‘A veces hacemos’ blame ‘a los animales’

Una mañanita del invierno, Grampo Caralampio stepped out onto the porch a fumar un cigarrito. Ya la Grama Cuca had forbidden him to smoke en la casa porque estaba cansada of finding ashes en todos los cuartos every time he flicked his cigarette butt. So there he was cuando Canutito found him en el portal chupando su bacha that was almost all burnt down to the bottom. Tomó el último puff de la bacha and then he stepped en las cenizas.

Lying en un saco de guangoche at his feet estaba La Chara; grampo’s faithful old dog. When Canutito raised his hand para saludar al grampo, La Chara thought que le estaba amagando al grampo and she growled at him a causa del threatening movement. The last time que la perra le había gruñido was once when he was teasing a su primita and taunting her conque: “Marylou, pantes blue, born in 1962.” La perra had not liked it del todo.

“La Chara had never growled at me, grampo,” Canutito said. “Siempre ha sido muy friendly conmigo cada vez que la veo. Has an animal ever been mean con Usted, grampo?” Canutito asked him. “Parece que even some animals get up en el wrong side de la cama.”

“Una vez, m’hijo,” Grampo Caralampio said, “mientras que he ground the ashes en el portal with his heel, “I was mad con unos animales through no fault of their own. La primera vez was a time cuando una black-face sheep looked at me un poco strange. I was only 10 years old y la borrega carinegra quizás pensó que yo era some kind of a little animal de manera que when I went to pen her up por the noche, se me vino con the cabeza lowered and she head-butted me y me dejó sentão in the mud. I was so mad at her que cuando me papá butchered her for meat yo todavía estaba bien enojão con ella and I wouldn’t eat ninguna de su carne.”

“¿Cuándo fue la next time that you were mad con un animal, grampo?” Canutito asked.

“That was once cuando yo tenía que hacer feed the chickens before I went to school in the bus. I got una olla full of corn y comenzé la destender el maíz saying ‘here chick, chick, chick, chick.” Pero en ese momento, I saw the school bus coming down the road con una polvadera spreading dust all over y yo sabía that I had to catch it para no quedarme sin ride.” “Did todas las gallinas get together and attack you, grampo?”

Canutito asked, smiling.

“No, m’hijo,” grampo replied. “¡No me atacaron! “When I saw que el bós venía, todo Hell-bent for leather, I started to run a todo mariachi to catch it. Las gallinas all scattered para todas partes when they saw me coming except por una greedy chicken that I didn’t see. Yo iba corriendo and I tripped over the chicken, and I fell down on top of her y me quebré las dos wrists. El único consuelo that I had was that when I tripped, I flattened out the chicken y se murió. Mi mamá la desplumó, plucking it and cooking it para la cena pero I was so upset con esa gallina that I didn’t eat ninguna parte de ella for supper.”

Canutito laughed del sentimiento que su grampo tenía con una gallina muerta. He said, “Oh grampo, a veces we tend to forget que los animales can’t think como las personas and that they can’t figure out por qué people get mad at them. I think que maybe we should consider the fact que we need to be un poco más gentle and understanding con ellos. I think que por eso tenemos humane societies in some places. Las sociedades humanísticas nos hacen remind de que we are not really masters de todas la cosas. Los animalitos hacen act out of instinct pero nosotros tenemos human reasoning para pensar las cosas. Hay una gran diferencia entre la gente y los animales …