猫咪化身救火英雄 保住全家性命

　　Escape by a whisker: Quick-thinking cat saves house from fire... by opening the window

　　A clever cat has been hailed a hero after he prevented his owners' home from burning down - by opening a window。

　　机灵猫咪化身救火英雄，情急之下开窗引来了邻居的关注，最终使得一切化险为夷。

　　Five-year-old Pepper has learned to open windows and lets himself out every night by hopping on to a kitchen worktop and using his paws to turn the latch。

　　So when a fire broke while his owners were Christmas shopping, the quick-thinking puss leapt into action and opened the window to allow the acrid smoke to escape。

　　猫咪“Pepper”已经五岁了，每晚他都会跑进厨房跳上桌子，用爪子撑开一扇小窗，然后堂而皇之的溜出去。着火的时候，他的主人一正外出采购，“胡椒”灵机一动打开窗户，让浓烟流了出去。

　　The billowing cloud of ash alerted neighbours and firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze before it spread to the rest of the house。

　　Owner Sharon White, of Totnes, Devon said: 'He first did it (opened the window) at a dinner party and everyone was applauding him, I think it spurred him on。

　　'He can climb back in through the window by jumping diagonally on to the ledge as well so he really does come and go as he pleases。

　　'Pepper is still a bit spooked by the ordeal but is still managing to eat plenty of food.' Sharon and husband Phil, a radiologist at Torbay Hospital, Devon, were handed Pepper over four years ago after a neighbour could no longer look after it。

　　Pepper developed a 'fierce independent streak' and would often leave the house for days on end。

　　But over the last few months, he has become increasingly nomadic and has learnt to let himself out through the downstairs window by turning the metal lever 90 degrees with his paws

　　滚滚浓烟立刻引起了邻居们的警觉，火警闻讯赶来，在火势蔓延至整栋房屋之前将其扑灭。据“胡椒”的主人莎朗-怀特透露，“起初它是在一次晚餐时做出这一举动的，大伙都为他鼓掌喝彩，我想正是这鼓励了他。只要‘胡椒’乐意，他可以通过小窗随心所欲的窜出窜进，它多少被火灾吓到了些，不过还是照样的很能吃。”四年前，一位无法继续照看猫儿的医生将它转送给了怀特夫妇两。“胡椒”性格“独立好胜”，经常在会夜晚从家中“逃之夭夭”，而仅几个月来，它越发的“散漫”，已经学会怎么用爪子将小窗九十度的开启，然后轻松通过。

　　The dramatic fire started at 4pm on Saturday after the couple nipped to the shops and left their microwave on a ten minute timer, which then caught fire。

　　Sharon, who owns a publishing consultancy, said: 'We put something in the microwave for ten minutes and then popped out to do our Christmas shopping in the local town。

　　'I discovered on the way that I had left my purse at home but decided not to turn around。

　　'It was my sister-in-law who lives next door that rang us about two hours into our trip and said you had better get home as there is quite a lot of smoke coming out of your house and the fire brigade are here。

　　'We are thankful our neighbours did not just dismiss the smoke as a bonfire.' Firefighters rushed to their ￡350,000 house and extinguished the flames before they could spread and the kitchen suffered only smoke damage. 'There is some damage to the kitchen but it was isolated so nothing compared to what it could have been。

　　上周天下午四点，出门购物前，夫妇两将微波炉设定成“加热十分钟”的状态，而后不料却烧了起来，“我在半路发现没带钱包，但却也没有折回。”莎朗告诉记者，“住在隔壁的小姨子发现了从家里冒出来的浓烟，幸运的是，他们没有把这误认为篝火晚会。”及时赶到的火警扑灭了火苗，保住了这幢价值 350000英镑的住宅，厨房也只是被烟熏了一熏。

　　''He's got a real mind of his own and is usually a bit of a pain. But on this occasion we're grateful as without him, and our neighbours, the fire could have been so much worse.'

　　“多亏了‘胡椒’和邻居，否则后果可能将更加糟糕。’”