[magazine] 1998.12 Myojo

[neenjaneenja]

 

Aiba and Nino talk about their pets.

At the moment, there are three dogs in the Aiba household - two Yorkshire Terriers named Uran and Hime, and a Great Pyrenees, named Atom. However, the first pet that we had was a larva of a rhinoceros beetle (laugh). Around when I was in preschool, I discovered the larva in some dirt when I was digging around in a field in the neighbourhood, and we raised it carefully at home. For some reason at that time I was also really into collecting the cast-off shells of cicadas at the nearby shrine. When I started elementary school, we kept a pet squirrel named Rii-chan on our veranda. It looked really cute eating sunflower seeds by itself and running around in its wheel. Because it was really precious, I also took photos of Rii-chan and spent summer vacations doing independent research and observation. However, when I was in 4th grade, we gave dear Rii-chan away to a relative because we got a dog. I wonder how Rii-chan is doing now? Is Rii-chan still alive and well?

It was Uran who came into our household, replacing Rii-chan. At that time she was so small he could snugly fit into a duck-shaped accessory basket (about 20cm in size) we had at home. It was me who was in charge of brushing Uran’s coat since we were kids, so even now when I hold a brush, I feel happy. We got Atom when I was in first year of junior high. 2-3 months after we brought him home, we sent him to a dog training facility for about half a year to get special training.  During that time, he won prizes in contests, and was a very clever dog when he came home. However, he had completely forgotten about me... Even if I called “Atom!”, I’d get ignored. It was at this time that I realised, “Ah, long distance relationships are difficult!” (laugh). But thanks to the training centre, I can take him for walks perfectly fine without using a leash. When I stop, he stops, and when I’m walking, he’s always right beside me. Amazing, right?

The last dog that we got was Hime. Uran gave birth to it about a year ago, but since it is still a puppy, it’s extremely naughty. At night Uran would come into my bed, and then Hime would get jealous and jump in too. A cute part about dogs is that they’re like humans and get sulky if you don’t play with them. Come to think of it, although we used to sleep together until morning, lately when I wake up, both Uran and Hime are not there anymore. Do I really toss and turn that much?

I got my dog Haru (a female Shiba) when I was in preschool. My dad got her from one of his friends. When she was small, she’d come bounding out happily when I returned home, but now she’s already a grandma, so she’s more subdued (like her owner?!). When I come home, she more or less just glances at me like “Ah, you’re home?”. That’s about it. She caused me a lot of worry back in the days~ One time when I came home from school, her kennel had become completely red from blood. I rushed around the house yelling “This is bad! Haru’s been done in by a random killer(?)!” and then I was super shocked when my mother said to me “What are you talking about? Haru’s just given birth!” Further, somehow she’d given birth to 13 puppies! We kept them at home and looked after them for a while, but since there were 13 of them, there’d always be one peeing over here, or pooing over there... I was wiping the floor the whole day! In the end, we looked for people to take them in through newspapers and posters, and gave them away to separate homes. But since they were all homes in the neighbourhood, there are some that live close enough for me to still hear the puppy’s yelps even now. There was also a period when Haru stopped eating. She ate in the morning, but at night they wouldn’t make a move. I thought it was weird, so one Sunday I kept an eye on Haru all day. When I did that, I saw that she received food from an old man in the neighbourhood every day (laugh). I thought she was sick or something, but in reality she was just going around disturbing people! 

Come to think of it, there was also a time where I decided to keep some goldfish bought* at a matsuri. By the way, I’m completely hopeless when it comes to catching goldfish. I couldn’t even get one goldfish, so I always had to ask for the old man at the stall to throw in the goldfish as a present. But for some reason, goldfish from matsuris always die by the next day. Since it couldn’t be helped, I’d write the goldfish’s name on ice block sticks and bury them in the garden at my cousin’s house in the neighbourhood. Raising living things is not easy, right? In elementary school we had classes on rearing animals, and once there was a rabbit that looked like it was going to die. Everyone in the class made a promise to take turns looking after the rabbit during the summer holidays, but everyone skipped out. Although it was only left alone for a day, it looked like it was going to die. The next day, our teacher got extremely angry at us, and we all reflected deeply on our actions. Right now I have Haru and don’t have any other animals that I want to keep, but there are Juniors that are dear to me like my pet. ライモンド アンドレア. It’s cute how his stomach kind of sticks out, huh.

*One of those stalls at matsuris where they give you a paper net and you fish for your own goldfish.