"Moore, Christopher - Cat's Karma" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore Christopher)

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The next morning the wind changed and Chang returned to his home to find Mesong and Ling-Ling dead, lying together in front of the cold fireplace. He fell to his knees over his bride and wept, and that is where Mesong's father found him later that afternoon.
Mesong and the cat had eaten all the beef before its poison killed them so it was thought that they had eaten fish that had gone bad, since Chang had not returned that night with a fresh catch. A huge funeral pyre was built and Mesong was laid upon it dressed in the finest silks. The villagers all gathered and were shocked when they saw the body of the black cat lying at the girl's side, but none said a word. Chang was in enough pain without being ridiculed. Between themselves the villagers talked of the horrible atrocities Chang must have committed in some previous life to have been so punished in this one.
After the funeral Chang returned to his little house alone and lay down on his pallet. Thoughts of Mesong wrenched his heart and he curled into a ball of pain and loneliness -- not even the purring warmth of his cat to comfort him. Sleep would not come. Each time he closed his eyes his head filled with images of his beloved Mesong or the feeling of Ling-Ling's soft fur. He could not make himself eat. For three days he lay on the pallet grieving, getting up only to light a fire and relieve himself. Finally, on the third night he slept and dreamed of Mesong and Ling-Ling, then of Ling-Ling's soft fur, then of Mesong's loving touch, then both together. He dreamed he was awakened by soft fur brushing against his face.
The fire had almost died so he could just see someone standing next to the pallet, a woman, but not a woman. She was covered with soft black fur like Ling-Ling's, but her body was much like Mesong's. The cat woman crawled on to the pallet with Chang, and though he thought that he should be afraid, he felt safe with this soft creature.
She arched her back beside him, pressing her full furred breasts into his side. He turned to her and took her breasts into his hands and kneaded the warm fur. She turned on her stomach and stretched as he ran his hands down her back. When she stretched her arms out he could see her long claws unsheathe, claws at least two inches long with points like daggers, but he was not alarmed. He worked over her fur and ran his hand down her long tail, which twitched at his touch.
By the firelight he could see she had deep green eyes like Mesong's, but no long hair. Pointed ears rose straight up from her head. He scratched the cat woman between the ears much as he had Ling-Ling and she worked her body against him, warming him with the touch of her fur. Then she stood again and lifted him as if he were a small child, setting him down on the pallet so that he stood on his knees. She back against him on all fours with her tail in the air, looking back at him with fire-lit green eyes. Chang put his arms around her waist and grabbed handfuls of soft fur and entered her, the cat-woman let out a long wail of pleasure. As he moved she began to purr, and Chang could feel the deep vibrations run through him and settle in his chest. Her claws raked at the bedding until she could stand it no longer, and as she let out a long, high scream, Chang let himself go as well. He fell asleep with his face buried in the soft fur of her breasts.

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Chang woke before dawn and immediately shook his head to try to clear the memory of the strange dream. He was surprised that he did not feel the awful grief that he had felt before. Perhaps the dream was his reward, he thought, for all the hard work he had done in his life. The cat woman had warmed him as Ling-Ling had, and loved him like Mesong. It was a strange and wonderful thing to happen, he thought, but still I miss my wife and my cat. Then he noticed that the silk wedding pillow that he and Mesong had slept on was rent to shreds, and he was at once afraid and delighted. He decided to take his boat out.
As he walked through the waking village he was stopped by one of the other fishermen.
"Chang, did you hear? Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" Chang asked.
"They found the fish merchant dead this morning. He was torn to bits by some kind of animal, a tiger perhaps."
"Karma," was all Chang said, with a bit of a smile. Then he took his little boat out to sea.
From then on Chang took his boat out each morning early, and returned late at night. He inherited Kwok's fleet and became prosperous, but he continued to work hard. He never took another wife and the villagers again talked of his strangeness, for he never showed signs of being lonely. He still took the best of his catch home, usually enough to feed a whole family. They were sure that he must have another cat, perhaps several, because each night they heard long cat-like screams coming from Chang's little house and they listened in curious wonder, because sometimes the cat screams sounded like those of a woman.

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