Albert Schweitzer Quotes Paper Example

Albert Schweitzer, a wise man, and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, once said, "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats" ("Albert Schweitzer Quotes"). Not pretending to be as wise and knowledgeable in either music or cats, I would nonetheless suggest my own interpretation and say that there are also two means of making one's life miserable: music played out of tune and naughty cats. When I got my first pet (and his brother to the bargain) I was lucky enough to experience both. My cats were prone to singing out of tune - both in a duet and solo - and happened to be extremely mischievous. Yet, I consider my cat-related misery to be a happy one if there is such a thing in this world. After all, I keep saying, scratch a cat and you will find a permanent job. My cats offered me this full-time position and I was generously rewarded with reasonable amounts of nastiness, ruined furniture, and clothes, stinky slippers, stolen sausages, love and tenderness. But let me tell you how it all began. After all, you know what they say, it's the first step that counts.

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That summer we were renting a tiny house right next to the beach, old, cooky and cozy. Though the bright paint of absolutely ill-matching colors peeled off, the wooden lagging looked like it had not been fixed since the flood, and the floor was constantly covered with sand that was blown in through omnipresent cracks, I loved the place. It made my imagination go crazy with all the stories about sentimental spies with amnesia, sympathetic mermaids, forgotten famous writers and hippie vagabonds who could have been staying there before us. One of my favorite pastimes - apart from the endless swimming and sunbathing - was sitting in an old garden chair behind the house with a huge straw hat perched on my head and inventing stories that could have happened there. One day when I was engaged in my imaginary adventures I felt something soft and fluffy brush gently against my feet. I peeped at the intruder from underneath my special 'dreaming' hat. It turned out to be a very graceful black cat, polite and patient, who obviously came to see if we had anything to her taste that we wanted to share with her. As it happened, we did. A black cat is a magical creature and Pepper became an indispensable companion in imaginary journeys. Everybody loved her. My brother fed her all the fish he caught. Occasionally he put up shows to showcase her terrific skills at jumping to catch a fish he fastened to a string high above the ground. My mother let her sleep in the kitchen as Pepper always displayed an utmost discretion and reliability in terms of the food supplies. She also was extremely useful as she turned out to be an experienced ratcatcher. It is hard to imagine a better pet than Pepper. In all respects she was perfect.

By now you might have started wondering what such an ideal cat can have to do with singing out of tune and wreaking havoc in the house. I must assure you, your doubt is quite legitimate. Pepper never came to be my first pet or anybody else's at that. She was a free spirit and a nomad. She came and went whenever she felt like it. The only time she stayed for a comparatively long period of time was when she brought us two tiny softlings. We settled them in a cardboard box and every day spent an unreasonable amount of time swooning over their incredible irresistible cuteness. One of them was a clumsy gray little chap with beautiful blue eyes. He was a perfect twin of my favorite childhood teddy bear, but calling him a bear seemed to be irreverent. We called him Winnie the Pooh. Another one was a black and white graceful feline creature that had taken after his mother. Extremely elegant in his black frock and white gloves, he was unanimously called Earnest. Both of them turned out to be exceedingly naughty. I bet life would be too boring if every single pet were as well-bred and restrained in its manners as Pepper. After all, what else are pets for if not for testing the limits of our unconditional love only to find there are none?

