The cats along the shore
Story by Clare Azzopardi
Translation by Albert Gatt
Illustrations by Lisa Falzon
Agent and Publisher: Chris Gruppetta

1.
There was once a lovely place
where the air smelt of the sea,
a place brimming with colour and adventure.
where cats prowled, of every hue and shade.

2.
Shall I make some introductions?
This one’s Blacktop, that one’s Whitetop.
Ginger here, and Cinnamon.
Little Berry, Brushomon.
That’s a munchkin,
that’s a bobtail.
This one’s Russet, that one’s Blush,
he’s called Grayling … and who’s that?
That’s Wood Shaving.

We’ve got Goldie, Saffron, Shimmer…
that one’s Chestnut, if you’re wondering.

Almond, with her sister Walnut!
And there’s Melon along with Fennel,
Tin Can Allie, Panda Nelly,
little Peanut, Fava Bean.
See, that’s Choc Chip.
And there, standing next to Pilate, Salamander,
but who’s that? Might that be Broad Bean?
Broad Bean, as I live and breathe!

(And that’s just to name a few.)

3.
Then there’s good old gran and grampa,
who count more years between them
than all the cats together.
Every morning, every evening,
they walk briskly, somewhat primly…
There they go
on their way to feed the hungry
that’s to say, our friends the cats.

They’ve an ancient trunk between them. And it’s full.
They put helpings onto plates and pass them round.
Some goes this way, some goes that way.
Everyone gets to eat their share … they take care
to let no one get too greedy, eat his own and someone else’s.
“Don’t be cheeky, now, you hear?!”

4.
When they’re done
gran and grampa amble home and go to bed.
They sleep soundly through the night
till the sun begins to taunt.
And there they go, they’re out again
lugging that old-fashioned luggage,
carrying food for Cinnamon.

What? Just Cinnamon?

Well, of course not!

Choc Chip too. And Brushomon,
Tee-Toe-Tum and Batwings too…
I could go on…
I’ve just barely started, really.
But I’m out of breath already.

5.
But one day the sun rose late
and took time to shine its shine… No one came.
Till the sun began to wane and wane…
And a shy sliver of moon peeked out.

They waited and waited.
They wailed and wailed.
They wept and wept.

“Where have they gone, our friends,
old gran and grampa,
why won’t they come?”

6.
They were still there the next day. In the same place.
Waiting. Waiting.
Another sun, another moon.
And then another, and another.
Till no sliver of moon remained.

They didn’t budge.
They didn’t move.
No more wailing.
No more weeping.
They stayed put … just waiting, waiting.

7.
Until one night a full moon shone.
And then Almond took the floor
together with Walnut:
“There’s no point in staying here.
We’ll just have to find our way.
We’ll just have to find our own food.
There’ll be no one here to feed us.”

8.
Folks aren’t all like gran and grampa. Some don’t like the cats at all. There were people who gave chase, with a broom, a rolling-pin. Some tried grabbing at their tails. Some (for shame) kicked them in the ribs. Some would drench them with cold water. Others lured them close with food, only to leave them empty-bellied. There were those who merely grumbled. But a few (at least) took pity.

The days rolled on
and on
and on
and the cats
began to starve.

9.
Late one night, after many many days, as they idled time away, the old man turned up again.
The same old gramp?
Yes indeed. Lugging his trunk.
He opened it.
Took out the food.
Served it onto little plates …
He looked up when he was done
but they stood silent,
staring,
wondering.
Didn’t budge.
Didn’t touch a single crumb.

“What’s the matter, darlings, dears? Come and eat. Blacktop, Whitetop, Ginger, Cinnamon. What’s the matter? Brusho, Berry?”

And he burst into tears.

10.
The cats wanted to know where grandma was.

“She’s not coming,” he said, heartbroken. “She’s not coming anymore. But if you look up, there in the sky, you might see her, there she is. There, you see? Lizard, wave to her, go on!”
Just then, the cats looked up to the sky and mewled as one, a sound so haunting that old gramp thought he could see grandma smiling, maybe she was even dancing…

