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DORIS LESSING
license, liberty and free love? No, neither did I, but of course
she's right. Married to Luigi it would be the family, the neigh–
bors, the church and the bambini. All the same she's thinking
about it, believe it or not. Here she's quite different, all relaxed
and free. She's melting in the attention she gets. The widow
mothers her and makes her coffee all the time, and listens to
a lot of good advice about how to bring up that nasty brat of
hers. Unluckily she doesn't take it. Luigi is crazy for her. At
mealtimes she goes to the trattoria in the upper square and
all the workmen treat her like a goddess. Well, a film star
then. I said to her, you're mad to come home. For one thing
her rent is ten bob a week, and you eat pasta and drink red
wine till you bust for about one and sixpence. No, she said, it
would be nothing but self-indulgence to stay. Why? I said. She
said, she's got nothing to stay for. (ho ho.) And besides, she's
done her research on the Borghese, though so far she can't
see her way to an honest presentation of the facts. What made
these people tick? she wants to know. And so she's only staying
because of the cat. I forgot to mention the cat. This is a town
of cats. The Italians here love their cats. I wanted to feed
a stray cat at the table, but the waiter said no; and after lunch,
all the waiters came with trays crammed with left-over food
and stray cats came from everywhere to eat. And at dark when
the tourists go in to feed and the beach is empty-you know
how empty and forlorn a beach is at dusk?-well cats appear
from everywhere. The beach seems to move, then you see it's
cats. They go stalking along the thin inch of grey water at
the edge of the sea, shaking their paws crossly at each step,
snatching at the dead little fish, and throwing them with
their mouths up on to the dry sand. Then they scamper after
them. You've never seen such a snarling and fighting. At dawn
when the fishing boats come in to the empty beach, the cats
are there in dozens. The fishermen throw them bits of fish.
The cats snarl and fight over it. Judith gets up early and goes
down to watch. Sometimes Luigi goes too, being tolerant.
