I have to say, the neighbor lived alone. His wife wasn't alive, and his children went to other cities. I think that's why the kitten managed to find a shelter in this apartment. After the kindhearted Vasily Vasilyevich fed his find, washed it, took it to the veterinarian and gave her a place on the mat, the fluffy one was transformed. She was cute before, and now she seemed just pretty. Vasily Vasilyevich thought that this was exactly what he left the kitten, giving him the utterly ungrateful name Masha (it became her abbreviated name), aka Mashka (as her close friends called her), aka Maria Kotofeyevna (it was the official name). Oh, yes: the owner himself called her Mashenka, but similar familiarity got away with it only to him and no one else. Sometimes in this book I will call this cat Mashenka, but only because she will not read these lines.
Amazingly enough, Masha turned out to be much more noble than the born aristocrat Rex. She walked like a baroness, ate like a countess, and only in terms of movements moustache and tail with her would not be comparable to any duchess. One look she could put in the place of any cheeky man who dared to stroke her. I must say that her thick, well-groomed, dark grey coat attracted the attention of many. But... Have you ever stroked the Marquis on the head or back? No? Well, try it, and you'll get a complete picture of the reaction of this wonderful cat. This is, you know, even though she didn't use her claws.
And this tailed aristocrat ate in such a way that everyone could understand: she was doing a favor and biting off. I still don't know how to do this, but I saw it with my own eyes!
Imagine that deeply dissimilar creatures like Masha and Rex have become friends. Yes, it was. And the reason was football.
Don't think about it, they didn't play football or even watch it on TV. But it happened so that my neighbors and I were fans of the same team. Which I won't say, it's the greatest secret. We watched football together at Vasyl Vasilievich`s (his TV was better than mine). And one day I came up with a wild idea to introduce our animals. Later on, I was told by people who understood that this idea had to end in total failure. Saved only the youth of the beast: Rex was then a year (in dog concepts, where as not mature age), and the cat and six months did not come true.
Only a kitten is able to chase a dog's tail intoxicated, pretending to think she's a mouse. Only a puppy can play with a kitten using his own tail. Only a young dog fool can lick a kitten's nose from the fullness of his senses. Only a young fool in a cat's skin will allow her to do so with impunity.
That's how our wonderful animals became friends. And since they did it at a tender age, they kept their trust in each other for life.
Moreover, they also began to talk to each other. Don't you believe me? And for nothing! Yes, some say that animals and birds can not speak at all. Parrots and starlings do not count, understandably. Right, they can't. Can't do it like a human being. But imagine a Frenchman who speaks French, of course. Does he not speak human language? You just don't speak French!
Animals can speak very well: some are worse, others are better. And cats with dogs are so simply excellent. They just don't say it in words, just like people do. In fact, they don't even use the language (almost). But here is the movement of the mustache, the position of the paws, the movement of the ears: it all matters, it is the animal language. And I am not talking about the tail at all. Will you be able to say something clever with your tail? No? Me too. But I can understand their language. And that's why I will translate all Rex's conversations with Masha into Russian right away. This does not mean that they really spoke Russian. But it will be clearer this way.
That's how it turned out that our Rex, the most dog-cleaning of the dogs, and Masha, the most cat of cats, became with me and Vasily Vasilyevich called Rex and Masha. Or Masha and Rex. But with the obligatory letter "and" in the middle.
Chapter Two, in which Vasily Vasilyevich has an accident, and everyone suffers
I was alerted by the howling of an ambulance siren right in front of our entrance. And then slammed the door to Vasily Vasilyevich's apartment. I got out just in time to see him taken away on a stretcher.
- Look after Mashenka - just in time to wheeze a neighbor, when he was already loaded into the ambulance to be taken to the hospital. I had time to ask the doctor a question and hear the answer:
- Suspicion of a heart attack. The hospital will do all the research. When will they be discharged? Yes, they will spend a week, but more than that. Any relatives?
- Yes, children, but they live far away. You tell him that I will take care of his cat.
The doctor nodded and left.
Continuation in the next part 3.