《男孩杰的动物园》.docVIP

《男孩杰的动物园》 　　This cat was the size of a small horse， solid， massively chested， rippling2） powerfully about the shoulders. He was gold， and the pattern painted so carefully all over him， so utterly perfect， was the blackest black in the world. His paws were the size of footstools3）， his chest snow white. 　　Iapos；d seen him somewhere， his picture in a poster in London Street， over the river. He was jumping through a ring of fire and his mouth was open. A mythical beast. 　　I have no recall of one foot in front of the other， cobblestones4） under my feet. He drew me like honey draws a wasp5）. I had no fear. I came before the godly indifference of his face and looked into his clear yellow eyes. His nose was a slope of downy6） gold， his nostrils pink and moist as a pupapos；s. He raised his thick， white dotted lips and smiled， and his whiskers7） bloomed. 　　I became aware of my heart somewhere too high up， beating as if it was a little fist trying to get out. 　　Nothing in the world could have prevented me from lifting my hand and stroking8） the broad warm nap9） of his nose. Even now I feel how beautiful that touch was. Nothing had ever been so soft and clean. A ripple ran through his right shoulder as he raised his paw―bigger than my head―and lazily knocked me off my feet10）. It was like being felled11） by a cushion. I hit the ground but was not much hurt， only winded12）， and after that it was a dream. There was， I remember， much screaming and shouting， but from a distance， as if I was sinking underwater. The world turned upside down and went by me in a bright stream， the ground moved under me， my hair hung in my eyes. There was a kind of joy in me， I do know that―and nothing that could go by the name of fear， only a wildness. I was in his jaws13）. His breath burned the back of my neck. My bare toes trailed14）， hurting distantly. I could see his feet， tawny15） orange with white toes， pacing the ground away， gentle as feathers. 　　I remember swimming up through wild water