11.
…somewhere there …
…up in the sky

海岸边的猫
作者：Clare Azzopardi
翻译： Albert Gatt
插图：Lisa Falzon
公关与出版：Chris Gruppetta

1.
曾经有一个可爱的地方，
在那里，空气中充满海的味道，
充满色彩与冒险的味道。
许多猫在那里徘徊。
2.
需要我做一些介绍吗？
这只叫黑顶儿，那只叫白顶儿。
黄姜在这里，还有肉桂。
小浆果，布路硕莫。
那是麦恩奇，这是短尾。
这只是赤褐色的，那只带着红晕，
这只它被称为灰灵……
那是谁？ 是木刮。
我们还有金地，沙芙龙，什莫 ……
如果你好奇的话，那边那只叫核桃。
这是杏仁，还有她的妹妹核桃！
甜瓜和茴香依偎着走过身旁，
汀坎利，熊猫奈利，
小花生，蚕豆。
看，那是楚其。
在那儿，站在彼拉多旁边的是蝾螈，
但那又是谁？可能是胡豆？
它就是胡豆，呼吸着，充满了活力！
（在此我仅举几例。）

3.
有一对善良的老夫妻，
他们的年龄比所有的猫在一起都要大。
每日每夜，
他们略带焦急地快步走着，
去给饥饿的小可爱们，
也就是我们的猫朋友喂食。
猫聚集在一座老树桩上，挤得满满当当的。
老夫妻把食物装在盘子里递给它们，
有的盘子往这边去了，有的往那边去了。
大家都有份。
他们仔细照看着，不让其中任何一只吃其他猫的食物。
“别想耍滑头，你听见了吗？”

4.
结束喂食之后，
老夫妻缓缓地走回家，躺上床去歇息。
夜里他们酣然入睡，
直到阳光把他们叫醒。
然后他们又出了门，
拖着老旧的行李箱，
去给肉桂喂食。

什么？只是给肉桂嘛？

当然不是啦！

还有给楚其，布路硕莫，
小指头，蝙蝠翅的。
我可以接着说下去，
事实上我才开始数呢，
但我已经累的数不过来啦。

5.
然而有一天，太阳迟到了，
它花了好久的时间才开始发出光芒。没有人来了。
直到阳光直射闪耀大地，
直到月亮带着银色的光芒探出头来。

猫儿等啊等，
猫儿叫啊叫，
猫儿哭啊哭。

“他们去了哪儿呀，我们的朋友，
那对老夫妻，
他们怎么不来了啊？”

6.
他们在原地等到了第二天。
等啊等啊。
又是一轮太阳，又是一轮月亮，
再一轮，再一轮。
直到月亮不再发出银色的光芒。

猫儿们没有动弹，
他们也没有走开。
他们不再叫唤，
也不再哭泣。
他们只是安静地等待着，等待着。

7.
直到一个满月的夜晚，
杏仁先开口了，核桃也加入了对话：
“我们没必要再等待了。
我们要想办法，
要找到吃的，
没有人会来喂我们了。”

8.
其他居民不都像老夫妻一样。有的根本就不喜欢猫。有的人丢给它们一片芝士，想用扫把和擀面杖把它们撵走。有的想揪住它们的尾巴。有的（这些人真该感到羞耻）还踢它们的肋骨。有的用冰凉的水浇他们，有的用吃的诱惑它们靠近，却一点都不分给它们。有人抱怨。但有几个人也替它们感到可怜。

日子一天天过去，
过了一天有一天，
猫儿们开始饿肚子了。

9.
在许多许多天之后的某一天，猫儿们已经忘记了计算时间，老爷爷又再次出现了。
是之前那位老爷爷吗？
就是那位老爷爷。他拖着之前的行李箱，
把它打开，
拿出了食物。
放在了盘子上。
他放好之后抬起了头，
可是猫儿们都静静地，
纹丝不动地，
盯着他看。
它们没有上前，
一口都没动。

“怎么了呀，亲爱的猫儿们？过来吃点儿吧。黑顶儿，白顶儿，黄姜，肉桂。怎么了呀？布硕，小浆果？”

然后他突然哭了。

10.
猫儿们想知道老奶奶去哪里了。
“她不来了。”他颤抖着，用心碎的声音喃喃。“她再也不能来了。但如果你们抬起头看看，在天空之上，你们可能会看见她，她现在呆在那儿了。就在那儿，看见了吗？蜥蜴，向她找招招手呀！”就在这时，猫儿们抬起了头，一起朝着天空叫唤了一声。叫唤声让老爷爷的心头颤动，他似乎看见了老奶奶正在朝他们微笑，还在翩翩起舞。
11.
…就在那里某处…
…在天空之上的某处…