If you still think that people go to the seaside to sunbathe and swim and play beach volleyball, you are profoundly mistaken. The primary occupation of any holiday-maker should be cuddling up with little purring fluffy balls, cooing over their sweet tiny noses, ears, and paws, inventing stories of how they were going to grow up and perform in TV shows and romantic comedies. At least, this is what we did. We watched them grow and admired their patient mother taking professional care of them. Why, oh why, I am asking myself, did we never ask Pepper for a manual? It might have saved us so much trouble in the future. Probably, it was because we never thought of taking Winnie and Earnest home with us. We thought they would go away in their time just the way their Gypsy mother was accustomed to. But one day it all changed for me, though I did not know it then. One of our neighbors came for a visit with his jolly, careless tyke. Carrot was a curios and outgoing soul. He started running around the garden looking for an adventure. And did he find one, indeed! As we saw Carrot approaching the house we got very nervous lest he might scare Pepper and her kittens. Our neighbor did his best to catch him and get him on the leash. But Carrot never felt comfortable wearing a leash, which seemed to me pretty normal from where I stood. He merrily bounded around thinking that it was some kind of a game until he got too close to the cardboard house from where three pairs of cat eyes were watching him intensely. Pepper jumped out of the box like a jack. She was furious. She got off to a running start and rushed to the attack. We had never seen a cat that mad. Obviously, neither had Carrot. He kept standing riveted to the spot, petrified. Once his muzzle got the first taste of Pepper's claws he realized what he had to do but it was too late. The only thing I could think of at the moment was rushing to Carrot's aid. I grabbed him and started running towards the garden gate. But Pepper never gave up easily. She jumped on my leg and climbed up as if she was climbing a tree. I felt her sharp claws piercing my T-shirt. I began whimpering in unison with Carrot. I could understand the poor lad only too well. My race ended at the gate, I pushed Carrot behind it and swung it to. I hoped Pepper would not chase him and she had the grace not to. After all, he was well beyond her immediate tenement now. She turned around and victoriously strolled back to the box. I followed her, scratched all over and bleeding, but relieved that we both - Carrot and I - had a narrow escape.

"Kudos, kid, you got spine", said Dad with a smile of approval.

"Just look at what this fury of a cat has done to you!" exclaimed Mum.

"That was a real Mortal Combat," snickered my brother, rubbing his hands with an excited expression on his round freckled face.

We all had a very good laugh together. All's well that ends well.

"Any prize for the brave warrior? After all, I have saved a life today," I chipped in when the laughter ceased.

"Hmm...We'll think about that," promised Mum.

I very much hoped Mum meant what she said. There was one thing I wanted but was afraid to ask. I nodded and said with an air of absolute seriousness,

"Okay. Let me know when and where the ceremony will be held."

As the summer drew to its close and the weather was getting moodier, we started packing our things. I felt a little melancholic about having to leave. I knew I would miss the sand in my shoes, the night whispers of the waves and my new fluffy friends. They had profoundly occupied my time 24/7. I loved watching them grow and reveal their unique characters. Winnie turned out to be leisurely and hedonistic, at times openly and unashamedly lazy. Earnest took after his mother: he was a busybody and a social fellow. I thought my life would be much less fun without them.

On our last evening at the summer house, as I was checking if I had not left any trifles in the drawers, Dad knocked on the door. "Here is a letter for you," he said. I was more than surprised. I tore the envelope open and saw an invitation. It ran, "Today, at nine, in the garden." It was five to nine. I put on my sweatshirt and ran outside. My family had decorated the garden with fairy lights and cute little flags. Mum put a string with a chocolate medal around my neck. My brother clapped vigorously. Dad sang "We Are the Champions" and handed me a huge box that was anxiously meowing in two different voices as if singing along with Dad - totally out of tune.

"They are your prize," said Dad, "you can take them home if you want to."

"But you will have to look after them, feed them, potty-train them, all the other stuff, you know," Mum informed me. She is always the one most organized among us, the Big Boss, as we used to call her.

"I will help, I promise!" squeaked my brother.

I did not believe him for a single moment. I knew he would only want to play with the kittens and leave all the work to me. I knew that would be a fair amount of work as both Winnie and Earnest were exceptionally naughty. But I did not care. I was happy. I got my first pets. I got my own magical story which happened at the old summer house.

Works Cited

"Albert Schweitzer Quotes." BrainyQuote.com. BrainyMedia Inc, 2018. 21 November 2018. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_schweitzer_136003