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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=399340" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Sonnets of the boy who drew cats</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">I</div><div style="margin:10px 0">A long time ago<br>when soldiers still carried spears and swords<br>a Japanese farmer and his wife, <br>had a string of children<br>and everyone got a task.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They milked cows, cared after pigs, <br>gathered chicken eggs<br>and ploughed the soil, <br>planted rice, wheat and oats, <br>but the youngest was too weak and small<br>to do any work<br>and time and again he neglected his duties<br>and disappeared<br>and drew cats.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">II</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The farmer scratched his head<br>and did not know what to do<br>with a child that disappears<br>and couldn’t complete a task and drew<br>big and small, white, black, ginger and pied cats<br>of each size and type.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">So the farmer and his wife reckoned<br>to take the child to the nearest temple<br>to become a priest<br>and the farmer tied his sword around his side, <br>loaded the child on a horse<br>saddled his own horse<br>and maybe the men of God<br>would learn the child about duties.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">III</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The child studied well<br>but nobody could stop him<br>from drawing cats everywhere<br>and it happened<br>that the priest thought<br>that he couldn’t <br>become a priest and rather<br>be an artist.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The child was sent<br>to a temple farther away<br>and the priest instructed him<br>to avoid big places at night<br>and to find a sleeping place<br>in a small place.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">IV</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The temple was abandoned<br>because a evil goblin<br>coming from the dark earth, <br>expelled the priests<br>and the soldiers<br>that went to face him<br>had all disappeared.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">At night a light burned<br>in the temple<br>and when the boy arrived<br>he went in and everywhere<br>that he found a white screen he painted a cat<br>and he remembered the words of the old priest<br>and went to sleep in a small cabinet.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">V</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That night he heard a big noise<br>of a great fight<br>and cats roaring like lions<br>growling angrily<br>while something tried to<br>smash and pierce them<br>and he heard them<br>ripping something to pieces.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The next morning<br>a goblin<br>with the head of a rat, <br>with a pronged whip and sword in his hands<br>was dead in the middle of the temple<br>where he lost the fight.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">VI</div><div style="margin:10px 0">l’Envoi<br>There was still wet blood<br>on the mouths of the cats<br>painted<br>on the screens<br>and they looked innocent<br>and vulnerable.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">When the priests returned<br>they immediately saw <br>what happened<br>and they declared<br>boy a hero<br>and later he was renown<br>as a painter<br>that only paints cats.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">[Reference: With thanks to “Japanese Fairy Tales, The boy who drew cats” by Lafcadio Hearn that gave me the idea of this poem.]</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Gert+Strydom">Gert Strydom</a><div class=q>
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A long time ago
when soldiers still carried spears and swords
a Japanese farmer and his wife, 
had a string of children
and everyone got a task.

They milked cows, cared after pigs, 
gathered chicken eggs
and ploughed the soil, 
planted rice, w..."></div>
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