Kitchen / Living Room @museum.de

Meow!

Well, you’ve found a cosy little place there, haven’t you, Tom? Lying on the bench by the stove and purring... What a life – can I sign up? You’ve got somewhere nice and warm … you catch the occasional mouse … and otherwise, spend all day catching up on your sleep.

That’s just not true!

Well, frankly, I don't really do that much work any more, either. Move over, will you? We can share the bench. My old bones need a little warmth, as well. All my life, I’ve worked on this farm. I was already a maidservant here when old Kliemt was in charge, Papa Adolf as was. And now Erhard and Linda have died, too. And here I sit, all alone on the big farm. And there’s no-one to inherit it.

Meow!

Yes, you're right. I'm not completely alone. I’ve got you. And our kitchen is still the same as when the whole family ate their meals here, along with the farmhand and me -- I was the maid. And – I remember it so clearly – Erhard would sometimes have a little nap after the meal, before heading back out into the fields. And Linda and I would put more coal on the fire, hang up the washing, peel the apples or keep the soup warm for the evening meal.

If you’re wondering about the cradle – none of us ever had a use for it. Because there were no children on the farm. None of the Kliemts ever married. As for me – I wouldn’t have said no to Erhard... but he never fancied it. Some preacher in Görlitz had put it into all their heads that marriage was the devil's work, and it was better to stay single.

Anyway, so there were no children, and the three of us ran the farm, Erhard, Linda and I.

But now I'm old, too, and I'm doing the same as you, Handsome: sitting by the stove and waiting for time to pass. But what’s to become of our beautiful farm later, after I’ve gone? Who knows?