On May 27th, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck sank in a fierce firefight, leaving only 118 of her 2,200 crew members alive.

1941 年 5 月 27 日，德國戰艦俾斯麥號在一場激烈的交火中沉沒，2200 名船員中只有 118 名生還者。

But when a British destroyer came to collect the prisoners, they found an unexpected survivor: a black and white cat clinging to a floating plank.

當英國驅逐艦準備接收這些戰俘時，他們找到了一名意外的倖存者：一隻黑白色的貓緊抓著浮木。

For the next several months this cat hunted rats and raised British morale until a sudden torpedo strike shattered the hull and sank the ship.

接下來的幾個月，這隻貓捕殺老鼠，提升英國軍隊士氣，直到船隻被魚雷突襲擊沉。

But, miraculously, not the cat.

這隻貓居然神奇地活了下來。

Nicknamed "Unsinkable Sam," he rode to Gibraltar with the rescued crew and served as a ship cat on three more vessels, one of which also sank, before retiring to the Belfast Home for sailors.

牠被稱為「不會沉沒的山姆」，跟隨生還的船員坐船到直布羅陀，在另外三艘船隻上充當船貓，其中一艘船在回程至貝爾法斯特市時也沉沒了。

Many may not think of cats as serviceable sailors or cooperative companions of any kind.

很多人不把貓當成得力的水手，或與合作夥伴劃上等號。

But cats have been working alongside humans for thousands of years, helping us just as often as we help them.

但貓與人類合作已有幾千年歷史，兩者經常互利互惠。

So how did these solitary creatures go from wild predator, to naval officer, to sofa sidekick?

究竟這些獨行俠是如何從野生獵者變成海軍軍官，再成為沙發夥伴？

The domestication of the modern house cat can be traced back to more than 10,000 years ago, in the Fertile Crescent, at the start of the Neolithic era.

貓馴化成家貓的歷史可追溯到超過一萬年前的新月沃土，新石器時代的開始。

People were learning to bend nature to their will, producing much more food than farmers could eat at one time.

當時的農夫學習役使大自然，產出比食用分量更多的食物。

These Neolithic farmers stored their excess grain in large pits and short clay silos.

這些新石器時代的農民將多餘的穀物，儲存在大凹洞和黏土做的短筒倉中

But these stores of food attracted hordes of rodents as well as their predator, Felis Silvestris Lybica, the wildcat found across North Africa and Southwest Asia.

但這些貯存的食物，吸引了成群的囓齒動物，以及他們的捕食者 - 非洲野貓，一種棲息於北非和亞洲西南部的野貓。

These wildcats were fast, fierce, carnivorous hunters, and they were remarkably similar in size and appearance to today's domestic cats.

這些野貓身手敏捷，是凶猛的肉食狩獵者，而在體型和樣貌上，非洲野貓與現代的家貓非常相似。

The main differences being that ancient wildcats were more muscular, had striped coats, and were less social towards other cats and humans.

兩者主要的差別是，古代的非洲野貓身上有更多肌肉以及斑紋，而且較少與同類和人類社交。

The abundance of prey in rodent-infested granaries drew in these typically solitary animals.

鼠患肆虐的糧倉特別能吸引到這些獨居動物的到來。

And as the wildcats learned to tolerate the presence of humans and other cats during mealtime, we think that farmers likewise tolerated the cats in exchange for free pest control.

正如野貓在進食時學會忍受人類與其他同類的存在，我們認為農夫也同樣地接受了貓，來換取免費的鼠害控制。

The relationship was so beneficial that the cats migrated with Neolithic farmers from Anatolia into Europe and the Mediterranean.

這種互利關係使貓隨著農夫們，一同從安那托利亞遷徙到歐洲和地中海。

Vermin were a major scourge of the seven seas.

當時害蟲是七大洋的主要禍害。

They ate provisions and gnawed at lines of rope, so cats had long since become essential sailing companions.

牠們吃掉糧食、啃咬纜繩，所以貓是絕不可少的航海夥伴。

Around the same time these Anatolian globe trotting cats set sail, the Egyptians domesticated their own local cats.

這些安納托利亞貓環繞世界航行，在差不多同一時間，埃及人馴化了當地的貓。

Revered for their ability to dispatch venomous snakes, catch birds, and kill rats, domestic cats became important to Egyptian religious culture.

鑑於貓的驅蛇、捕鳥及殺鼠能力，家貓在埃及宗教文化中變得重要。

They gained immortality in frescos, hieroglyphs, statues, and even tombs, mummified alongside their owners.

他們不死的身影可見於壁畫、象形文字、雕像，甚至被主人製成木乃伊陪葬在墓中。

Egyptian ship cats cruised the Nile, holding poisonous river snakes at bay.

埃及船貓在尼羅河上巡航，遏制毒蛇靠近。

And after graduating to larger vessels, they too began to migrate from port to port.

貓從大型船隻退役後開始移居至不同的港口。

During the time of the Roman Empire, ships traveling between India and Egypt carried the lineage of the central Asian wildcat F. S. Ornata.

在羅馬帝國時期，航行於印度和埃及之間的船隻載著有中亞野貓血統的亞洲野貓。

Centuries later, in the Middle Ages, Egyptian cats voyaged up to the Baltic Sea on the ships of Viking seafarers.

幾個世紀後的中世紀，埃及貓跟隨維京海員航行到波羅的海。

And both the Near Eastern and North African wildcats--probably tamed at this point--continued to travel across Europe, eventually setting sail for Australia and the Americas.

且當時或許已經被馴服的近東與北非野貓，繼續橫越歐洲，最後抵達了澳洲與美洲。

Today, most house cats have descended from either the Near Eastern or the Egyptian lineage of F. S. Lybica.

現在，多數的家貓都是來自近東或埃及非洲野貓的家系。

But close analysis of the genomes and coat patterns of modern cats tells us that unlike dogs, which have undergone centuries of selective breeding, modern cats are genetically very similar to ancient cats.

但仔細分析現代貓的基因模組與皮毛後，發現貓不像狗已經經過數世紀的選擇性繁殖，現代貓的基因與古代貓仍非常相似。

And apart from making them more social and docile, we've done little to alter their natural behaviors.

除了讓貓變得更具有社交能力與學習能力，人類並沒有再做什麼來改變牠們的天性。

In other words, cats today are more or less as they've always been: wild animals, fierce hunters, creatures that don't see us as their keepers.

因此，現在的貓其實就跟以前的貓一樣：是野生動物、凶狠獵人，不把我們當主人的生物。

And given our long history together, they might not be wrong.

且根據之前的歷史，牠們或許是對的。

If you love cats as much as we do, check out these lessons for more fun facts on our feline friends.

如果你和我們一樣愛貓，也看看這些毛孩子們相關的有趣影片吧。