“Mom, help!... Dad, help!...” the six small mice cried one Sunday morning, while they were nibbling the opening pages of an old yellowed book.
Gigione and his wife started running, jumping on the shelves afraid for their children.
“There’s a cat!...There’s a cat on the pages of the book!” the frightened mice screamed.
“Don’t be afraid!” mother mouse tried to calm them down. “He can’t hurt you. It’s only a picture!”
“Oh! What are you doing here?! Gigione asked him.
Can’t you see? They have printed me on this page to illustrate the story!” the cat answered proudly, aware of his great importance.
Gigione understood that the cat was imprisoned in that picture and he immediately carried out his diabolical plan. With slow movements of his tail he started to tickle the cat’s paws and back.
“Serves you right, ugly cat, to bother mice!” He screamed pleased with himself, continuing to rub him with satisfaction until he began to twist and turn and to whine in a long and funny way.
“Stop it, please!” He begged “You’ll make me burst from laughing!”
Deaf to the cat’s imploring, Gigione persisted in his naughty game, excited by his wife and children’s presence and by an audience of spiders, ants, insects, beetles and butterflies.
“Everybody, look at the triumph of your Gigione who has finally taken revenge, also on your behalf, against all the fear and the humiliation suffered!... Ah, what a pleasure, my dears! It’s a wonderful sensation, indescribable!” He exclaimed with joy, while he continued to pass his tail under the cat’s armpits.
“Mercy, Gigione, mercy!” the cat meowed loudly. “I beg your mercy for a poor defenseless cat who couldn’t hurt anyone, let alone you and your family.”
“A day like today, the cat repeated, ignoring his enemies pleading, “a day like today will go down in history!”
“If you leave me alone”, the cat begged, “in exchange I’ll look after your children when they are in the library. No one will ever bother them!”
The six small mice disapproved of the plan carried out by their father and his triumphal attitude.
“What satisfaction can you get, daddy, if your enemy is imprisoned and he begs you for mercy?... It’ll be a dishonor for our family!”
Hurt in his pride by his children’s right consideration, Gigione withdrew his tail and felt ashamed of himself.
“Please forgive me for all the harm that my fellow-creatures do to mice!” the cat tried to whisper, understanding Gigione’s dilemma. “Unfortunately nature has made us enemies”, he continued trying to calm him down, “and it has put us against each other, to recreate a constant balance between species that everyone has to respect!... But from now on we can be good friends, at least us, among these shelves. I know all the secrets that they hold and I can help you discover the wonders hidden among these pages!”
Ninetta agreed to the cat’s words with that sweet disposition that only mother mice are capable of. Then, in a joyful atmosphere, she hugged her children in a warm embrace as her husband gave out his hand to the feline in sign of peace, while the other animals present gave him an astonished look.
“Why are you so yellow?” the smallest mouse asked him, with the straightforwardness typical of youngsters.
“I have turned yellow… because everything here is yellow, closed and abandoned… from the moment the readers have been captured by the voice coming out of the television and by its moving images, forgetting the pleasure of reading a good book. Now I’m old and tired and I’m just waiting for my days to end. My only relief is the knowledge of being buried here forever among these treasures that no one appreciates anymore!”
“But now we’re here! If you guide us, we can face a long journey together and you will be useful again to those who would like to learn and read amazing stories!”
“Well, if your parents aren’t afraid to let their six little mice stay with an old cat like me, I know exactly where to bring you.
Gigione and Ninetta looked into each other’s eyes, reading the other’s mind.
“You can go!” they then exclaimed together. “Go children!... This is your world, the future of our family!” pointing to the shelves full of books.
Baiano, 28 June 1994