Читать книгу Die Katze namens Mülltonne - Egon Harings - Страница 7

1

It’s summer time. Carla and Walter are enjoying the day. They are sitting in the garden of their house, which is near Perth. The shade of a grass tree, a tree-like lily plant with tufts of grass leaves at the end of the branches, protects them from the sun’s rays. When they hear a rustling not far from the bench on which they are sitting, they are shocked. Their blood freezes in their veins when they see a brown snake, one of the most venomous snakes in Western Australia, crawling towards them. There is a sandy spot in the garden just three meters behind them that the snake creeps towards to sunbathe. They didn’t know that this spot has always been a favorite spot for the almost five foot long snake. They couldn’t have known either, because the bench they are sitting on had always been in a different place.

Carla knows this type of snake, one of which is now in her garden. She knows that the poison of this snake, if she were bitten, can lead to death. Now such a species is moving towards them. Carla nudges Walter with the elbow and gets up slowly from the bench. Walter gets up now too. They can both clearly see the 17 dark rows of scales in the middle of the snake’s body and watch its head, which looks like an elongated body from which a long double-sided tongue flicks out. They continue to watch the snake, which changes direction just a few meters in front of them and crawls past at a distance of about 4 meters to reach the sandy spot. Carla and Walter take a deep breath then they slowly move away. “It wasn’t a good idea to put the bench in the shade of a grass tree”, says Carla to Walter. Walter nods and says: “You’re right. We will change that again and put the bench on the terrace in front of our house and buy a cat that drives away such critters as we just saw one.” “I wouldn’t have thought of that. But I agree with that”, replies Carla.

They buy a kitten from a woman who breeds cats. They don’t have a name for the new resident yet. “A suitable name for this little creature that we like will come to mind”, says Carla. Walter only replies: “I think so too.”

The little cat cautiously sneaks through the garden, as if it suspects that something might come towards it, which means danger. As it sneaks through the herb garden that belongs to its new master’s house, it smells the various herbs that grow there. It spends a particularly long time on an herb plant. This plant seems to give off a scent that it likes. Since the herb garden is on the border with the neighboring property, it is being watched by the neighbor. “You are a cute kitten. I’ve never seen you here before. You are new here I think. It’s a shame I can’t climb the fence that separates my property from the garden in which you are in right now.” The cat does not react although it hears the neighbor’s voice. The scent of the herbs is too fascinating for it. That’s why it sniffs each herb for longer until it is called by Carla. “Hello kitten, where are you?” “In front of my garden fence in your herb garden”, the neighbor answered loudly and then she said quietly to the cat: “You can’t answer, that’s why I did it for you.” “Thank you”, Carla calls back loudly, goes into the herb garden, takes hold of the cat and reproachfully says to it: “You’re a stray. But you mustn’t be that.” “But it behaved well. I’ve been watching it. It is a lovely, cute creature that you can love”, says the neighbor, while Carla just nods and walks away the little cat in her arms.

The little cat, which is still nameless, cannot stop strolling around. Carla always got upset about it. While Walter was cautious, never saying a word when the cat was discovered and could not be found, Carla always scolded. “That little useless bungler, I always have to run after it, because I’m worried that it might not be able to find the way back to the house.” “My dear”, Walter replied always, “… you don’t have to. Cats always find their way home.” They were words that Carla could not calm down. As it gets older, it will certainly stop wandering around Carla said to herself whenever she had to look for the cat again.