Fifty-five cats appear in this triptych print by the Japanese illustrator Utagawa Kuniyoshi. One of them crawls out of a basket, a few catch rats, others eat fish. They look terrific, but is there a reason behind the illustration? Is it simply a study or is it a scene from a kabuki? Well, it seems the answer is different. All of the cats are distinct and every one of them looks as though they have a personality of their own. The work is called Cats Suggested As The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and each one represents a station on the road that links Tokyo to Kyoto.
日本插画家歌川国芳（Utagawa Kuniyoshi）的这幅三联画印刷中出现了55只猫。一只猫刚从篮子里爬出来，几只在抓老鼠，其他的在吃鱼。它们看起来很棒，但是这幅画背后有什么缘由吗？是单纯的猫咪习作还是歌舞伎中的一个场景?答案似乎是众说纷纭的。所有的猫都很特别，每一只看起来都有自己的个性。这幅作品被称为代表东海道53个驿站的猫，每只都代表了连接东京和京都的道路上的一个驿站。
Kuniyoshi's illustration is a fun spoof on Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1833–1834). Hiroshige's impressive series was the biggest-selling collection in the history of ukiyo-e and even a decade on, Kuniyoshi's take would have still felt relevant.
国芳的插图是对歌川广重的《东海道五十三次》(1833-1834)的一个有趣恶搞。歌川广重这个令人印象深刻的系列是浮世绘历史上最畅销的系列，即使十年过去了，国芳的作品仍然会让人觉得与之相关。
The Tōkaidō (Eastern Sea Road) had 53 different post stations along its route that provided stables, food, and lodgings for travelers. Where Hiroshige captured each of these through a series of different landscapes, Kuniyoshi decided to show them through cat puns. For example, the 41st station of the Tōkaidō is called Miya. This name sounds somewhat like the Japanese word oya (親), meaning "parent." For this reason, the station is depicted as two kittens with their mother. Another example is the 51st station. This stop is called Ishibe and its name sounds similar to the Japanese word miji-me (ミじめ), meaning "miserable." To illustrate this, Kuniyoshi drew the town as a miserable looking cat (bottom-left). Its body looks frail, its hair is coarse, and it yelps out with a wretched purr.
东海道沿途有53个不同的驿站，为旅客提供马厩、食物和住宿。广重通过一系列不同的风景来捕捉每个地点的特色，国芳则决定通过猫的双关语来展示它们。例如，东海道的第41站被称为“宫”，这个名字听起来有点像日本词oya (親)，意思是“家长”。因此，车站被描绘成两只小猫和它们的妈妈。另一个例子是第51站。这个站是叫做“石部”，它的名字听起来像是日语的miji-me(ミじめ)，意思是“痛苦”。为了说明这一点，国芳把小镇画成了一只看起来很可怜的猫(左下角)。它的身体很脆弱，毛发粗糙，好像要发出一种可怜的呜呜声。
While the fun of these puns is a little lost in translation, one can easily imagine how great they must be for a Japanese-speaker familiar with the Tōkaidō. : ) Even without this knowledge, however, it is an amazing illustration!
虽然这些双关语的乐趣在翻译中有些丢失，但人们不难想象，对于一个熟悉东海道的日语人士来说，它们该有多棒。:) 然而，即使不知道这些知识，这也是一幅绝妙的插画！
Today's painting is from a private collection. Thank you for viewing.
今天的画作来自私人收藏感谢观看:)
