海明威故居的猫

文、图万兴坤 WAN Xingkun

躺在床上的六趾猫Six-toed cat in bed

来美国佛罗里达州，参观海明威故居是我的愿望。幸好儿子曾去过，给我当向导。五月下旬的一天，由他驾车，我们从迈阿密出发，沿着一号公路，一直向南前往基韦斯特岛，全程160英里，经过40多座桥，其中跨越一座七英里的长桥。每座桥都将相邻的小岛巧妙地连接在一起，就像一根长线将这些撒落在大海里的珍珠串了起来，优美的海岸线和亚热带风光在微风中舒展着，行驶在碧蓝的海洋之中。漫漫长堤，海天的浩瀚与旖旎景象尽收眼底。

海明威故居在基韦斯特岛一号公路接近终端的白头街。不远处是茫茫大西洋岸边，站在街上就能见到有个圆锥形的地标性景观，这是美国本土最南端，距古巴仅90英里。故居为白色和黄绿相间的房子，是典型的西班牙风格，被葱郁的树林包围着。庭院内鲜花簇拥，草地碧绿如毯。小桥流水的池塘，美人蕉、芭蕉、凤尾竹以及其它阔叶植物与椰树、棕榈树浑然一体。故居主体是一座二层白色小楼，木地板，有客厅、卧室、工作室、厨房等。房间宽敞明亮，拱门式造型，落地窗户。陈设的家具是海明威一家用过的原物。二楼展厅里，有两张海明威和夫人玛莎·盖尔红在抗战期间来中国的老照片，分别是在第七战区韶关考察和在重庆的留影。通过这次中国之行，海明威预言：日本法西斯发动的不义之战注定要失败；战后，共产党将取得中国政权。事实证明海明威的预言是正确的。

走进故居二楼卧室，一张宽大的双人床，床单、被子铺的整洁素雅。洁白的被罩上躺着两只黑色的猫，眯着眼睛，卷缩着身子，正在睡觉。两个枕头之间，横卧着一只黑猫，温顺可爱。后来发现，宅院随处有猫出入，书架上、沙发上也成为它们的领地。 我们顺着一条小路，拐进一个小花园，路面由不规则的石板铺就，一块块石板上刻有英文和年号，我感到有些疑惑。儿子告诉我，这个小院是猫的墓地。原来，自海明威入住以来，死亡的猫都埋在这里。每块石板，就是一个墓碑，上面刻有猫的名字和年龄。在花园的另一侧，靠近围墙的树木之间，搭有各式猫房，如微缩的小洋楼，坡面屋顶、圆圆的门洞，可谓猫的高档别墅。猫儿们在“小区”自由活动，有躺着的，有打闹的，有撒娇似的在地上翻滚，甚为有趣可爱。蹲在草坪上的一只猫，翘着一条腿，歪着脑袋，伸出舌头正在舔脚掌的肉垫，我仔细瞧了瞧，猫的爪子竞是六个脚趾。再观察其它猫，有许多六趾猫。猫身上皮毛的颜色各异——白的、黑的、灰的、花的、条纹的、咖啡色的，富有光泽。据工作人员介绍，海明威一家曾经在这里养过一只六趾猫。尽管基韦斯特终年见不到雪，但海明威给这只猫起名叫“白雪公主”。他的小儿子抱着“白雪公主”拍的合影照片，就挂在故居的墙上。现在这些猫大都是“白雪公主”的后代。海明威为何偏爱六趾猫？据说六趾猫能给航海带来好运，图个吉利。海明威是位爱冒险的硬汉，其代表作《老人与海》，忠实、勇敢地再现了他所处时代的艰辛和危难。出海、狩猎、看斗牛是家常便饭。传说猫有九条命，能逢凶化吉。在生活工作压力下，猫趣能让人精神上得以放松，产生愉悦之感，对海明威来说，或许能点燃激情，为其文学创作带来灵感。他还给每只猫以名人或明星命名。从海明威故居可以看出，主人爱猫、疼猫，精心饲养、呵护着猫。这里的猫是幸运的，它们享受着人类的珍爱和尊敬。

我也曾养过猫，猫是有灵性的，且通人性。其性格与狗不同，不那么张狂外露，相对比较内向、含蓄——每当我下班回家开门时，它就跑过来抱住我的腿，脑袋往你腿上蹭；看电视时，它跳到沙发上，钻入我的腋下，和我一起观看；我写字时，它跃上写字台，呆在桌旁看着。人与猫和谐共处，形影不离。海明威也许没想到他养的猫，至今一代接一代地繁衍着，快乐地生活着，并吸引着来自不同国度的游客。

基韦斯特小岛的灵气成就了海明威的写作。因为有海明威故居的存在，赋予基韦斯特浓厚的人文色彩。而且厚重的文化积淀与历史内涵，正是它的魅力所在。

海明威故居主楼Main building of the former residence

海明威的两个儿子，帕特里克和格雷戈里与六趾猫“白雪公主”合影Hemingway’s two sons, Patrick and Gregory took photo with the six-toed cat Snow White.

