After forty days the thunderstorm arrived with torrents of rain. Water filled water holes, dry seasonal creek over flooded and grass turned green almost overnight. In this time the farmer took the young cattle to new pastures and bought a new Holstein bull. During the winter Stracena was very busy. She grazed and ate, ate and grazed. In the Spring time she had a calf. A little Holstein bull. Malena didn't like a bull. She liked Stracena. She turned into fine, tasty beef.
Somebody gave the farmer an ox. From the luck of better housing, the farmer kept the ox with rest of the herd. The ox was calm, quiet and preferred grazing over other activities. Then the herd began to run around, jump over the barbed wires and some of the cows got into the neighbor's rye. "It is the ox who is leading them," said the farmer's wife. "Oh no," replied the farmer. "It is the biggest cow." The beef from the big cow lasted for two months. It fed whole family.
Stracena's little bull was frolicking, kicking his hooves in the air. He was very happy little bull. "It is shame, such a pretty bull has to go to the butcher," said a farmer's daughter with a pity. "It is a happy bull. He will give a good beef. It will not taste like the old neurotic hen we had for dinner last Sunday. Our cattle are happy, and this is why we sell such good beef everybody like to buy from us." The farmer walked outside to lit his pipe and on his way pushed away another hysterical chicken. He liked cattle. The chickens belonged to his wife.
Copyright (c) Marie Neumann
Written in Czech, Summer 2011
Translated 4/9/2012,
with English corrections
by Henry Dallimore,
Pottsville
No comments:
Post a Comment