海外文化:英美民俗 黑貓
【英文原文】
摘要：由於貓生性狡猾，且喜歡在夜間四處遊蕩，中世紀的歐洲人將它們與巫術與妖魔聯繫在一起，對它們懷有恐懼和仇視。
Throughout much of the Middle Ages, cats were feared and hated. Since they are very sly and in the habit of moving about in the darkness at night, people used to associate them with witches and the evil spirits. Cats were treated cruelly, and even burned together with witches. People used to believe that cats took away a baby's breath by magic. Even now when mothers see a cat near their baby, they take the cat away because they think that the cat often lies on the baby, and then the baby can't breathe and dies. It was a general belief that witches and evil spirits especially liked taking the form of a black cat. Because of this belief, black cats came gradually to be looked upon as the cause of misfortune and ill luck. A popular idea is that if people see a black cat crossing the road in front of them, something unfortunate will happen to them. Some superstitious people believe that killing the cats does not necessarily mean killing the witches, for a witch can take on the body of a cat for nine times. It is said that Napoleon saw a black cat before the battle of Waterloo. He lost the battle, and the British won. Probably for this reason, the black cat is unlucky on the continent, but in Britain, it is lucky.
【中文譯文】
由於貓生性狡猾，且喜歡在夜間四處遊蕩，中世紀的歐洲人將它們與巫術與妖魔聯繫在一起，對它們懷有恐懼和仇視。貓常受虐待，甚至與所謂的女巫一同被處以火刑。人們曾普遍認爲，貓能施魔法使嬰兒無法呼吸。甚至到了現代，當母親們看到貓在嬰兒附近，總要把貓抱走，她們擔心貓會臥在嬰兒的胸上，使嬰兒窒息而死。過去有一種普遍的迷信，認爲女巫和妖魔喜歡變化成黑貓。因此，人們逐漸認爲黑貓會帶來厄運。如果看到黑貓從前面的路上經過，通常會認爲有不幸事件即將發生。有人認爲殺死黑貓不一定意味着殺死了女巫，因爲女巫可以九次化爲貓。傳說有滑鐵盧戰役之前，拿破崙看見了黑貓，結果法國吃了敗仗，英國人打了勝仗。也許由於這一傳說，在英國，甚至有人將黑貓視爲吉利的動物。
題外話：若想形象地瞭解過去人們對黑貓的恐懼，可讀埃德加·愛倫·坡的短篇小說《黑貓》。故事中的黑貓給它的主人帶來一連串的厄運，十分恐怖。
