男人睜開眼睛，伸手撿起了繩子。繩子大約有兩英尺（約0.6米）長，貓?jiān)?jīng)能夠玩著繩子自娛自樂一玩就是幾個小時。
　　“What is it made of?” the Cat asked.
　　“It appears to be made of cotton,” the Man said.
　　“Which comes from a plant?” the Cat asked.
　　“Yes,” said the Man.
　　“From just one plant, or from many?”
　　“From many cotton plants,” the Man answered.
　　“And in the same soil from which grows the cotton plants, it would be possible that other plants and flowers would grow? A rose could grow alongside of the cotton, yes?” asked the Cat.
　　“Yes, I’m sure it would be possible,” the Man said.
　　“And all of the plants would feed from the same soil and drink the same rain, would they not? Then all of the plants, rose and cotton, would be very similar on the inside, even if they appeared outwardly very different,” said the Cat.
　　“它是什么做的？”貓問。
　　“看起來好像是棉花做的。”男人說。
　　“是從某種植物上來的嗎？”貓問。
　　“是的。”男人說。
　　“是從一株棉花上來的，還是許多棵？”
　　“從許多株上來的。”男人回答說。
　　“在棉花生長的那片土地上，有可能長出其他植物或花朵嗎？棉花的旁邊也有可能生長著一株玫瑰，對嗎？”貓問。
　　“是的，我相信這是可能的。”男人說。
　　“那么所有的植物都可能生長于同一片土地，啜飲同樣的雨水，對嗎？所以一切植物，玫瑰和棉花，本質(zhì)是非常相似的，即使它們從外表看起來很不一樣。”貓說道。
　　The Man nodded his head in agreement, but didn’t see what that had to do with the present situation.
　　男人點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭表示同意，但是依然不明白這同目前的情況有什么關(guān)系。
　 “Now, that piece of string,” said the Cat, “is that the only piece of string ever made of cotton?”
　　“No, of course it isn’t,” said the Man. “It was part of a ball of twine.”
　　“And do you know where all of the other pieces of string are now, and all of the balls of twine?” asked the Cat.
　　“No, I don’t ... that would be impossible,” said the Man.
　　“But even though you do not know where they are, you believe they exist. And even though some of the string is with you, and other pieces of string are elsewhere ... you would agree that all the string is related?” the Cat asked.
　　“I’ve never thought about it, but yes, I guess they would be related,” the Man said.
　　“What would happen if a piece of cotton string fell onto the ground?” the Cat asked.
　　“Well ... it would eventually be covered up and decompose into the soil,” the Man said.
　　“I see,” said the Cat. “Then perhaps more cotton would grow above it, or a rose.”
　　“Yes, it would be possible,” the Man agreed.
　　“Then the rose growing on your windowsill might be related to the string you are holding as well as to all the pieces of string you do not know about,” said the Cat.
　　“好了，那段繩子，”貓說，“是唯一一段由棉花做成的繩子嗎？”
　　“不，當(dāng)然不是了，”男人說，“它是一團(tuán)線球中的一段而已。”
　　“那你知道其他那些繩子現(xiàn)在在哪里嗎？還有所有的線球呢？”貓問。
　　“不知道……我不可能知道呀。”男人說。
　　“但是即使你不知道它們在哪里，你依然相信它們是存在的。而且即使繩子的某些部分在你身邊，其他部分在別的地方……你還是同意所有的繩子都是有關(guān)聯(lián)的，對嗎？”貓問。
　　“我從沒想過這個問題，不過，是的，我猜它們相互之間是有關(guān)聯(lián)的。”男人說。
　　“假如一段棉線落在了地上，會發(fā)生什么事情呢？”貓問。
　　“嗯……它最終會被掩埋、分解并回到土壤里。”男人說。
　　“知道了，”貓說，“那么可能會有更多的棉花，或一株玫瑰在它上面長出來。”
　　“是的，有可能。”男人同意道。
　　“那么，你窗臺上的那株玫瑰，也許同你拿著的這段繩子以及所有你所不知道的繩子有著某種聯(lián)系了。”貓說。