中世纪的人对宠物有一些“独到”甚至奇葩的见解

1. Feed your dog bread soaked in dirty water to keep it small.

不让狗变大的秘诀：把浸泡了脏水的面包喂给狗吃

Long before the days of designer dogs, people had some unusual methods of creating a pocket-sized pet. One 15th-century manuscript suggests a breeder soak some bread in water they’d previously washed their hands with. Feeding that soggy bread to the puppies they had bred supposedly ensured a dog would not grow any bigger than a person’s hand.

在“设计师款”狗狗出现很久以前，人们已经有培育袖珍狗的“奇招”了。一份15世纪的手稿上写道，将面包在洗过手的水里浸泡过再喂给小狗吃，就能确保狗狗不会长得比人的手更大。

2. No dogs in the dining hall.

不能把狗带入餐厅

According to 15th-century etiquette rules, a person should not make a dog “thi felow at the tabull round”. Translation: No dogs in the dining hall. And no feeding a pet from a person’s own dinner plate, either.

按照15世纪的礼仪规则，人不能将狗带入餐厅，也不能让狗从人的餐盘里吃东西。

3. Be careful around cats in pursuit of a mouse.

要当心正在捉老鼠的猫

A medieval person had to be careful if they were near a hunting cat. If they got scratched, bitten, or otherwise injured by a cat that was in pursuit of a mouse and wanted retribution, then they were out of luck. A cat is not liable if it happens to hurt someone who “had no business being there” while it was hunting a rodent.

中世纪的人在猫捉老鼠时必须分外小心。如果他们在猫捉老鼠时被抓到、咬到或受到其他伤害，那么他们别想得到补偿。如果一只猫在捉老鼠时意外伤到了“不该在那里的人”，那么这只猫没有任何责任。

4. Use your cat to determine the weather.

用猫可以预知天气

The Distaff Gospels advised people to use their cats as a meow-teorologists. According to an account documented in the manuscript, if a cat is sitting in the window licking its behind and rubbing its ear, that means a person should hold off on doing laundry because rain is coming.

《女性福音》建议人们用猫来预测天气。据手稿上记载，如果一只猫坐在窗户上舔屁股揉耳朵，这意味着即将要下雨，不要急着洗衣服。

5. Slip your husband some dog urine to ensure happy relations.

狗尿有助于家庭和谐

If a woman wanted her husband to learn to like her family and friends, according to The Distaff Gospels, she'd need enlist the help of some of dog urine. When said friends and family members visit with their dog, a woman should collect Fido’s pee, then secretly put it in her husband’s beer or soup. Once the man has drunk the urine-spiked beverage, he’ll become friendly with both the dog and the people who own it.

据《女性福音》记载，如果一名女子想让丈夫喜欢自己的亲友，她需要借助狗尿的力量。当亲友带着自己的狗前来拜访时，女子要把收集的狗尿偷偷放进丈夫的啤酒或汤中。一旦男人喝下加了狗尿的饮料，他就会同狗和狗主人交好。