Source text in English | Translation by Martina K. (#32729) — Winner |
We live in one of the tiny apartments in a multi-storeyed building complex that provides shelter to a number of middle-class families. But, the members of the family Felis Domestica who have taken a fancy to our complex might very well outnumber the members of Homo Sapiens. Because these quadrupeds with retractable claws, who can boast of their country cousins- Lions, Tigers, Lynxes, and Ocelots fear no one in our vicinity. The increasing feline population possessing nine lives up their claws bothers everyone but provides comic relief to many. These cats in our avenue have their own strict demarcations about territory. The ground floor, first and second-floor mousers keep to their floors except for hungry forays into the kitchens across the lines of control. The terrace is exclusively reserved for the young ones and occasionally used by the aristocrats from the erstwhile Siam for body lickings and sunbaths. Some of the tomcats find cozy corners for a purring sleep in places where there isn’t room to swing a cat in, such as the watchman’s cabin, where they might have found the poor fellow catnapping. God has gifted these cats with two voice boxes one for purring and another for meowing and a few of the feline sopranos in our locality keep all the residents awake with their nocturnal orchestras on special occasions. Some of the residents who wish to be clean as a cat in pattens get irritated when these grey cats mess up their things. The hawks among the residents strongly feel that these cats should be driven out with a cat o’nine tails. But the doves are undecided waiting to see which way the cat jumps. Well, we don’t know who will be called to bell the cat! | Živimo u jednom od majušnih stanova u kompleksu stambenih višekatnica koji pruža utočište nizu obitelji iz srednje klase. No članovi obitelji Felis domestica, kojima se dopao naš kompleks, mogli bi dobrano brojčano nadjačati članove Homo sapiensa. Razlog tome je što ti četveronošci s kandžama koje se uvlače i koji se mogu hvalisati svojim nesofisticiranim rođacima - lavovima, tigrovima, risovima i ozelotima - ne strahuju ni od koga u našoj okolici. Sve brojnija mačja populacija koja ima devet života pod svojim kandžama smeta svima, ali mnogima pruža humorističnu digresiju. Te mačke u našoj aveniji imaju vlastite stroge odrednice granica teritorija. Mišolovci s prizemlja, prvog i drugog kata drže se svojih katova, osim kada potaknuti glađu rade brze proboje na neprijateljski teritorij u kuhinje preko kontrolnih linija. Terasa je ekskluzivno rezervirana za podmladak, a povremeno je rabe aristokrati iz negdašnjeg Sijama, a poradi kupanja jezikom i sunčanja. Neki od mačaka pronađu udobne kutke za san uz predenje na mjestima gdje nema prostora za ljuljanje mačaka, poput čuvareve kućice u kojoj su možda pronašli jadnička kako dremucka. Bog je ove mačke podario dvjema glasnicama, jednima za predenje, a drugima za mijaukanje, a nekoliko mačjih sopranista u našem okruženju drži sve stanare budnima svojim noćnim orkestrima povodom posebnih prigoda. Neke stanovnike koji žele biti čisti ko suza iritira kada im te sive mačke pomrse račune. Jastrebovi među stanarima čvrsto su uvjereni da bi te mačke valjalo otjerati mačkom s devet repova. No golubice se ne izjašnjavaju dok ne vide mačkine namjere. Pa, mi ne znamo tko ima hrabrosti staviti zvonce na nju! |