好奇害死猫

此条目页的主题是英国谚语。关于2006年上映的中国大陆电影，请见“好奇害死猫 (电影)”。

好奇害死猫（Curiosity killed the cat）是英国的一句谚语，旨在警告不必要的调查或实验带来的危险，警戒人们不要过分好奇，否则会给自己带来伤害。对于“好奇害死猫”的一个不常见的答辩是“但满足了就没事（but, satisfaction brought it back）^[1]”。

一只好奇的小猫。

这个谚语原来的形式，现已较少使用，是“Care killed the cat”。在本句中，“care”被当作“烦恼（worry）”或“悲伤（sorrow）”。

起源

在本节中，“care”都是当作“烦恼（worry）”或“悲伤（sorrow）”。

这句谚语最早出现在英国剧作家本·琼森写于1598年的剧本《人各有癖（英语：Every Man in His Humour）》（Every Man in His Humour）中。这部剧本最早是由莎士比亚演出的。

...Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care will kill a cat, up-tails all, and a pox on the hangman.

莎士比亚在他1599年所著的剧作《无事生非》中运用了一句相似的话：

“

What, courage man! what though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care. 喂，放出勇气来，朋友！虽然忧能伤人（原文为猫），可是你是个好汉子，你会把忧愁赶走的。

”

至少直到1898年以前，该谚语都维持不变。“care killed the cat”被埃比尼泽·科巴姆·布鲁尔（英语：Ebenezer Cobham Brewer）收录到他的“词组与寓言字典（Dictionary of Phrase and Fable）”中，并定义为：

“

Care killed the Cat. It is said that "a cat has nine lives," yet care would wear them all out.

”

• 中译：据说猫有九条命，但即使如此，悲伤仍会把它们搞死。

转变

现代版本的起源未知。已知实际使用“Curiosity killed the cat”最早的是在1873年詹姆斯·艾伦·梅尔（James Allan Mair）的一本手册“谚语手册：英格兰、苏格兰、爱尔兰、美式、莎士比亚风格、圣经和家庭格言（A handbook of proverbs: English, Scottish, Irish, American, Shakesperean, and scriptural; and family mottoes）”，列在34页的爱尔兰谚语上。

约翰·亨德里克斯·柏克德（John Hendricks Bechtel）所著“谚语：警句与短语（Proverbs: Maxims and Phrases）”1902年的版本中，词组“Curiosity killed the cat”是100页的专题“好奇心（Curiosity）”上的一个单独条目。

欧·亨利1909年的短篇小说《学校呀学校》中也有提到，这显示了该谚语在当时广为人知：

“

Curiosity can do more things than kill a cat; and if emotions, well recognized as feminine, are inimical to feline life, then jealousy would soon leave the whole world catless. 好奇心不仅仅杀死一只猫；而如果一致公认女性的感情对猫类生命不利的话，妒忌心很快就会使世界上的猫一只不剩。

”

而作为一个故事的标题出现则是在1916年3月4日的华盛顿邮报上（第6页）：

“

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT. Four Departments of New York City Government Summoned to Rescue Feline. From the New York World. Curiosity, as you may recall— On the fifth floor of the apartment house at 203 West 130th street lives Miss Mable Godfrey. When she came to the house about seven months ago she brought Blackie, a cat of several years' experience of life. The cat seldom left the apartment. He was a hearth cat, not a fence cat, and did not dearly love to sing. In other respects he was normal and hence curious. Last Tuesday afternoon when Miss Godfrey was out Blackie skipped into the grate fireplace in a rear room. He had done this many times before. But he had not climbed up the flue to the chimney. This he did Tuesday. Blackie there remained, perched on the top of the screen separating the apartment flue from the main chimney, crying for assistance. Miss Godfrey, returning, tried to induce her pet to come down. If you are experienced in felinity, you know that Blackie didn't come down. On Wednesday the cat, curiosity unsatisfied, tried to climb higher—and fell to the first floor. His cries could still be heard by Miss Godfrey; who, to effect Blackie's rescue, communicated with the following departments: 1. Police department. 2. Fire department. 3. Health department. 4. Building department. 5. Washington Heights court. Among them they lowered a rope to Blackie. But it availed neither the cat nor them anything. Thursday morning, just before noon, a plumber opened the rear wall back of the chimney. Blackie was taken out. His fall had injured his back. Ten minutes later Blackie died.

”

尽管这谚语很早就公开亮相，它在尤金·奥尼尔1920年的剧作“Diff'rent”上还是被错误地引用成了“Curiosity killed a cat!”：

“

BENNY—(with a wink) Curiosity killed a cat! Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.

”

作家史蒂芬·金在他的《鬼店》中，对此谚语做出延伸：“好奇害死猫，但满足了就没事（Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought him back）”。

参考资料

1. Curiosity killed the cat. Gary Martin. [2007-07-24]. （原始内容存档于2007-09-11）.

参见

• 薛定谔猫

外部链接

• Henry, O. Schools and Schools. (Gutenberg text)（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Jonson, Ben. Every Man in His Humour. (Gutenberg text)（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• O'Neill, Eugene. Diff'rent. (Gutenberg text)（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. (Gutenberg text)（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• The Literary Encyclopedia.（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• 好奇心杀死了一只猫（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）