难听了，穆尔多觉得自己快被活活憋死了。

The cat singing was so bad that Murdo thought he might die from that.

唱完之后，黑猫们再次盯着穆尔多，红猫开口了。

Afterwards, the black cats all looked at Murdo and the red cat spoke.

好了，穆尔多，我们刚给你唱了首动听的库哈，现在你该付钱了。

Well now, Murdo, we have sung you our lovely cumha and now you must pay for it.

穆尔多环顾四周。

Murdo looked around.

这次，他身上什么都没有了。

This time, there was nothing to give.

他心想，自己怕是要躺在这儿变成一堆骨头了，就在这时，外面传来一阵声响。

He thought that it would soon be his bones on the floor, but then he heard a sound outside.

他往外一看，发现是一只狗。

He looked and saw a dog.

那是一只年轻力壮、跑得飞快的狗。

It was a young dog that could run fast.

喏，给你了，他说。

There, take that, he said.

黑猫们立刻追了出去，可那狗比它们快得多。

The black cats ran after the dog, but the dog was faster than them.

穆尔多抓住机会，拔腿就跑。

Murdo took his chance and ran.

他朝树林跑去，想着能在树丛里躲起来。

He ran towards the woods thinking he could hide in the trees.

但没过多久，穆尔多就听见猫们在身后追他。

But soon, Murdo heard the cats running after him.

它们追不上那只狗，现在饿坏了，目标换成了他。

They were too slow to catch the dog and now they were hungry and wanted him.

你往哪儿跑啊，穆尔多？

Where are you running to, Murdo?

红猫问道。

Said the red cat.

不想跟朋友们一起吃顿饭吗？

Don't you want to share a meal with your friends?

穆尔多冲进树林，一瞬间就消失在黑暗里。

Murdo ran into the woods and for a minute he disappeared into the darkness.

趁猫们看不见他，他找到一棵高树，爬了上去。

While the cats couldn't see him, he found a tall tree and climbed it.

他这辈子从来没爬得这么快过。

He had never climbed so fast in his life.

猫们在漆黑的树林里四处张望，却怎么也找不到他。

The cats looked around the dark woods, and they couldn't find him.

这时，红猫走到那棵树下。

But then the red cat walked up to his tree.

他在这儿，红猫说。

He's here, said the red cat.

他躲到树上了。

He's hiding up a tree.

别上来！穆尔多大喊。

Don't come up here, shouted Murdo.

我是认真的。

I'm serious.

可有一只黑猫开始往树上爬。

But one of the black cats started to climb the tree.

等那只黑猫靠近时，穆尔多掏出刀，直接刺进了它的心脏。

When it came near, Murdo pulled out his knife and stabbed the black cat in the heart.

黑猫惨叫一声，当场倒地身亡。

The black cat screamed and fell down dead.

接着另一只黑猫爬上了树，穆尔多又用刀刺穿了它的心脏。

Then another black cat climbed the tree, and again, Murdo stabbed it in the heart with his knife.

第三只猫上来时，他也照样刺中了它的心脏。

A third cat came, and he stabbed that one in the heart too.

够了，红猫说。

Stop, said the red cat.

再这么下去，他会把我们全杀了。

If we keep on doing this, he will kill all of us.

如果我们上不去找他，那就把他引下来。

If we can't go to him, let's bring him to us.

攻击这棵树。

Attack the tree.

猫们开始攻击树根部分。

And the cats attacked the bottom of the tree.

它们又抓又咬这棵树。

They scratched and bit the tree.

穆尔多立刻明白了它们的意图。

Murdo understood what they were doing.

只要它们不停地啃咬树根，树就会倒下来。

If they scratched and bit the bottom of the tree enough, then the tree would fall down.

救命。

Help.

救命。

Help.

穆尔多大喊求救。

Murdo cried.

他知道村里人都在教堂里，但也许——只是也许——会有人听见他。

He knew all the people would be in the church, but maybe, just maybe, someone would hear him.

事实上，就在那时，教堂的礼拜刚结束，人们正陆续回家，神父走了出来，听到了穆尔多的呼救。

In fact, just at that time the church service was ending and people were going home, the priest came out and heard Murdo's cries.

我听见有人在喊救命，神父说。

I hear a man crying for help, said the priest.

他就在树林里。

He's in the woods.

别去，神父，有个人说，

Don't go, father, said a man.

今天是万圣节，那肯定是恶魔。

It is Halloween and surely it is a demon.

恶魔想让你进树林，好把你吃掉。

The demon wants you to go to the woods so it can eat you.

救命啊，穆尔多又喊了一声。

Help, cried Murdo again.

树开始倒了，猫们抓咬得越来越快。

The tree was starting to fall down, and the cats were scratching and biting faster and faster.

我得去，神父说，然后冲进了树林。

I must go, said the priest, and he ran into the woods.

神父刚到，树就开始倒下了。

Just as the priest arrived, the tree started to fall.

就在猫扑向可怜的老穆多·麦塔格特之前，神父掏出一瓶圣水。

But before the cats could jump on poor old Murdo McTaggart, the priest pulled out a bottle of holy water.

恶魔，快滚开！他大喊。

Begone, Satan, he cried.

神父把圣水泼向那些猫。

The priest threw the holy water on the cats.

猫尖叫一声，跳了起来，然后不动了。

The cat screamed and jumped in the air and then stopped moving.

你没事吧？

Are you alright?

神父一边帮穆多从树上下来，一边问。

Said the priest, helping Murdo off the tree.

哦，我没事，就是有点受惊了。

Oh, I'm fine, he said, just a little shaken.

他们去查看那些猫时，发现只剩下空荡荡的猫皮，里面连一根骨头都没有。

When they went to look at the cats, they found nothing but empty cat skins with no bones inside.

原来那些猫真的是恶魔变的。

So the cats had, in fact, been demons.

恶魔钻进了猫皮里，那只大红猫正是老克鲁蒂——撒旦本人。

The demons had climbed inside the catskins, and the big red cat had been none other than old Clootie, Satan himself.

我长记性了，

I've learned my lesson, said Murdo.

我再也不敢在万圣节去钓鱼了。

I'll never go fishing on Halloween again.

还不止这样。

And not only that.

从那天起，穆尔多成了个特别迷信的人。

From that day onward, Murdo was a superstitious man.

他严格遵守所有这些迷信习俗，幸运的是，他再也没见过老克鲁蒂。

He followed all the superstitions closely, and, fortunately, he never met Auld Clootie again.

故事结束。

The end.

希望这个故事让你听得既刺激又过瘾。如果你听了今天的音频，也可以去YouTube上看视频，直接搜索 EasyStoriesInEnglish 就行。

Well I hope that was a delightfully spooky story and remember if you listen to today's episode you can also watch it as a video on YouTube just go to EasyStoriesInEnglish on YouTube.

祝你今天愉快，我们下周再见。

Have a great day and I'll see you next week.

再见！

Bye!