Excerpt from Carousel
Xi Xi: “Watching Cats” , Carousel
It keeps a close eye on everything that moves, flutters, and shakes. When it is not looking at things, it seems like a contemplative philosopher, its eyes full of secrets. It has its own personality. It sleeps where it likes during the daytime, and swats away any unwanted food. When it passes by, it will swat at the food again. My friend often sticks newly written poems on the glass of a bookcase to revise them as needed. When it sees a poem, it scratches at it, which is its form of literary criticism. It also likes to climb on the bookcase, climbing up to the third or fourth shelf and knocking down some volumes of the Chuang Tzu.
(Translations on this page are by Chen Yanyi and Jennifer Feeley)
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