2 That really horrible cat

CHAPTER TWO That really horrible cat This is Princess Buttons. She was a cat. A really horrible cat. The story goes that a few years ago, Princess Buttons lived in a huge mansion. Her owner was a rich old lady who wore very fancy clothes, even if she was just going to the corner shop to buy some of the posh cat food her pampered pet liked. Princess Buttons went everywhere with her, carried around in a large purple handbag so that she never got her precious paws dirty. Her life was perfect.

第二章那只可怕的猫这是巴顿公主。 她是一只猫。一只非常可怕的猫。 故事是这样的：几年前，巴顿公主住在一座巨大的豪宅里。 她的主人是一位富有的老太太，她穿着非常华丽的衣服，即使她只是去街角的商店买一些她娇生惯养的宠物喜欢的高档猫粮。 巴顿公主走到哪里都跟着她，随身带着一个紫色的大手提包，这样她珍贵的爪子就不会弄脏。 她的生活是完美的。

But then one day, the old lady choked on a gherkin and was taken away in an ambulance. Princess Buttons lay on the satin sheets of the old lady's bed and yowled. Many days passed, and eventually she knew in her bones that the old lady was never coming back. Princess Buttons would have to make her own way in the big, bad world. She roamed the streets, hungry and lost. But then one day she sniffed a waft of something fabulous. 'Gnnnnnnnnf!' said Princess Buttons, and she licked her lips. She trotted towards the smell, expecting to see a grand department store, or maybe a fancy restaurant. But instead she found…

但是有一天，老太太被小黄瓜噎住了，被救护车带走了。 巴顿公主躺在老太太床上的缎子床单上嚎啕大哭。 许多天过去了，最后她从骨子里知道老太太再也不会回来了。 巴顿公主必须在这个大而坏的世界里自力更生。 她在街上游荡，又饿又迷路。 但有一天，她闻到了一股奇妙的气味。 “Gnnnnnnnnf !巴顿公主说着，舔了舔嘴唇。 她朝着气味弥漫的地方小跑着，以为会看到一家大百货公司，或者一家高档餐厅。 但她却发现……

SPEEDY CHiCKEN Well. It certainly wasn't fancy, but to Princess Buttons it looked like heaven. She darted down the alley next to the shop, her tummy rumbling. She scaled the brick wall, tumbled over the top and saw…

好吧。它当然不花哨，但对巴顿公主来说，它看起来像天堂。 她冲进商店旁边的小巷，肚子咕咕叫着。 她爬上砖墙，翻了下去，看到了……

Foxes. So many foxes. They were tearing apart the Speedy Chicken bin bags that had been piled high throughout the day, snaffling all the greasy, gooey food inside. Princess Buttons could just about make out three massive bins, each the size of a small car. Cats, rats, pigeons and mice were hopping around too, chewing on bits of gristle and half-eaten pitta bread.

狐狸。这么多狐狸。他们撕开了一整天堆得高高的快手鸡垃圾袋，狼吞虎咽地吃着里面油腻粘稠的食物。 巴顿公主只能辨认出三个巨大的箱子，每个都有一辆小汽车那么大。 猫、老鼠、鸽子和老鼠也跳来跳去，咀嚼着软骨碎片和吃了一半的皮塔饼。

Princess Buttons skulked along the ground and pounced on some leftover fried chicken. Oh, it was delicious! She'd never tasted anything like it, and she gnawed the bones clean in seconds. 'Ooh, may I?' said another cat, pointing at the leftover bones. 'What?' snapped Princess Buttons. 'Don't you want the bones?' asked the cat gently. 'No,' said Princess Buttons, who was used to eating soft, delicate morsels of meat. 'Great!' said the other cat, who began to suck and chew on the chicken bones. 'You must be new around here,' he said cheerfully, after a while. 'I'm Bingo! Nice to meet you. Word of advice– you don't wanna let anything go to waste. There's just about enough food to go around. But only just. There's a system, you see.' And he returned to his bone-crunching.

巴顿公主在地上偷偷摸摸，扑向一些剩下的炸鸡。 哦，太好吃了！她从来没有吃过这样的东西，她几秒钟就把骨头啃干净了。 “哦，我可以吗？”另一只猫指着剩下的骨头说。 “什么?巴顿公主厉声说。 “你不想要骨头吗？”猫温柔地问。 “不，”巴顿公主说，她已经习惯了吃柔软、精致的小块肉。 “太好了!另一只猫说，它开始吮吸和咀嚼鸡骨头。 “你一定是新来的，”过了一会儿，他高兴地说。 “我是宾果!见到你很高兴。 给你个建议，你不想浪费任何东西。 食物刚好够大家吃。 但只是刚刚好。你看，这是有制度的。”然后他又开始啃骨头了。

Princess Buttons frowned. 'What do you mean… "a system"?' she asked. 'Well,' said Bingo, licking his lips. 'It's simple really. There are three bins. The foxes eat out of the blue one, the cats have the green one, and the rats, pigeons, mice and everyone else have the red one.' Princess Buttons wrinkled her nose. 'You… you mean you share?' she said, barely managing to get the word out. 'MMmm-hmm!' nodded Bingo. Princess Buttons felt her hackles rising. SHARE? She had never had to share a thing in her life. She growled and wrinkled her nose. It all sounded VERY WRONG. Something would have to be done.

巴顿公主皱起了眉头。“你说什么……‘一个体系’？”她问。 “嗯，”宾果舔着嘴唇说。 “这真的很简单。有三个箱子。 狐狸吃蓝色的那个，猫吃绿色的那个，老鼠、鸽子、老鼠和其他动物吃红色的那个。”巴顿公主皱起了鼻子。 “你……你是说你分担？”她说，勉强把话说出去。 “MMmm-hmm !宾果点点头。巴顿公主感到她的汗毛直竖。 分享吗?她一生中从来没有和别人分享过任何东西。 她咆哮着皱起鼻子。 这一切听起来都非常错误。 必须做点什么。