Tales from the Walauwa

by Cat O'Logge

The other day, while I was engaged in the lawful business of sniffing around the garden, I heard the sound of a car coming up the drive. Looking up I jumped onto a flower bed just in time to miss one of its wheels.

I have always been rather wary of everything which goes on wheels and this includes Pala's wheelbarrow. He wheels it around rather jauntily and never misses a chance to go out of his way to experiment on how I would fit beneath its wheels.

But visitors to the walauwa means endless possibilities of mid-day snacks and such like what with Leela being asked to serve rounds of tea and biscuits. So I went in through the kitchen, made it to the verandah and snuggled up to a chair to watch the proceedings.

Rudolphus of course seemed to have a very different approach to the subject of visitors. While they were getting out of the car he had been snoring away inside the house, but upon hearing the din he had woken up and now he ran to the visitors jumping upon them in great delight ready to lick their faces. The idiot made such a fool of himself, nearly whacked he was with a stick by Hamunona. Now try and catch a cat ever doing such a thing.

You will never find a cat running and prancing around visitors' legs and licking their faces. You will only find that a cat will lazily lift one eye to take things in and he will haughtily resume his little nap from which he woke to lift one lazy eye. I believe that dignity is the word. One really can't afford to make a fool of oneself when one has ancestors who were worshipped in Egypt and suchlike.

Rudolphus really wouldn't bite, but of course the lady who had come didn't know that and she screamed while hamunona tried to placate things by saying that Rudolphus really won't bite anyone.

But of course in my opinion such words would really be useless when one is looking into Rudolphus's big trap. He is probably thinking how nice it would be to play with you, but I do understand that those fangs of his are not very people-friendly. I remember when I first strolled in through the walauwa gates years ago. Those teeth kept me from mischief for some time.

However, I distinctly heard the lady muttering something to her husband when Hamunona went off to dispose of Rudolphus in more undisturbable settings (probably the kitchen...). Then in a rather loud voice (because Leela, the maid seems to be a little hard of hearing) Hamunona asked for some tea to be brought.

Now the visitors are sure to have heard it mind you, but the moment the tea was brought the lady fidgeted and said. "Oh dear Nanda had made tea also, all this worry for nothing" and all sorts of other things that humans seem to say when they are given things to eat and drink.

It always gets on my nerves when people do this sort of thing. Have you ever seen a cat refusing something? But it's always the cat that will be told to keep away from a parcel of fish or a bottle of milk. Ah well, after much coaxing and cajoling Hamunona finally got the two cups of tea into their hands. The visitors turned out to be a niece of hers and her husband who had come to invite the walauwa household to an almsgiving.

Some people seem to have all the luck, if you ask me. Actually only humans seem to have all the luck. They have all the food they want to eat and they'll be invited to all the doings and happenings on earth. Of course needless to say that my sentiments would be rather different if the almsgiving were to be held here in the walauwa itself.

Rudolphus and I would have had the time of our lives. But let it not be said Cat O'Logge is a pessimistic cat. Several people have already been to the walauwa for contributions for wesak dansal. Nothing but good times ahead. n