花园里的猫Cats in the garden

美国大陆最南端标志，距离古巴90英里The southernmost tip of the US continent, 90 miles from Cuba

It is my wish to visit the former residence of Hemingway in Florida of the US. Fortunately, my son had been there and played the role of my guide. One day in late May, setting off from Miami, he drove us along the route 1and headed south to the Key West Island for 160 miles and passed over 40 bridges in total, one of which spanned seven miles.Each bridge artfully connected the neighboring islands, like a long string of pearls that have been scattered in the sea. The beautiful coastline and subtropical scenery stretched in the breeze as if we were driving amid the blue ocean.Standing on the long dam, the great vastness of sky and ocean and pretty view were full of our eyes.Located at the Whitehead Street and nestled in the Key West Island, the former residence of Hemingway is by the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.A conical landmark, which is easily found from the view of the street, is the southernmost point of the United States, just 90 miles from Cuba.Painted in white and yellowgreen, the residence is of typical Spanish style surrounded by lush green trees. The garden in it is filled by flowers and the grass is as green as a blanket, featuringsmall bridges, ponds, cannas,plantain, fern leaf bamboo and other broad-leaved plants integrated with coconut and palm trees.The mainstay of the residence is a two-story white building with wooden floors, living room, bedroom, studio and kitchen. The rooms are bright and spacious with arched windows and floor-to-ceiling windows. All the displaying furniture is the originals used by the Hemingway's family. In the second-floor exhibition hall, there were two old photos of Hemingway and his wife, Martha Gellhorn, who had visited China during the War of Resistance Against Japanin 1941.One was about their inspection at Shaoguan in the Seventh War Zone and the other was taken in Chongqing.Through this trip to China, Hemingway predicted that the war of injustice launched by the Japanese fascist was doomed to failure. And the Communist Party will obtain the authority in China after the war.His prophecy is proved to be most correct.

Into the bedroom on the second floor,a large double bed was laid there withlinens, quiltswere clean and elegant. Two white cats were lying on the white quilt, squint and curled up sleeping.Between the two pillows lied a black cat, gentle and lovely.It was discovered later that there were cats in and out of the house, and the bookshelves and sofas became their territories.We followed a narrow path into a small garden. The road was paved with irregular slabs of stone, with English words and years engraved on each block, which has puzzled me. My son told me that this small courtyard was a cats’ cemetery. It turned out that since the arrival of Hemingway, the dead cats were buried here andeach slate was a tombstone with cat’s name and age on it.On the other side of the garden, there are all kinds of cat houses between the trees near the wall as if miniature houses, slope roof, round door hole and etc., which can be described as highend villas for cats. The cats are free to move in the "community",some were lying, some were playing with each other, and some rolling on the ground with much fun. It was very interesting and lovely. A cat was squatting on the lawn, stretching out a leg with head aslant, licking cute paws. But I found that its paw had six toes after careful look, and many here were six-toed cats. The color of the fur on the cat body is quite different, white, black,gray, floral, striped, brown and shiny.According to the staff there, the Hemingway family once raised a six-toed cat. Although there is no snow in Key West all year round, Hemingway gave the cat a name of "snowball".The picture of his youngest son’s holding the "snowball" was hung on the wall of the residence.Now these cats are mostly descendants of "snowball". Why did Hemingway prefer six-toed cats? It is said that this type of cat can bring good luck to navigation. Ernest Hemingway is a tough guy longing for adventure, whose masterpieceThe Old Man and the Seafaithfully and courageously reproduced the hardships and dangers of his times, such asgoing to the sea,hunting and watching bullfighting are commonplace. Cats are believed to have nine lives, and that they can make a good fortune. Under the pressure of life and work, cats can make people relaxed mentally, creating a sense of pleasure and preventing cardiovascular diseases.For Hemingway, it may ignite passion and bring inspiration for his literary creation. He also named each cat as a celebrity or star. From his former residence,it can be found that the owner loved cats with most careful care and protection. The cats here were fortunate,enjoying the cherishing and dignity by human beings, also widely considered an ecological civilization.

Once I have also raised a cat, which is a spiritual animal closely connected with human. Different from dog in terms of character,it is less intrusive and relatively introverted and implicit.Whenever I come home from work, it just runs over and hugs my legs, his head squatting on my lap. While watching TV, it jumps onto the sofa, gets into my arm and watches with me. When I am writing, it leaps to the desk and stays at the table. Human and cat live together in harmony whileremaininseparable.It might be beyond the thought of Hemingway that the cats he had raised have lived happily from generation to generation, attracting tourists from all over the world.

The glamor of Key West Island has made Hemingway's writing.Just because of the existence of Hemingway's former residence,it gives a great cultural tone to the island. Moreover, the profound cultural accumulation and historical connotation are exactly its charms.