The Emigration Story of Solomon-the-Cat
(Based on true events)
Author: Nadezhda Bezuevskaia, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg (HfJS)
Solomon was a prominent and well-fed cat. He loved his kingdom and all the people who came into his domain. He always greeted his guests personally. He would walk along the hall, fanning the walls with his fluffy, dark brown tail as if they were the walls of an ancient temple. Solomon would majestically approach his guests, sniffing and wrapping himself around their legs, while the strangers would not notice they had fallen into a trap: they would have no choice but to pet the cat. “King Solomon,” they would say. The king would flop down on the floor, sprawl on his back, and show off his dark brown belly with gray hairs and a white stripe.
Satisfied, Solomon would stride into the kitchen, allowing his guests to follow him. The second act of the ceremony included a new round of caresses and admiration. And only then would Solomon begin the third act – the meal. His bowl and his mug of water, the same one as his humans had, stood neatly in the corner. The cat would walk toward his “table.” Lying on his left side, Solomon would reach for the bowl with his paw, pull it toward himself, and, like the great men of old times, taste the offerings and touch the hearts of his audience.
Overall, Solomon had a leisurely cat life. He was the center of his humans’ attention. He slept, ate, and was a bit mischievous – he loved to nibble on potted flowers that his human so carefully grew. He liked to lie on the kitchen table, from where for some reason he was repeatedly chased away. Sometimes, Solomon would go out onto the balcony to perch on the windowsill and watch passersby, as if from the edge of a cliff, from where a view opened up over his domain and even beyond the horizon. One day, he miscalculated his size – and, pardon me, fell from the second floor onto his butt right into the bushes. What an embarrassment! Fortunately, everything turned out just fine.
That was not his first fall and not the worst. As a reckless teenager, he fell from the fifth floor and damaged his kidneys. He still had some health issues and, from time to time, he had to climb into the cat carrier and then onto the veterinary table, where he was subjected to various painful treatments. However, such adventures did not break the valiant spirit of Solomon-the-Cat, but only made him stronger and wiser. There were also some awkward situations: once, Solomon could not fit into his carrier – he had put on a bit of weight – so his humans had to carry him in a blanket like a kitten.
It was not only for his own health that Solomon would leave home to visit the clinic. One evening, when he was already clean, licked, and well-fed and was just about to curl up on the bed and fall asleep, he was picked up and urgently taken away. At the vet’s, they drew some of his blood. A little kitty, just like Solomon had been in his kitten days, thoughtlessly flew all the way down from the eighth floor. She broke almost all of her little bones. What should he do? He needed to rescue the poor thing. Solomon donated his blood, saved the kitten, and continued to live his leisurely cat life, demanding affection and attention from his humans, misbehaving, and being forced to stick to a healthy diet, as the vet prescribed.
Solomon weighed just eleven kilograms (or about twenty-four pounds). A big, stout cat of Siberian blood – all according to breed. But unexpectedly, he was assigned an even stricter diet with the goal of losing weight to eight kilograms (about eighteen pounds), otherwise “they wouldn’t let him into the airplane cabin.” Solomon did not yet know what an airplane was, but he was sure that any cabin would have opened its doors to him anyway. But nothing could be done: his humans served only the new menu. The cat languished and grumbled, but his own humans just added injections to his routine. “Vaccination,” they said. They picked up a bunch of trendy words here!
Tormented by hunger, Solomon did not miss the fact that something strange was happening at home. His humans were taking suitcases out of the closets, slowly filling them and packing them up. It would have been nice to climb into one of the suitcases, or at least into a bag, like a warm cave. Solomon would have preferred to curl up there, but for some reason he kept being moved to other surfaces over and over again.
Time passed. The bustle in Solomon’s kingdom increased, but there were no new dishes on the menu – the cat was losing his weight. He would watch and grumble until one August evening, when his humans began running in and out. Their guests, having missed the entire greeting ceremony, hurried up and down the hall as well, carrying everything out of Solomon’s domain. The king himself was invited into the carrier and placed in the car. Solomon was perplexed: where were they going at that hour of the night? He did not seem to be sick. They were probably going to save someone again.
They traveled for a long time, all the way to the capital, with several stops to have a snack and walk on the grass – to touch nature with the pads of the furry paws. But Solomon was not in the mood for walks. Such adventures might have interested young cats, but already mature Solomon would have preferred to snore in his bed. He was exhausted from the road and from the strange smells in the car and outside. He did not yet know that the smells would intensify at the airport, that the number of people would multiply, and that the variety of voices would create a feeling of endless noise in his head. He would not want to leave the carrier at all.
But he had to. Oh, these scans and frames! Three times he was taken out of the safety of the carrier to undergo all the tedious procedures. Solomon did not particularly like it when his majesty was picked up, as opposed to having his tummy petted. And then, as soon as he settled in and licked himself clean after the hands and all those aromas, they pulled him out again. A stunned and exhausted Solomon had no time for dramatics as his airplane mates pointed in his direction, admiring what a big cat he was. You did not see him before the new diet!
In the cabin, Solomon decided to stay in the carrier. His humans opened its door and petted the cat throughout the flight. Solomon perhaps could have gone out to take a look, but he had been through a lot during those 24 hours. He did not feel strong enough to greet his new guests, but at some point, the tempting food aromas almost lured him out.
They arrived at the Promised Land. Uproar and new unfamiliar smells. When would it be possible to curl up on the royal bed and rest, to put an end to this endless day? Not so fast. Solomon was carried out of the airport on a pile of suitcases with an IKEA shark on top, and was immediately hit by a wave of desert heat. Solomon was quite surprised by that turn of events. But he immediately realized why he had been trimmed before the trip, leaving only his mane and a little fur on his paws and on the tip of his tail. A real lion.
Solomon had to endure another car ride. And, finally, he heard: “We are home!” But wait. That was not home, but a foreign, mysterious territory. And what was surprising – he smelled the creatures of his own kind. And dogs. Five cats and two dogs jumped out to look at Solomon. The lion was embarrassed.
Solomon slowly got out of his carrier and began to look around. And suddenly, two grey cats pounced on him: hissing, scratching, biting. In shock and in an adrenaline rush, exhausted and unfamiliar to the new circumstances, Solomon was taken aback at first, but fought back against the bandits. Humans came running and pulled the cats apart to the deafening bark of a giant dog, rushing to knock the stranger off his feet. They called a vet to stitch up everyone’s wounds. Exhausted, Solomon was locked up in a room.
Days and months passed, but the confrontation continued. Solomon could not forget the “warm hospitality” and was always on the alert. The cat withdrew into himself and looked at his little world from under his brows. He was ready to defend the borders of his new domain. Solomon turned from an imposing, lazy cat into a daring warrior.
Sitting on the balcony under the blazing sun and covered in grains of sand blown in from the desert, Solomon recalled his past life: his kingdom, even the two falls he had survived, and the rescue of a small kitten. As if that life were real but the savannah, where he was the only king and lion, seemed so far away...
The cats had a few more fights, but gradually the apartment inhabitants got used to the new tenant and came to terms with him. A couple of calmer cats came to visit Solomon, and then even settled with him in his new domain. And those two gray brothers who attacked him also seemed to have calmed down. But not Solomon. The cat was still tormented by spiritual and physical wounds. He neither forgot nor forgave. They say lions have a good memory.