Pantry @museum.de

Summer savory… now, where might they keep such a thing as summer savory around here. The racks for dried fruit are all empty, and at the bottom … what do we have here ...

Meeooowww!

Oh God! You gave me such a fright! I thought you were a rat! Oh, Tom!

Meow! Outrageous, confusing me with a rat? I don't have to tolerate that! Meow. Here I am, busily doing my work, and to top it all, I get insulted. Human beings, I tell you – beyond comprehension, they are. Meow, Meow, yum, yum, ... mmm, that was sooo scrumptious! Mmm.

It's all right, come here, let me give you a tickle. Well, Tom, did you catch a mouse?

There, I feel so much better! Just one mouse? This place is swarming with those tasty little mouthfuls. Eat and be eaten, it's the way of the world. Meow. Yes, and these little mousies lack for nothing, you humans make sure of that with your pantries. Meow. What’s the point of these poor two-legged creatures toiling away in their little gardens? They pick the fruit, pull the carrots and scrabble the potatoes out of the soil, even granny has to go out into the field. And then you stand in your kitchen, preserving it all in jars for the winter. And you dry it and you smoke it, and then – nibble, nibble, nibble, the little mousies come and eat it all up. Meow!

Oh, what would these poor little ol’ humans do if it weren’t for me? Meow! Can someone please give me a good tickle? Here, behind my right ear, that would really do me a power of good.

But thank goodness for the jars. The mice can't get at them. Let’s see what he have here: cherries, gherkins, sugar beets and preserved pears. And what’s that in the wooden box? Tobacco leaves, from their own garden. Oh, it’s always so cosy on Sundays, with the stove roaring away in the parlour and the master of the house smoking his pipe and giving me a good scratch. Meow, he’d better not kick me out of the house again. Oh, I need a nap – to aid digestion, you know? And I know exactly where: there’s a nice cosy nook just waiting for me, right next door in the hope chest, it's really snug in there, Meow.