第三章 捉老鼠
Chapter Three: Catching a Mouse
After a week, Xiaohuang's life changed.
In the morning it went to the breakfast shop; in the afternoon it looked for food on its own.
It walked under every car and searched every trash can.
When it was lucky, it could find something good to eat.
That afternoon, Xiaohuang walked across the grass. Beside it was a pile of old things.
From the old things came a very small sound.
Xiaohuang stopped, its ears moving back and forth as it searched for the sound.
A mouse ran out from under the old things.
Xiaohuang lowered its body, belly close to the ground, and slowly moved closer.
It put strength into its hind legs, pounced with both front paws, and pinned the mouse down.
The mouse moved under its paws.
Xiaohuang bit the mouse.
After a while, Xiaohuang's teeth ached a little, and it wanted to change position.
Its mouth loosened, and the mouse ran away from beside its paw.
Xiaohuang chased it two steps. The mouse slipped under the old things and was gone.
Xiaohuang squatted beside the old things, looking at the ground.
This was the first time it had pounced on a mouse, but in the end it failed.
By the window on the third floor stood a white-haired old man, watching it.
Xiaohuang looked at the old man by the window. The old man looked at it too.
After a while, Xiaohuang left.
It had to go find food.
It didn't find anything in the trash cans.
It would go hungry that night.
The next day, it passed this building.
It saw a bowl under the wall. In the bowl was a small fish, and there was no one nearby.
Xiaohuang looked around. There was no big cat, and no one either.
It sniffed. The fish smelled very good.
It ate the fish in a few bites, then ran under a car and licked its mouth.
Another day, at the same place, there was another fish.
After eating the fish, Xiaohuang glanced up at the third floor.
The window on the third floor was closed, and someone was standing there.
From then on, Xiaohuang passed this building every day.
When it reached downstairs, it would stop and look at that window.