เรื่องแปลกประหลาดเหลือเชื่อ
ในที่สุด ทุกคนในบ้านต่างเรียกเจ้าแมวลายสีเทาตามชื่อที่ตนพอใจ
An Incredible story
When we were certain that nobody would come and claim the grey tabby that had strayed into our family on my birthday, we decided to give him a name. Dad proposed that we call him Grey, the name we had used earlier. But Mom disagreed. She preferred a cutesier name, such as Tabby, Learn Tail, or Aristocat. I didn’t know how my mother could come up with such weird names! I wanted to call him ‘Gift’ or ‘Present’ since he came to me on my birthday.
We could not agree. So Dad called my cat Grey. Mom temporarily named him Tabby until she could think of something better. And I called him Gift.
We all agreed that our grey tabby was very intelligent because regardless of what name we called him the cat always ran up to the callers.
Das was the first to get up in the morning, so he was the one who gave the cat his morning milk.
“Grey, Grey. Milk is ready,” Dad shouted. The grey tabby jumped right out of his wicker basket bed in the living room and ran straight to the kitchen.
“Tabby, Tabby. Come and eat your dinner.” At night Mom mixed rice with boiled mackerel in a plastic plate, and placed it next to the refrigerator. Suddenly the grey tabby sped from wherever he was, darted through the kitchen door and ate the fish. Mom tried her best to mash the fish meat and blend it with the rice. But Mom’s clever Tabby tried his best too, to pick out and eat only the fish, leaving the rice.
As soon as I arrived home from school, I called out “Gift,” and whistled a signal. Gift streaked up to me and rubbed against my leg.
But one evening the grey tabby almost gave me a heart attack.
I was reading a comic book when Gift jumped up on my lap and said to me,
‘My name is Mox.’
“Y-you… you… c-cam speak!” I stammered with shock and astonishment. Soon I realized that my ear wasn’t picking up a cat voice — I was hearing its voice in my mind.
‘Yes, I communicate with you through brain waves, not through sound waves.’
The cat could read my mind!
‘Yes, I can read your mind.’
I must be crazy! The cat can speak! The cat can read my mind! What kind of cat can do these things? …Unless it was a dream, I must have been crazy.
‘You are not crazy. I am Mox, the Wonder Cat.’
The grey cat stretched his neck and purred softly like an ordinary cat.
“Mox…the wonder cat,” I spoke aloud.
‘That’s right. I had been trying to communicate with you for several days. I finally succeeded today, after adjusting my brain wavelength to fit yours. Now we can communicate.’
“Wow! So you can also talk to Mom and Dad.” I was still speaking through my mouth since I was not accustomed to using brain waves.
‘Sorry. I can’t communicate with them yet. I haven’t been able to adjust to right wavelength yet’
“Are you an alien cat?”
‘I have no idea. I have no data on this topic.’
“What?” I was puzzled.
‘I am Mox, the Wonder Cat.’
‘Yes, yes. I know. You are Mox, the Wonder Cat. But where are you from? Where were you born?” I tried to find out.
‘I have no idea. I have no data on that topic.’
“What else do you remember from before you came to live with me?”
‘I have no idea. I have no data on this topic.’
Oh! I had the first alien cat, but it had to have amnesia!
Accustomed (adj.) (แอคคัส ทัมด) ชิน
Amnesia (n.) (แอมนี เซีย) อาการหลงลืม, ความจำเสื่อม
Astonishmet (n.) (แอสทอ นิชเมนท) ประหลาดใจ,ตกใจ
Blend (v.) (เบลนด) ผสมกัน,คลุกให้เข้ากัน
Claim (v.) (เคลม) อ้างสิทธิ์, แสดงตัวว่าเป็นเจ้าของ
Cutesy (adj.) (คิว ซี) น่ารักน่าเอ็นดู
Dart (v.) (ดาร์ท) พุ่ง,เผ่น, กระโจน
Disagree (v.) (ดิสอะกรี) ไม่เห็นด้วย
Heart attack (n.) (ฮาร์ท แอทแท็ค) อาการหัวใจวาย
Insist (v.) (อินซิสท) ยืนยัน
Mash (v.) (แมช) บด, บี้, ป่น
Propose (v.) (โพรโพส) เสนอ
Regardless (adv.) (ริการ์ด เลส) แม้ว่า, โดยไม่คำนึงถึงว่า…
Stammer (v.) (สแตม เมอร์) พูดติดอ่าง, พูดตะกุกตะกัก
Stray (v.) (สเตร) หลงทาง, (สัตว์) หลงมา
Streak (v.) (สตรีค) พุ่งฉิว
Stun (v.) (สตัน) ทำให้ตกตะลึง, ทำให้อึ้งไป
Tabby (n.) (แท็บ บี) แมวลาย
Temporarily (adv.) (เทม โพเรริลี่) ชั่วคราว
Whistle (v.) (วิซ เซิล) ผิวปาก