英國一流浪貓讓癮君子變暢銷作家
A bright afternoon in London’s Covent, there is a cat wearing a jaunty Union Jack neckerchief. Surrounded by a crowd of 30 open-mouthed spectators, Bob, a tubby ginger tom, smiles beatifically.
一個陽光明媚的下午，倫敦西區卡文特花園一角，一羣人圍着鮑勃，他戴着一條色彩鮮豔的圍巾，站在一旁，滿臉愜意。Next to him, his owner James Bowen stands with his battered acoustic guitar, belting out a series of Oasis songs. Every now and then, he stops playing and bends down to Bob. ‘Come on, Bob, high-five!’ he says.
在他旁邊的是他的主人詹姆士•鮑恩正在用他破舊的吉他自彈自唱。一曲唱畢，鮑恩朝“鮑勃”彎下腰，說道：“過來，‘鮑勃’，擊掌。”Bob twitches his whiskers, raises a paw, and taps James’s outstretched hand. The crowd coos. A smart-looking lady in a pink dress and jacket pops a £20 note in the cap at Bob’s feet.
“鮑勃”抖抖鬍鬚，擡起一隻前爪，擊向鮑恩伸出的手掌。人羣中發出一陣喝彩。一名女士給“鮑勃”身前的帽子內放入20英鎊（約合人民幣200元）。
Bob, you see, is a star. He has his own Twitter account (with 12,000 followers), his own Facebook page, even his own fan group, the Street Cats, who send him photos, scrapbooks and presents.
鮑勃如今是一個明星。“鮑勃”在“推特”上有1.2萬“粉絲”，有自己的“臉譜”網頁。它還有“粉絲”羣——“流浪貓”，負責給它的社交網站網頁上傳圖片、更新文字等。Oh yes, he also has his own bestseller and is in ‘talks’ with a Hollywood agent about taking his story to the big screen. Well, it’s Bob’s owner, James, who is leading the discussions, but he’s in no doubt that he owes it all to his cat.
他還有自己的暢銷書，還被好萊塢製片商看重，待改編成電影，搬上大銀幕。鮑勃的所有者詹姆士促成了這場洽談，但是毫無疑問，他把這一切都歸功與他的貓。James’s book, A Street Cat Named Bob, a feelgood story that chronicles how the 33-year-old busker and one-time homeless heroin-addict turned his life around with the help of his cat, has sold more than 250,000 copies and been translated into 18 different languages.
詹姆士的《一隻名爲鮑勃的流浪貓》一書講述自己與“鮑勃”結緣、共同生活、合作街頭獻藝的故事，着重描述“鮑勃”如何幫助自己從一名癮君子變成積極向上、對生活充滿希望的青年。書籍上市後受到歡迎，銷量已經突破25萬，在英國非小說類書籍銷售榜中名列第一。這本書已被譯成18種語言。
