If you have a cat, it's likely that at some point you've seen it do this:
如果你养猫，在某一时刻你可能会注意到它这样的举动：
while playing with your foot it suddenly dropped to its side, latched on with its front claws and began a coordinated kicking motion with both back legs.
在脚边玩耍时，猫咪突然猛地下扑，用两只前爪抱住你的脚，两条后腿持续蹬踢。
The cat probably gave you a good four or five swats before letting go.
猫咪不给你来四五个猛击可能不会停手。对人来说看似很好玩，
From a human point of view this looks like great fun—a real rough-and-tumble kind of game. But where does it come from?
就像一场真正的混战游戏。但是这样的游戏是有由来的。
Before giving an answer, let's think for a second about the kind of thing we can learn even from so commonplace an event.
在给出答案之前，花一秒钟来想想从这种最常见的游戏上能学到什么。
Housepets are not toys; although they are domesticated and, in the instance of cats, much smaller than their wild counterparts,
家养宠物可不是玩具；尽管它们被驯服了，并且比野生的同类体积小许多，
it's a mistake to regard them as fundamentally different from wild animals. They share millions of years of evolutionary history,
但是拿猫来说，如果你认为家猫与野猫有本质的区别，那就大错特错了。
and their behaviors--even playful ones--are in many cases behavior that was very useful in the wild.
它们有着上百万年相同的进化历史。家猫的一些行为，即使很有趣，但对野猫来说是有很用的。
So, think again about that front-claw grab connected with a back-claw kick that your cat does from time to time.
所以，再想想你家猫咪那一次又一次，前爪抱后爪踢的动作。
You may see it in a new light when you realize that the cat is executing a very effective device for killing prey or enemies:
以另一种观点来看待的话，你或许会发现猫咪是在执行一种很有效的能杀死猎物或敌人的动作：
hold the other animal's stomach in place while you disembowel it.
前爪按住其它动物的胃部，后爪钩出内脏。
Of course, that doesn't mean your cat is really trying to hurt you;
当然，这并不表示你的猫咪是在伤害你；
but it does show us that playful behavior in animals—and, oftentimes, in humans—is not simply nonsense.
但也证明动物之间，或者动物与人之间的一些顽皮行为并不是无用的。
In many cases it is a practice run for learning more useful skills--even deadly ones.
So, thinkagainaboutthatfront-clawgrabconnectedwithaback-clawkickthatyourcatdoesfromtimetotime. Youmayseeitinanewlightwhenyourealizethatthecatisexecutingaveryeffectivedeviceforkillingpreyorenemies: holdtheotheranimal'sstomachinplacewhileyoudisembowelit.
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